We need your support to help solve another piece of the puzzle!
The Monmouth Ocean Foundation for Children (MOFFC) has been committed to supporting and enriching the educational programs for local children with special needs since 1992. Over the last ten years, the Foundation has focused exclusively on financially supporting programs that will enhance the lives of students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder
(ASD).
With the numbers of children and adults living with ASD growing each year, MOFFC is embarking on its largest and most important program to date, the development of a continuing education program for adults with Autism: The Achieve Academy for Adults with Autism.
Once a student graduates from high school, it is difficult for individuals and their families to find high-quality continuing education programs that will provide the services, training, and coaching these adults need to be employed or live purposeful lives. In addition, coordinating and securing important services, such as speech, occupational or physical therapy, or behavior therapies is often confusing and expensive, putting both financial and emotional stress on families.
The program, which will be located on the Brookdale Community College Campus in Wall Township, will be a daily continuing education program that will provide job training and coaching as well as employment placement in local businesses and organizations. In addition, adults will also continue to have access to valuable services, such as behavioral therapies, speech, occupational and physical therapy and life skills programming so that they can continue to grow and develop independent life skills, which will greatly enrich their lives and our communities.
Your support is critical to achieving our goal of opening this much needed program!
The truth about Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD)
- The CDC reports that the national rate of children identified with ASD is 1 in 54 children
- The prevalence of ASD in US Children increase d 119.4% over 10 years
- NJ has the highest rate of ASD in the nation: 1 in 34 or 3% of 8 year-old-children are identified
- According to a 2020 CDC report, 5.4 million people age 18 and older (1in 45 people) have an Autism spectrum condition.
- Over the next decade, an estimated 707,000 to 1,116,000 teens EACH YEAR will enter adulthood and age out of school based autism services
- The cost of caring for Americans with autism had reached $268 billion in 2015 and would rise to$461 billion by 2025 in the absence of more-effective interventions and support across the life span.
- The majority of autism’s costs in the U.S. are for adult services – an estimated $175 to $196 billion a year, compared to $61 to $66 billion a year for children.
- In June 2014, only 19.3 percent of people with disabilities in the U.S. were participating in the labor force – working or seeking work. Of those, 12.9 percent were unemployed, meaning only 16.8 percent of the population with disabilities was employed.
- Only 16% of adults with ASD have a full-time job. Most autistic adults with a job receive pay that places them well below the poverty level
The Achieve Academy for Adults with Autism
Our fundraising goal is: $5,000,000
Funds raised will contribute to:
- Building renovation and design
- Program supplies
- Transportation services
- Staffing
- Furniture and equipment
- Technology
- Scholarships and financial assistance for families