Community Fundraises for Students with Autism on #GivingTuesday

Who: Crossroads Staff, people with autism, their friends, family, and community members will come together for Crossroads #GivingTuesday campaign. The Crossroads #GivingTuesday Campaign is sponsored by Definitive Healthcare, Hunneman, Middlesex Savings Bank, Modular Concepts, Al Brodeur’s Auto Body Shop, Estate Preservation Law Offices and Village Café and Pizza of Berlin.

What: This #GivingTuesday, Crossroads’s goal is to raise $85,000 to move administration, business operations, and Community Solutions staff off campus and increase learning space by more than 6,000 square feet for students at Crossroads School. All contributions will give the school the space to return to full in-person instruction and help the organization serve more people with autism and related disorders.

On Giving Tuesday the Crossroads Community will join together at Virtual Events throughout the day to celebrate what has been accomplished despite the challenges of COVID-19 and thank Community Partners and Supporters. The Assembly and Awards, typically held in the school with all students and staff in the gym, will be LiveStreamed for the entire community at 10am. During the Assembly and Awards, Crossroads will present the Quarterly Staff Award and the Vocational Partner Award. In the evening, Crossroads is bringing back their Social DisDance

When: Tuesday, December 1, 10:00am – 8:00pm

10:00am Opening Remarks
10:10 am Awards
10:25am Closing Remarks
10:30am Awards
5:00pm Social DisDance Party
7:00pm Trivia! Sign up here!

Why: COVID has been hard on all of us. Nobody has felt that more than the parents of children with autism who were forced to become clinicians and educators to ensure their children continued to make progress. Crossroads Staff has risen to the myriad of challenges the pandemic has presented, coming up with new programs for remote and in-person services, managing new social distancing and cleaning protocols, and teaching individuals with autism new skills like mask wearing. Space constraints are holding Crossroads back from returning to full-time in-person instruction for their 69 students with autism and related disorders.

How: To fundraise or learn more about #GivingTuesday, visit: our #GivingTuesday website.

About Crossroads: Crossroads was established in 2002 to provide individualized, comprehensive education and related services to individuals with autism and other related disabilities. Autism, or autism spectrum disorder (ASD), refers to a broad range of conditions characterized by challenges with social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech and nonverbal communication. Crossroads addresses these challenges with an intensive staffing model; all services are provided in a staffing ratio of one direct-care staff to two students/clients or one-to-one. These intense educational and behavioral supports are required due to high rates of challenging behavior (e.g., aggression, self-injury, property destruction) and/or the individual's cognitive deficits and the level of prompting required for learning. Those served by Crossroads at school and through home-based services program require highly individualized curricula to meet their educational and behavioral goals.

In response to our student's needs for a structure routine, Crossroads School operates year-round, providing consistent educational instruction and related services 226 days a year to enhance quality of life and independent functioning so students and clients may reach their full potential. Home-based services are delivered in partnership with clients' families and include parent training so parents can apply best practices in the home and together prevent the need for residential placement. Since moving to Marlborough in 2017, Crossroads has experienced tremendous growth and success. The Marlborough Regional Chamber of Commerce recognized Crossroads as 2018 Business of the Year. To learn more about Crossroads, visit www.crossroadsschoolma.org.