Madison Program for Kids With Special Needs Celebrates 40 Years

A Madison organization created in the 1970s to give children with special needs an opportunity to participate in after-school activities celebrated its 40th anniversary this year.

EPOCH, which was started in 1973 by a group of parents and supporters, marked 40 years by recognizing the Madison Area YMCA, which has hosted the organization's activities since it launched, and with a proclamation from the borough.

The parents and supporters who launched the organization "created Educational Programs of Children Handicapped (EPOCH), a program that has now, through the generosity of people like you, served developmentally disabled children ages 6 to 21 in the Madison area for 40 years," the organization's website says.

The program is directed by Eileen Giordano and run with the help of high school and college volunteers. EPOCH activities include crafts, swimming, cooking and music.

At an anniversary celebration in May, EPOCH presented a financial contribution and plaque to the Madison Area YMCA in recognition of its years of support and EPOCH President Cathy Kerris thanked the YMCA for hosting the program.

“We are here to celebrate EPOCH, but also to salute our sponsors with the Y at the top of the list,” she said. 

Madison Borough Mayor Bob Conley, who is also vice president of operations at the Y, presented EPOCH with a borough proclamation naming May 31, 2013, as EPOCH Day in Madison, and thanked the EPOCH board, instructors, parents and volunteers for their work on behalf of children with special needs in the community.