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U.S. Rep. Albio Sires was honored by The North Ward Center tonight during its 40th anniversary gala for his support for families with autism.
Michele Adubato, the executive director of The North Ward Center, said the congressman played a pivotal role in helping to launch the Center for Autism, which opened earlier this year to serve urban families with autism.
“Albio Sires recognized the critical need for services for urban families living with autism and wanted to know what he could do to help,” Adubato said. “His early support was crucial in getting the Center for Autism off the ground.”
The Center for Autism runs a variety of programs for adults with autism, most of whom have nowhere else to turn. The Center also runs parent training workshops and professional development training and plans to offer evaluation and referral diagnostic services, case management and benefits advocacy, coordination and family support counseling. The Center recently applied to the state Department of Education to open the Forest Hill Charter School, which would be the first charter school in the state to exclusively serve students with autism.
“The real tragedy is not that we have the highest rate of autism in the country, but that urban parents aren’t being served,” Adubato said. “With the congressman’s help, we are able to now provide the kind of services that will make a dramatic difference in the lives of urban families with autism.”
The congressman said he was honored to receive the award from The North Ward Center on its 40th anniversary.
“During the last 40 years, The North Ward Center has run fiscally sound programs that have provided educational, cultural, and meaningful social services to urban residents,” Sires said. “I’m confident that the Center for Autism will continue that tradition in serving some of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
A Democrat who represents New Jersey’s 13th Congressional District, Sires was elected to the House in 2006. He previously served as New Jersey Assembly Speaker and mayor of West New York.
In addition to the Center for Autism, The North Ward Center runs Casa Israel Medical Adult Day Care, the North Ward Child Development Center, a Family Success Center and the largest privately run recreation program in the state. The North Ward Center also founded the Robert Treat Academy Charter School, a Blue Ribbon K-8 school with two campuses in Newark.
The North Ward Center’s annual million-dollar gala, held at the Robert Treat Academy, was attended by more than 300 supporters. Funds raised at the gala will support the Center for Autism.
"More than 40 years after we got started, we are still growing," said Adrianne Davis, the co-founder of The North Ward Center. "It's a testament to the quality of services we offer and our commitment to serving families in Newark."
