About
AABR: Our Mission
Dear Friends:
Our gratitude goes out to those who have made our progress possible. Your friendship, loyalty and good will have inspired us to meet the challenge of every new decade.
The year was 1956. There were no facilities available to teach the multiply handicapped, blind and severely retarded even the basic skills of daily living. There were only warehousing institutions. Among the countless numbers of anguished, frustrated parents, six were determined to find a way to make a better life for their children. As Robert Frost wrote, they "...took the road less traveled by and that made all the difference." And the road continues....
Today, AABR, with a devoted staff of five hundred, is dedicated to the principles of quality care and personal growth. As an organization, we are sensitive to the special needs of the handicapped. Our staff encourages, teaches and inspires where ever there is a hint of talent to reassure timid attempts and applaud successes.
We are determined that each person in our care reach his or her highest level of capability. Past reflections inspire us to future visions. Our ideology is "To strive, to seek, to find and not to yield."
We look forward to the future with confidence and vision.
Christopher Weldon Jr.
Executive Director
Agency Profile
Historical Overview:
1956-
Parent founded, non-profit, city-wide organization to serve severely retarded and blind children.
1966-
Pioneered New York City's first day school for blind and severely retarded children.
1973-
Pioneered the first community long-term residence in Queens.
1978-
Expanded residential facilities from one to five homes throughout New York City.
1978-
Established the first Day Treatment Center in Queens.
1981-1990-
Expanded residential facilities to include five additional homes.
1986-
Opened the second Day Treatment Center.
1991-
Family Services Program initiated.
1992-1998-
Expanded residential facilities to include three more additional homes.
1993-
Year-round recreation home opened on Long Island's North Fork.
1994-
New York Child Learning Institute (NYCLI), a school for children with autism, opened.
1996-
Adult Day Treatment Center moves to its permanent home in St. Albans, Queens.
1997-
Treasure Box, a thrift store run for and by the disabled, opens in Jamaica, Queens.
1999-
Treasure Box II opens in College Point, Queens.
2000-
The opening of Wellington Hall, then a Day Treatment and Rehabilitation Center.
2003-
AABR opens its 19th residence.
2006-
AABR celebrates its 50th Anniversary (1956-2006)
