2008

Thumbs Up to Lou Castriota Jr. of New Freedom and his planned not-for-profit Leg Up Farm therapeutic facility for special needs children on the receipt of $5.6 million in loans to make the project a reality.

Groundbreaking for the facility in East Manchester Township is planned next year with completion scheduled for 2010. The 18-acre North Sherman Street site will offer physical, psychological, and social therapies for children in a farm setting.

The facility will offer programs, education and advocacy for special needs children and their families up to age 21. Congratulations on working and seeing a dream come true.

OUR VIEW, The York Dispatch

Lou Castriota Jr. said he's waiting for the day when his project of 11 years, Leg Up Farm, will be open, and he'll see children walk through its doors.

"That, to me, is the ultimate moment, (and) that's just around the corner," he said.

On Thursday, Castriota's nonprofit organization received two checks totaling $5.6 million. The money will finance the construction of an all-inclusive physical and occupational therapy center for children with disabilities in East Manchester Township.

Castriota, an advertising executive from New Freedom, began planning Leg Up Farm in 1997 after finding it difficult to shuttle his daughter Brooke to various therapies. Brooke, now 12, suffers from mitochondrial disease, a condition similar to cerebral palsy.

He began speaking with parents and therapists and developed the concept of having multiple therapies under one roof, making it easier on children and their parents. In addition, he thought a farm setting would be the most appealing to children.

Thursday's ceremony saw Leg Up Farm receive $2.8 million from the U.S. Department of Agriculture and $2.8 from York Traditions Bank, Castriota said.

"It was thrilling that after so many years of work, to know that we're going to break ground very soon, and we're going to open our doors in early 2010 -- it's just really exciting," he said.

York County President Commissioner Steve Chronister, who attended the ceremony, praised Castriota's perseverance, calling him a "phenomenal young man who wouldn't give up . . . What a great thing for York County."

By TED CZECH, The York Daily Record/Sunday News

A project 11 years in the making received a leg up Thursday from a federal agency in the form of a $5.6 million loan.

The cash means Leg Up Farm, a not-for-profit therapeutic facility for special needs children, will become a reality by January 2010, said Lou Castriota, Jr., a New Freedom father of four who conceptualized the facility.

Castriota accepted $2.8 million from the USDA Rural Development's state director, Gary H. Groves, along with a guarantee for an additional $2.8 million loan to be disbursed through York Traditions Bank.

The federal loan is fixed at 4.5 percent for a 40-year term; terms of the bank loan will not be available until closing, which is slated for month's end, Castriota said.

The bank also has agreed to finance construction of the 110,000-square-foot-facility and accompanying grounds in East Manchester Township. The financing was the last -- and most critical -- of Castriota's 11-year effort to bring the facility to fruition.

Previous attempts to secure government money were through state programs. And for the money from the state, he was competing with such projects as Sovereign Bank Stadium. Federal officials only began looking at Castriota's concept within the last two years.

All the money he needs for the project is in place, he said.

Groundbreaking is slated for the first quarter of 2009; Castriota said all plans and permits have been approved for the 18-acre site at 4248 N. Sherman St.

Tears, joy: He stood Thursday among friends, family, financiers, legislators and federal officials dabbing his eyes with a handkerchief, thanking all who've helped him realize the dream. Castriota formed the nonprofit in 1997 about one year after his youngest daughter Brooke, now 12, was born with mitochondrial disease, which is similar to cerebral palsy.

Initially, he envisioned an equine therapy center for children like Brooke. But as he talked with parents of special needs children, the idea began to grow until it comprised physical, psychological and social therapies that could be done in a farm setting.

He spoke with health-care professionals who helped him understand that there are facilities throughout the state but most stand alone. Leg Up Farm would offer under one roof therapeutic services as well as programs, education and advocacy for special needs infants to adults up to age 21 as well as their families.

Therapists, family, teachers and volunteers would work as a team, enabling all to compare notes that would ultimately benefit the children they assist, Castriota said.

Life lesson: The project is something two of his daughters, Lauren, 10, and Olivia, 18, say serves as a life lesson.

"Daddy never gave up, he wouldn't," Olivia said Thursday after her father received funding. "He said the community needed it and he was going to do it."

Olivia was 8 years old when her father conceived the project; Lauren had not yet been born and says it's all she knows. The girls said every time they had problems in school or in life, their Dad reminded them of Leg Up, told them to think about how hard he and numerous others had worked to build it.

The girls soon got into the fundraising mood. Olivia made a donation every Christmas, one year giving her father the equivalent of 40 hours' pay from her job at Dunkin Donuts. And Lauren raised some $700 for the cause over the years.

"Until now, we've just been standing out there looking at the grass," Olivia said about the site. "Now, there's finally going to be a building, it's really going to happen."

About the Farm: Leg Up Farm, Inc. will offer tailored programs and services on an outpatient basis for special needs individuals from infants to adults up to age 21. Initial services include physical, occupational and speech therapies; therapeutic recreation; hippotherapy and therapeutic horseback riding; educational Paws for Reading program; and summer day camps.

Learn more about Leg Up Farm by calling 266-9294 or online at www.legupfarm.org.

By KATHY STEVENS, The York Dispatch