A Generous Offer for Leg Up
3/30/2001
Thumbs up to Barbara Warren for giving the proposed Leg Up Farm a … well, a leg up.
Warren, the owner of a large piece of property off North Sherman Street Extended in East Manchester Township, has agreed to allow the proposed rehabilitative center to build a 77,000 square-foot building on her land and use her 200 acres.
It’s an incredibly generous gesture, especially when seen against the backdrop of large property development proposals that have been in the headlines of late.
Warren’s gesture is all the more remarkable.
And if the planned “Leg Up Farm” meets expectations, it will be a truly remarkable facility.
The man behind the proposal is Lou Castriota, Jr., who for four years has worked to establish a farm-based therapeutic and rehabilitative facility for children and young adults with special needs.
His quest began with his 5-year-old daughter, Brooke, who has mitochondrial disease, a metabolic disorder similar to cerebral palsy.
As Brooke underwent various therapies for her condition, it occurred to her father that there was no local facility that could offer all the physical therapies she needed at one location. So he decided to create a facility that offered many different therapy options – in a farm-like setting.
The planned Leg Up Farm will feature physical, horse, aquatic, speech, art, music, recreational and occupational therapies in a place that offers pastures, nature trails and woodlands.
The facility will consist of a two-story main building, stables, an indoor riding arena, a pool and a gymnasium, along with a tranquility garden to be shared with nearby Starview United Church of Christ.
The farm will employ some 25 people, including administrators, therapists and assistants.
In his search for a site (which at one time focused on the county-owned Horn Farm), Castriota met Warren last year, and she offered to allow the use of her 200-acre property for the venture.
She says her partnership with Leg Up Farm will demonstrate her “firm belief that being close to the land and all the elements on it promotes healing.”
Indeed.
Now all they need is money.
In the past year, Leg Up Farm has received a $60,000 community development grant from the state Department of Economic Development. But the facility, which Castriota hopes to have in operation by 2004, will require $7.2 million to build and another $1.8 million to operate the first year.
Thumbs up to state Sen. Mike Waugh for adding the project to the state’s capital budget proposals for a matching grant of $4.5 million. But Leg Up can’t get that money unless it raises $4.5 million first.
Here’s hoping local residents will be as generous in donating to this nonprofit venture as Barbara Warren was in donating the use of her property to help children heal. For more information on how to contribute, call 843-8341.
Our Views, The York Dispatch