The Jewish United Fund of Metropolitan Chicago and its affiliate, Jewish Child and Family Services, are building a state-of-the-art facility in West Rogers Park to house JCFS’ expanding programs for children and adults with special needs.

The new building, which will be known as the Cooper Center, is being made possible with a lead gift from the Abe and Ida Cooper Foundation.

“We are very excited about creating a facility that will leverage our resources in support of individuals with special needs and their families,” said Howard Sitron, JCFS president and CEO. Construction of the new center, which will be located adjacent to JCFS’ Joy Faith Knapp Children’s Center in Chicago’s West Rogers Park neighborhood, will begin this spring. The campus will be named by the Jules and Gwen Knapp Family Foundation in memory of Esther Knapp, grandmother of Joy Faith Knapp and JCFS Board Vice Chair Sue Schulman.

The Cooper Center will be owned and managed by JUF through its JFMC Facilities Corporation.

“Supporting the most vulnerable members of our community is one of JUF’s top priorities. We are thrilled to support a new space that will be uniquely designed to meet clients’ needs,” said JUF president Dr. Steven B. Nasatir.

Neither school nor clinic, the Cooper Center will serve as the new home of JCFS’ Virginia Frank Child Development Center, Encompass, and Integrated Pediatric Interventions (IPI), along with a host of expanded services for people with special needs-including residential supports, respite care, and the JUF Legal Advocacy Center.

“The facility has been carefully planned as a departure from an institutional ambience by incorporating as much natural light as possible and making the facility comfortable and welcoming,” said Stacey Shor, JCFS Vice President and Chief Development Officer. “We planned the Cooper Center using design elements for people with special needs, considering best options right down to paint color. For example, we have selected a shade of pale green for our treatment rooms that is shown to be especially calming for children with autism spectrum disorders.”

Such a feat could not be accomplished without the support of architects who truly “got it.” Enter: Mike Breclaw and Katie Lambert, of OKW Architects.

“We wanted to create a quality of indoor space that was almost an additional therapist in the way that it serves the clients,” Breclaw said. “We saw the building as client-focused, with good staff support-good connections between the two and also good separation between them.”

“Right now the various programs have distinct lines of communication,” said Beth Wyman, senior director for Services for People with Disabilities at JCFS. “With Cooper’s opening, there will be better communication across programs. The open workspace will facilitate effective conversation ultimately benefitting our clients.”

The center is slated to open in 2016.

Sneak Peak inside the Cooper Center:

Green campus: Environmentally-friendly green design is expected to earn the Cooper Center LEED Gold certification. Special features will include a green roof, photovoltaic solar panels reducing energy dependence, and a native plant nature path and observation area.

Family Lounge : Space for clients and families to relax, re-charge and re-energize in comfortable surroundings.

Conference Center: Flexible rooms with high-tech audio-visual equipment and an outdoor patio, suitable for trainings, meetings, and social/recreational activities.

Administrative Wing: Open work stations fostering collaboration within and between programs.

Client Wing: State-of-the-art therapy gym, consultation rooms, the Virginia Frank Child Development Center Daily Room, therapy kitchen, patio with a teaching garden and even a Snoezelen Room -a specially designed space based on unique Dutch techniques to help individuals with autism spectrum disorders and other developmental disabilities regulate their responses to sensory stimulation.

Cooper Center Services

Services for People with Disabilities
Information and referral for people with disabilities and their families, support groups, socialization opportunities, residential supports, and more.

Respite
Short-term relief to families caring for children and adults with special needs, offering a supportive, nurturing and therapeutic approach.

Integrated Pediatric Interventions
Speech-language, occupational and developmental therapists and social workers work with infants, toddlers and children who are experiencing developmental delays using cutting-edge therapies, integrated multidisciplinary treatments and plans and therapeutic peer groups.

Virginia Frank Child Development Center
The Virginia Frank Child Development Center, a nationally recognized pioneer in the field of family-centered child development, offers a continuum of preventative and therapeutic services for families of children from birth to six years Services include a therapeutic nursery, counseling and support services as well as consultation and professional trainings.

Encompass
Encompass creates powerful partnerships among existing service providers, community members and organizations to plan and coordinate the provision of services and supports for Jewish adults with Intellectual/Developmental Disabilities, including a place of their own to live, meaningful day options including employment, and social recreational programing.

JUF Legal Advocacy Center
Attorneys specializing in Special Education, Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities and Adult Guardianship offer legal services to children and adults with special needs and their families, information and referral services and community education.

Several highly visible naming opportunities for the center are still available. For more information, call Stacey Shor at (312) 673-3212, or Donna Kahan at (312) 444-2827.