Non-Profit Organizations Merge to Expand Services, Advocacy for Children with Autism

(February 9, 2023, Pittston, PA) — Frank Bartoli, CEO of NEPA Inclusive, Pittston, and Becky Worthy, board member of Turn To Us, Nesquehoning, announce the recent merger of the two non-profit organizations to expand services for children with Autism and their families throughout Northeastern Pennsylvania.

Founded in 2015, Turn To Us is a non-profit agency based in Carbon County that operates a sensory gym for children with Autism. The organization also provides advocacy for individuals living with Autism and their families by offering personalized assistance and connection to available resources in a compassionate and hopeful environment.

The sensory gym is a specially designed space that helps individuals with Sensory Processing Disorder learn to regulate their brain’s negative reactions to external stimuli by developing coping skills for these experiences. The sensory gym offers a variety of benefits: calming effects, stimulation, socialization and improved focus. Children utilizing the gym experience improved motor skills, cognitive, and sensory development, all under the supervision of highly trained staff. Equipment in the gym includes an interactive ball wall, a sensory castle, three rock climbing walls, monkey bars, a slide, a tunnel, a variety of swings, a bubble tube and hand-held sensory toys.

“The merger allows Turn To Us to build upon its success serving children with Autism and their families by expanding into the 12 counties covered by NEPA Inclusive,” said Worthy. “We are excited to bring NEPA Inclusive’s programs to Carbon County and to expand our sensory gym into their service areas.”

NEPA Inclusive, a 501c3 charitable organization, operates in Berks, Bucks, Carbon, Columbia, Lackawanna, Lehigh, Luzerne, Monroe, Montgomery, Northampton, Northumberland, Pike, Schuylkill and Wyoming counties. Founded in 2013, it operates a series of services through the PA Office of Developmental Programs IDD waiver system and PA Office of Vocational Rehabilitation employment services, in addition to Rental Assistance and SMART technology initiatives. Its unique person-centered approach to inclusion provides people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and Autism the most inclusive life, including working in local businesses, living with their families, and living in their own apartments.

“We are thrilled to be working with Turn To US, an organization that has done so much for so many in such a short period of time,” said Bartoli. “Adding Turn To US to our existing platform of support services will allow NEPA Inclusive to expand our outreach to a younger population and into the Autism community. It will also allow us to replicate what Turn To Us has created in other regions, where those services are also vitally needed.”

For more information on the Sensory Processing Disorder and the services offered by Turn To Us, or to reserve time in their sensory gym, visit their website, turntousinc.org.

For more information on the services offered by NEPA Inclusive, visit their website, nepainclusive.org.