Building a special place for special needs children

With hope, all things are possible, said Paula Kavolius of Walpole. And the project she has founded, the Yawkey House of Possibilities, being built on donated land at Stonehill College in Easton, will offer hope to families with special needs children.

Kavolius is a member of the Volunteer Information Agency of Milton, and a parent of a special needs child. She saw the need for programs for families like hers, a place for special needs children to go for the day or overnight, to give the family a break from constant care and a chance to take care of themselves. She founded the nonprofit in 2003. Stonehill agreed to give the program 2 acres on its campus for a $1 lease, and with the help of donations and in-kind services, the project got underway last year and should be up and running by June 1.

"What we're doing is being done 100 percent privately; it's a total grass-roots initiative," said Kavolius, a Westwood native, of the project that will cost $1.8 million when completed. "Especially with the state cutting back on social services, it's critical we keep this private funding intact."

She said the project will be the first of its kind in the nation built on a college campus and, if successful, could serve as the model for others around the country.

The 11,000-square-foot facility will provide day programs, and some overnights, to special needs children. Kavolius said social service organizations will refer children to the program.

Her son, Timothy, who is 12 and nonverbal, "is our greatest gift - he brings more joy to our life than challenges," she said.

But caring for Timothy is tiring for her and her husband, she said. "I won't lie about that, but that's what I'm trying to address with this project. It shouldn't be like that." Parents should get time to take care of themselves as they take care of their children, she said.

The Yawkey Foundation is the main sponsor of the project, she said. Stonehill College, City Lights Electrical Co. of Canton, Granite City Electric of Quincy, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, and the Knights of Columbus of Massachusetts are the main sponsors, all giving money and/or in-kind services and material, as have many other local businesses.

"In this world, with all the cutting and slashing, it's important for private people to dedicate their lives to better it," she said. "We can't be leaning on the state anymore, we have to try to solve some of our social issues ourselves."

For more information, visit www.houseofpossibilities.org.

TAKING THE INITIATIVE IN TEACHING: Nitzan Resnick (inset), director and founder of the New Science and Math Initiative at the South Area Solomon Schecter School in Norwood, was named one of 68 winners of the Grinspoon-Steinhardt Awards for Excellence in Jewish Education. She is a visiting professor at Harvard Medical School and has won honors such as the Brigham and Women's Hospital Faculty of Medicine Award and a teaching award from Technion Medical School in Haifa, Israel. She earned her bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees from Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

GOOD DEEDS: Steve Minsky, owner of the closed Pilgrim Furniture store in Plymouth, donated more than $24,000 worth of the store's remaining furniture items to Habitat for Humanity of Greater Plymouth. These items are for sale at the agency's retail outlet called ReStore, at 72 North Main St., Carver. Proceeds from the ReStore go to the local Habitat chapter's efforts to build affordable homes for local families in need. . . . The Stoughton-based chapter of the Knights of Pythias Humanitarian Foundation gave $250 worth of canned food to the Ilsa Marks Food Pantry in Stoughton. . . . The student council at Sacred Heart High School in Kingston sponsored a series of events to raise money for needy families this past holiday season that racked up $2,000 to purchase gifts for six families that were delivered to My Brother's Keeper in Brockton.

BUSINESS BRIEFS: Occupational therapist Midge Hobbs (inset) has been named December Employee of the Month at New England Sinai Hospital in Stoughton.

Matthew B. Kreiser has joined South Coastal Bank in Rockland as a commercial loan officer, and Timothy P. Rhuda has joined as a senior vice president in the bank's commercial lending group. Both recently worked for the Bank of Canton.

Paul E. Kandarian can be reached at Kandarian@globe.com.