Cooke: The Road to Independence

The Road to Independence Campaign for the Cooke Center for Learning and Development is a community-wide effort to raise $10 million to fund high-priority initiatives for the education of children with special needs.  To date, the Campaign has raised more than $8 million.

The Kresge Challenge

The Road to Independence Campaign received a boost in 2008 when the Kresge Foundation awarded Cooke a prestigious $750,000 challenge grant to complete the campaign. Every gift that we receive prior to the challenge deadline of December 2009 will bring us that much nearer to receiving Kresge's award and reaching our final goal of $10 million. 

There are three Campaign priorities:

The Cooke Center Academy - Breaking New Ground ($4,000,000)

The Campaign supports renovations to 60 MacDougal Street, a former parochial school in SoHo that is home to the Cooke Center Academy High School. Since the campaign began we have an installed an elevator and improved handicapped accessibility. The building now boasts a Student Center, a Daily Living Lab and new therapy spaces.

Donor support will allow us to complete renovations at the Cooke Center Academy and complete a transition curriculum that integrates employment and independent living skills with classroom content.

 

Fund for Diversity ($4,000,000)

Cooke remains committed to underserved populations and communities. From the beginning, we have made it a priority to serve any child who can benefit from our programs, regardless of the family's financial circumstances.

Donor support for the Fund for Diversity will allow Cooke to continue to accept students who would benefit from our programs regardless of their families' financial circumstances.

 

Fund for the Advancement of Inclusive Education ($2,000,000)

Funds from the Campaign enable Cooke to support inclusive learning environments for children with special needs, both within our own organization and in the larger education community. 

Donations to the Campaign allow Cooke to continue to foster best practices for inclusive education; provide consultation and training to parents and teachers in underserved neighborhoods; and demonstrate the effectiveness of our programs through applied research.  It will also allow us to continue creating new initiatives with the potential to generate earned income and become self-sustaining.

Please visit our donation page to support the Road to Independence Campaign.