The Frazer Center was founded in 1949 as a school for children with cerebral palsy, and currently serves kids and adults with a wide range of delays, disabilities, and differences, as well as typically developing children. Today, inclusion is still at the core of the Frazer Center’s mission, but its delivery has evolved.
While the Frazer Center has only been a client of Pro Bono Partnership since 2019, it has utilized PBPA’s workshops, webcasts, and online resources for many years. According to Chief Executive Officer Paige McKay Kubik, the Frazer Center especially benefitted from PBPA’s guidance during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic:. “The Frazer Center is so grateful to have such incredible resources to call on to provide guidance on ongoing and emerging questions and to flag issues we weren’t aware of. Very few organizations have a legal counsel on staff, so it has been great to have an organization so familiar with the issues faced by nonprofits.”
The Frazer Center offers support for a variety of ages and needs, including an early childhood education program that serves children aged six weeks to five years old. The program provides early education, school readiness, and childcare for working families. Approximately 20-30% of the children in the program have a developmental delay or disability. The inclusive setting provides challenges, motivation, and role modeling for the children with delays or disabilities and teaches the typically developing children that while everyone is different, everyone belongs.
For older adults with intellectual disabilities, the Frazer Center provides support with the skills they need to be active decision-makers and advocates for themselves. The Frazer Center partners with local organizations and businesses to provide tailored support for each individual’s goals including job search assistance.
During much of the pandemic, the Frazer Center continued providing services, including childcare for essential workers, virtual services, and small-group outdoor programming. Additionally, to combat staffing shortages, the center started an internship program for refugee women in partnership with PBPA client Refugee Women’s Network. The women spend 16 weeks as paid interns shadowing lead teachers, improving language and communication skills, and receiving training in child development. Upon completion of the internship, the women may accept full-time positions with the Frazer Center.
Some of the PBPA volunteer attorneys who have worked with the Frazer Center include: Christine Kim (Ballard Spahr); Adrienne Wimberly, Thomas Ryan, Abigail Castleberry and Samantha Smith Lewis (Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP); Charlie Morgan and Andrea Galvez (Alston & Bird LLP); Devaan Bernard (The Home Depot); Karyn Heavenrich (Equifax); Elaine Tapp (Alston & Bird LLP); Justin Victor (Greenberg Traurig) and Scott Cahalan, (Smith Gambrell & Russell, LLP).
