By Molly Lovell
Staff Writer
    Jim DeCamillas, director of the Morrison Development Center, hopes to break ground this August on the center’s new Scarborough building, located on seven acres where the Pleasant Hill Golf Course used to be on Chamberlain Road.
    The center currently serves approximately 80 children and adults with various disabilities at locations in Portland and Scarborough. Since 1976 the center has provided education and support services to those with developmental disabilities including cerebral palsy, neurological disorders, seizure disorders, head injuries, autism and genetic disorders. Children without disabilities are welcomed to enroll in the center’s preschool program.
    DeCamillas said the new 28,000-square-foot building will allow clients exposure to all of the center’s programs, offer a smoother transition as clients get older and “graduate” to other programs and offer a greater level of community integration.
    “It’s moving right along nicely. We are still in the middle of our capital campaign, with our goal of raising $2.5 million,” DeCamillas said.
    The center needs $15,000 to meet their campaign goal. In addition to the center’s capital campaign, they received $2.8 million in funding from the Maine Health and Higher Education Facilities Authority.
    DeCamillas anticipates a July 2009 opening and also anticipates the center will be able to serve 25 to 30 percent more clients. In addition, he expects a 10 to 12 percent increase in the number of staff.
    The center serves a number of different types of individuals from those with major mobility and disability issues to those people with disabilities who need help with practical life experience, such as cooking and understanding money management.
    “All of our consumers have personal goals they work toward,” he said.
    The center has preschool and school programming as well as a strong community integration program where clients learn “street skills,” and practice activities such as going into stores and making purchases and engaging in volunteer work. 
    “In all fairness, there are other programs out there like us, but we have a specialty niche for those who are medically fragile,” he said.
    DeCamillas said the center provides occupational and physical therapy for non-ambulatory clients to keep them limber. They also work closely with wheelchair vendors and families they serve to design a model for individuals who need it.
    “They fabricate the new wheelchair for an individual and that way [the family] doesn’t have to go to a medical supply place,” he said.
    DeCamillas also said staff help families understand various paperwork for insurance companies.
    “They are not going to get all those services in one spot. This way, we do everything in one shot,” he said.
    DeCamillas said the new facility will include a treatment room where staff will be able to observe and provide evaluations for both children and adults. He also said there will be increased opportunity for volunteers to answer phones, help with landscaping and work in classrooms.
    Old Orchard Beach resident Evelyn Bell-Pennisi’s son, Zackary Bell, has been a client of the Morrison Development center five days a week for six years. Bell, 31, has cerebral palsy and “major” mental retardation. Bell-Pennisi said he is non-verbal and non-ambulatory.
    “He needs total assistance,” she said, calling the center a “God send,” for her son.
    Bell-Pennisi moved to Maine from Michigan seven years ago when such programs were seeing severe cuts, she said.
    Bell-Pennisi said her son is involved in cooking and arts classes and goes on field trips. He loves sports and is able to play adapted versions of basketball and baseball.
    “They [staff] are so creative. It’s really very impressive,” she said.
    Bell-Pennisi and her husband work in the field of social work and said the Morrison Development Center is unique in that they try to meet the individual client’s needs and also keep them active on a daily basis.
    “The best thing I have found, having worked in the field, is the staff has been consistent. There’s not a turn over there,” she said, adding, “Since Zack is not verbal, they have come to really read him. They know if he just isn’t right or not feeling well.”
    Bell-Pennisi said she believes the center is a safe and accepting environment for her son.
    “The majority of the [general] community is not that nice and accepting. Some professionals say this population should be more integrated into the community more, but I don’t think as a society, we’re there. Here, he has his community and friends but is integrated too, he has the best of both worlds,” she said.
    Bell-Pennisi said she is comforted that Bell will never have to leave the center, and called the new building a “miracle,” considering tight budgets and difficult economic times.
    “When they start digging in August, I’ll be crying. This population deserves to have something very special like this,” she said.