The Autism Center of North Mississippi sees fundraising impact

Apr. 22--TUPELO -- The Autism Center of North Mississippi remains committed to serving its clients during this time, but with its biggest fundraiser of the year having to be rescheduled due to COVID-19, the organization has been impacted in its fundraising and awareness efforts.

The Autism Center has already seen decreased fundraising amounts during April, which is Autism Awareness Month. To raise awareness, each year the Autism Center launches its "Go Blue" campaign, when people wear blue to support individuals and families living with autism. The Center raises funds by selling T-shirts in April and May. It also receives funds from fundraisers such as the Fairpark Burger Frenzy, the annual Autism 5K and a Blue for Boo fundraiser hosted in Holly Springs. The 5K has been postponed until a later date.

Executive Director Brittany Cuevas said The Autism Center is also concerned about other grant commitments, which are often tied to the economy, being impacted due to COVID-19.

"Overall, fruit will come from this, but it is absolutely scary the drop in revenue that we're experiencing and the drop in fundraising we're experiencing. We don't know what the long term impact will be through grants," Cuevas said. "We could be experiencing a year of impact from donors and fundraising and grants, so we'll need the community support just like any other nonprofit in town."

The Autism Center serves approximately 120 clients every week, with one hour/week to 20 hours/week per client. Many clients have Medicaid plans or private insurance plans that do not cover the cost of services. The organization uses fundraisers to fill those gaps, as well as cover the cost of supplies, positive reinforcements, equipment and toys.

In a typical year, the center receives $35,000 to $40,000 from the various fundraising efforts to help cover services for clients. Because some sponsorship money for the annual 5K came early, the Center is currently at the $20,000 mark this year.

While the center is closed, telehealth is being used to continue providing applied behavioral analysis (ABA) therapy, a one-on-one therapy. The Center has a psychologist, a licensed professional counselor and multiple board-certified behavior analysts that are all able to provide telehealth services during COVID-19. Staff do parent training online and provide some direct services with the clients through the computer.

"It's really going well ... (and) a lot of growth is happening in that process for the staff," Cuevas said. "They're starting to get even more buy-in from the parents."

Cuevas said there are benefits to telehealth, as they can see children at home in their natural environments and make even more progress with the therapy. However, they are prepared to see regression with some clients.

"We know that we can get it back, it's just going to take a lot of hard work to get those clients back to what they were and incorporate what we learned in the process," Cuevas said. "We're hopeful that we're only going to grow from this as a team and we're going to grow in relationship with our clients and their parents."

Despite being closed, Cuevas reported there have been no lay-offs or furloughs among her team of 31 staff members. The Center has also applied for a Paycheck Protection Program loan through BancorpSouth to continue supporting staff during this time.

Because of how telehealth is reimbursed by providers, Cuevas said some of her team members are limited on what they can do. They have more than 20 staff members who are registered behavior technicians who cannot work with clients during this time.

The center will remain closed. The board of directors and clinic director are working to determine the best day to re-open in consideration of state and local government ordinances. Cuevas said there is a need for disinfectant spray and cleaning supplies once they re-open, as they will be following CDC guidelines.

Donations can be made on the Autism Center of North Mississippi's website at https://autismcenternms.com. Cuevas also encourages donations by buying and helping promote #GoBlueMS T-shirts, which can be mailed or picked up.

danny.mcarthur@journalinc.com

Twitter: @Danny_McArthur_

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