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i_ cf} . ([ 0 -'r 'li . 101 t-.br icrc a Srr c ct Bldg. T . M. Parham r: i; ~- li ~..u. ,, .•7· b- j t\tl. ,n t;-i , G eorg ia 30W3 c · J·uly 1 6, 1959 E:-c:c uriv c t\dm ini s tr"t o r Ivan Allen, ·Jr. , President Allen Foundation, Inc 29 Pryor Street, NE Atlanta, Georgia 30303 Dear Mr. Allen: This is a direct appea l to Atl.an·'.:::a area civic c l ub3 · and. . phila nthr opic f oundat ion thou9ht t o h ave som,~ concert1 fo ::'.:' ths w 12lfar e o f th e young peop l e li vin9 in Oilr c or:rm11::1ityo '11 ;1ro~J.gh my work as EOA cons ult an t in me ntal re·!:ard a tion and .3pecial ed.u::ation I have :b 12c ome aTr-1a re o f th 12 l a rg"" n um]Je:::- o f m,3::1.tal ly r etard ed chi ldren re3idiwr in EO_'\ t arg e t areas who are not r e:::::e i ving ad s q :.:iate .3 er v ice3 from area ::,ge :.icies re sp,: msible for tbs c a r e of these children. received .3 -s i:vice from a11.y agencyo .s i tu a t io;1 o Many area children h ave never To ;:ns , th is i s an incredib l e Perhaps as a profess io~a l p erson I have b e 8 n too f ar r e:nov 2 .::l. f r ')7l reality to fe s l t he urgency of the:~ :'l(~ed th ese chi l dren h a v e for tr a inin3 in s e l f - c a re skills. Aft er eva lu - atinq the p r o:J ra1.n s a n d c ommu nity fac i li t i es f o .:. t h e r e t ard·s d, I am we ll awa r e of th-8 d s,1perat e sit uation f asinq the3.3 neJ ~ l ec: t ed c hild .reno T.:1.e public s c:.1.0 0.ls can care fo:r only a �-2 - fr a ct i o o:1 of o ur ment a lly retard2d ~hildre::i ; private c oTTun·.mity agencies prov id e p.r ogr a~ s · for e7en sma ll er gro'J.ps, and · thi s l e aves mos t of o'J.r c::1iJ.d ren. wi th no prb,JTam s of any kind o I fe e l th a t eac}1 of th e fm:trt e,3n EOA Neighborhood S ervic e Centers sho'J.ld have at l eas t on e p r o,:1-ram ser vi ng fro:11. tw,.3lv2 t o fifte.3::1 n ,2 ighborh.::>od chil dren. At this time , only four o f th e Centers h ave proJr ams and two of thos ,3 are f o:.:- th-2 current sumner only. Econo:11i c Op,;;:,ortuni ty Atla:ri·':a, Inc o, has no fun::ls for this speci fic area of n eed . Th e i r c ont r ibution thus f ar ha s baen i n the form of s.e:::iio:c Aides , Neighborhood Yo'J.th Corps tra in.e es , su rp lu.s food com.nodi ties and tr a n s p o rtation services provid9d by individu a l Ce nt ers. Ea c h Cent er probably has suffici e:::it f lex ibl e funds to spons o r a n e i ghborh.'.) o d p ro gram for the ::nentally ret a rd ed , h o~eve r , due to the o rga nization structure of N,eighbo:ch.:)od Se:i::vi c e Cent ers too l it t l e t i m.:::. is l e ft b e fo:.:-e the co:T1.m i t tme:it of 1969- 7 0 fu nds to fully info :".:'rn e ad1 3-:ro,rp of the urge n c y o f n ee ::l for thi s p 3rticul ar kind of service pro:Jram~ 'I '~,is makes it n ecessary to s2,:)k oth 3r s,:m rce .s of fu nd .s for staffing to in s u re th e .ext e::1 ,3ion ,.:)f some o f o:1r establish e d progra.:'tls beyond this s ··..1.rt1tn1;.r o By bud,; et p l anning time for 1 970 - 71 a ll Centra l N·~ighbor}1ood Action Com"Tli tt ees wi ll h.e throuJhly fa:."Tli li a r with th e necessity of establishin3 �-3 - neighborhood pro:::sra1.n s fo r t hei r rn en Lc1. l ly retard ed ::::hildre::1~ An add jt io~al so~ rce of funds for th 3 cani ng fi~ca l y8ar is t h e Geo rg ia State Dapartme nt o f Public 3 e alth - th e ag e~:::: y w~1ich i s l ega lly ch arged wj.th t he r e .3 pO!Lsibi l ity of p ...:-ov iding s e rvic es for t hese chi ldren. In thG meantime , if eve~1 a f ew of th e many t arget area chi ld ren needing servi c es a re to b e served , civic organi z ations , church g r o~ps , and p r i vat 0 fo~~- d a tions need to provid e fin a nci a l s:ipport wi t h wl:lich to staff n e ighborh:::>:::>d p r o 3rams fo :'.'.' the cu.rrent fiscal y ear o I firmly believ e in th e concept o f loc a l r espo~sibility for loc a l pro gr ams and the s i tu a tion regardin-3 the care of mentally retarded childre;-i in th is community i s a s evere loc a l p roble::n. If I h ava ~ een emot ional I do not apologiz e. My sense of p r ofess ion a l and pe rson a l inte grity is outr aged by such n eglect and \v2. ,3 imp l y 1 rn·.1 s : not a llo,v thi s to cont i nue o Plea s2 do every - thing po ss ibl e to -'.~nable th e econo::nic a lly d ·~prive d areas o f Atl an.ta to st aff n:;ighbo rhoo:1 pro1rai:ns for th e i r ment a lly .c e :: ard e d childre::-i. E:".lclo s .3::J. i s a p~ogra:11 'tv1.1i ch ,::o;?'_/ o f a prop:isa l for a s:na ll n ei ghborh,:,:id can ::>G fol lowed b y any sponsor i n3 a :re.::-1cy w.i. th eno·J.9~.1 c oncern for mentally re t ard e d c;.1ild.rven to initiat e ac:tio n to pro7ide th e~ wi t h th ~ s erv ices we t ak e for gr a nt ed for ou r O'iln children. duri ng- th 3 w,22k I will b e ql ad to m·~<;;t with your g roup anytime to answer any qu ,9 stion.s you or th ey might h a v e abo'..1t th-~ propo.;;al, and discuss ways in which your gro:J.p might: �-4- make a soncre t~ contribut ion to the wa lfa re 6£ our gro ss ly 11,33lected ln e::i.ta lly re_t ard e ::J chi l dr e ::l c Since:r-ely, Enclo s ure JDZ/bh �