Rehabilitation & Therapy Center

This center, built with funding from the Anschutz Foundation, serves 63 of our children living at our children’s residence. HaitiChildren is one of the few organizations in Haiti that actively accepts children with disabilities into permanent homes. Many of the disabled children who were immobile when they came to HaitiChildren are now using wheelchairs, walkers, or walking without aid. Physical therapy is generally required for those with permanent disabilities and for those who are suffering from crippling diseases such as cerebral palsy. The HaitiChildren Rehabilitation and Therapy Center is one of the very few physical therapy centers in all of Haiti (free of charge), particularly in the treatment of abandoned Haitian children with disabilities. Our goal is to improve the quality of our patients' lives through regular and professional physical therapy.

The staff includes five physical therapy technicians and a Certified Physical Therapist who collaborate with our campus medical staff to provide quality therapy and care in a comprehensive manner. The center is Co-Directed, and the curriculum of care was developed by HaitiChildren Advisory Board Members Bill Fabrocini, International Sports Performance Trainer, and Julie Taylor, PT, ATP.

In 2017 we added services for the surrounding communities. There has long been a stigma in Haiti for mothers with children with disabilities; they live, oftentimes, in the shadows and are usually unaware that there is help and that they are not alone. The opening of the HaitiChildren Rehabilitation and Therapy Center to the community has resulted in the development of a group of mothers with disabled children that discuss and share experiences and hope for the future of their children.