Suffolk County Needs A Spectrum
April was Autism Awareness Month but the sheer numbers of young people with Autism on Long Island beckons us to examine this complex subject over and over. It is estimated that half a million people on the spectrum will age out of services in the next decade nation-wide. These individuals will needs jobs and housing and additional services after they age out; typically at twenty-one.
The people who conceptualized Spectrum designs were fully aware of this pending needs – the founder Stella Spanakos was the mother of a child with Autism.
Like all parents, all Stella Spanakos wanted for her only son was a steady job and a happy life. Unfortunately, like 1 in 68 children born in America today, her son Nicholas was diagnosed with Autism and instead faced a future shrouded with uncertainty and fear. Such apprehension is understandable considering the dearth of employment opportunities for these individuals with employment rate estimated at only 10%.
As Nicholas approached the time of graduation from high school, his father and Stella’s husband passed away suddenly at the age of 54. Moved to act by this tremendous life change for them both, Stella founded The Nicholas Center for Autism and Spectrum Designs Foundation with the sole mission of providing training and employment opportunities to teens and young adults with Autism.
Spectrum Designs, a social enterprise based out of Port Washington NY, specializes in apparel customization, providing anything from T-Shirt printing to embroidery for team uniforms and a whole range of promotional items. Since its inception in a backyard barn in 2011 Spectrum has been growing rapidly with the support of the local area. Now in its fourth year with its very own 1500 sq ft print shop, Spectrum finished 2014 with over $500,000 in sales and the launch of its capital campaign “Believe”. Patrick Bardsley joined the team shortly after the company opened as he had worked with Spanakos’s son as a camp counselor.
Bardsley laughed when explaining their quality control is second to none. “Kids with Autism tend to be very meticulous in the way they do thing, they are very detail oriented,” he said. His employees will notice the smallest error in an order, like a crease in a sweatshirt or uneven printing. He said the expectations of the employees are very clear and they respond to that. “They find so many things challenging if life; they like to know exactly what they have to do and they like being successful at it,” he said.
“The focus now for our “Believe” Campaign was to look to our employees and their families to better understand what’s important to them and how they live their lives.” said Nicole Sugrue, Co-Founder of Spectrum Designs. “The feedback from our surveys was incredible.” The overwhelming response was that parents and individuals with autism prioritize above all: Employment and productivity, a happy healthy lifestyle and continued enrichment post high school.
Seeing that there was a huge demand for an expansion of their program, President and Co-founder Patrick Bardsley looked to companies he admires for inspiration. “When you look at business models like Google and Facebook, the working environment in the 21st Century is much more fulfilling through a focus on the work-life balance. It is not uncommon to see a gym or social areas within the workspace. It is our belief that this is even more important for our population.”
WHY EVERYONE ON LONG ISLAND SHOULD BE ORDERING FROM SPECTRUM
New York State Industries for Disabled (NYSID) works with companies like Spectrum, known as social enterprises. “By employing people with special needs, we help lower Social Security costs,” he continued. Municipalities are supposed to come to NYSID companies first. “We don’t even have to technically bid if our price with what they paid in previous years or within 10% of market price,” he added.
So this is a no brainer as far as ordering apparel for campaigns, teams, family reunions. Being a NYSID is an excellent thing for Spectrum but the word must get out. Autism advocate and Kings Park mother of two boys on the Spectrum, Kathleen Lanese will be joining Patrick Bardsley and going before the Suffolk County Legislature in September to talk about Spectrum. “We hope the legislators will bring the information back to their constituents so everyone in Suffolk knows about Spectrum,” said Lanese. She says they desperately need jobs opportunities for kids in Suffolk and are hopeful to have Spectrum set up shop in our county as well. “It’s so doable…we just need people to know about what we do, how competitive our prices are, who does the word and that we are a NYSID,” explained. Bardsley
Spectrum is now looking to its supporters and the general community to help them in their expansion efforts through the “Believe” campaign. Hoping to raise $250,000, they have already received a jump start from an anonymous donor pledging to match up to $40,000, and a $10,000 grant from the Doug Flutie Jr. Foundation for Autism. “Someday I won’t be here to take care of Nicholas. Someday all he’ll have is Spectrum Designs and what we’ve built here for him and others like him”, Stella said. “With the support of the community, we can show we all ‘Believe’ in the capabilities of individuals with Autism, and their ability to make their own futures.”
For more information contact Nicole Sugrue on 516-767-7177 or nicole@spectrumdesigns.org