The Therapy Place adds three new board members
June 10, 2024
As The Therapy Place, Inc continues to expand in size- it’s also expanding in hands, adding three new members to the Board of Directors.
“We have so much going on, adding to our Board allows us to reach more of the community, more ideas, more potential funds and therefore impact more children’s lives,” shared The Therapy Place executive director, Dawn Darby.
Faye Kuperman, Senior Echocardiographer at the Medical University of South Carolina, is mom to two adult daughters who each have the diagnosis of Fragile X syndrome. Having Board members with children who have medical diagnoses is nothing new for the TTP board of directors; however, having children who are now adults brings on a whole new mindset for the Board. We have children who have attended services at TTP since they were preschoolers and are now teenagers. Their parents are starting to think about jobs, graduation, living situations. We need to make sure we include all ages in our plans.
Faye Kuperman, Steven Ferrufino, and Ginger Ervin
Steven Ferrufino holds a doctorate in professional counseling and has built a career at such agencies as the Department of Social Services, Department of Health & Human Services, and Epworth Children’s Home. Ferrufino’s knowledge of issues affecting the same children that The Therapy Place serves will prove invaluable as we educate families on available services and strive to fill in the gaps in the special needs community.
Ginger Ervin has been a “TTP parent” for 6 years including sharing her family’s story on the Therapalooza stage (TTP’s annual circus gala fundraiser, now in its 10th year). What she experiences on a daily basis, how her community includes her daughter in activities including public education and area recreation, allows her to speak for many of our families as she leads the Board’s Program Committee, focused on new initiatives and innovative programs. Ginger’s full-time job is pharmacist with the Dorn VA Medical Center.
Ever-growing and adapting, The Therapy Place first board of directors signed the 501c3 application in 2008. The Board has supported the financial and administrative needs of The Therapy Place from opening the center in 2011, to now providing services to more than 180 children and their families, programs not found elsewhere in the midlands (therapeutic preschool) or state (TheraSuit Method).
For a full list of The Therapy Place Board of Directors, visit: https://thetherapyplace.org/about-us/board-of-directors/
About The Therapy Place, Inc.
Dawn Darby, Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Therapy Place, Inc., and Susan Abell, Co-Founder, sought programs for their sons with cerebral palsy and could only find those innovative services hours away from Columbia. They both thought the Midlands could do better, and in March of 2008, they formed The Therapy Place as a nonprofit, 501(c)3. After two years of fundraising and providing therapy camps at Trinity Episcopal Church and Trenholm Road United Methodist Church, a permanent facility was found in the current location in Forest Acres.
The vision from the start has been to see that all children with special needs will have every opportunity to pursue their goals, realize their dreams, and reach their full potential. We offer physical, occupational, and speech therapies for children with special needs and developmental delays.
We provide a year-round therapeutic preschool program for children ages 3-6 who have developmental delays. We provide family field trips, educational workshops, support groups, respite, and so much more as a wrap-around service for our families.
Lastly, we offer the TheraSuit Method, an intensive physical and occupational therapy program for which we are the only SC provider and LSVT Loud for Kids, an intensive voice treatment.
