Dinner for DuBard Event at Main Street Caf Hosts Author Patty Roper
Wed, 03/09/2016 - 09:56am | By: Catherine Lott
Main Street Café in Collins is hosting a “Dinner for DuBard” to raise funds for the DuBard School for Language Disorders at The University of Southern Mississippi on Thursday, March 17, 2016 at 6 p.m. The event will feature Mississippi Magazine editor and Easy Entertaining author Patty Roper, who will present excerpts from her book as well as sign copies for guests.
Limited dinner tickets are available for $25 and must be purchased in advance. Anyone interested in purchasing tickets can visit Main Street Café in Collins (119 Main Street, Collins, MS 39428) or call 601-765-3313 or 601-641-0638.
Funds raised from the event will benefit the programs at the DuBard School for Language Disorders. The school serves children with severe language/speech disorders, including the written language disorder of dyslexia, and/or hearing impairments through full-time enrollment, outclient therapy, evaluations, resource/referral services, research and professional development.
Approximately 200 children are served through direct clinical services each year, and more than 400 resource and referral contacts are received locally and from around the country.
There is no tuition charged for full-time enrollment, whereas similar services across the country can range up to $75,000 annually. The outclient therapy program is fee-based on a sliding scale, but the need for services regularly exceeds financial resources available.
A portion of the funding for DuBard School comes from state and federal sources; however, this financial support is insufficient to meet the increasing costs of providing quality, specialized services required for children with language disorders and hearing impairments. Therefore, support from United Way, private donors and fundraising events is needed to continue to keep classroom doors open and therapy available to all who need services.
“It's a privilege and an honor to have Main Street Café host this event for us,” said Maureen K. Martin, the DuBard School's director. “The community awareness and the funds raised will positively impact the lives of the children and families of DuBard School."
Former students of DuBard School have achieved success in their educational years, many going on to graduate from high school and continue their educations in community colleges, universities and vocational training programs. A number of former students are now gainfully employed in various industries such as business, health services, information technology and other work settings, and are living independent and well-integrated lives in society.
DuBard School is also heavily involved in professional development, training other professionals in the DuBard Association Method® – the phonetic, multisensory, structured teaching-learning strategy used at the school. Many teachers, speech-language pathologists, academic language therapists and parents from around the country have learned this research-based method to use in their own professional settings.
For more information on the life-changing activities that happen at DuBard School every day, visit www.usm.edu/dubard or call 601.266.5223.