The Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities

I am always asking for suggestions for topics for the blog. I’ve had multiple friends suggest that I cover the Tammy Lynn Center. It is an amazing place. The focus of the center is to help children and adults with developmental disabilities. These disabilities range from mild learning problems to more extreme cases of cerebral palsy and beyond. As with so many other charities I’ve covered, it takes very compassionate people to work at the Center.

On Sunday, March 7th, the Tammy Lynn Center will be hosting it’s 25th Annual Toast to the Triangle, a fundraiser held every year in an effort to help fill the gap between public funding and the cost of caring for a very special part of our population. Click here, for information on this event.

What is the Tammy Lynn Center?

The Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities was founded in 1969 by the parents of children with special needs. Since its humble beginnings housed in Greenwood Forest Baptist Church in Cary, the Center has moved to its location on Chappell Drive in Raleigh and grown to include day services, residential programs, respite care, and educational services.

According to its website, 

The Tammy Lynn Center for Developmental Disabilities offers education, residential and family support services to children and adults with special needs. The Center's goal is to provide the individuals it serves the opportunity to maximize their abilities in a loving, nurturing environment.

The Tammy Lynn Center exists to help people with disabilities and their families from early childhood well into adulthood. Children as young as age three with learning disabilities are provided compassion and encouragement as teachers help to bring them up to the speed of typical children their age. Those with more complex conditions are taught as many of the basic skills necessary to daily life as they can handle on their own.

This wide range of services brings with it a wide range of needs and volunteers. The Center encourages individuals, corporate groups, civic groups, and even school groups to volunteer their time. For more information on how, click here. They do ask that before you volunteer as an individual, you consider how much time you can commit to the Center. By volunteering to help the children and adults on campus, you are volunteering to create a relationship with them. Being able to donate your time on a consistent basis is an important consideration.

If you can’t volunteer, there is always the possibility of being a donor. Again, the facility does get some reimbursement from government entities to fund its work, but not enough to fully cover day-to-day operations. They have a few fundraisers per year including the above-mentioned A Toast to the Triangle as well as their 2nd Annual Ride for the Tammy Lynn Center on Saturday, June 26th and the 7th Annual Tammy Lynn Golf Classic on Monday, October 4th. For more information on these events, please check the website’s “Events” page.