MIDDLETOWN — A farm-based Middletown nonprofit dedicated to educating teens and adults with autism is proceeding with initial steps to expand facilities and programming.
OASIS TLC’s Transitional Residence/ Adult Independent Learning (TRAIL) Center, which is located on a 7- acre parcel on the former Coe Estate site on Sleepy Hollow Road, has been a huge success since its inception in May 2012, according to Executive Director Mai Cleary.
Currently, the TRAIL Center is home to four residents in the four-year transitional program, with eight or nine part-time students enrolled in the day program, Cleary said.
“[The TRAIL Center] is for young adults with autism coming out of high school who need to learn how to live away from home,” she said. “They also learn vocations in farming, agriculture and the environment.”
The TRAIL Center was established through a public-private partnership between OASIS TLC, formerly Impact OASIS; Middletown Township; Monmouth County; the state; and a number of private contributors.
Through the TRAIL Center, OASIS TLC promotes farming skills as a means of future employment for students, but a permanent residence would be a step up to the next level, Cleary said.
“We need to expand already, because our residential piece is going to be full next year,” she said.
The TRAIL Center runs from September to May every year, with some summer programming in between. But Cleary said a growing concern is where graduates will end up when they complete the program.
“After the four years as a resident, where do they go to next?” she said.
Cleary said the program needs to expand in two ways: the residential piece of the TRAIL Center, and a bigger farm to which the graduates can relocate.
People from all over the state have begun to express interest in the TRAIL Center program, prompting the interest in expansion, she said.
While the larger farm is probably more than a year away, more immediate updates include two greenhouses, according to Cleary.
“We’re staking out the area … to put in two different types of greenhouses,” she said. “One is a [geodesic dome], which is the most sustainable greenhouse on the market.”
Sustainability and energy efficiency fit nicely with OASIS TLC’s “green living” philosophy, Cleary said, adding that solar panels are affixed to the top of the dome.
The second greenhouse will be a more traditional hydroponics greenhouse.
The greenhouses will allow OASIS TLC to increase its farming operation, which provides financial resources for the program, Cleary said.
It also presents an opportunity to teach students new skills, which can lead to employment after the program.
She added that her son, who participates in the TRAIL Center program, was recently hired to work at a New Jersey greenhouse.
“We want to support them,” Cleary said. “We don’t want them to feel like a drain on society or to feel useless. Nobody wants to feel useless.”