Eden Autism Services is going ruby red for its 40th anniversary gala
By Anthony Stoeckert
As Eden Autism Services begins its 40th year of helping improve the lives of people with autism, it is appropriate that the theme of its “Eden Dreams” gala, titled “A Ruby in Winter.”
That’s a fitting name because the gemstone is used to mark 40th anniversaries. But there’s a lot more to the ruby than the red that meets the eye. And the more the people at Eden thought about it, the more they saw in the ruby that makes it an ideal symbol for what they do.
Peter Bell, president and CEO of Eden, which is based in Princeton, said the ruby represents love, energy, and richness of life, all of which describe what Eden does for people with autism.
”We thought about how one of our initiatives is about creating a very rich life for the participants that we serve,” Mr. Bell said. “Whether it’s a 3-year-old child who just recently has been diagnosed with autism, all the way up through participants who are in their 60s and 70s who live a rich life because of what we do on a daily basis.”
This year’s gala is set for Jan. 17 at the Hyatt Regency in West Windsor, beginning at 6:30 p.m. According to Eden’s website it will feature tastings and samples of “life’s finest luxuries.” It will begin at 6 p.m. with cocktails, followed by dinner and dancing at 7:30 p.m. Dress is “creative black tie.”
The gala also will honor Miele Inc., the appliance company, and Marie K. Gary, who is on the Eden board and has a son who attends Eden.
”Eden has changed my son’s life as well as his siblings’ and my husband’s and mine,” Ms. Gary said in a press release from Eden. “Nothing that I could do for Eden as a member of the board or a donor could ever match the gifts that my family and I have received from the dedicated staff, senior leadership and board of trustees. I am deeply grateful for this honor and will continue to do all that I can for Eden’s students and adult participants.”
Mr. Bell noted that the gala is a special one as it marks the beginning of Eden’s 40th year.
”We’re very excited to be celebrating four decades of being one of the leading autism service providers in the country, and particularly here in the Princeton area,” he said. “The Eden Dreams event itself has a long lineage of wonderful evenings of community spirit and raising money on behalf of our mission.”
Mr. Bell said that Eden has grown over the years, partly because many of its participants have gotten older and aged out of Eden’s school system to become part of the adult services system, which includes housing and other services.
”We are now serving about 200 participants on a daily basis between our school and our adult services,” Mr. Bell said. “Of course, the rate of autism has grown significantly over the last four decades. When Eden was first founded in 1975, the rate of autism was probably close to one in 5,000. Today in New Jersey, the rate of autism is about one in 50.”
He added that because autism is more common in boys than girls, one out of 28 boys in New Jersey has autism. According to Eden, autism is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the U.S., and there is no medical detection or cure for it.
”Unfortunately we still don’t know exactly what the reasons for that increase are,” Mr. Bell said. “Some of them have to do with increased awareness and better diagnostic tools and the broadening of the definition of what autism is.” But he also said that scientists attribute only about 50 percent of the increased numbers to increased awareness, with the other 50 percent being unknown.
”It’s a huge, huge increase,” Mr. Bell said. “And Eden has grown with that increase but we’re very much focused, not necessarily on the number of people that we serve but really the quality of the services that we provide to the participants that we do serve. But 200 individuals is quite a few and we’ve been very fortunate to be in a community like Princeton that has done a wonderful job of supporting this organization over so many decades.”
While Eden receives funding from the state and school districts to pay for tuition, Mr. Bell said it needs more money to fulfill its goals, and the annual gala is a big part of that fundraising.
”Unfortunately, the quality of our services is greater than what we end up getting from the state so we need to supplement that through fundraising efforts like the gala,” he said. “We also do a 5K during the summer over at Princeton Forrestal Village, and we also do a golf tournament.”
Through those key fundraisers, Mr. Bell said Eden raises about $2 million. He added that Eden completed a campaign that raised $7.2 million to help fund a portion of its school off Route 1 next to Princeton Forrestal Village that opened a few years ago. A portion of that campaign also went to support adult services, according to Mr. Bell.
”The community is certainly much more aware of what autism is today than it was 40 years ago,” Mr. Bell said. “But I would say the Princeton area probably has always been aware of autism because of the fact that Eden has existed here in this community for so many years.”
One benefit of the heightened awareness is an increase of employment opportunities for adults with autism.
”Our participants have shown time and again that they are very capable of having jobs,” he said, adding that Eden has a relationship with Wawa that dates to the 1970s. The Princeton Wawa has employed several members of the Eden community, including two who have each worked there for more than 30 years.
”We’re very proud of that… We also have four new adults participants with jobs at the Hyatt, who have been working there since March and we’re very proud of their placements,” Mr. Bell said. He also said that an adult participant at Eden recently started working at Miele, which is sponsoring the gala and will be receiving a Visionary award during Eden Dreams.
”We want the community to understand that people with autism are very capable,” Mr. Bell said. “That they can be very productive, and that we provide wonderful employment opportunities for them, and we’ve been the beneficiary of that for many years.”
The 2015 “Eden Dreams Gala” will take place at the Hyatt Regency Princeton, Jan. 17, 7:30 to 11 p.m. Tickets cost $350. For more information, go www.edenautism.org or call 609-987-0099.