Young Adult Center Receives $500,000 in Funding

March 2020

Elizabeth Seton Children’s has received two, major $250,000 grants to build the nation’s first skilled nursing facility for young adults with severe and complex medical conditions. The grants, awarded by the Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation and the Griffin Family Foundation, mark a pivotal moment of progress and show that momentum for Elizabeth Seton Children’s urgently needed project is growing.

“We are truly grateful to the Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation and the Griffin Family Foundation for their tremendous support of the Elizabeth Seton Young Adult Center,” said Pat Tursi, CEO of Elizabeth Seton Children’s. “Once built, this urgently needed project will serve as a national model for other communities facing the unprecedented crisis of young adults with medically complex conditions aging out of pediatric care. For the approximately 50 residents at Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center who are within five years of aging out, this is a matter of life-and-death,” Pat said. “Thanks to the generosity of these two benevolent foundations, we have taken a giant leap forward toward building a loving home that can care for these most extraordinary young individuals once they turn 21.”

The Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation is a Yonkers-based foundation created in 1976 by Thomas Carvel, the late founder of the famous ice cream brand Carvel, and his wife, Agnes. It devotes its resources to a variety of projects and programs focusing on children and young adults with disabilities, including hospitals, arts programs, youth and social services and higher education. “We are pleased to once again support the critical work of Elizabeth Seton Children’s and the visionary young adult initiative they are developing for young adults living with medical complexity,” said Pete Smith, President of the Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation. “The staff of Elizabeth Seton Children’s is once again stepping up to address a critical void in our health care system for this vulnerable population and we, at the Thomas & Agnes Carvel Foundation, are excited about being a part of the solution to this crisis,” Pete said.

The Griffin Family Foundation is based in Briarcliff Manor. “One of our soft spots as a foundation is for organizations that try to improve the lives of children,” said Griffin Family Foundation Trustee Colleen Griffin Wagner. “When you talk to the residents and their families about what Seton has done for them – and their concerns about where they will go after – it firms up your dedication to getting this done,” she said.

Serving 169 children, Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center is the nation’s largest and most proficient not-for-profit medical health center for children who live with some of the most challenging medical conditions on earth. The children’s center is facing an unprecedented aging out crisis of young adults who can no longer live at the facility once they turn 21 and they have no viable options for care once they leave. Most end up in geriatric nursing or group homes, which were never intended to serve young adults with high-need medical complexity. Statistics show that since 2012, 30 percent of young adults discharged from the children’s center to adult facilities died in just over a year.

The aging out crisis is playing out nationally as a result of new medical technologies that allow approximately 3 million children with medically complex conditions in the United States to live longer than ever before.

The Elizabeth Seton Young Adult Center will transform the lives of young adults with medically complex conditions through programming, technology and design innovations specially tailored for their needs. To be co-located with Elizabeth Seton Children’s Center in Yonkers, the new facility will be the first free-standing home of its kind in the nation – a licensed skilled nursing facility serving individuals over age 21.

To learn more about the Elizabeth Seton Young Adult Center and how you can support our efforts, please click here.