Emerald Coast Autism Center to break ground on facility for "Transition-to-Work" program

Special to the Northwest Florida Daily News/USA TODAY NETWORK
·2 min read

NICEVILLE — A public groundbreaking is scheduled for the Emerald Coast Learning Center, a new building located next to Emerald Coast Autism Center at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville.

The event starts 5 p.m. Wednesday at the center at 100 College Blvd.

Students in the Transition to Work program have been training and working at jobs at Northwest Florida State College. A groundbreaking is scheduled Wednesday for the Emerald Coast Learning Center, a new building to be next to Emerald Coast Autism Center.
Students in the Transition to Work program have been training and working at jobs at Northwest Florida State College. A groundbreaking is scheduled Wednesday for the Emerald Coast Learning Center, a new building to be next to Emerald Coast Autism Center.

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This second facility will provide a safe, structured learning environment for the nonprofit's Transition to Work (TTW) program and its academic classrooms. TTW is a pre-vocational program through the Florida Department of Education in partnership with NWF State designed to teach older students job skills for future employment.

Plans include a 20,000-square-foot building connected to the current facility. NWF State partnered with the nonprofit and the project was also funded by donations from the Destin Charity Wine Auction Foundation.

The new building also will expand the nonprofit's academic classrooms.

"We are so excited for this next phase of ECAC,"  said Heidi Blalock, CEO of Emerald Coast Autism Center. "The new building will help us grow with our students and their families by providing a space designed specifically to meet the needs of our vocational and academic students."

Emerald Coast Learning Center (ECLC) will offer specialized facilities for vocational training, including a commercial kitchen, a laundry facility, Light It Up Brew (the organization's student-run coffee shop), a car wash and more.

TTW students will continue practicing job skills in-house before heading out on campus or other community partner job sites. ECLC will also house several academic classrooms for students on track to graduate from ECAC and continue with their education at other local public or private schools.

"Transition-to-Work is a great opportunity for our clients,"  said Patrick Mills, ECAC's Transition-to-Work coordinator. "Each day our students practice vocational skills that will help prepare them for meaningful employment. The program focuses on independence, social skills development and frequent changing of routines to better assist in the transitions to the workforce."

Currently, students work on campus in the following departments: Receiving (mail sorting and campus vehicle washing), Kay Litke Culinary Arts Greenhouse (planting, harvesting, and maintenance), athletic facilities (cleaning and organizing facilities), and the Mattie Kelly Arts Center (ushering at performances).

The organization has plans to focus its current facility on younger students receiving one-to-one Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy services.

More information about Emerald Coast Autism Center, including the organization's services and ways to support the cause, can be found at www.ecautismcenter.org or by calling 850-279-3000.

This article originally appeared on Northwest Florida Daily News: Emerald Coast Autism Center breaking ground on new learning center