South Shore Mental Health will soon realize its dream of providing a campus for the children and families of Step One Early Intervention.  To create this campus, South Shore Mental Health is renovating the Mollie Hirshberg and Hilda Mahoney Learning Centers and developing an outdoor play area all located at Moon Island Road in Quincy.

Step One, with this dedicated campus, will be able to increase the number of children and families receiving early intervention, group services, and to improve the quality of care for iinfants and toddlers.

Children will choose activites, play, and interact with peers in the four new classrooms in the expanded space.  Infants with special needs will participate in new specialized services such as infant massage and a parent-child feeding group.  Children with motor delays will enjoy our movement group.

The Jumpin and Jammin Music Room is an exciting new addition.  Music stimulates all of the senses and facilitates developmental skills.  Music therapy addresses physical, psychological, cognitive, and behavioral functioning.

The state-of-the-art indoor Moovin and Groovin play area we are constructing is specifically designed for toddlers to exercise and interact with other children.  The children also will be active in the indoor activity center with a sandbox, play equipment and sport balls.

Additionally, family members will have access to the family resource and training rooms.  Families will have many opportunities to learn skills for teaching their children and to exchange ideas with other parents.

With all programs and services on one campus, staff will be able to devote more time to educating the children.  We will be able to use our resources more effectively by eliminating travel time between existing distant locations.

The children and families will experience a warm and inviting environment as a result of the extensive renovations adapting the campus to the needs of young children.  We also are making major changes to meet modern codes for plumbing, heating and air conditioning.

Our goal is to celebrate the opening of the new campus by September 2008!