In 2019, Alyce Morris Winston, founder and CEO of The Jeffrey Foundation was honored with a “Trailblazer” Award from the Los Angeles Business Journal Women’s Council & Awards for her foresight, persistence, and dedication to serving children with special needs and their families. On May 4, 2022, The Jeffrey Foundation celebrates its 50th Anniversary.
Winston started the Jeffrey Foundation in 1972 from her dining room table with the desire to give her son, Jeffrey, who had muscular dystrophy, a better life. After quitting her job as a model and makeup consultant for Max Factor, Alyce began to develop a grassroots program to provide special needs children with activities and outings they could enjoy. These outings, which instilled a sense of pride and accomplishment in youths with special needs, also provided their families with much-needed companionship and support.
“I started the Foundation really out of need,” she said. “When I came to Los Angeles, there were no childcare facilities for children with special needs, such as my son, Jeffrey. So I started one specifically for children like him. I quit my job, and it became my life’s mission, and I have no regrets about that. Since its founding, we have served thousands of children with special needs and disabilities in Los Angeles, providing vital services to them that would not otherwise have been available.”
For 30 years, the Foundation’s main headquarters at 5470 W. Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles served special needs children aged infant through young adult and their families. Through high-quality programming and support services, the Foundation assisted both the child and the family to successfully meet the challenges posed by developmental disabilities, autism, multiple handicaps, Down’s Syndrome, in utero drug exposure, crippling accidents, poverty, abuse, abandonment, and neglect. The Foundation also extended its services to typical children through its inclusion programs and offers parenting workshops.
“In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic served as the impetus to expand our programs to an online platform offering sing-a-longs, story time book readings. We’ll also be offering online learning and counseling, arts and crafts programs, health and fitness programming, and other valuable programs to complement our in-person offerings,” said Winston.
With changes to our business model due to the pandemic, and the implementation of the Foundation’s online, national reach through Special Child USA, the close of 2021 marked the Foundation’s move to their new home at 5443 W. Washington Boulevard in Los Angeles.
“The core motto of the foundation has always been, ‘Working together to provide greater fulfillment for special needs children and their families.’ And we have done just that in the 50 years that we have been operating,” said Winston. “Now that the pandemic has changed the way the world operates, the Foundation is changing along with it, providing not just in-person services at our headquarters for children with special needs and parents but through remote services offered virtually. We will create a virtual classroom via the internet through our newest program, Special Child USA, reaching out to children with special needs and their families in all 50 states. We will extend our impact that much further, helping across the United States.”
In 2019, Winston published “To Jeffrey with Love: The Heartwarming Story of a Mother and Her Special Needs Son,” sharing her journey with Jeffrey and founding The Jeffrey Foundation. The book is now available on Amazon and Barnes & Noble.
For her pioneering role in the social service community, Winston is the recipient of numerous honors, including the City of Los Angeles Mayor Commendation, Child Care Innovator of the Year, American Mothers Inc. California Mother of the Year, National Philanthropy Day Founder Award, Association of Fundraising Professionals Outstanding Fundraiser Award, and Children, and Youth & Families Angels Over LA Award.
Find out more at TheJeffreyFoundation.org.
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