Jake Owen Foundation Makes $25,000 Donation to Scott Center in Vero Beach
Country Music Star, Indian River County Native Helps Hometown Facility
MELBOURNE, FLA. — The Jake Owen Foundation, established by country music star Jake Owen, has donated $25,000 to the Vero Beach location of Florida Institute of Technology’s Scott Center for Autism Treatment.
Born and raised in Vero Beach and a product of Vero Beach High School, Owen still has family living in the Indian River County community. He returns every year to hold a concert there to benefit his foundation.
Established in 2010, Owen’s foundation is focused on assisting children in Indian River County and nationally who are battling cancer and other childhood diseases. Owen has been a supporter of Autism Speaks and St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital as well as many other charitable causes impacting children.
Funds raised in large part from Owen’s October 2014 concert are benefitting the university’s autism clinic in the Sunshine Physical Therapy Building, 1705 17th Ave. in Vero Beach. They will be used to cover the costs of diagnosing and treating children of families living in Indian River County who lack the financial resources to afford diagnostic and treatment services and who may be uninsured or underinsured.
“We were thrilled to be able to bring our services to the families of Indian River County when we opened the facility last July,” said Scott Center Executive Director Michael E. Kelley. “Thanks to the generosity of the Jake Owen Foundation, even more children will now be able to utilize our center. We look forward to welcoming them and their families.”
The Scott Center facility in Vero Beach opened in July 2014 thanks to startup funding from Impact 100 of Indian River County. The clinic seeks to help mitigate the effects of autism on children and caregivers; offer nationally-recognized, state-of-the art, evidence-based therapy; broadens community understanding about Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD); and offers a formal network of peer and other support for families whose children are affected by ASD.
Services also include assessment and treatment of problem behaviors, pediatric feeding problems, toilet training, and other behavioral issues that are often experienced by children with autism and related disabilities.
Families seeking diagnosis or treatment for their children should contact the Vero Beach clinic at 772-444-2674.
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About the Jake Owen Foundation
The Jake Owen Foundation is a not-for-profit 501(c)(3) organization. Founded in 2010, the foundation was created to offer its support on a national level to children battling cancer and other childhood diseases while also lending its support to youth organizations and various charities in Owen’s hometown area of Indian River County, Florida. The local organizations benefiting from the annual Jake Owen Foundation Benefit Concert assist youth with illnesses, shelter, food, education, health and fitness, the arts and the opportunity to better themselves through various programs and organizations.
Through Jake’s association within the country music community, he has had the opportunity to visit children and families at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, who are benefiting from the extensive research and patient care the hospital provides. Once a patient is accepted, St. Jude covers all the medical costs beyond those covered by insurance, and families without insurance are never asked to pay. St. Jude also provides transportation, lodging and meals for one parent and child.
For more on the foundation, visit www.jakeowen.net/charity. For details on the annual Jake Owen Benefit Concert, call C & H Events at 561-394-9190 or visit www.chevents.com.
About The Scott Center for Autism Treatment
The Scott Center for Autism Treatment on the FIT campus in Melbourne, Florida, was founded in 2009, and made possible by the generous support of Cheryl and Ed Scott, the Eckerd Family Foundation, other private donations and public funding. The Center operates within Florida Institute of Technology’s College of Psychology & Liberal Arts and administers services for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and their families, ranging from parent education to structured behavioral therapies. In addition to serving children and families, the Center serves as a “teaching hospital” for graduate students, with supervision by doctoral-level faculty, and offers community training to schools and other organizations. Visit the Scott Center on the web at www.thescottcenter.org/.
