FOND DU LAC—The SSM Health Greater Fond du Lac Region is partnering with Moraine Park Technical College to open the new 8,500-square-foot SSM Health Treffert Studios. The new building will expand clinical services and programs offered by SSM Health Treffert Center, which opened in 2016.
The Treffert Studios builds upon the legacy of autism and savant syndrome expert Dr. Darold Treffert and will help young adults develop skills to secure gainful employment, with a focus on strengths and neurodiversity. The $2.75 million project, located at the corner of Highway 23 and National Avenue, is scheduled to open in early summer 2022.
“Many individuals with neurodiverse skills remain under employed or unemployed,” said Meg Puddy, Treffert Center autism services manager. “The promise of a studio in partnership with Moraine Park is to leverage individual and community strengths in order to increase opportunities for individual and community productivity and long-term economic health.”
The Treffert Studios will create a space for such activities as:
- Performances, speaker events, art gallery, and healing garden;
- Producing music, videos, talk shows, and video game streaming groups;
- Innovative mental health care with new multimedia-based treatments;
- Training and educating Wisconsin’s mental health workforce;
- Cultivating critical life skills including social communication and creative self-expression.
The Agnesian HealthCare Foundation is supporting the Treffert Studios with a $250,000 gift.
“The studios will provide a brick-and-mortar location as well as a global platform for creative media opportunities in which people will be free to express themselves, develop vocational and executive functioning skills, practice social skills and make friends while being surrounded by support and in a safe environment,” said Tara Geier, co-leader of the Leaders in Creative Media group.
The Treffert Studios is the next step in strategic expansion and growth of the Treffert Center portfolio of services, which includes the Treffert Academy, Treffert Clinic, Treffert Autism Services, Treffert Library, and a consulting relationship with the School District of North Fond du Lac’s charter school—the Treffert Way for the Exceptional Mind.
It is anticipated that the Treffert Studios will create 20 to 30 part- and full-time positions.
For more information, visit treffertstudios.com.
