$3.4 Million to Help Fund CSUN Facility

Cal State Northridge and U.S. Rep. Howard P. “Buck” McKeon plan Monday to announce the securing of $3.4 million in federal and private funds toward creation of an aquatic therapy center to expand the university’s services for the disabled.

President Clinton is expected to sign a federal budget bill Monday that will provide $1 million for the Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled at Cal State Northridge.

The university already has raised about $900,000 in private donations and an additional $1.5 million in matching donations is forthcoming, said David Foy, a spokesman for McKeon (R-Santa Clarita).

“Congressman McKeon is hopeful this federal contribution will be more than matched by private donations,” Foy said Friday. “Mr. McKeon was very moved by the courage and determination of the disabled clients using the facility and wanted to do all that he could to help them.”

The center serves 600 people a year and there is a list of 100 people who wait an average of two years for treatment. While providing services for the disabled, the center also fulfills an educational mission--training advanced or graduate students at Cal State Northridge.

The proposed 10,000-foot facility would include four specially designed therapeutic pools.

The Center of Achievement for the Physically Disabled was created in 1960 to help people with multiple sclerosis, osteoporosis, arthritis, the aftereffects of strokes, and other debilitating conditions.