Tice White, Walmart Corporation’s Senior Director of Public Affairs, and affiliate Serena Clark presented a check to Canopy Children’s Solutions in support of Autism Solutions earlier this month. Walmart employs more than 20,000 Mississippians throughout its regional stores and prioritizes giving back to local communities.
“When people shop at Walmart, they are supporting Mississippi,” White said. “We make a concerted effort to give back to our local communities because that benefits not only our employees but also our customers and the community as a whole.”
Secretary of State Delbert Hosemann, who has advocated for increasing autism awareness and helped to connect Walmart with Canopy, heralded the corporation’s generosity.
“What makes this donation special, is it represents the thousands of Walmart employees in Mississippi and their dedication to children in Mississippi,” Secretary Hosemann said.
The donation of $2,500 was given in support of Canopy Autism Solutions which offers an array of innovative solutions for children on the autism spectrum. In 2018, Canopy opened the Center of Excellence in Jackson which includes an early intervention clinic utilizing Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) therapy for children ages 18 months to eight years old. This clinic provides children with intensive therapy of 25 or more hours per week helping to address delays and challenges with communication and language production, sensory processing, motor skills, emotional regulation, cognitive abilities and social skills. The clinic is a leader in the use of the Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge autism curriculum, better known as PEAK. Canopy also has an early intervention clinic in Hattiesburg as well as specialized autism classrooms in its CARES Schools in Hattiesburg and Jackson, which assist children on the spectrum who are unable to thrive in their local schools. All of these programs work toward the goal of allowing these children to attain happy, productive lives alongside their peers with little to no interventions.
“We are so grateful to Walmart for investing in our mission. This donation will help us to continue to innovate and serve more children in Mississippi,” said John D. Damon, Ph.D., Canopy’s CEO. “Secretary Hosemann and his wife, Lynn, have been tremendous advocates for families with autism too. Thanks to their support and the awareness they have brought to this issue, more children have access to quality care and we are tremendously grateful for their partnership and advocacy in all things autism.”
ABOUT CANOPY AUTISM SOLUTIONS: Canopy Children’s Solutions is a leader in autism solutions with comprehensive programs spanning early intervention therapy, educational solutions and ABA solutions for children on the autism spectrum. Canopy Autism Solutions is the single largest employer of board certified behavior analysts, including two Johns Hopkins-trained Ph.D.-level clinicians. Autism solutions are provided through the Jackson-based Center of Excellence, CARES Schools in Hattiesburg and Jackson, and an early intervention clinic in Hattiesburg. The clinic at the Center of Excellence is also an innovative leader for the “Promoting the Emergence of Advanced Knowledge” (PEAK) autism curriculum, currently performing more PEAK assessments and intervention programs than any other clinic in the world. For more information, please contact 800-388-6247 or visit mycanopy.wpengine.com.
ABOUT CANOPY CHILDREN’S SOLUTIONS: Canopy Children’s Solutions is Mississippi’s largest and most comprehensive non-profit provider of children’s behavioral health, educational and social service solutions. Founded in 1912, Canopy offers a full array of integrated, community-based services in all 82 counties as well as intensive campus-based and educational programming. For more information, please contact 800-388-6247 or visit us on the web at mycanopy.wpengine.com.