Leg Up Farm to build at Penn National

(Fayetteville) — A center offering therapies to children with special needs will build on 15 acres donated by the developers of Penn National in Guilford Township.

Officials officially announced the project on Thursday.

Leg Up Farm, a nonprofit based in York, will build the center just off Mont Alto Road. Founded in 1997, Leg Up Farm claims to be the only facility in the nation to provide physical, occupational, speech and aquatic therapy, counseling services, therapeutic horseback riding, nutrition services and educational and recreational programs under a single roof.

The farm has a waiting list of more than 300 children even though more than 1,750 have received services since 2010.

Leg Up in 2014 added vocational and day programming services for young adults and adults. Thirty high school students and 30 adults currently attend the special programming at a former commercial greenhouse.

The farm in Franklin County is expected to employ 25 to 40 people. It is to coordinate services with local school districts.

Guilford Township officials recently approved zoning changes for the project.

A capital campaign aims to make the Franklin County site free of debt by the time it opens.

Leg Up does not limit the number of Medicaid recipients it serves. The nonprofit also provides scholarships and sliding-scale payments for clients.

Louis and Laurie Castriota founded Leg Up in 1997 as a nonprofit. A farm in Mount Wolf was donated in 2001 to the organization, and in 2010 Leg Up Farm opened. A Wellness & Education Center was added in 2013. An organic grocery opened in 2016 in York to support the farm.