By Linda Delmonico-Prussen
The Ritz Carlton, overlooking Central Park, has long been the destination of the rich and famous looking to enjoy luxury and understated sophistication. However, this particular Wednesday, the Ritz was playing host to group of teens affectionately called the "Ya-Yas."
Accompanied by their parents and group leader Colleen Moseman, the girls arrived at the Ritz and were met by a uniformed doorman. Their cars were whisked away. Becky's mother, Rene Susman, said, "We didn't know where the cars went," adding, "We didn't [ITALICS]care{END] where the cars went."
The young ladies were then shown to a room to freshen up before attending their private luncheon. After soups, salads, finger sandwiches and assorted entrees, they feasted on pastries that looked almost too good to eat. Next on the menu was a tour of the landmark hotel. The girls were awestruck as they were taken to a $1,700-a-night penthouse suite with a sweeping view of Central Park.
The luncheon's finishing touch was the Ritz's "goody bags," filled with hotel slippers, candy, and shampoo and conditioner exclusive to the world famous hotel's salon. A dream luncheon for any group of teen girls, but more than that for the Ya-Yas.
For them the trip was a learning experience. While the girls were taught basic etiquette, such as which piece of silverware to use, they also asked questions of the international staff. Questions like what the requirements are to work at the hotel. The girls were happy to hear that personality and people skills were more important than academics, and that the hotel makes a practice of hiring individuals with disabilities. This was especially encouraging news for the Ya-Yas, who struggle on a daily basis with myriad disabilities.
The group of about six girls was brought together and given its name by Moseman, who's not only the Ya-Yas' group leader but also the director of the Point Lookout-based Long Island Toy Lending Center for Children with Disabilities, or LITLC. The Ya-Yas were named after the book and movie Moseman enjoyed, "The Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood." Their trip to the Ritz was donated by the hotel to the LITLC.
A special-education teacher, Moseman has created a place for children with a wide range of disabilities -- even those deemed medically fragile, who have nursing care -- to socialize and to learn through play. Early in her career, Moseman found that programs disabled children were in during the day were packed with instruction and therapies, such as speech, physical and occupational or fine-motor therapy. There wasn't all that much time for "free play." After school, because they might feel different than the children in their neighborhood, there often wasn't the opportunity for the play dates most children enjoy.
For close to 17 years, Moseman has been filling the social gap many of these children experience.
A Point Lookout resident, Moseman, 44, grew up in Lynbrook. She graduated from Oneonta College in upstate New York with a degree in family life studies before getting a master's in special education. After college, she worked with the families of migrant dairy farmers upstate. Most of them were of Scandinavian descent and came from the Midwest, and their children were classified as "at risk" for not keeping up in school due to frequent moves.
In 1981 Moseman joined the Lynbrook Public School system as a teacher assistant in special ed. In 1983 she spent about half the year working in a Cerebral Palsy Center in Dublin, Ireland. Three years later, while again working in the Lynbrook schools, Moseman heard that the East Rockaway Public Library wanted to institute a toy-lending library for disabled children, and she jumped at the chance to help in its development.
In 1996, with funding tight and the LITLC in need of a new home, the Town of Hempstead found it one for a very nominal rent in a building at the Town's East Marina on Lido Boulevard in Point Lookout. Many members of the Ya-Yas have been with Moseman since her days in East Rockaway.
Colleen's mother, Susan Gregory, said, "It's helped her form some friendships. It's been a really nice experience for her."
The center now services about 50 families throughout Long Island, and has the capacity to serve 60. The families join the LITLC for $50 to $100, depending on their income. There are about 500 toys on site for lending as well as 2,000 toys at the Farmingdale Public Library, where Moseman operates another branch of the center. The center offers an impressive array of services, made even more so by the fact that Moseman is the only paid employee. As Anne Cohn of Lynbrook, president of the six-member board of directors for the non-for profit center, says of Moseman, "She's a one-man band."
Initially Moseman meets with families, going to the homes of children unable to come to the center. She evaluates the children -- their needs, likes and skills they may be working on with other therapists -- and chooses toys to lend families for a month that are appropriate for both having fun and continuing the learning process.
Playgroups have formed more out of circumstance than by design. Moseman noticed that when one child would come to the center to borrow toys as another child was leaving, the children would have a brief unplanned interaction. She thought it might be nice to plan those interactions, and she began to make up small groups for socialization.
The Ya-Yas are the oldest group, in which Moseman tries to help foster both social interaction and the teaching of life skills. One way she goes about this is by having the girls cook lunch for their mothers while the mothers relax and chat.
Another service Moseman offers for families is a monthly respite night at United Methodist Church in Oceanside. For a fee of $2 per head, parents can drop their children from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. and enjoy an evening out. (The respite care includes the families' non-disabled siblings.) Students from Lynbrook High School volunteer to help care for the children.
While Moseman is petite and soft-spoken, her inspiration and her impact on the many who know her are immense. "She has really and truly touched so many people on both sides of the fence, those who are disabled and those who are not," said Cohn.
Lynbrook High School senior Amanda Rosenblum said of volunteering, "It's taught me so much about myself." Rosenblum said she was awestruck by how Moseman gets the children to interact with one another. "It really just showed me this whole other world," she added.
Eleven-year-old volunteer Taylor Ryan of Point Lookout already had a view of that other world. Taylor's mother, Susan, started the New York State Games, now called the Empire Games, for disabled children.
"I help Colleen organize toys," Taylor said. "I help her do stuff with kids, like activities." Taylor said that working with the disabled is probably one of the things she'd like to do when she grows up.
Point Lookout resident and mother Marion Hug said of the center, "It's the greatest thing that can happen for a child. It opens a lot of doors for them." Hug, who has been bringing her 9-year-old son to the center for about five years, says it's a wonderful social supplement.
More than just aiding the children, Moseman's groups allow parents to talk and offer one another support on topics such as their kids' future, guardianship and vocational training. "I've known some of these women for 12 or 13 years," says Gregory, adding, of Moseman, "She's become like a friend of the family."
The Center runs on a shoestring budget, mostly on grants obtained from Assemblyman Harvey Weisenberg and state Senator Charles Fuschillo Jr. Moseman said donations of money or toys, except for stuffed animals, are greatly appreciated, as are volunteers. No training is needed. Moseman stresses that anybody can volunteer, including retirees and teens. She says not all of the volunteering is hands-on with the children, but includes office work and cataloging toys. Those seeking more information can call (516) 889-8287 from 9 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
