Help LilyPad Expand and Sustain Vital Services

We started LilyPad unexpectedly in 2022 based on the need for a different kind of service model for the children and families we worked with in Seacoast, NH, and Southern Maine.

We provide applied behavior analysis services using a trauma-informed, neurodiversity-affirming approach that allows many families to access services through their insurance plans.

We opened our learning center in January 2024 with the idea that, although we specialize primarily in working with autistic children, children across the board need better access to high-quality childcare programming. We believe that when we blend strong early childhood and child development practice with our practice of ABA, we can create a really high-quality, sustainable, and community-building model for early childhood care for children of all abilities.

An essential part of our model is providing staff with health benefits, paid time off, professional development opportunities, and other benefits like low-cost childcare. A major part of sustaining our service model is ensuring that we can pay our staff a true living wage and provide the benefits they need to be able to stay with the company long-term.

Since we have opened, we have seen a significant increase in the cost of doing business, while our reimbursement rates through commercial insurance have remained low. We do a lot of work to make sure that our families can afford services for their children, while trying to keep our administrative costs low by doing the majority of the administrative and billing work ourselves.

One of our major concerns is our lengthy waitlist and ensuring that we have a plan to acquire and manage enough physical space in the short and long term so we can continue taking on more clients and hire the staff needed to operate our service model.

Our plan with these funds is to

1) ensure we can continue to provide fair compensation and benefits to our amazing staff, including bringing in outside organization and support to continue to develop their professional skills and

2) consolidate and reduce our business debt so we can make smart investment choices, including purchasing and expanding our current site to increase the capacity of our early childhood center.

3) secure funds to create an administrative position to manage future growth.

4) work toward forming a non-profit arm of LilyPad so we can more directly support parents with transportation, scholarships & out-of-pocket costs associated with insurance treatment.

We have exhausted many of our traditional means of raising funds as we are a small business and have had to take on debt while waiting for insurance payouts. Our hope is that by raising funds we can come to a place of long-term stability for our clients & staff and continue to expand our offerings.