Mission & History

It all began in 1983, when two people shared an idea. David Bower and Barbara Jo Hard felt that children with special needs deserved better—and that the Western New York community was in need of a place for children with disabilities to receive the proper care and services. They believed that in the right environment, those children could thrive and achieve more. Soon, that shared idea became Bornhava.

Our first year we had two classrooms in the Harlem Road Elementary School. At that time, we had nine preschool children and six staff members. Due to construction, Bornhava eventually moved to the Park School in 1988. In 1998, Bornhava purchased our present location at 25 Chateau Terrace. There were approximately 160 children, birth to five years of age receiving services at that time.

For four decades, Bornhava has provided evaluation, therapeutic and educational services to more than 11,500 children with developmental disabilities. With our caring and dedicated team of special education teachers, teacher assistants, speech-language pathologists, physical and occupational therapists, social worker, and nurse, Bornhava’s birth-to-five programs provide the children we serve with a solid foundation for their future growth and success.

Whether at home, at our main campus, or at one of our integrated locations throughout the Western New York area, our proven, multi-sensory, play-based approach supports a wide range of children with special needs, including those with Down syndrome, Autism, Cerebral Palsy and other genetic or developmental disorders.

Bornhava also provides unique and beneficial opportunities to their families, too—from parent-team conferences to caregiver workshops, and more—we help families navigate the challenging moments and confusing obstacles in their lives… together.  To us, everyone that walks through our doors is part of our family.

Bornhava’s future is bright! As the need for our services continues to grow, so does our drive to meet the demand. We’re currently planning expansion of our Chateau Terrace building in Amherst, so that we can better provide services to more children. A capital campaign called “Building Their Lives. Building Our Future.”  will help fund this project.

Bornhava is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization that relies on private donations and grants. There is no cost to our families who use our services. Thank you to our community partners and everyone who supports us as we continue helping the children of Western New York!