Special Kids Therapy & Nursing Center recently re-opened the doors of its original facility to become the Kleinau Nursing Center located at 202 Arnette Street in Murfreesboro.

The Kleinau Nursing Center is named in memory of Special Kids' co-founder, the late Dick Klienau, and in honor of his wife, Angie Kleinau.

"It was out of gratitude and honor that the Special Kids Board of Directors elected to name the original Special Kids facility after Dick and Angie Kleinau," said Chris Truelove, executive director of Special Kids. "Their selfless, sacrificial act, along with their daughter and son-in-law, Carrie and Rob Goodwin, set this ministry into motion with the foundational base of service through the love and compassion of Jesus Christ."

The remodeled facility now houses Special Kids' unique professional nursing program for children who are medically fragile from birth to 21 years. The pediatric prescribed skilled nursing (PPSN) program provides families with a safe, loving environment for their child to receive medical care during daytime hours.

The nursing center is also home to Special Kids' recreational therapy and peer modeling programs. Recreational therapy is provided to each child receiving nursing care. The therapy uses play activities to help children reach developmental milestones and enhance daily living. Special Kids' therapeutic educational and medical monitoring (TEAMM) program offers peer modeling through inclusion of typically developing children with children in the nursing program. TEAMM provides activities and curriculum to help children learn and develop cognitive and social skills. Currently, the TEAMM program is only open to Special Kids families and staff children with plans for expanding in the future.

The remodeled nursing center is the second half of a recent building and expansion project at Special Kids. The building project was funded by a $1.6 million grant from the Christy Houston Foundation and several other contributions from local individuals and businesses. Special Kids opened its new 7,000 square foot therapy center at 2208 E. Main Street in September 2014. The nonprofit's nursing services temporarily operated out of a local church while Special Kids' original facility was remodeled. The expansion project has more than doubled the organization's physical space allowing it to serve twice as many children in years to come.

Special Kids is a Christian therapy and nursing center for children with special needs. The Murfreesboro-based ministry started with one child in 1998 and has grown to serve over 2,700 children from 18 counties in middle Tennessee. For more information on Special Kids, please visit specialkidstn.com or call 615.893.4892.