Youngstown, OH: $2M renovation to expand autism center

Oct 9, 2026, Warren, OH, Business Journal:  Rich Center for Autism Celebrates $2M Renovation

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – The Rich Center for Autism invited its founders, board members, Youngstown State University partners and community members to tour its newly renovated basement in Fedor Hall, marking the completion of the second phase of its Building for Tomorrow campaign.

The nearly $2 million project transformed the Rich Center’s lower level into usable space. About 25% of the project was funded by the state, with the remainder covered by private donations.

The new space is vital to the Rich Center, said Michael Latessa, executive director, whether it is used for professional development, student dances or programming for parents of children with autism.

During Thursday’s celebration of the new space, Latessa pointed to the groups of teens and young adults in the room who are on the autism spectrum. 

“This is for them,” Latessa said, drawing applause from those gathered in the room. “With a diagnosis rate of 1 in 31, there are more children and young adults like them that do not have the opportunities that they do. And we have to look at those waiting lists and look at those numbers in a different way. We have to be strategic.”

Latessa said when a child is sitting at home and does not have a spot in an autism program, they still need intermittent services. And with the new space, the Rich Center will be able to help children and families figure out what their next step should be.

The new space, which can also be divided into two spaces to accommodate two needs at once, will allow the autism center to open up more opportunities for more people to receive services and information.

“Having flexible space, having the support of a state university, being able to partner with so many departments on campus allows us to expand and look at new ways to service the autism community in the future,” Latessa said. 

Established in 1995, The Rich Center for Autism started with a year of talks and culminated in one room and three students, according to Geri Kosar, one of the co-founders, but she said they hoped it would become so much more.

The other co-founder is Phyllis Ricchiuti Kosar was on hand for the opening of the basement renovation project Thursday.

“It just kept on moving,” Kosar said about the progress from the center’s beginnings more than 30 years ago. “There’s so many children that are in need. It’s just unreal. I hope we find out what is causing all this because it’s a whole generation now.” 

As autism diagnoses continue to rise locally and nationally, the Rich Center for Autism continues to work with YSU to prepare students to understand and support people navigating life with autism.

Kosar said the partnership with YSU is important because students don’t necessarily stay in Youngstown when they graduate.

“They spread the word,” Kosar said. “They spread the knowledge that they’ve learned, and so that is a good thing.”

Both YSU faculty and students work with The Rich Center for Autism. YSU President Bill Johnson said the needs of each autistic child are different, so having the flexible space in the basement of the Rich Center will allow its programing to ebb and flow with those needs.

“Until my wife and I became associated with the Rich Center, and with some of the other autism focus groups here in the Valley, I didn’t realize how prolific it is, but it is a real issue. And I’m just really glad that we’ve got a group of people here at Youngstown State in collaboration with the Rich Center,” Johnson said. “We’re trying to do our part to enrich the lives of those that come here.”

The second phase of the three-phase project also included repairs to the building’s heating ventilation and air conditioning systems. 

The first phase, which began in 2020, added an independent living lab where students could practice skills for living on their own, along with roof repairs. An elevator was added to provide easier access to the second floor, where the independent living lab is located, as well as the newly renovated basement.

Latessa hopes the third phase, mostly cosmetic improvements to the building’s interior, the classrooms and technology needs, will be in the future for The Rich Center, but he said it will require additional fundraising. More than $3.5 million was spent on the first two phases.

Latessa said that when work on the third phase begins, the basement space will allow classes to be relocated so the work can proceed.