About Sammy's House · Austin
Sammy’s House is a nonprofit child development and respite care center in Austin, Texas, founded in 1999 to serve medically fragile and developmentally delayed children. It offers day, weekend, and summer programs for children aged 0–16, along with family support services and therapeutic interventions. The organization emphasizes inclusion, diversity, and family-centered care, helping working parents meet childcare needs while supporting children’s learning and development through play-based, culturally relevant environments.
Sammy’s House began in 1999 as a home-based child care center for four medically fragile infants and toddlers. It evolved into a nonprofit agency offering child development, respite care, summer camp, and family support services across Austin and surrounding areas. Their mission includes providing high-quality, inclusive education and care for children with and without special needs, promoting community acceptance of diversity, and supporting families through educational resources and referrals. Services include occupational, speech, and physical therapy integrated into natural learning environments. The organization hosts fundraising events like 'A Night at the Copacabana' to sustain operations and expand services for children and families in need.
- In business
- since 1999
- Serves
- Austin, TX and surrounding area
About Us
Sammy’s House is a nonprofit agency that provides services for children with and without special needs. We operate a child development center, a respite care program, summer camp and family support services to fill the gaps in services for children, especially those who are medically fragile and/or developmentally delayed in the Austin, TX and surrounding area. Our programs serve children 0-16 years old.
Our Philosophy
Sammy’s House believes that all children have the ability to learn and to contribute to the community. We know that children learn best when care and education are provided in an environment that is child-centered, family-focused, peer-oriented, culturally and developmentally relevant and based on pleasurable play interactions. Children at Sammy’s House are provided with the tools and opportunities they need to learn. Special educational services, occupational therapy, speech therapy and physical therapy occur in a natural and comfortable setting. Sammy’s House believes that children benefit from diversity. Children at Sammy’s House learn the values of acceptance, compassion and the art of caring for one another. We believe that we can help our children by promoting public awareness and acceptance in the community on the value of diversity. By doing so, we can make the community a secure and enriching place filled with wonder for our children. Sammy’s House believes that nurturing children and supporting families go hand-in-hand. All programs are developed with and for the family. Sammy’s House provides working parents with the opportunity to meet their child care needs while they tend to the family’s economic well-being.
Our Mission
Provide high quality child care and educational services to children with and without special needs in an inclusive environment in the Austin and surrounding area, Provide family support through educational services addressing issues relevant to child caring of both the special needs and typically developing child, respite care and referrals to appropriate agencies for additional services and Promote public awareness and acceptance in the community on the values of diversity.
Our History
Sammy’s House began in November of 1999 as a family home child care center serving 4 children who were medically fragile. The overwhelming response from parents made it apparent that the need for such care in Austin was great. In an effort to help meet this need, a group of families and concerned professionals came together to form a nonprofit organization, develop a service model and establish a larger centrally located facility that could serve a greater number of families. This new nonprofit – what became Sammy’s House – opened a child development center in March 2002. Our respite care program began in 2003, and our therapeutic equipment loaning program began in 2004. The child development center and the respite care program remain the foundation of our operations. The program quickly met its capacity. In January of 2007, the program relocated to a larger facility.