Room to grow: Elijah's Retreat celebrates, breaks ground on fourth cabin

Apr. 17—Elijah's Retreat, a non-profit organization providing a quiet retreat for children on the autism spectrum and their families, broke ground on their fourth cabin in a special event April 15, which included barbecue from JW's and drinks provided by Chick-fil-A.

"We're so excited, so humbled," said Cheryl Torres, director of Elijah's Retreat.

The fourth cabin will be constructed by volunteers, according to Torres. Trestles LLC, a construction company located in Jacksonville, is providing volunteer labor for the project. Unassociated individuals will be volunteering as well, according to Torres.

The cabin will have two bedrooms and two bathrooms and should be completed and put into service by late summer or early fall.

Two of the cabins already in use consist of two bedrooms and a single bathroom. The third cabin has two bedrooms with one-and-a-half bathrooms. Each of the facilities has a queen-sized bed in the master bedroom with two twin-sized beds in the children's room. Each cabin also includes a full kitchen and a washer and dryer.

All activities at the retreat are included with the cost of the cabin rental. Guests can feed chickens, horses and ponies, hold the rabbits or Nigerian Dwarf goats and gather eggs from the chickens. Children can experience mini-equine therapy and learn basic horsemanship. There is also a one-acre, fenced-in playground to be enjoyed.

The opening of a fourth cabin will allow Elijah's Retreat to serve an additional 80 families per year, according to Torres.

"We launched our calendar this year in January for the 2021 season and within 24 hours we had 164 reservations," she said. "I immediately had all my weekends booked, most of the summer booked and I had to add 11 families to the wait list on the first day we opened the calendar. That tells you the demand."

Torres reported she has to turn away approximately 60 families per month. There are currently 35 families on the waiting list, people willing to come last minute in case a reservation is canceled.

With the fourth cabin now officially underway, Torres is already planning a fifth cabin to better meet demand, with $25,000 raised for Cabin 5.

"We have families coming from Austin, Dallas, Houston, as far away as Tennessee," she said. "I've got families calling me from the east coast because there just isn't anything like this out there for families.

"I'm totally humbled by the support of our community and just totally humbled by how much this really means to these families."