In the name of a sister

Ronda lived with a genetic disorder that prevented her from expressing herself.

But through her years of inability to live a normal life, something simple made her happy: gazing at a television set in her room that showed images of natural scenery, like ocean waves or a sunset.

Ronda, who died at age 42 after battling tuberous sclerosis complex, a disorder that left her developmentally disabled and unable to care for herself, also enjoyed looking at family photos.

“It gave her a lot of peace during the last months of her life,” said Julia Cohen, Ronda’s sister.

Now, after seeing what it did for Ronda, Julia Cohen, 29, and their mother, Adrianne Cohen, have come together to help individuals with developmental diseases experience some of those simple pleasures in life themselves through visual therapy.

The Cohens are working to recreate that experience for residents at the Fairview Developmental Center in Costa Mesa, where Ronda spent most of her life.

Before Ronda died in August 2007, the Cohens began working with the center to establish Ronda’s Dream Center, a visual therapy center in her honor, which they hope will give residents there a better quality of life.

Fairview center welcomed the idea and donated a trailer on the site to be transformed into a visual therapy center, Julia Cohen said.

Although the project was approved by the Fairview center before Ronda died, it took the Cohens a year after her death to start actively raising funds.

For the center to function, the Cohens need to raise $175,000. So far, they’ve managed to raise $25,000 and continue to work through the Orange County Community Foundation for grants and donation opportunities, Julia Cohen said.

The dream center will open in two phases: The first would provide a room for visuals to be projected on the four walls, and the second would provide an interactive projector that would rely on users’ movements to provide images.

“We wish she was here to enjoy it, but we’re moving forward with the project for the benefit of all the people at Fairview,” Julia Cohen said.

Julia Cohen, who has dedicated her life to helping others through working and volunteering with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and other nonprofit organizations, said the dream center is a gift to the organization that cared for her sister for many years.

“Fairview has been around for a long time, and being a state facility, even though the resources are great, we wanted to give them something that they couldn’t really buy,” she said. “A gift to them that would give them more because, I know, as a sibling with a person of a developmental disability, the benefit a center like this could bring. So, I would like to give this same gift to the people who live at Fairview so they can also experience some of the things my sister did.”

The Cohens hope to open the first phase next summer. To learn more, or to help make the dream a reality, visit www.rondasdreamcenter.org.

Fairview center, one of five state-operated facilities, provides 24-hour health-care supervision and other programs, including vocational and education services, said Executive Director Bill Wilson.

The center serves 460 residents.

The visual therapy center won’t replace opportunities for real life experiences offered by the center, but will add to the center’s programs, Wilson said.

Residents go on field trips and to ball games in Southern California, he said.

“We do know that a number of our folks benefit from sensory input experiences,” Wilson said.

“This will be like taking them to a 3-D IMAX movie, but we’ll have something like that for them here on campus.”