Vandals target recreation center for autistic kids in South Philadelphia

SOUTH PHILADELPHIA - A cruel act of vandalism at a South Philadelphia center for students with special needs has taken place, but the founder says the hurtful act won’t crush the school’s spirit or its mission.

Mr. Carl, a volunteer at Autism REC in South Philly, is scrubbing hateful, disrespectful and unprovoked vandalism from the organization's sign. Words FOX 29 will not show and directed at kids with autism.

"The r-word. Knowing that that is speaking about my son and the kids here that we take care of and they cannot speak up for themselves. That hurt me the most," said Jamila Tucker-Mulero. She is the founder and president of the non-profit, which she started because her 14-year-old son Jasir was diagnosed.

"I have had people that wanted to reach out and wanted to help, so that kind of warmed my heart to know there are people out here that still care," she said.

Jamila noticed the vandalism not long after she arrived Wednesday morning. She believes it happened between closing Tuesday evening, at six o’clock and six o’clock Wednesday morning.

"I was having a very good morning, and I was feeling uplifted, but that kind of brought me down a little bit," she said. She had the kids enter through a church's front door. Autism REC operates out of the basement of the building.

"Instead of them coming down the steps where they would be able to see the sign, we had them coming through the front door," she said.

Jamila and her staff tried to keep the daily routine for the kids despite what happened. They offer before care, school drop-off and pick-up and after care. Kids get help with homework, play games on the computer and other activities.

It is all free.

"I created this place to be a safe space for them. A judgment free zone and then that happened, so that made me feel like I am not doing what I am supposed to be doing," she questioned. She’s worried her marked autism rec passenger van and other vehicles with the logo on them could be next.

"Whoever did this, you hurt my heart, but we're still standing. We're still going to be here."

Find more information about the center at the website or on their Instagram page.