Our Story
Every Child Achieves is a story about achievement, purpose, family, and overcoming
adversity. The organization was founded by Occupational Therapist, Fredlyn Berger, OTR/L with a simple vision to support her community when she saw her hospital
program shut down their local early intervention program. Along the journey, Fredlyn built therapeutic solutions beyond the norm all rooted in purpose to create positive change in this world.
As her journey expanded, Fredlyn brought on some of her most trusted confidants, her family to help bridge the gap and bring
expertise in new areas. Together, Fredlyn and her children who are also Occupational Therapists transformed the vision of ECA to make a larger impact on this world while empowering some of the brightest therapists in the industry to be part of this expanding vision. In addition, Fredlyn brought in her husband along with her son-in-law who both brought expertise in business and innovation. Together, the team focused on quality, transparency, authenticity, and growth in which the intention was to create an empowering and supportive environment that resulted in positive change throughout the entire organization and all the organization served
inclusive of clients, employees, community and more. Every Child Achieves is a family owned and operated business that is rooted in a value of exchange in abundance, support at the highest level, and create an environment for all to achieve!
Understanding Fredlyn’s
Journey & Vision:
Fredlyn (Freddie) was introduced to the field of Occupational
Therapy while she was a freshman attending the University of Wisconsin in Madison. Her first cousin sustained a severe
traumatic head injury after falling off a high cliff. The cousin who was 20 years old at the time, reverted to functioning at about a 9 month old level when she came out of a several week coma.
Freddie was able to assist the therapy staff work with her cousin as she helped her go through her rehabilitation program over the next 6 months. Within that period, the cousin recovered nearly 100% of her normal functions. This was such a phenomenal event that it made her realize how amazing it is to be a facilitator in
helping others recover their lives. The decision to study to be able to do this kind of work became her obsession. Freddie achieved her BS in Occupational Therapy in 1974 and moved to Los
Angeles to do her final internships at Rancho Los Amigos
National Rehabilitation Hospital and Harbor General Hospital
Graduate work continued through USC with specialization in pediatrics
and sensory integration studies, and through UCLA with a certification as a
lactation consultant and educator. She also has earned the advanced
practice specialty certification in both hand treatment and dysphagia/feeding through the California Board of Occupational Therapy.
During her extensive career of 40+ years as a practicing Occupational Therapist, Freddie has the full spectrum of practice settings and all ages from premature birth to geriatric level. She has been involved in providing treatment and developing programs in acute care hospitals, outpatient programs, rehab centers, home health agencies and private clinics. One of the highlights of her
experience was when she worked as a program manager and developer throughout the state of California, traveling from San Diego to San Francisco to set up over 30 rehab clinics, staffing them and training several hundred therapists to provide
Medicare approved care.
She has also worked in surgery, assisting hand surgeons in their delicate work, and then providing the rehab necessary to improve the functional use of the limb. She developed the first newborn in-home developmental and feeding/lactation follow-up program for Kaiser Permanente in the Southern California area, and developed a thriving Occupational Therapy pediatric outpatient, inpatient acute, neonatal intensive care, and pediatric intensive care programs at Northridge Hospital for 7 years.
In the last half of 2003, Freddie received the right to be a vendor to the State of California for the Early Start program and gave birth to Every Child Achieves, Inc. (ECA). This is an early intervention program, servicing the zero to three year old population who are at risk for delays or are already developmentally delayed. Over the course of five years, ECA grew to be a primary provider for
8 different Regional Centers throughout all of Southern California.
Over the past 18 years, Freddie has supported the community at large by creating a pediatric outpatient clinic, an adult outpatient clinic, school-based organization, pediatric home health agencies and been a guest lecturer as an expert Occupational Therapist. She is overjoyed to co-create with all involved in Every Child Achieves and loves the direct impact that we have on a global level.
As she looks out into this challenging world, Freddie has always felt very lucky to have had terrific role models in her own parents and marvels at how hard they worked to instill in her and her three brothers, values and ethics that provide for a happy and fulfilling life. Her mission now is to share these foundational skills with her clients, staff, family, and
the greater area through Every Child Achieves.
Why Choose ECA?
Every Child Achieves is a purpose-driven organization that is intrinsically invested in changing the world one child at a time. From the onset of receiving a regional center authorization, our team of clinicians along with our case management team integrate directly into the family unit to be a resource, a coach, and a vehicle of change for everyone that is part of the child’s life. We are focused on both the developmental milestones but also the social-emotional impact that this has on the entire family unit.
We take pride in our team which truly is a work family. We know that early intervention can be a very isolating and an independent work environment in which we take extra measures to unite our entire team through monthly team support and one to one
mentorship. We require our team of clinicians to bring an in-depth background and competency in working with children birth to
three in addition to offering mentorship and support on an ongoing basis. In addition, all employees must go through an extremely
thorough evaluation and interview process inclusive of clinical observation. When a team member is hired, they are required to
complete a thorough background check, drug screening, employment history screening, and more. Our case management team
prioritizes ongoing quality assurance outreach to all we serve so that we are delivering the highest quality intervention and support that we are able to.
One of the other differentiators that we like to point out is that 100% of ECA’s team members are employees. We do not work with any independent contractors or even per diem staff. Our emphasis is on employees that are seeking full-time work or at least 25 hours per week of work because we find this influences the overall commitment that our team has to all we serve.
Every Child Achieves is committed to being a resource and therapeutic provider that impacts the trajectory
of your child for years to come! We invite you to speak with your local regional center service
coordinator and inquire about Every Child Achieves supporting your child and family
in reaching their fullest potential!
Our Mission
Every Child Achieves is on a mission to transform the world one child at a time. We specialize in working with babies, infants, and toddlers
between the ages of birth to three in their natural environment funded by the California Early Start program in accordance with the
Department of Developmental Services (DDS).
In addition, our mission is to empower an interdisciplinary clinical team with an emphasis on expertise in the birth to three age demographic area specializing in development. We believe in utilizing a combination of play-based approach, routines-based approach, proven methods such as floor-time / DIR and parent focused coaching to get results.
For over 18 years, Every Child Achieves has worked with over 100,000 babies throughout the greater Los Angeles area to deliver the highest caliber early intervention services inclusive of Occupational Therapy, Physical Therapy, Speech Therapy, and Infant Development & Child
Development Services. We are a purpose-driven organization
committed to transforming all of the communities that work
with throughout greater Los Angeles and beyond.
