Berke family donates home for occupational therapy program
November 10, 2011
Eileen Berke and members of her family gathered recently at a home on Ludlow Avenue in Clifton for a quiet ceremony to sign papers deeding the property to Cincinnati State Technical and Community College for use as a real-world instructional laboratory for Occupational Therapy Assistant students.
The structure, located directly across from the Cincinnati State campus in Clifton, will be known as the Eileen Berke Occupational Therapy Center.
The home will be used by students and faculty in Cincinnati State’s regionally-renowned Occupational Therapy Assistant program to demonstrate how to train individuals to live independently as they recover from a stroke or other debilitating disease, injury or illness.
The program also trains students for careers working with individuals who wish to remain in their own homes as they age rather than move into a nursing home or assisted living facility.
The Berke family owns Cincinnati Sub-Zero, Inc., a worldwide provider of temperature management and testing equipment and services to medical and industrial customers.
Pictured are members of the Berke family at the signing ceremony: Steve Berke, President and CEO of Cincinnati Sub-Zero Inc.; Debra Lierl, Chair of the Respiratory Care Technology program at Cincinnati State; Steve Berke’s daughter, Amy Berke, Consumer & Market Knowledge Manager at Procter & Gamble; and, seated, Eileen Berke, board chair at Cincinnati Sub-Zero, Inc.
