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Abilities! Receives $24,922, Grant from Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation for their “Suite Dreams Project”

May 31, 2008

Albertson, NY - May 31, 2008 – Abilities! is proud to announce that it has received a $24,922 Quality of Life grant from the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.  The award was one of almost 100 grants totaling almost $800,000 awarded by the Reeve Foundation to nonprofit organizations nationwide that help improve opportunities, access and day-to-day quality of life for individuals and their families. Since inception of the program in 1999, a total of 1,454 grants have been awarded, totaling nearly $12 million. 

Abilities! will use the grant for The Henry Viscardi School’s Medical Suite. The goal of “Suite Dreams” is to transform the overcrowded, outdated medical facility at the Henry Viscardi School into a state-of-the-art medical suite that can better meet the increasingly complex healthcare needs of its students. 

The generosity of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation has helped to provide the funding needed to break ground on this urgent project that will serve over 200 medically frail students with severe physical disabilities and rare diseases that attend the Henry Viscardi School (HVS).  These students suffer from atypical forms of Muscular Dystrophy, Spina Bifida, Traumatic Brain Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Hemophilia and other rare illnesses.  By providing expert, individualized care throughout the day, HVS makes it possible for these medically frail students to attend public school rather than receive homebound instruction

“As the late Dana Reeve once stated, our Quality of Life grants are about freedom, said Peter T. Wilderotter, president of the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation.  Abilities! provides hope for individuals living with paralysis and their caregivers who are everyday striving to improve their physical and emotional well-being. We are honored to help Abilities! continue the heartfelt mission that Dana Reeve herself started back in 1999. “

The Reeve Foundation’s Quality of Life grants are awarded in 3 categories, Actively Achieving, Bridging Barriers, Caring and Coping, and fund programs across the globe that help people with paralysis become more fully integrated members of society.  Some of the grants are funded through a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (Cooperative Agreement number 1U59DD000338).  Numerous grants were also made possible through generous financial donations from ICAP, the world’s leading interdealer broker, and Alseres Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a leader in the development of diagnostic and therapeutic products for central nervous system disorders and nerve repair, specifically in spinal cord injury.

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