2004-2005 News and Event Archives

Buy your tickets for Clams, Cocktails and Casino 2005!

Posted 5/25/2005: Partners for Youth with Disabilities and New England Patriot, Lonie Paxton of Active Force Foundation, are once again joining forces to host an evening of cocktails and casinos to raise funds for mentoring programs and adaptive recreational equipment for children with disabilities.

When: Friday, June 24, 2005 - 7pm to Midnight
Where: The International, 184 High St, Boston

The event will feature casino games, seafood, Cajun cuisine, a live band and dancing. Don’t miss your chance for an autograph and pictures with the attending New England Patriots. Tickets are $75 and include $20 in Casino chips plus food and entertainment.

To purchase tickets call Jennifer at 617.556.4075 ext. 19 or email jpodgur@pyd.org. You can also purchase tickets online by filling out our donation form.

Are you an actor, dancer or poet?

Posted 5/23/05: Are you an actor, dancer or poet? If you have or want the skills and want to work and perform with other young artists, come express yourself in Access to Theatre this July at The Boston Center for the Arts.

Dates: July 6 through July 21
Times: Monday- Fridays 9 am ­ 1 pm. Extended days for rehearsals and performances July 18-21.
Cost: $275. Scholarships are available for all youth who need them.

If you are new to Access to Theatre, we ask you to complete a brief Access to Theatre Application and you will be contacted to set up an interview. For more information about joining the Access to Theatre program, contact Deep Chinappa at 617-556-4075x20 and TTY: 617-314-2989.

Sign-Up now for CityLab Summer Biotechnology Camp

Posted June 9, 2005: Do you like science? Interested in shows like CSI? PYD is teaming up with City Lab to host a biotechnology workshop from August 1-5, 2005, 9 am ­ 3 pm daily. Learn all about DNA, proteins and the latest biotechnology techniques. Call Genelle at 617-556-4075 x 28 or TTY (617-314-2989) for more details.

Join us for the 2nd annual Christopher P. Dunne Memorial Awards, on May 14, 2005

Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Inc signature fundraising event to further its mission of empowering young people with disabilities to reach their full potential for personal development. This year’s Awards dinner will be a high-energy, highly acclaimed, highly publicized affair as we pay tribute to three amazing individuals and one amazing family:

Lonie Paxton - New England Patriots

Hubie Jones - Founder of Mass Advocates for Children

Andy Imparato - CEO of American Association of People with Disabilities

Joanne Jaxtimer - Mellon Financial, Michael Barry and their son, Michael Jaxtimer Barry.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

UMASS Boston Campus Center

6:00 PM Reception, Silent Auction

7:30 PM Dinner, Awards Presentation

9:00 Live Auction, Dancing

For more information please contact Jennifer at 617-556-4075 Ext 19.

"Mentoring Youth with Disabilities Initiative" grant cycle

Posted January 5, 2004: Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD) has chosen sub-awardees for its second "Mentoring Youth with Disabilities Initiative" grant cycle. Read More about the Grant

Announcing Mentoring Youth with Disabilities Initiative

Posted 10/25/04: Partners for Youth with Disabilities requests proposals from faith-based and community-based organizations throughout the country to start up, sustain or expand mentoring programs for youth with disabilities. Mentoring programs must promote positive employment and transition outcomes for youth with disabilities. In addition to distributing funding sub-awards, PYD will also provide training and technical assistance to those organizations selected to receive funding. Funding for the grant awards comes from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy. Access the complete Request for Proposals in PDF format or Word format. Proposals must be post-marked by November 22, 2004.

If you have questions or need further assistance, please contact Genelle Campbell, PYD National Mentoring Director, at (617) 556-4075 x 28 or via email at gcampbell@pyd.org.

Posted 8/25/04: The Governor's Commission on the Employment of People with Disabilities and PYD invite you to join other young adults from across the state who are leaders in their communities and are interested in developing their leadership skills and learning from one another. Continental breakfast and lunch will be provided.

• Date: September 18, 2004
• Time: 9:30am - 5:00pm
• Location: Spangler Center, Harvard Business School

To apply, contact Deep Chinappa at 617-556-4075x20 (TTY: 617-314-2989) or via email at dchinappa@pyd.org. Space is limited, so please call early - no later than September 10th.

Expect the unexpected on July 22nd!

Posted 7/10/04: Join us for an original theatre production with story, movement, music, costumes, props and sets conceived by the Summer Institute Ensemble. Original performances by our Summer Institute Ensemble players are guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seats!

WHERE: Cyclorama, 539 Tremont Street, Boston's South End

WHEN: Thursday, July 22, 2004

Day show time - TO BE ANNOUNCED

Night show time - 7:00 PM

BOTH SHOWS ARE AUDIO DESCRIBED AND ASL INTERPRETED.

For more information, contact Deep Chinappa at 617-556-4075x20 (TTY: 617-314-2989) or dchinappa@pyd.org. Read more about Access the Theatre.

Posted 5/15/04: If you have or want the skills and want to work with other young artists, come express yourself in Access to Theatre.

DATES: July 6 - 22, Monday - Friday

TIMES: 9 am - 1 pm (extended days for rehearsals and performances July 20 - 22).

COST: $200. Scholarships are available for all youth who need them.

For more information, contact Deep Chinappa at 617-556-4075x20 (TTY: 617-314-2989) or dchinappa@pyd.org.

Posted 5/01/04: Join Partners for Youth with Disabilities and New England Patriot Lonie Paxton for a night of comedy, music and food. On Friday, July 16th, PYD and ActiveForce.org, a charity founded by Lonie Paxton, are joining forces to bring you a night of entertainment. New England Patriots will be in attendance to sign autographs. Steve Sweeney, a national veteran of the comedy scene, starring in movies such as Me, Myself & Irene and There's Something About Mary, and also the radio host of Sweeney's Neighborhood on WZLX 100.7 FM, will team up with his good friend and King of Boston Comedy Dick Doherty to provide comedy. Following the comedy will be live musical performances from Lawrence Watson.

Lawrence has sung for Hillary Clinton and Nelson Mandela. Other highlights include a 1993 Playboy Jazz Festival appearance at the Hollywood Bowl with the late, legendary Dorothy Donegan, and a more recent appearance with Al Green and Jean Carne. He worked closely with Sarah Caldwell on two of her productions and sang the role of one of the Jazz Singers in the Bernstein Mass. He sang on the PBS special, The American Experience: The Fisk Jubilee Singers, at the Boston Globe Jazz and Blues Festival, on a Pennsylvania PBS special, Seeing is Believing: Violence and Children, on the Discovery Channel's, Killed by the Klan and at C-SPAN'S coverage of the Saturday School program's Thurgood Marshall dedication at Harvard Law School with Justice Stephen Breyer and Mrs. Thurgood Marshall.

For more information, please contact Jennifer at jpodgur@pyd.org or 617-556-4075x19 (TTY: 617-314-2989).

Posted 4/30/04: Thank you to all the many excellent organizations that sent in proposals for our Mentoring Youth with Disabilities Initiative. We received an exceptional number of extremely worthy proposals, so the selection process was particularly competitive and difficult this year. We encourage all applicants to submit another proposal for the next round of funding, which will be advertised in upcoming months. Congratulations to the following organizations that were selected for funding this round:

Brief Summary of Sub-Awardee Mentoring Projects

• Will add a pilot e-mentoring component to their existing Mentorship Program for Youth with Disabilities.

• Will launch the Apprentice Mentor Project (AMP) to match adult working professionals with youth “apprentices” who have disabilities. AMP will incorporate both one-to-one and group mentoring.

• Will start the RYSE Employment and Education Mentoring Program to help homeless youth with hidden disabilities succeed in employment and education. The mentoring program will include life skills workshops and arts activities as well as one-to-one mentoring.

• Will create the Connections for Youth with Disabilities Program (CYD), a one-to-one mentoring program that is a natural extension of their Youth Employment Readiness and Youth Leadership programs.

• Will recruit mentors from local colleges, through vocational rehabilitation, and from the business community to be Coordinating Mentors, who will mentor a youth closely on a one-to-one basis, and to be Contributing Mentors who can provide help and role-modeling on specific topics.

Posted 4/10/04: Friends of PYD came together on April 3, 2004 at the lovely Seaport Hotel for our first black tie awards dinner. With talented WCVB News Reporter Amalia Barreda as our emcee, we had the privilege of honoring three citizens for their outstanding efforts and contributions to the disability community. Our honorees were the following:

• John J. O'Connor - Senior Managing Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers, voted one of the top 100 most powerful people by Boston Magazine, founding board member of PYD and Sr. Managing Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers in NY and Boston.
• Arthur Ullian - President of the National Spinal Cord Association
• Rayna Aylward - Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, Rayna's support and generosity throughout the years have enabled Partners for Youth with Disabilities to continue serving our constituents with fine programming as well as broaden our outreach and the programs that we offer.

Without the efforts of the three honorees, Partners for Youth with Disabilities would not be in the place we are today—providing our constituents with the best programming available.

We owe a debt of gratitude to the wonderful PYD Board of Directors for all of their hard work, expertise and contributions. We would also like to give special thanks to PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, Foley Hoag LLP, Bingham McCutchen LLP, Liberty Mutual, Citizens Bank, Motion Automotive Specialty, Tom Ward at Ward Design, Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation, Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Ride-Away Corporation and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute for their generous support of this event and the organization.