Partners in Restorative Initiatives (PiRI) is an organization based in Rochester, NY, that provides training and consultation to support restorative practices in schools. They work hard to build community awareness for restorative practices, and facilitate structured restorative conferences to repair harm. Rohan Parikh, a Class of 2019 Ambassador, applied for his first ambassador grant this past year in order to help PiRI build up more access to restorative practices in Rochester. With this grant, PiRI will construct a new website and accompanying design and print material, and envisions a series of 5-8 public events that include virtual workshops, lectures, and talking circles that can reach over 100 people. The Ascienzo Family Foundation granted PiRI $5,000 this year in order to help them achieve this goal!
InFlight: Partnership Spotlight #4
Since the mid 1990s, In Flight, Inc. has provided services for intellectually and developmentally disabled adults in a residential setting. That includes programs in Ulster and Columbia counties, as well as a Day Habilitation Program in Catskill. InFlight’s Employee Training Program (SEMP) helps promote independence for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities by giving them the support and skills they need to find and maintain employment. Participants in the SEMP program work one-on-one with a job coach to develop their job skills and find employment that fits their skills and interests. InFlight’s goal is to hire an additional job coach to double the number of people who can participate in the program. The Ascienzo Family Foundation granted InFlight a total of $20,000 towards the SEMP program, and looks forward to seeing the great work the program is able to accomplish. This was the second time the AFF has partnered with InFlight- in 2020 $1,000 was provided towards sensory rooms that InFlight was building to using in their day therapy programs.
Loyalty Foundation: Ambassador Grant Spotlight #4
The Loyalty Foundation is a nonprofit based out of NYC that “provides funding and programming for STEM and Technology-based educational opportunities to underserved K-12 youth populations.” The Loyalty Foundation views technology to be “the great opportunity equalizer of the future” and values the way education “creates pathways for positive change and rising futures.” In pursuit of narrowing the digital divide, they run four programs: Gaming4Good, Open Minds, Learn2Code, and Devices4All. “By inspiring and instilling a love of technology…” their website reads, “…we help students develop the knowledge, skills and self-esteem they need to succeed in today and tomorrow’s economy.” Devices4All was created in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and how the pandemic has exacerbated already existing disparities in access to education and technology. Devices4All provides refurbished computers to students living in poverty across the country, making sure they can participate fully in online learning. In 2020, the Ascienzo Family Foundation worked with ambassador Jonni Mills to grant the Loyalty Foundation $7,500, which will help the program deliver 50 computers to 50 students in 11 weeks. The Ascienzo Family Foundation is thrilled to be able to partner with them in a time of great need.
Read more about the Loyalty Foundation’s work here!
Red Hook Public Library: Partnership Spotlight #3
As a hub of the Red Hook community, the Red Hook Public Library has seen up close the problems of inadequate internet access in the community. The RHPL explained: “The digital divide isn't just a phrase sociologists and politicians throw around. It’s school children unable to attend class regularly; it’s senior citizens disconnected from their families; it’s small business owners struggling to adapt to the changed marketplace.” The RHPL identified three major obstacles Red Hook residents face when it comes to digital equity: education, cost, and location. They will tackle this obstacles by expanding the library’s circulating devices and hotspots collection, creating a paid position of Digital Access Specialist, and by boosting the library’s internet service such that it can be used as a public wifi access point. The Ascienzo Family Foundation provided a grant of $25,000, over two years, so that the RHPL can accomplish this impressive plan. As the RHPL put it, “public libraries exist to democratize information; addressing the gaps a lack of internet access creates in a community is fundamental to a public library’s mission.”
Read more about our work with the Red Hook Public Library here and here!
Sunflower Bakery: Ambassador Grant Spotlight #3
Sunflower Bakery is a located in Maryland and “dedicated to providing skilled job training and employment opportunities in the baking and hospitality industries for adults 18+ with learning differences.” Sunflower Bakery is the only bakery in Maryland that does this work, operating multiple programs including the Pastry Arts Training, Hospitality Employment Training Program, and Teen Exposure Program. Since Sunflower Bakery reopened its programs in June, applications for the Employment Training Programs have increased by 30%. To meet the need, Sunflower anticipates serving an additional 10-12 young adults in their programs in the next year.
Sunflower Bakery first came on the The Ascienzo Family Foundation’s radar in 2015, when Tom Triebwasser (RHHS ‘01) from the inaugural ambassador class applied for a grant for their Pastry Arts Employment Training Program. Sunflower has received grants from the AFF since 2015, and this year has worked with Sunflower Bakery for four of the last five years, and this year Tom Triebwasser and Executive Director Daphna Raskas applied for a grant, that was approved, for $10,000. This grant will also support the Pastry Arts Program, now in its 10th year! The Pastry Arts program serves culturally diverse young adults with developmental or other cognitive disabilities, and is nearly 6 months program that includes “formal pastry and baking instruction; employee preparedness including strategies for workplace communication, job responsibility, resume-writing, interviewing and ServSafe training; supervised on-the-job training including a customer service rotation; a paid internship at Sunflower Bakery; direct employment matching assistance; and guidance with job onboarding at the start of employment.” As Sunflower describes, these programs are extremely important considering the “dire lack of opportunities for specific career training for transitioning young adults with disabilities from schools to work.” The AFF is very happy to have partnered with Sunflower Bakery for another year!
Read more about Tom Triebwasser and Sunflower Bakery on our blog here!