Baltimore, Maryland
Abilities Network (Baltimore, MD) will apply a $10,000 grant from The Jake Cassell Fund to expand and support The Inclusive Teacher Development Project, which aims to improve early childhood educators’ skills and attitudes towards the inclusion of children with disabilities through in-depth professional development cohorts. 60 early childhood professionals from across Maryland will benefit directly, and approximately 2,300 children supported by those professionals each year will benefit from increased quality of care.
Parkersburg, West Virginia
The Arc Mid-Ohio Valley (Parkersburg, WV) will utilize a $10,000 grant from The Jake Cassell Fund to offer targeted Occupational Therapy and Speech Language Therapy services to approximately 20 students with identified Individualized Education Plans and/or diagnosed developmental delays, aged 6th-12th grade. Many students with developmental disabilities do not qualify for extended school year, receive very shortened amounts of therapy provided during their school day, and there is little carry over to the caregivers on how to follow through with recommendations.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Camp Holiday Trails (Charlottesville, VA) is a 50-year old organization that provides summer camp to children and teens with intellectual and medical disabilities. A $10,000 grant from The Jake Cassell Fund will provide financial support to families and campers to cover shortfalls in the many items from their Things to Bring list that they cannot afford to provide such as toiletries, sleeping bags, rain gear, flashlights and bug spray. The camp’s “CVS” was named by CHT’s counselors – as a room stocked with all of the items our campers may not be able to bring. Estimated impact on 300 kids/families.
Waynesboro, Virginia
Creative Works Farm (Waynesboro, VA) will utilize a $10,000 grant from The Jake Cassell Fund to support and expand Camp LIGHT, a summer day camp program for individuals with special needs and at-risk youth. Many kids with disabilities or chronic illnesses are sedentary and do not get to participate in the sports or recreational activities that their peers do, therefore missing out on the social, mental, and health benefits that exercise brings. Camp combines learning environments with these physical activities, giving kids with behavioral or learning problems the chance to develop or catch up on needed skills during the summer. Through Camp LIGHT, participants get to improve social interactions through better understanding of social cues, self-control, conflict resolution, and making friends, which will in turn improve feeling of self-worth. The Camp LIGHT Program serves 250 kids and young adults during summer and 500 through adaptive field trips.
Landover, Maryland
The Foundation Learning Center (Landover, MD), is a 12-month school for students with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in grades K-12. In 2023, a $20,000 grant from the Jake Cassell Fund helped FLC establish exceptional access to meaningful social experiences, work exposure, and career skills development for their students, 81% of whom identify as Black and a majority of whom live in low-income households. New programming included the launch of the student-run Arctic Café where students take staff orders, prepare food and drink items, make deliveries, and maintain consistent cleanliness. Additionally, a student-run Design Center was launched enabling students to create school spirit items for staff and students’ families for purchase. The grant supported five experiential learning field trips to expose our students to career opportunities and healthy ways to positively engage with our local community, and finally, FLC purchased 10 TeachTown student licenses to teach students how to appropriately interact with law enforcement, comply with safety professionals and how to handle emergencies. A $10,000 continuing grant from The Jake Cassell Fund will enable FLC to continue and expand these programs.
Pine Ridge Oglala-Lakota Reservation, South Dakota
Oglala-Lakota Technical School (Pine Ridge Oglala-Lakota Reservation, SD). In 2023, a $20,000 Grant from The Jake Cassell Fund supported the development of Lakota Tech’s Life Skills Program to enable students with disabilities to transition from high school to the adult world. Lakota Tech purchased a curriculum to implement cooking skills in the classroom, teaching students the basic skills required to plan and prepare meals safely. Another focus was cleanliness, including house cleaning, doing dishes and washing clothes. A $10,000 continuing grant from The Jake Cassell Fund will enable Lakota Tech to continue building the Life Skill Program to include planning, budgeting and executing shopping trips. Additionally, Lakota Tech will partner with local businesses to get students out into the community so they can see the different volunteer and internship options that the community has to offer to gain hands-on experience in different career fields.
Charlottesville, Virginia
Reclaimed Hope Initiative (Charlottesville, VA) nurtures families navigating foster care, adoption, and children with disabilities, providing a safe healing community in central Virginia, offering services to each member of the family, including education, advocacy, mental health and respite support. The $20,000 grant provided to RHI by The Jake Cassell Fund in 2023 addressed various needs within the Thrive program. $7,500 was allocated for family crisis support, covering respite care, in-home caregiving, meals, and mental health support; $5,000 went towards support group efforts, including mental health support and skilled caregiving; $3,000 went towards rental spaces for support group meetings and community-integrated respite nights; and finally, $2,500 was allocated for training and onboarding skilled caregivers to assist with childcare programs, covering background checks, trauma training, crisis de-escalation training, and sexual abuse prevention training. The Jake Cassell Fund will continue its support of RHI’s THRIVE program by providing a $10,000 grant in 2024.
Baltimore, Frederick and Carroll Counties, Maryland
Spectrum Support (Baltimore, Frederick and Carroll Counties, MD) will utilize a $10,000 grant from the Jake Cassell Fund to expand its case management support to youth with disabilities by connecting youth with resources within their community in the areas of housing, education, transportation, food, government benefits. Staff providing this service will also spend time on self-advocacy and self-awareness, to enable youth to be ready to obtain and retain a paid job. The grant will support 50 youth with disabilities between the ages of 14-24 in Baltimore, Frederick and/or Carroll Counties.
Washington DC
Variety DC (Washington, DC). For children with special needs, adaptive bicycles bring an immense improvement in their physical and emotional well-being by strengthening their bodies through exercise, increasing their mobility, and improving their outlook. Families and caregivers share in the benefits and see the improvement in inclusion and belonging within the family and community. A $10,000 grant from The Jake Cassell Fund will provide 3-5 adaptive bikes for children with special needs. Additionally, the grant will also be utilized to provide $400 Emergency Grants to 15-20 special needs families encountering medical and therapeutic bills that Insurance and Medicare don’t cover.