Male Canoeing
"People with disabilities tend to be a group with persistent unmet needs.  We want to make sure they don't fall through the cracks."
-Carl J. Shapiro

AccesSport America is dedicated to the discovery and achievement of higher function and fitness for children and adults with disabilities through high-challenge sports. 

Disability Inclusion Initiative

The Disability Inclusion Initiative (formerly the Special Assistance Initiative), established in 2000, aims to help individuals with disabilities achieve independence, community integration and, overall, a better quality of life.  The Foundation believes that persons with disabilities have the right to feel included in the broader community and the right to opportunities that promote their participation in it.

The Foundation considers requests for both project and organizational capacity building support.  Project support is directed to efforts that are consistent with one or more foci of the Foundation’s grant strategy to:

  • Improve the distribution of assistive technology devices and/or the availability of related training and support services
  • Increase opportunities for participation in sports, recreation and the arts
  • Support outreach and services to underserved populations including the elderly, minorities and youth in transition. 

Capacity building support is available to organizations to strengthen their abilities to develop, enhance or expand quality services for persons with disabilities.  In 2003, the first year of strategic funding in this area, the Foundation awarded five grants totaling $65,700.  The fifth grant cycle, in 2008, the Foundation awarded 24 grants totaling $730,000.

All proposals are solicited through a Request for Proposal (RFP) process.  Any organization offering a program that fits our funding objectives is invited to contact the Foundation by phone to discuss its work.

2008 Disability Inclusion Initiative grants include:

  • AccesSport America (Acton, MA)
    $40,000 for the Florida High-Challenge Water Sports program which offers activities such as adaptive windsurfing, kayaking, and outrigger canoeing, and individualized training to youth and adults of all disabilities.   
    visit the AccessSport America website
  • Associated Grantmakers (Boston, MA)
    $25,000 for the Summer Fund, a collaboration of donors that supports quality, affordable summer programs for Boston, Cambridge, Chelsea and Somerville youth.  Grant funds are directed to 4 camps that specifically serve youth with disabilities. 
    visit the Associated Grantmakers website
  • BOSTnet (Boston, MA)
    $40,000 to support its LOYD Initiative, an effort to expand out-of-school time opportunities for youth with disabilities, especially through inclusive sports and arts activities. 
    visit the BOSTnet website    
  • CAST (Wakefield, MA)
    $40,000 for the Read-with-me eBooks project, to create a universally-designed storybook for pre-school children in Head Start centers in Greater Boston.
    visit the CAST website    
  • Clarke School for the Deaf (Northampton, MA)  
    $20,000 for the Clarke School East Program in Canton that specializes in teaching listening and language skills for children through the age of 5, most of whom have cochlear implants.
    visit the Clarke School for the Deaf website                               
  • D.E.A.F., Inc. (Allston, MA)
    $25,000 for Elder Services Independent Living Program that provides outreach and assistance services to help deaf seniors remain in their own homes and maintain independence.
    visit the D.E.A.F., Inc. website
  • Easter Seals of Massachusetts (Worcester, MA)
     $25,000 for its Youth Leadership Program, which aims to build confidence and self-esteem for disabled individuals age 13 - 25 through practical, vocational and social skills programming.
    visit the Easter Seals website
  • Huntington Theatre Company (Boston, MA)
    $25,000 for its Bridge Program, a collaboration with the Horace-Mann School for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing to provide ASL interpreted student matinees and pre- and post- performance visits with a Huntington educator and ASL interpreter to connect the performance to classroom learning.
    visit the Huntington Theatre website
  • Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston (Newton, MA)
    $30,000 to support enhancements to the Ledgewood program, an early childhood special education program serving children in the Greater Boston area.  
    visit the Jewish Community Centers of Greater Boston website
  • Jewish Family and Children’s Services (Waltham, MA)
    $30,000 for the Sunday Respite Program, a program that offers weekly arts and recreational activities to youth and young adults with disabilities while allowing their caretakers the opportunity for respite.
    visit the Jewish Family and Children's Services website    
  • Jewish Vocational Services (Boston, MA)
    $30,000 for its Yesodot Program which provides support and services for individuals with disabilities and their families, including social and recreational programs, family workshops, information dissemination and legislative advocacy.  
    visit the Yesodot website
  • MAB Community Services (Boston, MA) 
    $25,000 to build the capacity of MABWorks, its vocational training program for disabled adults.
    visit the MAB Community Services website
  • Massachusetts Advocates for Children (Boston, MA)
    $15,000 for the Transition Planning Project, which aims to overcome the barriers to a successful transition from high school to community for disabled youth ages 16 -22 by working with the Special Education Collaborative to improve practices and policies related to the transition process.
    visit the Massachusetts Advocates for Children website
  • Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (Boston, MA)
    $25,000 for the Assistive Technology Fund to enable deaf and hard of hearing individuals with no other resources to obtain hearing aids and other adaptive equipment.
    visit the Massachusetts Commission for the Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing website
  • New England Eye Institute (Boston, MA) 
    $40,000 to expand the CCTV Initiative, which places closed circuit televisions and provides related training to low-vision individuals in several settings, including elder public housing and adult day care centers.
    visit the New England Eye Institute website
  • Outdoor Explorations (Medford, MA)
    $15,000 for capacity building, specifically to support the creation and implementation of a strategic plan for the organization.     
    visit the Outdoor Explorations website
  • Perkins School for the Blind (Watertown, MA) 
    $50,000 toward the Assistive Technology Capacity Building project, which will enable the school to deepen and expand its expertise in using and teaching with assistive technology.   
    visit the Perkins School for the Blind website
  • Piers Park Sailing Center (Boston, MA) 
    $24,000 for its Adaptive Sailing Program, which provides the equipment and training necessary to allow for participants of all abilities to sail together, including a Companion program to assist severely disabled adults.   
    visit the Piers Park Sailing Center website 
  • SHARE Foundation (Amherst, MA)
    $15,000 for the Assistive Technology Training and Evaluation Program which provides in-home training and evaluation for clients with disabilities who need assistance in using their new adaptive systems, or to identify adaptations for their current equipment.
    visit the SHARE Foundation / UMass Amherst website 
  • Special Olympics of MA (Boston, MA)
    $30,000 to expand the Sports for All Initiative, an afterschool sports training and competition program currently operating in ten Boston Public Schools.
    visit the Special Olympics of Massachusetts website 
  • Triangle (Malden, MA): $25,000 for AbleVision, a cable television news show written, directed and hosted by adults with intellectual disabilities.  
    visit the Triangle website 
  • VSA Arts of MA (Boston, MA)  
    $25,000 for the ADA Cultural Access Project, which provides technical assistance and grants to cultural organizations wishing to develop inclusive arts programming.
    visit the VSA Arts of MA website
  • Wheelock Family Theatre (Boston, MA)
    $20,210 to make Wheelock Family Theatre’s School Partnership Program more inclusive for people with disabilities.
    visit the Wheelock Family Theatre website

View selected past grants >>