The Southport-based Norma F. Pfriem Foundation underwrote the purchase of four passenger vans for transporting Kennedy Center clients who participate in four Community Experience programs.
Martin D. Schwartz, president and CEO of The Kennedy Center in Trumbull, and Paul Miller, a Norma F. Pfriem Foundation trustee, made the announcement.
Getting to and from the activities of daily living is something most of us take for granted, The Kennedy Center reported. It added in a statement: “People with disabilities have even greater needs for transportation and count on a reliable, affordable transit system.”
The Kennedy Center maintains a fleet of 125 vehicles and serves 2,400 clients annually.
The vans will be used in four Community Experience programs: projects Eclipse, Voyage, Ability and Thirty. They will be utilized five days a week by 61 individuals who will now have access to community opportunities such as volunteering, recreation and education. Local ball games, concerts and seasonal-based experiences are now also within reach.
The Kennedy Center programs, called Day Support Options, are in various neighborhood settings.
Each program emphasizes the development of an appropriate skill base to expand learning, choice-making and inclusion within each person”™s community.
The Kennedy Center supports 24 programs across nine communities including Newtown, Stratford, Milford, Southbury, Woodbridge, Trumbull, Bridgeport, Fairfield and Monroe. Settings include five school transition programs, four autism-specific sites, one program designed to support people in supported employment, a cadre of programs serving specific needs of seniors, and sites supporting adaptive equipment and on-site physical therapy and/or nursing. There are also “high energy, age-specific” programs.
“The Kennedy Center is extremely grateful to the Norma F. Pfriem Foundation for its continued generosity,” Schwartz said. “Transportation services receive minimal state funding yet are necessary for our clients to access services and employment. Many of our vehicles have very high mileage and need to be replaced. The foundation”™s substantial contribution has been vital in helping us meet our transportation needs, which are so important to our clients”™ success.”
Miller said, “The Kennedy Center is well deserving of our foundation”™s continued financial support. The funding of four vans will greatly enhance the lives of people with disabilities they serve so well. I am extremely proud of everything The Kennedy Center has accomplished to help their clients reach their fullest potential.”
