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The Enabling Support Foundation began operations in 1993 and
since that time has contributed an nearly $300,000 worth of computer hardware, training
and support services to special needs individuals, organizations and classrooms.
1994 to 1998 ESF provided 150 free
Internet accounts to individuals with disabilities and to disability related service
organizations in the New York City area. ESF gave a free Internet training course, 10 two
hour sessions, to disabled individuals to whom we had given accounts.
1993-1994 ESF supplied a total of 130 computers to disabled individuals and to
disability related organizations, (the TRIAD project and United Cerebral Palsy in New York
City ). Also provided was an Internet training course comprised of 10 two-hour
sessions as well as staff training, evaluation, and support services.
1995 ESF provided computers in Eastern Massachusetts to: Easter Seal,
Worcester; Work Inc., Quincy; Minute Man ARC for Human Services, Inc.,
Concord; Project Reach, University of Massachusetts, Boston; Project Share, University of
Massachusetts, Dartmouth; Boston Children's Services, Boston; Children's Hospital,
Communications Enhancement Center, Boston; Kathryn Barton Nursing Home, Wayland; and
Case High School, Acton. ESF provided a total of 95 computers. ESF also ran a free 6
week computer proficiency evaluation of 26 Minute Man ARC clients to see if they
could benefit from the use of computers. What was learned was that all of the test group
were able to use the computers and would benefit from ongoing training.
1996 ESF provided computers in Eastern Massachusetts for the Minuteman Library
Network, Framingham including 30 computers with large screen monitors. These
computers were provided to 30 branch libraries to assist low vision patrons by making the
libraries computer generated data bases easier for them to read. ESF also supplied
computers to St. Mary's Women and Infants Center, Dorchester; Educational Development
Group, Inc., Boston, and the Peter Buckley Senior Center, Concord; Community Academy,
Boston; Somerville Schools, Somerville; Billerica Schools, Billerica; St. Mary's
Alternative School and University High School, Boston. At the Peter Buckley Senior Center,
ESF also provided a free 8 week, two-session-per-week training period for residents in
computer use, focusing on the word processor. ESF provided to special needs programs and
children a total of 110 computers and 22 printers.
1997 ESF set up at the Community Academy in Roxbury, Massachusetts, a school
for at-risk students, an 8-station computer lab and provided a free 8 week,
two-sessions-per-week training sessions in the use of the word processor. The school had
no computer teacher and some of the students had never used a computer before. The
students went on to use the lab on a daily basis after the classes were over, and they
helped train their fellow students in use of the lab.
1998 ESF provided over 251 computers to special needs programs in the Boston Public
Schools along with printers, and adaptive devices. ESF also set up and ran two
separate computer related occupational and technical training programs for special
needs and at-risk students in the Boston area. ESF also expanded its New York City
activities by creating an Internet web presence and developed a series of projects
aimed at providing Internet training and access.
1999 Projects planned in 1998 and currently in progress include: a partnership with
St.John's Preparatory School in Astoria grew out of a series of workshops given by ESF to
schools in Brooklyn and Queens. A series of projects are currently in progress and include
the development of Virtual Worlds, the creation of web pages, a poetry contest, and an
electronic debate. As a result of these workshops, ESF was invited to present a series of
4 staff and parent development workshops on the use of the Internet. ESF has been
collaborating with a Consortium of Centers for Independent Living for the Disabled which
have recently been funded to provide access to the Internet. The plan is to develop the 6
consortium sites into training and vocational centers as well as Internet cafes. The
clients will attend workshops, gain experience at the cafes, and computers will be given
to those who show proficiency.
If you would like to join us in our efforts to help special needs people or to make a tax
deductible donation of any sort to the Enabling Support Foundation, you can contact Robert
Ambrose at ambroser@ma.ultranet.com.
If you know of a special education classroom or an organization dedicated to
enhancing life for disabled or senior citizens who could benefit from donated hardware,
and would like to know more about our project, please contact Robert
Ambrose at ambroser@ma.ultranet.com
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