The Eric Fund is honored each year to help incredible children and adults with disabilities maximize their potential and live their dreams
It’s been another challenging year without our annual event and auction that brings so many of us together and provides the necessary funding for our applicants. However, because of the continued generosity of our supporters, we were able to purchase assistive technology for seven amazing people in 2020. This year we’ve been able to provide three people with the technology they need to help them live their lives with greater independence.
Although we were hoping for a larger pool of qualified applicants this year, we anticipated that COVID restrictions might prevent people from getting evaluations for assistive technology, which are done in-person. In addition, school systems and organizations that often share our applications experienced the same restrictions and challenges connecting with people they serve. We are hopeful that 2022 will bring the robust response that we’ve grown accustomed to in recent years.
This year’s recipients bring our 23-year total to 111 people with disabilities who have received assistive technology from The Eric Fund thanks to your generous support. We’re proud of this achievement and remain dedicated to our mission of providing assistive technology to the disability community in the Washington metro area. The Eric Fund steps in to help when applicants have exhausted every other avenue of support, whether through insurance, school or personal resources. We know that the impact of these awards reaches beyond the individuals to their family, friends, teachers, colleagues and the community.
We remain the same small band of volunteers committed to a mission inspired by Eric Savader, an advocate for people with disabilities who died of cancer in 1997. We hope you will continue to support our efforts and will look forward to the day when we can get together with you again in person. Please be safe, stay healthy, and enjoy the holidays!
Sincerely,
President
Although another year has passed without meeting our Eric Fund supporters in person at our annual reception, we have continued to accept applications for assistance and are happy to report that three people, all from the Virginia area, are receiving assistive technology awards from The Eric Fund. Our application review team had to work a little harder this year due to the pandemic because applicants had difficulty securing evaluations that are usually conducted in person. This disruption to the usual process led to one of our smallest pool of eligible applicants. Greater independence for people with disabilities is our mission and this year three more people received assistive devices that will make this possible.
The Eric Fund is a Washington, D.C.–based organization that purchases needed, but often expensive assistive technology and equipment to help children and adults with disabilities live on their own terms in the community. This year over $3,700 was granted to help three people achieve their goals of greater independence.
“The Eric Fund provides a much-needed service to people with disabilities in our community and we’re proud that we’re able to continue to fill a gap in assistance to families in our neighborhoods, especially during this challenging COVID-19 period. We couldn’t do this without the continuing strong support of our Eric Fund donors who help make our mission a reality,” said Mary Hanley, president of The Eric Fund. “We are so grateful that these Eric Fund champions help us make such an important difference in the lives of people with disabilities.”
Founded in 1998, The Eric Fund’s mission is inspired by the memory of Eric Savader who died in 1997 from cancer and who worked on behalf of several disability causes. Over the past 23 years, The Eric Fund has assisted 111 people by granting more than $240,000 worth of equipment and technology.
Please read on to learn about the 2021 Eric Fund Grant Award winners and see how the awards have impacted some past winners – all thanks to your donations!
Look no further than our award winner Hoang to find a young man with a big heart, big dreams and big-time motivation & drive. Hoang, 26, currently works with a job coach to find a job he loves. With his previous experience, joy for work and people, and the MacBook Pro and laptop backpack from The Eric Fund, Hoang should have no problem finding a great fit.
For Alonzo, the iPad Pro and protective case purchased for him by The Eric Fund, will be a game changer for his socialization and future employment.
Matthew, a previous Eric Fund award winner from Northern Virginia who is on the autism spectrum, uses the iPad Mini and special communication app we purchased for him in 2015 as his voice device as he does not communicate verbally. While the previous iPad Mini expanded Matthew’s world and helped him communicate more easily at school and at home, the device unfortunately broke and he needs another.
As The Eric Fund completes its 23rd year of providing assistive devices to people with disabilities, we are thrilled by the meaningful impact of your generous donations. Because of your generosity, we are able to provide three deserving people with equipment that will allow them to live more independent lives.
All of us at The Eric Fund are very grateful to the Troon Golf management company who provided our organization with a round of golf at one of its premier golf courses in the Washington, DC-area to auction online. Valued at $400, the auction brought $750 to The Eric Fund’s charitable coffers. We also thank our golfer friends who bid on the opportunity to play a round at the Potomac Shores Golf Club, the only Jack Nicklaus Signature Design course in Northern Virginia. Thank you all for your support of our mission!
The Eric Fund is honored each year to help incredible children and adults with disabilities maximize their potential and live their dreams. Here is an update on some of our past winners.
Last year, 16-year-old Dan, who is on the autism spectrum, received an iPad, keyboard and specialized app from The Eric Fund to help him better communicate and not remain dependent on an older version provided by his school. Now 17, Dan has been homeschooled during the pandemic. His mother said he is excelling in typing and is extremely happy with his “very own iPad” and being able to use the LAMP Words for Life app, a tool that helps him communicate more independently. She shared that they “are very grateful to The Eric Fund for helping Danny during this difficult time and making him enjoy learning at home!”
Caroline is a 28-year-old artist and graphic designer with cerebral palsy who has her own design business creating original artwork on the computer that she sells at art fairs. Caroline uses a power wheelchair and her faithful service dog, Shelly, is always at her side. Caroline’s message to The Eric Fund:
“I really appreciate the wonderful iPad Pro and accessories I was given by The Eric Fund. I was thrilled to get not just the iPad, but a pen, keyboard and carrying case, too. Having these things has helped me in several ways. It has made it so much easier for me to run my small graphic design business, www.labradorabledesigns.com. I can do artwork right on it, which is exciting. Because of COVID, we were only able to do one art fair, but it was really helpful to have my iPad there. I used it to run credit cards and to show and to order things from the website that I didn’t have with me. I am really looking forward to being able to sell at more fairs again, but in the meantime, my iPad helps me track orders and update the site. I have also done some logos with it, like for our church food bank and for a new movie club.
I have been going to speech therapy a lot this summer. We think that being home so much because of COVID, I haven’t been talking as much, and my speech has suffered. My Eric Fund iPad is now also being used with a special speech program called Predictable. My iPad will be velcroed to my power chair desk at all times, so I can use the app when people have trouble understanding me!
Of course, I also use my beautiful iPad Pro for fun things, like texting, listening to music and playing games. I am part of a book club through my therapeutic riding center, and I use the iPad to listen to the books we are reading! It’s been a great way to stay in touch with people.
I cannot thank The Eric Fund enough.”
Ibem is a 31-year-old man with developmental and cognitive disabilities who received an iPad from The Eric Fund in 2020. Ibem’s mother said the iPad and software became “a real life saver” for him during a difficult year. She reported that he has been focused on using it for email communications with his independent living support team, Zoom meetings with his job coach and for organization of details related to daily living and his employment goals. He has also used the iPad to watch how-to videos for learning and retention of content. He continues to enjoy playing an online Eight Ball pool game as his favorite relaxation activity.
Ibem’s mom has watched a “transformational impact” of the iPad and apps and is “very impressed” with his progress toward independence. “Ibem, with support from a job coach, is interviewing for jobs as a plumber’s helper. He will soon get his booster vaccine and is eager to start a real job.” She said she is immensely thankful to The Eric Fund for “making it possible to level the playing field by awarding assistive technology devices for persons with disabilities year after year, helping them towards a bright future by building independence.”
In 2019, Priscilla, who has visual disabilities and albinism, was provided with a magnifying screen by The Eric Fund that has been very useful for her work with the DC government. Although Priscilla has teleworked during the pandemic, she occasionally has to go into the office to read government financial and statistical reports that are in small print and very difficult for her to read. She said that the optelec magnifier has “truly made my work much easier to perform” because she’s able to zoom in on all the numbers to see them clearly. Priscilla told us that she is very happy with her assistive equipment and thanks The Eric Fund “so much.”
As you can imagine, narrowing down the application pool each year is difficult, and often leaves many worthy candidates without the funding for the assistive technology they need to lead more independent lives in the community. Your generous donations will help us continue to change lives, by putting vital equipment in the hands of people with disabilities to help them live life on their own terms. Help us expand our reach. More donations mean more grants and fewer people we need to turn away each year. We will continue to put every dollar to work!
