David Lubokowski

Thanks to The Eric Fund, David Lubkowski, 52, a former systems engineer with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) can get back to sharing his years of experience with his colleagues.

In 2001, David sustained a brain injury due to cardiac arrest, which greatly affected his motor skills.

Before his brain injury, David was a main designer of the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System (TCAS) – a combination of hardware and software that acts as a set of electronic eyes for a pilot to help track nearby aircraft and their speed to avoid mid-air collisions. Since the airlines began equipping their planes with TCAS in 1990, no mid-air collisions have occurred.

While the injury greatly limited David’s physical abilities, his cognitive abilities were not affected. The Eric Fund is purchasing David an IntelliKeys keyboard, a programmable keyboard which enables users to easily type, navigate on-screen displays and execute menu commands.   
The hope is that by using this keyboard, David will again be able to communicate with his colleagues and share his knowledge and expertise of the TCAS program and restore his ability to feel he is contributing something to society, his family and himself. 

The Eric Fund is proud to help a man who has helped so many and developed technology that saves lives everyday.  David, his wife, Suzanne, 18-year-old son and 14-year-old daughter live in Northern Virginia.  Together, they enjoy movies, play checkers and watch one of David’s favorite shows, Star Trek. 

2005Nate Nashawardee
Tyla Briana Julius-Kumbah
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Tyla Briana Julius-Kumbah is a five year-old-girl with cerebral palsy who is blessed with a mother who is a tenacious advocate for her special needs.  She was very grateful to find out about the Eric Fund from a family friend!

Tyla’s mom describes her as a happy child who enjoys music with a particular fondness for Alicia Keyes.  In fact, Tyla insists on playing the CD that she owns so often her mother wishes she would expand her repertoire!

The wheelchair that Tyla uses at school cannot be used in their home, and the seating system that her family uses to transport her up and down stairs and to the bus everyday is becoming increasingly cumbersome to lift as Tyla grows. 

Her mother was thrilled to learn that the Eric Fund is able to purchase a Convaid Tilting STroller System for Tyla. This system will provide a basic, but extermely important need for their family: the ability to easily get Tyla in and out of their home ... the first step toward a more active life with her friends and family in the community!

2006Nate Nashawardee
Caitlin Fleischmann
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Caitlin Fleischmann is one nine-year-old girl with a busy schedule. Between Brownies, gymnastics, school, and spending time with her family, she is a girl on the go.

Thanks to The Eric Fund, Caitlin will be able to more fully experience her activities with new hearing aids. Her mother, Debbie, heard about The Eric Fund grants through her part-time work at a Virginia social services organization and thought she would apply on behalf of her daughter, who has down syndrome and conductive hearing loss.

"I was shocked when I found out that insurance won't pay a dime," said Debbie. "When the audiologist recommended hearing aids and that they were $800, I said OK, thinking it would be a major stretch to afford that but Caitlin needed them. I didn't know they were $800 a piece!"

Debbie said the hearing aids will help Caitlin with all of her activities and they will be especially helpful in school.  Dedicated to providing her daughter with the best education and supports to make her own choices in life, Debbie and Caitlin moved from Prince William County to higher-priced Fairfax County so Caitlin could attend Hayfield, one of the model schools for inclusion in Virginia.

Caitlin is flourishing at the school, which includes children with and without disabilities in each classroom.  Caitlin's teacher recently wrote home that she is a "great model" for the class. Caitlin was recently named star of the week and reader for the day in her second-grade class. 

In addition to school activities, Caitlin is a member of her local Brownie troop, is a medal winner in track & field for Special Olympics and is getting ready to learn gymnastics. 

"Caitlin is doing really well," Debbie said.  "The doctor just told me and I agree - imagine what she can do when she can really hear." 

"This kid may become President of the United States. You just never know"

2001Nate Nashawardee
Jamisha Williams
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Seven-year-old Jamisha Williams is positioned for success both at home and at school thanks to the positioning chair purchased for her by The Eric Fund.

Jamisha’s mother, Treliease, made several attempts to secure funding from government agencies and insurance companies to replace the positioning chair Jamisha had outgrown. As a single mother living in Washington, DC, with two children, Ms. Williams often found it difficult to supply Jamisha – who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and who is non-verbal and non–ambulatory – with special adaptive equipment on her salary. Despite Ms. Williams’s persistence, however, the government agencies offered no assistance and her insurance companies would not cover the chair as it exceeded the allowable amount. 

That’s when Ms. Williams turned for help to Jamisha’s therapist, Lesley Douglas, at St. Coletta School of Greater Washington in Alexandria, Virginia. Ms. Douglas found out about The Eric Fund’s grant awards and encouraged Ms. Williams to apply.

With a more than $800 grant from The Eric Fund, a growing Jamisha can now use a positioning chair that will grow with her. She uses the chair both at school and at home where it allows her to sit in various positions throughout the day, a function that is critical to her development. Thanks to the new chair, Jamisha now has many more opportunities to participate in activities and interact with her classmates, family and friends.

2002Nate Nashawardee
Muffi Lavigne
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Thanks to The Eric Fund, Rockville, Maryland, resident Margaret “Muffi” Lavigne  will get the equipment she needs to help her take photographs for her graduate school portfolio as well as help her with everyday needs in her apartment.  

Muffi is applying to the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaigne’s Master in Architecture program for Fall 2004, to study interior design.  Part of her application includes an artistic portfolio, in which she wanted to feature her photography. Muffi has been an avid photographer, but her disability – Limb-Girdle Muscular Dystrophy, a progressive muscle disease affecting her arms, legs and hips – has progressed to the point where she is no longer able to hold a camera on her own. She uses a power wheelchair and has service dog, “Rudy.”  In addition, Muffi requires a personal care attendant, physical therapists and many other services to help her lead an independent life. The costs of these services, despite her working full time, leave little for her to purchase the necessary equipment for her to further her education and career goals. 

The Eric Fund is providing Muffi with a clamp and swing arm to help secure her camera for picture taking and allow her to complete her portfolio for her Master’s program application.  She is also receiving a wall switch extender and a lamp converter to help her reach for switches and lamps in her home. Muffi has been working for many years as the Information and Referral Coordinator at United Cerebral Palsy’s national headquarters in Washington, DC, where our Fund’s namesake, Eric Savader, once worked.

2003Nate Nashawardee
Katie Marie Shaw
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"I'm thrilled!" said Barbara Shaw when she first learned that The Eric Fund would be funding a Lightwriter for her 20-year-old daughter Katie Marie. "Katie will be too!"

Katie Marie, who is developmentally delayed with a severe expressive language disorder, is in her final year of a transition program at Howard Community College in Maryland. She has mastered the art of communicating with a Lightwriter SL87, which she has been able to use on loan through the school program. However, since it is school property, Katie Marie would not have access to this crucial piece of augmentative communication once she leaves the school system in the spring.

Katie relies on the Lightwriter to communicate her needs and express her feelings when she is conducting her day-to-day activities outside the home. Her mom is able to interpret the sign language that she uses at home, but says that Katie Marie rarely communicates via sign language outside the home.  When she is interacting with people who are unfamiliar with her disability, or engaged in such basic functions as ordering food at a restaurant, asking for directions, or requesting help if she is sick, Katie relies solely on the assistance of the Lightwriter to do her "talking" for her. Her mother explained that the ease-of-use of the Lightwriter continues to improve too. "It's gotten so much smaller and lighter since Katie Marie began using it," her mother said, "it's no longer the big bulky piece of equipment that it use to be."

Katie Marie is also very ambitious. Her part-time job at Pizza Hut allows her to earn extra money, but not enough to be able to afford expensive assistive technology. She is thrilled that The Eric Fund will help her to achieve this goal, so that she may be able to live, work and play independently after she graduates from community college.

2003Nate Nashawardee
Austin Ruby
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Three-year-old Austin Ruby will be ramping up to get around in his community with a wheelchair ramp provided to him by The Eric Fund. 

Austin, who has a severely involved disability due to a brain hemorrhage at birth that limits his motor skills and causes him to be fed through a feeding tube, attends Fairfax Villa elementary three mornings a week where he receives physical, visual and speech therapy and companionship from his school friends.  The Eric Fund is please to grant Austin and his parents, Jennifer and Keith, the funds to purchase a wheelchair ramp for their minivan and the tie downs and floor tracking to secure Austin’s wheelchair inside the vehicle. The van accommodations while vital, were impossible for the Rubys to afford on their single income while supporting a family of four. 

This assistive device will ensure that Austin can continue his journeys out into the larger world and will help him be a part of rather than apart from the community as he grows.

2003Nate Nashawardee
John Robert May

John Robert May, 42, of Silver Spring, Maryland, will soon be writing away on a new computer with voice recognition software, both provided by The Eric Fund.

John, who has Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and uses a wheelchair, is looking forward to using the computer to start a business and write a book.  Before he was diagnosed with MS, John had a 20-year career as a hairstylist, specializing in coloring. John’s disability has made it difficult for him to work.  

The new computer and software will help John achieve one of his life-long goals of writing a book.  John said he has had many interesting life experiences that he would like to document. The voice recognition software will be particularly helpful because he is unable to type.  John hopes the book becomes a success so he one day open his own hair salon. 

2004Nate Nashawardee
Payman Jazini
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Payman Jazini, 24, of Rockville, Maryland, will be improving his communication skills in 2005 with a library of assistive technology CDs that will help him not only communicate more effectively with his E-Talk augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) device, but will also help Payman to develop English as a second language to his native Persian. 
     
When Payman was in the 8th grade, a car accident during a visit to Iran left him with physical disabilities and a traumatic brain injury, mostly to the speech area of his brain. After 20 surgeries, Payman no longer uses a wheelchair, but it able to walk with a cane. In addition to relearning words and how to communicate, Payman is also relearning words in English. 

The new CDs provided by The Eric Fund will help Payman better master the English language so he can begin pre-vocational training that will hopefully result in job placement and allow him to study independently at home with only moderate assistance from his family. 
     
Payman and his family were thrilled at the news about his grant from The Eric Fund. “(This grant is) going to make a big difference,” says Mina Mahmoudieh, Payman’s mother. “He’ll be able to better communicate with others, and that will help him to get a job and be independent.” 

When Payman is not working on his language skills and speech, he enjoys playing computer games, playing basketball, swimming, or solving math problems.

2004Nate Nashawardee
Kourtenay Tharp

For 23-year-old Kourtenay Tharp of Columbia, Maryland, doing things on her own is very important to her. To help her in this regard, The Eric Fund is providing special adaptive plates and bowls to help Kourtenay feed herself more easily, whether she is at home or in the community. 

Kourtenay has a variety of disabilities, including Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, mental retardation and as well as visual, auditory, orthopedic and speech language challenges. But while Kourtenay is small for her age at less than four feet tall, she is extremely strong in mind, body and spirit. 

According to her mother Leslie Tharp, Kourtenay has a “hug that doesn’t quit” and a great smile, She enjoys music and going out. And as long as she is feeling well, eating is always a favorite activity. 
     
“Kourtenay has so many needs, the costs add up quickly,” says Leslie. “I felt elated (about the Eric Fund Grant) because I could really purchase a number of adaptive eating utensils and dishes that could make life easier for Kourtenay . . .  (and help her) live more independently.

2004Nate Nashawardee
2000 Recipients

These individuals were awarded an Eric Fund Grant in 2000:

  • David Klingelhoffer
  • Sean Haro
  • Martin Maldonado
  • Benjamin Seidl
  • Heather James
2000Nate Nashawardee
Stephan Bragg
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Forty year-old Stephan Bragg of Lorton, Va., will be getting the gift of new wheels this holiday season, thanks to The Eric Fund. Stephan, who relies on his wheelchair to go everywhere, has been using the same chair for the past 10 years and both he and his father are tired of the constant repairs that it requires. The Eric Fund will be awarding him with a new Quickie/Breezy 600 wheelchair. 

His father, who is Stephan's primary caregiver, was thrilled to learn about his son's Eric Fund grant award. "The new wheelchair will eliminate the aggravation of having to constantly fix the old one," he said enthusiastically. "That thing had something go wrong with it every week!" The Breezy 600 is considered the best standard wheelchair on the market today. It's lighter and safer than Stephan's current chair, and comes with a number of options that can be customized to fit his needs.

Stephan, who has a traumatic brain injury as a result of a car accident in 1981, is partially paralyzed on his left side. In addition to freeing him of the hassle of repairing the old wheelchair, the new wheelchair will free Stephan from isolation and solitude by allowing him to go out in the community and make new connections.  He will no longer be dependent on his father to help him get around. 

The Eric Fund will also be awarding Stephan a new bath chair to replace the old one that he has been using for ten years. 

2001Nate Nashawardee
Diamani McNeely and Zachary Baldwin
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Zachary Baldwin is three years old and his friend Diamani McNeely (pictured at left) is four. They are also both deaf. Their mothers are friends who got acquainted through a parent support group in Washington, D.C. for parents of children who are deaf.

Zach and Diamani have similar needs. When Diamani's mother, Amber Robles Gordon, found out that the Eric Fund had selected Diamani as an award winner, she was thrilled, but the first question out of her mouth was, "Was Zachary Baldwin selected too?" She was equally concerned that Zach, too, would be granted the assistive technology that both children need.

The Eric Fund will be funding environmental controls for the children that will assist them with basic living skills and increase their ability to interact with the hearing members of their families at home. A First Alert smoke detector, which provides visual cues as opposed to auditory cues to alert someone of a fire, will make their homes safer. A TTY device will assist in teaching the children how to communicate via the telephone by using a keypad as opposed to a handset. Similar to the First Alert, the Nutone Strobe door chime and the Simplicity Telephone Ring Signaler both indicate that someone is "calling" by giving a visual cue. Both children will receive all four controls. 

Diamani's mother explained that the technology will help her son become more aware of things that hearing people take for granted. 

"Diamani needs these things to adapt to everyday living," says his mother. "They will help teach him basic daily activities that will help him grow and mature as an adult."

As his mother, she is excited because she knows that these basic devices will increase her son's ability to communicate with her. She says she looks forward to the day when he will come to her and say, "Mommy, someone is at the door." 

Zachary Baldwin lives with his mother and his grandmother. Zachary's mother, Renee Johnson, is the only one who knows sign language. She's eager for her son to learn how to use his TTY so that he'll be able to better communicate with his grandmother. 

"Zach is at an age in his life where he is beginning to understand that he is different from other people because he can't hear," said his mother. "It's very important that he learn that he can do everything a hearing person can do, but that he's just going to have to learn to do them differently. [The technology that the Eric Fund is going to provide for Zach] will teach him basic social and adaptive skills that will begin to help him understand that." 

In addition to having sons who are deaf, Zach's mom and Diamani's mom share single motherhood. Raising a child with a disability involves additional financial costs. Assistive technology is expensive and as any parent will tell you, securing funding for devices can often be extremely difficult and frustrating.   Renee and Amber were both thrilled to find out that The Eric Fund would be helping them out ... and helping their dreams for their children to come true.

2001Nate Nashawardee
Katherine Montgomery

Katherine Montgomery looks forward to the day when a room of kids can call her teacher.

Katherine is a 21-year-old freshman at Northern Virginia Community College in Annandale, Virginia.  She is pursuing an Associates Degree in Liberal Arts with a goal of teaching upon graduation.  

While she received good support from the Fairfax Public Schools as a high school student, Katherine, like many other students with disabilities transitioning out of the school system, found herself without the school-provided services or equipment on which she relied once she graduated. 

That’s when she turned to The Eric Fund. With the Fund’s help, Katherine is on her way to achieving her goal. The Eric Fund, with help from its generous donors, has granted Katherine more than $2,500 for a laptop computer that will enable her to take notes in class and complete school assignments that require a good deal of writing with voice-activated software. The Eric Fund will also provide her with a Microsoft Works suite that includes word and e-mail programs as well as access to the Internet –tools that every successful college student needs.

In addition to school and studying, Katherine enjoys hanging out with her friends, some of whom she met at an Easter Seals-sponsored camp, which she has attended since she was 14. The camp counselors come from all over the world to gain knowledge and experience from the campers and in turn expose them to a wider world.  Katherine’s email buddy list includes friends from England, Holland, and Australia.  

The Eric Fund is proud to support Katherine in becoming a teacher of tomorrow. 

2002Nate Nashawardee
Monay Gross

On April 10, 2002, 12-year-old Monay Gross saw independence from a new point of view – a bicycle seat. At a Mobility Day event, Monay, a Washington, DC pre-teen with cerebral palsy, rode an adaptive tricycle for the first time on her own – pedaling, steering and braking by her own power.

In an effort to help Monay continue to experience the joy, freedom and confidence she got from riding the tricycle by herself, Monay’s physical therapist, Claire Wong, began working with local disability groups to secure funding to buy Monay a trike of her own. At nearly $4,200 per trike, this was a tall order. 

Ms. Wong knew that in addition to the emotional benefits, the adaptive tricycle provided Monay with much needed physical therapy, cardiovascular and balance training. As Monay grew taller, she began experiencing balance loss and could stand only a brief time without the support of her arm or a walker. While she uses a power wheelchair at school and in the community, Monay must use a manual wheelchair in the small home she shares with her grandmother. Due to the home’s design, Monay must walk in certain areas that cannot accommodate her wheelchair. Because Monay’s grandmother is her primary caregiver and cannot provide a lot of physical assistance, it is imperative that Monay develop and maintain her mobility for her daily activities.

Monay can now stay on the road physical and cardiovascular therapy thanks to The Eric Fund and its donors. Supplementing the $1,075 donated by Silver Spring, Maryland’s SEEC, The Eric Fund granted Monay $3,250 to purchase an Adventurer adaptive tricycle with a special stationery trainer that lets her ride the trike indoors as well as outdoors with her friends. 

Monay enjoys the freedom of riding her adaptive tricycle in her neighborhood and exercising outside in the fresh air. She is also looking forward to riding in the cold. While her friends have to put their bicycles away for the winter, Monay can continue to ride at home, as she motors on to improved physical fitness.

2002Nate Nashawardee
Jack Mattalug
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For 19-year-old Jack Mattalug, becoming the architect of his own future is a top priority. “I want to be an architect or an engineer”, said Jack. “I enjoy studying art and math and I like working on the computer.”  

Jack’s desire and determination is even more impressive when you consider the challenges he faces.  Jack, a resident of Bethesda, Maryland, has both visual and hearing impairments. He has an artificial left eye and minimal vision in his right. He also has moderate hearing loss in his right ear and wears a hearing aid. 

But with assistive technology, Jack is meeting his challenges head on and succeeding. In 2002, the honor roll student at Rockville High School was accepted into the competitive drafting and design program at Thomas Edison School of Technology. Jack takes academic classes at Rockville High and then participates in the half-day program at Edison, also part of the Montgomery County Public School system. Jack takes Computer Aided Design classes (CAD) as part of his pre-engineering and architecture training at Edison, drafting plans and creating architectural and engineering designs. 

Since creating these designs involves seeing and drawing intricate details, The Eric Fund awarded Jack a closed circuit TV (CCTV) with a color monitor to help him read the diagrams, teacher corrections and text books essential to his studies. To help Jack hear more effectively in class, The Eric Fund also awarded Jack an FM System to help him filter out background noises during class. The FM system allows a teacher to wear a microphone to transmit the lesson directly to Jack’s FM system, allowing him to hear better and concentrate. The school system allowed him to use the FM system and CCTV on a trial basis, but in order to succeed, Jack needed to own the equipment so he can use it at home for homework, in school and take it with him when he goes to college. And since the insurance company does not deem the equipment, while essential to his success and development, medically necessary, the cost is not covered. “Jack is harder working than any other student I have all day long,” says his pre-engineering teacher. “He is a joy to work with. An ‘A’ student.”

His vision teacher at Rockville High, Arlene Mak, who told Jack about The Eric Fund Fund, agrees. “Jack is one of those kids who touches people. No matter who he comes into contact with, he shines through and people recognize what a great, driven kid he is,” Ms. Mak says.

Jack’s mother, Dominga Tayem, was thrilled that her son was receiving an Eric Fund Grant. When she immigrated to the United States in 1984 from the Philippines as a nanny for a diplomatic family, she did so with the intent of eventually bringing Jack, his two sisters and her husband over to enjoy a better life in the United States and to get better services for Jack. She was separated from her family for 11 years, until she established citizenship in 1996 and was able to bring her family over to join her.  

Ms. Tayem says Jack has blossomed in the  six years he has been in the U.S. and she is grateful for all of the opportunities he has been given in the school system. She works several jobs to help support her family and send her kids to college. “Education is very important to me. It’s important to improve your life, especially here in America,” says Ms. Tayem. “I want my kids to have every opportunity to get a good job and be what they want to be.”

For all she has done for him and his family, Jack tells his mom he is going to design a house for her one day. “It is the greatest thing to hear that. But I told him I don’t want a big house. I don’t want to be cleaning it,” she says with a laugh.

2002Nate Nashawardee