Giving@May, Issue 2, Spring 2017

ISSUE 02 SPRING 2017

Faces. Voices. Lives.

MEET THE CONNORS FAMILY page 03

IN THIS ISSUE e-mail / giving@mayinstitute.org web / www.mayinstitute.org

Your Investment at Work! 02

2017 Falmouth Road Race 06

Hope & Possibility Events

Grant Highlights 07

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Your investment at work: Thank you for your support!

We are truly grateful for friends, family, and donors like you who support those we serve: children, adolescents, and adults with autism, brain injury, and other developmental disabilities.

THANKS TO YOU, IN 2016 WE WERE ABLE TO: Serve nearly 6,000 individuals at 140 sites in 11 states; Launch a Shared Living Program, a housing option that matches adults with special needs with host families; Offer 25 clinical training workshops for hundreds of educators, psychologists, behavior analysts, social workers, nurses, and licensed mental health workers; and Train 325 school educators at 146 schools receiving PBIS services, which impacted more than 68,000 students who benefited from Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports.

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/ Fiscal 2016 Expenses Programs and Services Management and General Fundraising

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89.2% 10.3% .5%

Faces. Voices. Lives.

MEET THE CONNORS FAMILY

“Michelle’s first word was ‘butterfly.’ This has been meaningful to our family and is why we are sharing this special gift with you.”

A family celebrates their daughter’s graduation from May Institute “With our sincerest gratitude, this inadequate yet heartfelt note is to those of you at the May Institute who keep the grounds, who keep the halls, classrooms and bathrooms clean, who answer the phones and keep the files in order, to you who serve our special children their lunches, to the administrators, up and down the managerial ladder, to those who bring our children into the community, to the medical staff and therapists, music, art, and physical education teachers, to those of you who devote your time to the families and to you who promote the importance of our extraordinary young people with autism, and to all the classroom teachers who are the reason our daughter smiles, each and every morning, when she boards the bus to the May Center School.

You have shown Michelle and her peers, every single day, your expertise, professionalism, and dedication, your sense of fun and imagination, and your kindness and love. We are awed by your constant commitment to the most innocent and beautiful people; those who depend on all of us to meet their potential toward independence. You have immensely contributed, beyond our hopes and dreams, to Michelle’s independence, social awareness, academic skill set, her enjoyment of music and of others, and more importantly, to her personal growth. We do not doubt, even for a moment, that Michelle loves being Michelle.

You have given her, and therefore our entire family, the gift of realizing an amazing and joy-filled young woman who brings such happiness into the world.”

— The Connors Family

Watch a video of Teri Connors talking about Michelle at mayinstitute.org/success/michelle 03

May Institute: Where Hope and Possibility Blossom In April, May Institute hosted two “Where Hope and Possibility Blossom” events providing an opportunity for socializing and networking while raising $185,000 to support the wide range of programs and services May offers. Proceeds from each event will help fund technology enhancements across May. Guests at both events were greeted by remarks from President and CEO Lauren C. Solotar and Chair of the Philanthropy Committee Neal Todrys of Todson, Inc. Each evening featured a silent auction of hand-made artwork created by students from May Center Schools and individuals from adult services programs throughout Massachusetts.

The first-ever event in Western Massachusetts was held on April 5 at the Log Cabin in Holyoke.

Featured speaker was Kelley St. Clair, a parent from the May Center School for Autism and Developmental Disabilities in West

Springfield. Mrs. St. Clair noted the impact that being a part of May Institute has had on her family, “Fortunately, all along the way, we have had professionals from May to serve as our guides — from Early Intervention, to the HomeSchool Consultation team, and ultimately, May Center School in West Springfield, which, in my opinion, saved our lives.”

May’s second annual cocktail reception in Boston was held on April 13 at the Downtown Harvard Club with Hank Morse of WROR as emcee for the evening. The program included remarks from the City of Boston’s Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Kristen McCosh, and parent Ashton McCombs from the May Center for Adult Services in Eastern Massachusetts. Mr. McCombs talked about his daughter’s journey to May and expressed his family’s deep appreciation for May Institute staff. “Her life is better than it’s been since she turned 14.

They know our daughter and she knows them.”

Guardian Sponsor:

Advocates Sponsor:

Provider Sponsors:

Independence Sponsors:

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See all of the photos from both events at mayinstitute.org/give/ specialevents

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Thank you to our generous event partners:

Equity Industrial Partners Joan Solotar Neal Todrys and Janet Casey

BOSTON: Members of the extended Falvey family including Craig and Ellen Hollis, who are Eastern Mass. Adult Services parents, and Sheila Finnerty, a member of May’s Philanthropy Committee.

BOSTON: (left-right) Neal Todrys, May Board member and Chair of the Philanthropy Committee, with Dr. Lauren Solotar, May Institute President and CEO, and Hank Morse of WROR.

BOSTON: Ashton (left) and Betts (right) McCombs, Eastern Mass. Adult Services parents, with May Institute staff (center) Susan Sharpe and Deanna Neal.

HOLYOKE: Michael and Kelley St. Clair, May Center School West Springfield parents.

HOLYOKE: May Center School parent Yuchen Fama of Hartford Steam Boiler (second from left) with West Springfield May Center School staff Marc D’Amore, Kalli Bonin, and Jessica Lindsay.

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WOBURN SCHOOL MOVES TO WILMINGTON The May Center School for Autism and Developmental Disabilities in Woburn has moved to a new location in Wilmington, Mass. Only 4.5 miles from our former location, this bright, brand new building is 22,000 square feet, almost doubling our square footage. The new space has allowed us to enhance our Classroom to Community vocational and employment program with a fully functional kitchen, school store, and expanded capacity for vocational training.

To make a gift or learn more, please contact Senior Vice President of Philanthropy Mary Tiernan at 781-437-1291.

The larger site has many new amenities including a cafeteria, gross motor skills room, adaptive gymnasium, and library/media center.

The new space also includes a 3,000-square-foot outdoor play area. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held in May to celebrate the opening of the new school site. Fundraising continues for the gym and outdoor playground space.

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Executive Director Jamie March cutting the ribbon at our new school in Wilmington, Mass.

#TeamMay to run the 2017 Falmouth Road Race May Institute is grateful to

of #TeamMay and running the

This year #TeamMay is 20

be part of the New Balance

2017 Falmouth Road Race. One

runners strong. The team

Falmouth Road Race’s

runner shares with us why she

hopes to raise a minimum of

“Numbers for Nonprofits”

runs:

$20,000 by race day on August

program for the sixth year in a row. Last year, our team of dedicated runners raised more than $15,000 for the programs and services of the May.

“I am running for #TeamMay to help support the students I work with every day!

I am so proud to be a

Each runner has his or her own

teacher at May and work

personal reasons for being part

with such amazing kids.”

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20. If you are in the area, please join us along the route to cheer on May’s runners.

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To make your donation and learn more about the team, visit mayinstitute.org/ falmouth

corporate & foundation grant highlights The Kessler Foundation awarded May Institute’s National Autism Center a $250,000 grant to support “Meaningful Jobs,” a workforce development initiative to identify, train, and support people with autism for employment in the security industry.

Our MAY You Be Healthy initiative includes the implementation of a curriculum focusing on physical activity and nutrition for the individuals in our care. With grants from the Community Foundation of Western Massachusetts, the John A. Scileppi Foundation, and the Million Dollar Round Table, schools will purchase gym/physical education equipment (indoor/outdoor) and schedule field trips. The Autism Services Grant Council and HEAL Foundation are supporting the initiative in the May’s Florida division.

With funding from the Irene E. and George A. Davis Foundation, Classroom to Community program (C2C) at the May Center School in West Springfield supplements the academic curriculum to help students develop the work and life skills needed to obtain part-time jobs and achieve as much independence as possible.

May received a grant from BayCoast Bank to construct a SMART (Sensory Motor Arousal Regulation Treatment) Room at our Youth Trauma Program located at St. Anne’s Hospital in Fall River. SMART Therapy is an evidence-based model of therapy for children who have experienced trauma.

The Doug Flutie, Jr. Foundation, through its Allison Keller Education Technology Grant, supported adaptive technology at our Randolph school.

The May Center School in Randolph is building an outdoor splash pad with support from Amelia Peabody Charitable

Fund, Ronald McDonald House Charities of Eastern New England, May’s Board of Trustees, and a number of individual donors.

Construction has started at the new outdoor splash pad area.

Architectural rendering of the outdoor splash pad in Randolph.

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Support May Institute Pathway to the May Our commemorative brick program promoting the “MAY You Be Healthy” health and wellness initiative will raise funds for physical activities, and sporting and outdoor equipment for three May Center Schools for Autism and Developmental Disabilities.

“Pathway Bricks” are 4” x 8” in size can have up to three lines of wording and 20 characters per line. The price is $150.

The “Stepping Stone Brick” is an 8” x 8” brick that can have up to six lines of wording and 20 characters per line. The cost is $350 per brick.

Purchase a brick today! Visit mayinstitute. org/pathway or call 781-437-1247.

AmazonSmile As you shop, a portion of your eligible purchases will be donated to May Institute when you visit smile.amazon.com. Just type in “May Institute” to receive donations from eligible purchases before you begin shopping.

Available in two sizes, the commemorative bricks are engraved with your personal message.

Honor a student, teacher, or family member; celebrate special achievements; highlight a birthday or graduation, or recognize a loved one.

is published by May Institute’s Office of Philanthropy 41 Pacella Park Drive, Randolph, Massachusetts 02368

EDITORIAL STAFF: Laura Vincent, Annual Fund Manager / Juanita Class, Designer / Mary Tiernan, SVP of Philanthropy / Eileen Pollack, SVP of Communications & PR

CONNECT WITH US! Subscribe to our eNews via our website and follow us on social media!

ABOUT MAY INSTITUTE Founded in 1955, May Institute has its roots in a family’s vision of enabling children with disabilities to lead the fullest lives possible. Today, May Institute provides educational, rehabilitative, and behavioral healthcare services to individuals with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental disabilities, brain injury, neurobehavioral disorders, and other special needs. May Institute also provides training and consultation services to professionals, organizations, and public school systems. Our programs touch the lives of thousands of individuals and their families each year at more than 140 service locations across the country. © 2017 May Institute, Inc.

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tel / 781.440.0400 fax / 781.440.0401 e-mail / giving@mayinstitute.org web / www.mayinstitute.org