Helen Keller Services, a national non-profit working with individuals who are blind, visually impaired, deaf-blind and/or have combined hearing-vision loss to live, work and thrive, today announced it has received a renewal grant in the amount of $100,000 from The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation to support and enhance its Health/Wellness Program for low-income New York State residents who are blind, DeafBlind, and/or have intellectual disabilities.
The program provides free accessible physical health activities and mental health initiatives, both in-person and virtually, to New York State residents with vision and/or hearing loss.
Activities include individualized and group dance movement therapy, yoga and/or Pilates instruction, nutrition education, creative arts therapy, and workshops on various topics related to health/wellness, including a quarterly mental health and self-advocacy component, as well as gardening outings.
“We are grateful to Mother Cabrini Health Foundation for continuing to support the programs that are so vital to the DeafBlind community,” said Sue Ruzenski, CEO of Helen Keller Services. “This creative program that makes essential programs accessible to DeafBlind people is so important.”
“After nearly two years of recovery from a pandemic that has hit vulnerable populations the hardest, we must continue to address the challenges communities across New York State are facing: food and housing insecurity, lack of access to basic healthcare including vaccines, lack of equity within the healthcare professions, and racial and economic healthcare disparities made worse during COVID-19. We must continue to support the full range of services that make for healthy people and communities,” said Msgr. Gregory Mustaciuolo, chief executive officer of the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation.
