Small grants can reap big rewards

By Julia Spitz
MetroWest Daily News

When a lottery jackpot reaches $200 million, you can count on long lines at convenience stores.

After all, that's enough dough to seriously change a person's life.

For most of us, the figure needed to make a difference in our way of life is probably a lot lower.

For some, $500 or less can make all the difference in the world.

That's enough to help pay for therapeutic horseback lessons or for putting fencing around a yard. Or to buy shoes and leg braces or specialized play equipment.

It can pay for child care so parents can take another family member to doctor's appointments. It can cover most of the cost of a dance class or driver's ed.

There are many ways a Fred Gaspari Fund for MetroWest Families grant can be used, but there are at least two common threads.

It has to be used to assist a family caring for a loved one with intellectual or developmental disabilities.

And, for most who receive the grant, "it is a blessing," said George Rodrigues.

Rodrigues used a 2009 Gaspari grant to help create a therapy room in the family's Framingham home and buy adaptive toys to provide exercise for his son Ryan, 14.

"Ryan is much better than he was last year," said Rodrigues. "He's taking steps now."

For the O'Tooles, of Medway, a 2010 grant helped John, 9, take part in Jennifer Wiles-Balser's Dance Therapy program at the Framingham Performing Arts Center.

"It is such a wonderful program for children like our son with learning and sensory motor challenges," said Linda O'Toole. "John looks forward to going every week."

"It helped us out," said Mary Bagley of Holliston. A Gaspari grant meant her son Nick, 18, was able to take driver’s ed with adaptations he needed, without his parents having to pay quite as much.

"He can drive fine, (but) he has to have someone read the test to him," said his mom.

In 2009, a Natick family used its grant to help pay for a keyboard and specialized software for a daughter who has cerebral palsy. Last year, another MetroWest mom used grant money for a structured summer playgroup for her son.

"I think they're open to whatever would help your child," Bagley said.

"Local families are providing incredible support for their loved ones at home and deserve all the assistance we can provide," said Jeff Keilson, vice president of Advocates Inc., which administers the fund formed by families involved with the former South Middlesex Association for Retarded Citizens.

Gaspari, who worked for SMARC, "was a tremendous advocate for families," before his death in 1996, said Keilson. "Offering this support in Fred's memory is a great tribute."

The operation of Ashland-based SMARC was taken over by MetroWest Medical Center in 1994, and then by Advocates in 2001. As part of the agreement, an existing SMARC fund was earmarked to benefit those who would have fit SMARC's demographics.

Families formerly involved with SMARC teamed up with Advocates to establish the Family Advocates Alliance, and members of that group are the ones who determine which grants to award.

"As family members themselves, the group wants to reach out to others and let them know that support is available to help with the chal-lenges," said Keilson. "Our objective is to give out 10 a year."

The group hopes donations can expand the scope of the grants, as well as the number of communities covered, said Keilson. Plans are under way for a fundraising golf tournament in August, he said.

For now, applicants must live in Ashland, Dover, Framingham, Holliston, Hopkinton, Hudson, Marlborough, Natick, Northborough, Sherborn, Southborough, Sudbury, Wayland or Westborough to be eligible for a grant.

Applications are being accepted through April 25.

While families' needs may be far bigger than $500, "small grants can make a big difference for families caring for loved ones with disabilities," Keilson said.

"Whether it's a piece of equipment or a recreational activity, the families make each dollar go a long way."

The dance classes their Gaspari grant helped fund brought "great joy to our son," said O'Toole. A child's joy might not be quite the same as winning a mega-jackpot in the lottery, but, trust me, it does have the power to make a parent feel like a million bucks.

Information on applying for a grant and donating to the fund is available at advocatesinc.org or by calling 508-626-6442.

(Julia Spitz can be reached at 508-626-3968 or . Read the Spitz Bits blog at http://blogs.wickedlocal.com/spitzbits.)

Copyright © 2011 GateHouse Media, Inc. Some Rights Reserved. 04/12/2011