Neat West Receives $3000 Grant From GPD

Posted April 13, 2016 in Press Releases

In March, we received a $3,000 grant from The GPD Employees' Foundation for Capacity Building for Disability Services to purchase assistive equipment and training to enhance our audience members' experience of live theater.

Full time volunteer Susan Dicken has been working to make Near West more accessible to audience members with disabilities. She has met with a number of partnering organizations including Dancing Wheels, LEAP, Disabilities Services of Catholic Charities, Great Lakes Theatre, and Cuyahoga County Board of Developmental Disabilities. These meetings have brought to light a number of things we're doing right and ways we can improve.

With the help of this grant, we are able to purchase wheelchairs to assist those who have difficulties with movement and purchase assisted hearing devices that can also to be used as audio description devices. Through the support of grants like this and through our organizational partnerships, we are pleased to be increasing our capacity to serve more audience members.