For Immediate Release
Lisa Razza, Director of Communications
412-995-5000 x410
lrazza@achieva.info
PITTSBURGH, PA - People looking to #ImpactACHIEVA can do so during an online Day of Giving, October 23, 2018. A generous donor, Ronald Chiurazzi, has offered to match every dollar for dollar up to a total of $10,000. His gift is in honor of his late wife Patricia and son Ronnie.
All donations will support the Blanco Family Fund for Advocacy and Family Supports, established by ACHIEVA’s Board in honor of Marsha Blanco, ACHIEVA’s recently retired President and CEO of nearly 39 years. This fund will enable ACHIEVA to generate resources over time to help support the organization’s advocacy and family supports, and help countless people well into the future.
Without donations, the advocacy program would cease to exist; families like the Skiffen’s would be without needed support. ACHIEVA has assisted Keifer Skiffen and his parents for almost five years. The early preschool program and therapies offered through ACHIEVA Early Intervention prepared him for preschool. Subsequently, ACHIEVA’s educational advocacy granted Keifer the chance to attend an inclusive school, along with his peers. Keifer’s mother, Melissa exclaimed, “All of this happened because of the support and guidance we had from our advocate. The services ACHIEVA has provided to Keifer and our family have been invaluable.”
Keifer is now enjoying second grade where he’s loved and accepted among classmates and staff. His mother, often referred to as Keifer’s mom, now has a second title as ACHIEVA’s newest disability advocate. Melissa shared, “Every phone call that I take, every email that I receive, I see Keifer in a little part of those families and it really makes me relate to them. I think it's comforting for the families that I speak to, to know that the person on the other end of the phone has been in their shoes and has walked their path and knows what their struggles are.”
For more information about ACHIEVA’s Day of Giving visit http://www.impactachieva.org.
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ACHIEVA is a non-profit organization located in southwestern Pennsylvania providing lifelong supports to people with disabilities and their families. ACHIEVA strives to empower individuals with disabilities and their families. We offer a wide array of supports and services including ACHIEVA Family Trust, Advocacy, Disability Healthcare Initiative, Early Intervention, Home and Community Supports, Older Adult Protective Services, Recreation, Representative Payee and Residential Supports. ACHIEVA works towards engaging in a community where disability is a distinction that makes no difference.