Released on: February 28, 2008, 6:50 am

Press Release Author: Linda Walder Fiddle, Founder and Executive Director

Industry: Non Profit

Press Release Summary: The Daniel Jordan Fiddle Foundation announces 23 grant awards
to programs for adolescents and adults with Autism throughout the United States in
2008.

Press Release Body: Ridgewood, NJ (February, 2008)...The Daniel Jordan Fiddle (DJF)
Foundation, the first organization in the United States with the mission to award
grants to programs that enhance the lives and benefit adolescents and adults with
Autism, has announced that it will award grants to 23 role model programs nationwide
in 2008. The foundation has been awarding grants to residential, recreational,
vocational, educational and family programs for adolescents and adults with Autism
since 2002. The hallmark of all DJF programs is that they provide suitable,
stimulating and sustainable opportunities for participation in community life. \"It
is an attainable goal for each child with Autism to become an adult who can
contribute to and enjoy the benefits of community life if we develop the programs
and necessary support systems,\" said Linda Walder Fiddle, Founder and Executive
DIrector of the foundation, \"and we are greatly encouraged that more and more
programs for adults are being modeled from the grant programs we have previously
supported. Today, parents of young children with Autism can look to their future
with hope that did not exist even five years ago.\"

The expertise of the DJF Foundation encompasses developing, identifying, supporting
and supervising exemplary programs with a particular focus in 2008 on programs for
young adults as they transition from mandated school age programs to the uncharted
waters of adult life. The foundation\'s 2008 grantees include several transition
vocational training programs for young adults throughout the United States
including: Bittersweet Farms, Inc., Ohio; The Victory School, Florida; Eden II, New
York; Nashoba Learning Group, Massachusetts; Developmental Disabilities Institute,
New York; FECA, New York; and The Kelly Autism Program,Kentucky. Other grants for
2008 will support recreational and family related respite programs for teens and
adults with Autism including: Groupo Salto, Illinois; Vista del Mar, California;
Fountain House, Inc., New York; Ramapo for Children, New York; Agape Therapeutic
Riding, Indiana; Opportunity Partners, Minnesota; and ALUT in Israel.

Web Site: http://www.djfiddlefoundation.org

Contact Details: Contact: info@djfiddlefoundation.org or 877-444-1149