Blog

At its Annual Meeting in November, the Nassau County AHRC Foundation Board approved a series of grants that reflect both stability and strategic growth in services for children and adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities across Long Island.

The Foundation’s annual institutional support remains a cornerstone of this work. In 2025, the Board approved $200,000 in support of Brookville Center for Children’s Services, $50,000 for Citizens Options Unlimited, and $25,000 for Advantage Care Health Centers.

These unrestricted grants help sustain education programs, residential and community inclusion services, and specialized healthcare that children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families rely on every day.

At the same time, the Foundation looked ahead.

The Board recommended over $300,000 in targeted program and community grants

The largest of these will launch AHRC Nassau’s Wheatley Farms & Arts Center Therapeutic Riding and Equine-Assisted Activities Program in Brookville.

This startup funding supports horse acquisition, adaptive equipment, staff training, facility preparation, and professional consultation, expanding access to therapeutic riding for children and adults with developmental disabilities.

Additional grants strengthen autism education and family support programs, expand self-advocacy initiatives, support guardianship and legal advocacy services, enhance adaptive recreation, and advance healthcare initiatives designed specifically for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities

Taken together, these investments reflect a deliberate approach: protect essential services while building innovative programs that expand opportunity.

Through both sustained institutional support and targeted community grants, the Foundation continues to invest in programs that strengthen lives and experiences of children and adults with developmental disabilities across Long Island.