NEC Foundation of America Announces new Grants.

technology for people with disabilities continues as foundation focus

ISLANDIA, N.Y., Feb. 12 /PRNewswire/ -- NEC Foundation of America today announced grants totaling $221,550 to six organizations that advance the independence and full participation in society of people with disabilities through the use of innovative technology.

"Through these grants, NEC Foundation of America continues its consistent focus of advancing the potential of individuals and of society through technology," noted Hisashi Kaneko, president of NEC Foundation of America. "We are confident that the impact of these projects will be significant for many years to come."

   Organizations receiving grants are:    icouldbe.org                                                   $35,000   New York, NY   To expand an on-line career development and educational planning and   mentoring program that has been focused on at-risk middle and high school   students to now include blind and visually impaired students. These   youngsters will receive access to a pool of mentors with and without their   same disability in order to explore career possibilities that too often   fall outside their normal consideration.   http://www.icouldbe.org/    National Technical Institute for the Deaf (NTID),              $49,957   a college of Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT)   Rochester, NY   To conduct field trials and develop training materials for C-Print Pro   Tablet(R), the next generation of C-Print technology which combines the   real time captioning made possible through NTID-developed C-Print with   graphical display output made possible through tablet PC technology. This   combination of technologies allows for the simultaneous viewing of real   time captioning of classroom lectures alongside graphs, charts, and other   pictorial information commonplace in, and critical to the comprehension   of, science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) courses by   secondary and college students nationwide.   http://www.ntid.rit.edu/cprint/product.php    Partners for Youth with Disabilities (PYD)                     $35,000   Boston, MA   For Partners for Youth with Disabilities National POL Program, to further   develop its web-based infrastructures and model program and disseminate it   to a national audience of mentors and mentees with disabilities in the   coming year. Partners Online is fully accessible to users with a wide   range of disabilities; it incorporates message boards, group chat rooms,   one-on-one chat interface (IM) and email capabilities.   http://www.pyd.org/partnersonline    The Seeing Eye                                                 $12,750   Morristown, NJ   For Harness Up A Satellite: The Future of Independent Travel, GPS (Global   Positioning System) demonstration sessions to take place in three U.S.   cities in the spring and fall of 2008. Eight Seeing Eye staff members who   are proficient in the use of GPS will train 40 blind participants at each   demonstration session. Users will be able to 'test drive' three different   commercial systems in order to determine which one best suits their needs   and level of comfort and which can be integrated with current equipment.   Participants will have the opportunity to purchase GPS equipment at   special pricing during the event.   http://www.seeingeye.org/    TASH (Formerly known as The Association for Persons            $35,843   with Severe Handicaps)   Washington, DC   To support the development and launch of a Peer to Peer Resource Network,   which will be the electronic version of what TASH has done in real-time   since 1975: link self-advocates with significant disabilities, advocates,   parents, teachers, researchers, policy makers, and caregivers to an   Internet-based searchable database with the purpose of helping each other   solve problems, give and receive support, and remove barriers.   http://www.tash.org/     University of Hawai'i                                          $53,000   Center on Disability Studies   Honolulu, HI   For a pilot study to determine the applicability and effectiveness of the   Remote Accessibility Assessment System (RAAS) to people with disabilities   in underserved areas. Specifically, the study will evaluate accessibility   in the built workplace environment of users of wheeled mobility devices in   the Hawaiian Islands, as representative of remote/rural areas. Such areas   have higher rates of disability than urban areas in the United States.   http://www.cds.hawaii.edu/   

For more information about NEC Foundation of America, including application guidelines, please call 631.232.2212, or visit http://www.necfoundation.org/. NEC Foundation of America was established in 1991 and endowed at $10 million by NEC Corporation and its United States subsidiaries. Income generated by the endowment is donated to nonprofit organizations in the United States in support of programs with national reach and impact in the arena of assistive technology for people with disabilities. Through its grants, NEC Foundation of America underscores its philosophy of advancing society through technology and enabling individuals to realize their full potential.

CONTACT: Sylvia Clark, Executive Director of NEC Foundation of America, +1-631-232-2212, sclark@necfoundation.org

Web site: http://www.necfoundation.org/ http://www.nec.com/