About Us - pyd.org

Mission Statement

Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Inc. (PYD) is committed to empowering young people with disabilities to reach their full potential for personal development. We do this by providing high quality one-to-one and group mentoring programs where adult mentors with disabilities act as positive role models and provide support, understanding and guidance for youth as they strive to reach their personal, educational and career goals.

Vision Statement

It is the vision of Partners for Youth with Disabilities, Inc. (PYD) to be the leading organization in Massachusetts and on a national level that promotes mentoring programs for youth and young adults with disabilities. This will be achieved through development of model one-to-one and group mentoring services that improve the lives of young people in areas such as self-esteem, independent living, recreation, health, leadership, education, and career development. PYD will promote mentoring through its National Disability Mentoring Council, by expanding its mentoring programs to reach youth across Massachusetts, and by providing training and technical assistance to others on a national level interested in developing mentoring programs for people with disabilities in their regions of the country.

Replication

Partners for Youth with Disabilities serves youth throughout Massachusetts and is expanding its presence throughout the country. We have locations serving youth in the Greater Boston area, Western Massachusetts and Lawrence. In order to meet the demand for training and technical assistance requests, PYD has opened its National Center for Mentoring Youth with Disabilities. Through the National Center, our mentoring model has been replicated for youth-serving organizations throughout the country.

In addition, PYD has received funding from the U.S. Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy (www.dol.gov/odep) to act as an intermediary organization that provided funding awards to faith-based and community-based organizations throughout the country that were starting, sustaining or expanding mentoring programs for youth with disabilities. Three rounds of funding were awarded to the following organizations for individual, group or online mentoring programs: North Country Center for Independence, Plattsburgh, NY; Lake County Center for Independent Living, Mundelein, IL; Emmanuel Gospel Center, Boston, MA; DC Public Charter School Cooperative, Washington, DC; and, Computer Technologies Program, Berkeley, CA; Mayors Youth Empowerment Program, Iowa City, IA; Holly Community, Inc.; Salibury, MD.

For more information on how to replicate our programs, contact Regina Snowden, Executive Director, at 617-556-4075 x 11 (TTY: 617-314-2989) or via email at rsnowden@pyd.org.