Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form<\/p>\n
Organization Name: Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization
\nLegal Name (if Different):
\nAlso Known As:
\nMailing Address: 7300 N Federal Highway, Suite 100
\nCity: Boca Raton
\nState: FL
\nPostal Code: 33487
\nMain Phone: 5617523383
\nMain Fax: N\/A
\nOrganization Website: https:\/\/goldcoastdownsyndrome.org
\nEmployer ID Number: 59-2350275
\nOrganization Tax Status: Exempt<\/p>\n
Proposal Information<\/p>\n
Today’s Date: 1\/29\/2025
\nRequested Amount: $5,000<\/p>\n
Project Title: Educational Advocacy
\nProject Description:<\/p>\n
Education creates opportunities for everyone to live a more meaningful life. Getting the best education for a child with Down syndrome comes with unique challenges. Those challenges can get in the way of ultimately having a job, living independently and giving back to the community. And these are challenges that are not just overcome once and done.
\nEvery time a child with Down syndrome moves to a new school there are new administrators, new teachers, bigger campuses, different rules, and bigger expectations. Once transitioned into the new school, each year brings new teachers and paraprofessionals working with the child and a review of the Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals to be updated. The purpose of the Educational Advocacy Program is to protect the rights of the child under the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990. The Educational Advocacy Program will guide parents in navigating the complexities of the system to secure the parent\u2019s educational placement of choice for the child with each transition and new school year from preschool to high school graduation. <\/p>\n
EDUCATIONAL ADVOCACY for children with Down syndrome has been central to GCDSO\u2019s mission for 45 years. The Educational Advocacy Program provides – at no cost – a professional advocate who has over 25 years of experience. GCDSO\u2019s Advocate will arrange for school tours; conduct school observations; speak with special education contacts and school administrators; obtain placement approval; draft appropriate IEP goals; attend IEP meetings with parents; address IEP and curriculum modification non-compliance issues; and conduct classroom observations of the child to make behavior management suggestions. Classroom education prepares parents for the basics of the IEP at every stage and includes topics such as the IEP process; interpreting documents; least restrictive environment; behavior; effective home\/school relationships; curriculum modifications and more.<\/p>\n
GCDSO believes that every child with Down syndrome in Palm Beach County deserves to have a professional advocating for them regardless of financial status. While private educational advocates charge $150 – $300 per hour, GCDSO does not and never has charged our members for this service. The requested grant funds will be used to allow GCDSO to continue to do so. The demand is growing and with the proper funding we can meet this demand.<\/p>\n
Anticipated Outcomes: 75 families will receive Educational Advocacy resulting in appropriate school placement decisions out of which 15 will be for Transitional Advocacy; 85% of children represented will secure Individual Education Plans (IEPs) with appropriate learning goals and services to meet their academic needs; 85% of children provided with advocacy services will be included in a general education classroom.<\/p>\n
Total Project Budget: $34,262<\/p>\n
Other Funding
\nSources For The Project (Committed & Potential): The Batchelor Foundation Potential $6,400; Children\u2019s Services Council Committed $12,000; Mirasol Foundation Potential $5,000; The Marino Family Charitable Foundation Potential $5,000<\/p>\n
Project Duration: 1\/1\/2026 – 12\/31\/2026
\nGeographical Area Served: All of Palm Beach County
\nAge Group To Be Served: Ages 3 to 22<\/p>\n
Contact Information<\/p>\n
Contact Prefix (Mr,Mrs etc.): Ms.
\nContact First Name:
\nContact Last Name:
\nContact Title:
\nContact Phone:
\nContact Email: <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Hermanowski Family Foundation Initial Request Form Organization Name: Gold Coast Down Syndrome Organization Legal Name (if Different): Also Known As: Mailing Address: 7300 N Federal Highway, Suite 100 City: Boca Raton State: FL Postal Code: 33487 Main Phone: 5617523383 Main Fax: N\/A Organization Website: https:\/\/goldcoastdownsyndrome.org Employer ID Number: 59-2350275 Organization Tax Status: Exempt Proposal Information […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6791","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-grants"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6791","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=6791"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6791\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6792,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6791\/revisions\/6792"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=6791"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=6791"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/hermanowskifoundation.org\/members\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=6791"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}