Oct. 19, 2006

Gordon Ovenshine: 724-738-4854; gordon.ovenshine@sru.edu

SLIPPERY ROCK UNIVERSITY’S CENTER ON DISABILITY AND HEALTH RECEIVES $216,000 TO CONTINUE SERVICES

SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. -- Slippery Rock University will use two new grants totaling $216,000 to continue providing horseback riding, exercise programs and health education through 2008 to area residents with disabilities through its Center on Disability and Health.

SRU received a $116,000 grant from the FISA Foundation, a Pittsburgh charitable foundation working to improve quality of life for girls, women and people of both genders with disabilities, and $100,000 from DSF Charitable Foundation in Pittsburgh, which supports health and human-services programs.

“We are grateful these organizations saw the benefits of our programs and thank them for the support,” SRU’s Dr. Robert Arnhold, professor of exercise and rehabilitative sciences and center coordinator, said.  “The center offers a number of programs that these grants will carry forward, including weekly exercise for veterans with disabilities and a summer camp for children with visual impairment.”

Operated by faculty and students in SRU’s adapted physical activity minor, the Center on Disability and Health helps community members with physical and mental disabilities develop healthy lifestyles and reduce health risks associated with obesity, such as heart disease and diabetes. Operating out of Strain Behavioral Science Building, about 250 people benefit from the center’s services every week.

"FISA Foundation's board of directors was most impressed by the wide range of well-structured activities provided by Slippery Rock students who are enrolled in the adaptive physical activity minor,” said Dee Delaney, foundation executive director. “The entire program focuses on abilities, not disabilities, demonstrating that people with disabilities can live full, active and engaged lives."

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