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Recent Grants

New Grants:


Jessie Ball duPont Fund Commits $125,000

The Jessie Ball duPont Fund has contributed $125,000 to Kennedy Krieger to help launch the Institute’s special education leadership training program. This new fellowship will provide professionals with the practical skills, integrated knowledge, and research exposure needed to become recognized leaders in special education. Through the program, the Institute will recruit individuals from a variety of disciplines and backgrounds who have a significant ability to make a difference in the field of special education. Upon completion of the program, fellows will have a job identified for them, allowing them to help change the current field and influence new leaders who will, in turn, impact the quality of special education.

Edward St. John Foundation Makes $50,000 Grant

The Edward St. John Foundation also recently gave $50,000 to Kennedy Krieger to help establish the Institute’s Center for Innovation and Leadership in Special Education. The grant will help the Institute to implement a unique training fellowship program designed to adequately prepare professionals and make them more effective leaders and advocates for individuals with disabilities. There is real need in the field of special education to provide leaders with a fundamental understanding of brain development and function in order to inform the progression of effective interventions and educational practices and to ultimately maximize outcomes for individuals with neurological disorders.

CVS Caremark Charitable Trust Gives $50,000

The CVS Caremark Charitable Trust has made a $50,000 grant to Kennedy Krieger to assist in the design of therapeutic gaming software that will benefit patients with cerebral palsy. Research suggests that increasing therapeutic practice time enhances functional recovery in children with cerebral palsy, who present with a variety of impairments--including great difficulty coordinating movements. Through this grant, the Institute will be able to supplement in-clinic care by giving families activities to perform at home with their child, ultimately helping patients to improve functional mobility and allowing Kennedy Krieger to serve a greater number of children with the disorder.

The Ambrose Monell Foundation Makes $50,000 Grant

The Ambrose Monell Foundation gave $50,000 to Kennedy Krieger to further the Institute’s mission of helping children achieve their potential and participate as fully as possible in family, school, and community life. Unrestricted grants such as this allow Kennedy Krieger to persevere in its efforts to discover new methods of prevention, treatment, and cure—ultimately providing the best in care to families from around the world who come to the Institute for assistance.

Walmart Foundation Awards $37,785 to Montgomery County School

The Walmart Foundation made a $37,785 grant to Kennedy Krieger School Programs: Montgomery County Campus, allowing the Institute to purchase a van for the school’s off-site vocational and community-based learning programs offered to students with autism. The new twelve-passenger van will not only enable the school to increase the number of students who participate in these important off-site learning opportunities, but also allow the school to seek additional partnerships with organizations within the community—furthering the students’ involvement in off-site experiences.

Dresher Foundation Gives $15,000 to International Center for Spinal Cord Injury

The Dresher Foundation recently contributed $15,000 to assist the International Center for Spinal Cord Injury in purchasing the Myomo mobility system—a portable, lightweight functional arm brace that will help patients improve health and optimize recovery of function. This device restores movement to an arm weakened as a result of neuromuscular damage and will be utilized in the Center to assist patients with injuries and paralysis in retraining upper extremity function, increasing independence, and enhancing their quality of life.

Past Grants:


Hunter’s Dream for a Cure Contributes $50,000 to Sturge-Weber Center

Hunter's Dream for a Cure, a non-profit organization with the mission of raising funds and awareness for Sturge-Weber syndrome, made a $50,000 grant to the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center at Kennedy Krieger.  The Center, named in memory and in honor of Hunter Nelson, is both nationally and internationally recognized as a leader in the clinical care and research of Sturge-Weber syndrome, a rare disorder that presents itself through a port-wine stain birthmark and complications with the nervous system that can include seizures, paralysis or weakness on one side, and learning disabilities.  The grant is allowing the Hunter Nelson Sturge-Weber Center to provide clinical evaluations for uninsured patients; assist outside organizations by providing expertise; develop increased patient care; and shape new protocols for managing medical issues, including earlier prognosis and treatment.  In addition, the Center is expanding its clinical and laboratory research by building upon current projects while organizing new studies in the hopes of being able to offer improved care to children with Sturge-Weber syndrome.

Herbert Bearman Foundation Grants $12,500 

The Herbert Bearman Foundation contributed $12,500 to help the Institute’s LEAP (Lifeskills and Education for students with Autism and other Pervasive behavioral challenges) program build an outdoor playground on the Institute’s Greenspring campus.  LEAP, which serves students on the severe end of the autism spectrum who struggle with behavioral challenges, designed the playground to provide therapeutic activities, exercise, and recreation for children in the program.  The playground boasts a variety of adaptive equipment designed to encourage active movement, social interaction and communication, and sensory stimulation—an essential component for children with autism.  These experiences will not only aid in the overall wellness of children with autism, it will allow them to develop relationships with their peers and will promote generalization of skills learned in the classroom.   

Family Foundation Donates $10,000 to Reach Out and Read

An anonymous family foundation gave $10,000 to the Reach Out and Read program at Kennedy Krieger’s Center for Development and Learning.  This grant is allowing the Institute to expand its current Reach Out and Read program—which has been has been helping children, up to age five, improve their reading, comprehension, expressive language, behaviors, and self-esteem by providing them with developmentally appropriate literacy material—to include children and adolescents in the outpatient center, ages six to 21.  This project is making the benefits of the national Reach Out and Read model available to all Institute patients who struggle with learning and academics due to medical conditions or developmental disabilities such as language, learning, and autism spectrum disorders.

Robb and Elizabeth Tyler Foundation Gives $10,000

The Robb and Elizabeth Tyler Foundation has made a $10,000 grant in support of Kennedy Krieger’s Fairmount Lower and Middle School, which provides special education and related services to approximately 165 students in kindergarten through eighth grade.  The Foundation has been a loyal supporter of the Institute since 1982. 

Middendorf Foundation Makes $75,000 Grant for Inpatient Renovations

The Middendorf Foundation has awarded Kennedy Krieger with $75,000 to provide crucial renovations to the inpatient facilities and to help the Institute to continue to offer the best patient care possible. Kennedy Krieger is a world-leader in providing care for children and adolescents with disorders, diseases, and injuries of the brain and spinal cord; and, in order to remain the premier care facility for these individuals, it became necessary for the Institute to create contemporary and functional spaces designed to meet the varied needs of its diverse patient population. With The Middendorf Foundation grant, the Institute is able to undertake essential renovations to the physical therapy and occupational therapy spaces within its inpatient facility.

Walter S. & Lucienne Driskill Foundation Supports Kennedy Krieger with $18,849 Grant

The Walter S. & Lucienne Driskill Foundation has given $18,849 to help the Institute implement a screening method for pediatric cancer survivors. The Kennedy Krieger Neuropsychology Department developed this simple and efficient tool in order to screen and monitor for neurocognitive and psychosocial problems that are thought to affect the functioning of a large majority of pediatric cancer survivors. The screening measure will be used as part of routine oncology clinic visits to systematically assess for problems related to neurocognitive and psychosocial functioning. Implementation of this will allow medical providers to routinely monitor these important, and often over-looked, domains of functioning, resulting in more accurate identification of concerns and facilitating appropriate recommendations/referrals, resulting in better patient care.

The P&G Fund Makes $10,000 Grant to LEAP

The Proctor & Gamble Fund has made a $10,000 grant to Kennedy Krieger's LEAP (Lifeskills and Education for students with Autism and other Pervasive behavioral challenges) program in support of an outdoor playground customized for the unique needs of students with autism. This new space will provide a place where students can gather, interact, and play, allowing them the opportunity to develop social and communicative skills at an early age that help build confidence and self-esteem. The design includes quiet areas for students to regroup when overstimulated; potential for separation of equipment to provide individual spaces for students; devices for many types of movement (rotary, climbing, hanging, slide, swing, balance); tactile, auditory, and manipulative equipment to stimulate the senses (sand & water table, exploratory panels); equipment that requires two individuals to operate (see-saw) to encourage social interaction; and user-friendly fitness equipment.

The Marksmen Company Gives $10,000

The Marksmen Company has contributed $10,000 in unrestricted support to Kennedy Krieger, giving the Institute the flexibility to apply the gift where it will have the most impact. This could mean strengthening an ongoing program, meeting a new financial need, or otherwise designating funds that allow staff to continue providing the best in care for patients and students.