Happy (almost) 2017 to our A.B.L.E. Friends and Family!
Scrolling around social media lately, general consensus seems to be that 2016 was terrible and people can’t wait for it to be over. But for A.B.L.E. at least, 2016 gave us a lot to celebrate! We took a leap and became our own free-standing organization after several years functioning under umbrella organizations. We’ve welcomed new volunteers, actors, and partnerships. We produced 2 stage shows and a feature film. And along the way, as always, we’ve had a lot of dance parties (46 to be exact).
Check Out Our Year-End Recap:
What's Next?
Founding members Andrew and Rachel both graduated this year. We would love to develop programming for adults like them in the year ahead.
we are looking forward to building on this success in 2017! Stay tuned for dates for our spring production of Pirates of Penzance in May, and for the big premiere of The Spy Who Knew Me in August. In September, we’ll kick off the 8th season of our core Stage Ensemble Program. We can’t announce the shows yet, but it will include a devised show and a canonical classic that we think everyone will find a piece of themselves in. Behind the scenes, as a young organization, we are still laying groundwork to ensure our structure is sound and supportive. We also have ideas for new programming; a priority in the next year is to lay out a plan to launch an Adult Program for actors like Rachel and Andrew who are now out of high school.
We Need Your Help!
If there’s anything we’ve learned, it’s that we cannot do this alone. We tell our actors all the time that we have to work together and support each other as an ensemble to create a show, and we need our community to be involved too! If you want to be a part of this exciting time in our Program, there are a few ways to be involved:
JOIN OUR BOARD
We are recruiting individuals who can share their experience and knowledge with our artistic team and help us further develop as a company. We are looking for board members with expertise in the following areas:
- Charity governance
- Business planning
- Marketing and communications
- Finance management
- Legal
- HR
VOLUNTEER
It’s not too late to apply as a Facilitator for our spring semester, and help our actors build towards their next big show. Click here to read more about becoming a Facilitator in class. In addition to this critical role, we also need support throughout the year in:
- Fundraising and Marketing
- Administration
- Props & Costumes
- Photography
- Graphic and Web Design
- Front of House at our Performances
SUPPORT
As a young organization, your generosity matters greatly. Your tax-deductible contributions allow us to rent theatre and rehearsal space, source or make props and costumes for performances, create visual aids and other classroom supplies, and keep our program low cost of all of our participants. Every dollar counts!
Thank you to EVERYONE who made 2016 such a big year for us!
Check out this video for more photos, and be AMAZED at the number of people who contributed time, talents, expertise and funding to our program this year
In the years ahead, we are committed, as always to helping individuals with Down syndrome and developmental special needs to develop their own unique voices, and build the confidence and skills needed to share who they are and all that they are ABLE to do. Thank you for believing, like we believe, that everyone is ABLE to connect, ABLE to contribute, and ABLE to create, and for taking this journey with us!
