CHICAGO – Sept. 20, 2006 – Richard E. Marriott, chairman of the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities and chairman of Host Hotels & Resorts; Arne Duncan, CEO, Chicago Public Schools; and David K. Hanson, commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, will honor Youth Achievement Award recipient Desmond Wallace and two Chicago-area businesses, Prospect Airport Services and Norwood Crossing, for their exemplary involvement in the Foundation’s “Bridges…from school to work” program during a reception at Chicago Marriott Downtown.
“Bridges…from school to work” provides employment opportunities for youth with disabilities in their final year of high school. Since the Chicago Bridges program’s inception in 1990, over 450 local employers have provided employment opportunities for more than 2,000 youth, giving young people with disabilities the opportunity to make the successful transition from school to work.
Working in partnership with the Chicago business community, Bridges provides young people with disabilities with job training and work experience while helping employers gain access to a rich and underutilized applicant pool. In addition to Chicago, Bridges operates in Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, San Francisco and the Washington, D.C., area, placing more than 8,900 youth into competitive employment positions with more than 1,500 businesses.
The Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities (www.marriottfoundation.org) was established by the family of J. Willard and Alice S. Marriott in 1989 and is supported in part by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education (Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services).
