LOS ANGELES – Sept. 26, 2006 – Richard E. Marriott, chairman of the Marriott Foundation for People with Disabilities and chairman of Host Hotels & Resorts; Ray Cortines, deputy mayor for Education, Youth and Families; and Donnalyn Jaque-Antón, associate superintendent for LAUSD Division of Special Education, will honor Youth Achievement Award recipient Leonel Velazquez, Leadership Award recipient Rosa Gil-Robles and Los Angeles-area business Albertsons for their exemplary involvement in the Foundation’s “Bridges…from school to work” program during a reception at the Los Angeles Airport Marriott.
“Bridges…from school to work” provides employment opportunities for youth with disabilities in their final year of high school. Since the Los Angeles Bridges program’s inception in 1992, over 300 local employers have provided employment opportunities for more than 1,400 youth, giving young people with disabilities the opportunity to make the successful transition from school to work.
Working in partnership with the Los Angeles 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 Los Angeles, Bridges operates in Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, 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).
