News Release

HHS Honors People and Organizations Making a Difference in Lives of Persons with Disabilities

The Department of Health and Human Services today presented the Secretary's Highest Recognition Award to seven individuals and organizations in celebration of National Disability Awareness Month.

�This Administration is committed to providing opportunities for persons with disabilities of all kinds,� HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said. �These awards celebrate their achievements to use their skills and talents to improve lives in communities across this nation.�

HHS' Office on Disability Director Margaret J. Giannini, M.D., added, "This celebration reminds America that disability does not mean inability, and that all Americans can be involved in the life of their community, as active members of their families and neighborhoods, in schools, workplaces and places of worship. These honorees are helping 54 million persons with disabilities live the goals of the President's New Freedom Initiative. We salute them."

This third annual award ceremony, hosted by the Office on Disability, will highlight the contributions of leaders in corporate America, advocacy, the arts, education, and public service to advance the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act and President Bush's New Freedom Initiative. The New Freedom Initiative, among President Bush's first policy efforts, is working in public-private partnerships to eliminate barriers that keep persons with disabilities from participating fully in community life. Some of the award recipients are persons with disabilities who are leading by example.

The honorees are:

• Governor Robert L. Ehrlich (Annapolis, Md.), Governor of the State of Maryland, for establishing the first Cabinet-level State Department of Disabilities in the nation and for advancing state policies and programs that promote the importance, value and contributions of persons with disabilities.

• Extreme Makeover: Home Edition (Los Angeles, Calif.), the award-winning television show, for extraordinary contributions in educating America about disabilities and demonstrating how universal design and innovative home accommodations, the spirit of community involvement, and corporate creativity can help persons with disabilities enjoy lives of promise, purpose, and value.

• American Academy of Pediatrics (Elk Grove Village, Ill.) a professional medical association focused on the health and wellness of children and youth, for creating and implementing the Medical Home concept that promotes accessible, continuous, integrated, family-centered primary care services for children with special needs and their families.

• Deaf West Theatre (Los Angeles, Calif.), one of the premier innovators in deaf theater, for its award-winning contributions to enrich the cultural lives of deaf and hard-of-hearing actors and theater patrons nationwide by bridging the gap between the deaf and hearing worlds through theater.

• Jayne Greenberg, Ph.D. (Miami, Fla.), Executive Director of the Division of Life Skills and Special Projects, Miami-Dade County Public Schools, for pioneering work and partnership in implementing throughout the Miami-Dade school district the "I Can Do It; You Can Do It" program, a physical fitness and well-being initiative for children and youth with disabilities, enriching their health and wellness, and emphasizing the strengths, abilities, and potential in every child.

• William Henderson, Jr., Ed.D (Dorchester, Mass.), Principal of the award-winning Patrick O'Hearn School, for tireless effort as an educator and a person with a disability in creating a model of inclusion and success for children with disabilities at O'Hearn Elementary School, emphasizing the inherent value, contribution, and importance of persons with disabilities in school and in later life as adults engaged in their community.

• Sound Associates, Inc. (N.Y.), Tony award-winning sound company for Broadway and beyond, for distinguished contributions that bring the magic of live theater to persons who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind, or with limited vision through the development and application of assistive technologies.

For more information on the Office on Disability, HHS' disability efforts and the New Freedom Initiative, go to http://www.hhs.gov/od.