Foundation News
November 22, 2019
Tom Golisano Gives $1.5 Million to Build New $2 Million Medical Oncology Center at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center
Niagara will soon have another Golisano Center – one in which, lives will be sa ved. Ann Costello announced last week that Tom Golisano is committing $1.5 million to support the new $2 million Golisano Medical Oncology Center at Niagara Falls Memorial Medical Center . The new Center will improve access to cancer treatment – including immunotherapy, hematology, chemotherapy infusion, clinical trials and the newest cancer curing drugs –  for all people in Niagara County including those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The center will be operated by Memorial in affiliation with Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center , one of the top cancer centers in the United States. Read more
Tom Golisano Gives $3 Million to Upstate Golisano Children's Hospital for New Center
for Special Needs
Tom Golisano has made a gift of $3 million to establish the Golisano Center for Special Needs at  Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital . The center will provide comprehensive, coordinated and scientifically based medical and behavioral care for children and adolescents with all types of intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). It will act as the umbrella, creating a framework to increase collaboration resulting in better patient care and centralize programs and services. The announcement was made by Golisano Foundation Executive Director Ann Costello at Upstate Golisano Children’s Hospital's 10th birthday celebration. Golisano made the hospital's naming gift of $6 million in 2005. Read more
Golisano Training Center Opens at Nazareth College
The new Golisano Training Center is now open at Nazareth College . The Center is the first of its kind collaboration of inclusion, fitness, and wellness for athletes of all abilities. People with intellectual disabilities were considered in every aspect of the 108,000-square-foot training center's design and construction. It will provide needed training space for the region's more than 3,000 Special Olympic s athletes who participate in more than 30 regional competitions annually. In addition to having a place for year-round fitness, the partnership offers Nazareth students in health and human services the unique opportunity to develop a specialty in working with individuals with intellectual disabilities. Read more
Dr. Wong Receives Golisano Foundation Move to Include Award
Dr Wong Move to Include Award
Congratulations to Allen Wong, DDS, EdD, DABSCD, recipient of the Golisano Foundation's prestigious 2019 Move to Include Award. The Award is given to those who "believe" and "act" in the purest realm of the essence of "move to include." Dr. Wong, who practices dentistry in San Francisco, California, is a widely-recognized expert in special care dentistry, with more than 25 years of experience caring for with people with special needs. He has been working with Special Olympics and Special Smiles for 20 years and was appointed a global clinical advisor to Special Olympics International Healthy Athletes Special Smiles program. Read more

Photo; (l to r) Dr. M. Dian, clinical asst. professor of pediatric and community dentistry at University of Buffalo School of Dental Medicine; Barbie Vartanian, Exec Director, Project Accessible Oral Health; Dr. Wong; Ann Costello, Golisano Foundation Director; Dr. Steve Perlman, founder of Special Olympics Special Smiles; Dr. Abra Caroci, Pediatric Dentist. 
Golisano Foundation Launches Bailey and Friends to Support Animal Welfare
Bailey and Friends is a new trust component of the Golisano Foundation to support animal welfare for cats and dogs in Western NY and Southwest Florida. Bailey and Friends is named for Tom’s dog Bailey, a rescue, who has been a beloved member of his family. Bailey and Friends will work with shelters, rescue groups, veterinary clinics and other lifesaving programs to promote pet wellness, safety and keeping pets and families together.  Read more
Grant News
$750,000 Challenge Grant to Lifetime Assistance Will Help Transform Three Day Service Centers
The Golisano Foundation has made a $750,000 challenge grant to Lifetime Assistance for its capital campaign, Independence Together, to transform three Day Services Centers. When completed, the renovated centers Day Services Centers – the Lowry Center in Clarkson, Paul Road Center in Chili, and Weiland Road Center in Greece – will be unlike anything else available in the region. The Foundation’s gift is one of the largest it has made. It was solicited during the campaign’s quiet phase, and is the largest single campaign gift Lifetime has received to date towards its $5.1 million goal. The Golisano Foundation will match every dollar up to $750,000 contributed by the community.
Foundation Provides $100,000 Grant to Alzheimer’s Association to Train IDD Providers
The Foundation has awarded $100,000 in grants over two years to the Alzheimer’s Association Rochester & Finger Lakes and   Western NY Chapters. The grants will support a pilot project that will train staff at agencies in the Finger Lakes and Western NY serving people with intellectual and developmental and disabilities (IDD) on how to care for those with Alzheimer’s or dementia. IDD providers will be able to build a stronger workforce of direct service professionals to provide the best possible care and help those with IDD and dementia age in place.  
$200,000 in Grants to Arc of Monroe Will Boost Home Makeover Challenge
The Golisano Foundation has provided a $100,000 grant and a $100,000 challenge grant to help the Arc Foundation of Monroe meet its goal to raise $400,000 to improve the quality of life for the individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities in 15 of its residential homes. Homes need functional and accessible updates, including new kitchens with countertops, flooring with accommodating surfaces, bathrooms with walk-in/roll-in showers, community rooms and outdoor decks with user-friendly ramps. Learn more about the project and how to help
Bailey and Fiends Makes First Grant to Freedom Guide Dogs
Bailey and Friends has made its first grant, $20,000 to  Freedom Guide Dogs , a unique program and one of only two in the U.S. that serves blind individuals including those with special needs helping them participate actively in their communities.

Freedom Guide Dogs is based in Upstate New York, and breeds, raises, trains and places guide dogs with the blind and visually impaired through a distinctive program that provides guide dog training in an at-home environment. Read more
Ann Costello Honored as Game Changer by Special Olympics New York
Congratulations to our very own  Ann Costello  on being honored by  Special Olympics NY at the Night of Champions November 6 at Frontier Field. Ann was recognized as a 2019 "Trifecta" of Game Changers, for going above and beyond making 2019 a great year for athletes. Thank you Ann for your unyielding dedication to people with intellectual disabilities.
About Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation
Tom Golisano , — entrepreneur, philanthropist, and civic leader — is chairman of the board of Paychex, Inc., a leading national provider of payroll, human resource, and benefit outsourcing solutions for more than a half-million small and medium-sized businesses. Mr. Golisano’s vision, perseverance and action have left an indelible mark on a broad spectrum of issues that touch our lives - in business, healthcare, education, voter policies, politics, and tax reform. His personal philanthropic contributions to hospitals — including three children’s hospitals that bear his name —numerous educational institutions and other organizations exceeds $300 million. More than $65 million has been dedicated to advancing inclusive health around the world, helping to close the significant gap in access to care for people with intellectual disabilities. A fierce advocate for dignity and inclusion, Tom Golisano applied his pioneering spirit to establish the  Golisano Foundation  in 1985 to help make the world a better place for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. The Foundation is now one of the largest private foundations in the U.S. devoted to supporting programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Western New York and Southwest Florida.