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Persons with Disabilities Receive College Scholarships

Lifetime Assistance, LLC

Lifetime Assistance Incorporated received a $10-thousand grant Tuesday from Excellus BlueCross BlueShield to help disabled young adults attend college.

The funding will send 10 individuals with developmental disabilities to a certificate program at Monroe Community College.

Students with disabilities are less than half as likely as their peers to have attended college in the two years after high school, according to a report by the U.S. Department of Education. James Branciforte, president and CEO of Lifetime Assistance, says the funding is a way of bridging that gap.

"They will be auditing classes, completing internships experiencing social life, social experiences including joining social clubs and working with peer mentors for academic and peer support," Branciforte says. "The ultimate goal is for those students to gain professional skills leading to employment."

Branciforte says five students are currently involved in the program and are pursuing interests in landscaping, child care, education and computers.

The program at MCC started in 2011.