Kasey’s Fund
The stories, movement and music of the performing arts sustain and inspire us all. UPAF believes that the power of the performing arts should be accessible to all who wish to experience them. Kasey’s Fund, presented by MGIC, was created to ensure the accessibility of the arts by eliminating barriers imposed by disability, special needs, geography and other physical and mental considerations.
With a gift of $1,200 or more, you can designate a portion of your gift to Kasey’s Fund or one of our other Community Impact Programs and change countless lives through the performing arts.
Kasey’s Fund was inspired by former UPAF President & CEO Deanna Tillisch’s middle daughter Kasey. Kasey was born with a chromosome deletion, 1p36, which resulted in profound cognitive and physical disabilities. Because of the chromosome deletion, Kasey cannot walk, talk, read or write, but music is both one of her great joys and one of the main ways she expresses herself. Kasey’s story reinforces why the arts matter. The ability to share in the performing arts opens up new worlds for everyone and can have especially great resonance for those who might be most likely to lack access — due to disabilities or special needs, trauma or severe illness, or Alzheimer’s or dementia.
UPAF is proud to continue the legacy of Deanna and her family to ensure that all can experience the arts in a meaningful way.
Kasey’s Fund provides grants for projects that enhance the accessibility of the arts through a variety of avenues. Project aims include: to make performing arts spaces and programming physically accessible, to provide accommodations like American Sign Language interpretation for productions, to make performances and programming friendly to those with autism and other special needs and to support mental and physical health.
