YAI and the eight…
By Brendan Browne
New York Mets manager Bobby Valentine was honored for his community service by the YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Tuesday at the organization’s Jackson Heights group home, an official from the organization said.
YAI and the eight residents at the group home chose to rename the 33-32 89th St. facility the Bobby Valentine Residence and thanked the Amazin’s’ manager for supporting people with mental retardation and other disabilities, said Thomas Dern, associate executive director at YAI.
YAI officials also praised Valentine for his relief work after the World Trade Center collapse.
“He really has been a role model for people who live in our homes,” said Dern. “Bobby Valentine is a 100 percent class act. He has always treated people with mental retardation with respect.”
More than 100 people, including residents at other YAI homes, state Assemblyman Ivan Lafayette (D-Jackson Heights), neighbors, and Mets fans came out to meet Valentine Tuesday afternoon, Dern said. The manager signed autographs and talked baseball and community service, he added.
“I have the utmost respect and admiration for people with disabilities who are working hard to be part of the community,” Valentine said.
Dern said Valentine learned about YAI’s 12 group homes for people with mental retardation in Queens last year and has helped bring attention to the success of these homes.
One of YAI’s missions is to integrate people with disabilities into the community and Valentine’s work with the organization has shed a positive light on its homes, said Dern.
When YAI opened its Jackson Heights home in 1979, it was met with opposition from some neighbors who did not want people with mental retardation living in their community, Dern said. Thanks to efforts like Valentine’s and other former Mets, the home has been accepted in Jackson Heights, he added.
Several current and former Mets, including Valentine, have helped lead fund-raisers such as golf outings for YAI and other organizations for people with disabilities, Dern said.
YAI is a non-profit network of health and human service agencies that aids people with learning and development disabilities in New York. Its group homes in Queens house adults with mental retardation, many of whom are Mets fans, Dern said.
Reach reporter Brendan Browne by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or by phone at 229-0300, Ext. 155.
