The 2019 Linda Shohatee Memorial Costume Ball and Fundraising Gala

Joann Ferrara has devoted her career to improving the lives of children with medical and developmental disabilities as a Physical Therapist.  When one of her patients told Joann that she wanted to dance but no dance school would accept her because of her medical issues, Joann decided to start a dancing school for children with challenges.  Thus, Dancing Dreams, was born.   The program is now 11 years old and has three sites, in Manhattan, Bayside, and  Glen Head, Long Island.  Staffed by volunteers, physical therapists, and over 175 teen volunteer helpers, the program now has over 100 dancers.  An annual recital in the Spring features all the dancers, costumes made by staff, and set designs created by the NYU Theatre Department.  Joann’s vision  expanded the program to include visiting faculty, ballerinas from the NYC Ballet, social activities, and trips.  For her creation of Dancing Dreams,  truly  Joann Ferrara is the recipient of  the 2019 Dream Maker Award.

Father Thomas Brosnan is a native of Brooklyn.  He entered the religious life as a young man. He has served as a Parochial Vicar in Park Slope and later as a Pastor at Sacred Heart Parish in Bayside Queens.  He spent many years in Korea where he learned the language and culture. He returned to Queens and opened St. Paul Chong Ha-sang Church in Flushing.  Rev. Brosnan, himself adopted as a newborn, has been an advocate for adopted children and open adoption for much of his adult life.  He has been honored with the Baran & Pannor Award for Outstanding Contributions in Open Adoption, and the Angels in Adoption Congressional Award  by the United States Congress, and speaks widely on issues related to adoption. For his advocacy of children who have been adopted, Rev. Brosnan is the recipient of the 2019 Dream Catcher Award.