Friends Forever is an innovative new program, designed to foster lifelong community, connection, and opportunity for Riverview School alumni. Building on Riverview’s legacy of empowering young people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, Friends Forever marks the start of an exciting new chapter of support and growth through meaningful social engagement, work experience, and inclusive living spaces. As a new face in the Hyannis community, we’re creating a vibrant, person-centered environment that celebrates each individual’s potential and promotes lasting community connections.
Introducing the Managing Director of Friends Forever
We are delighted to announce that David Summers will be joining Riverview School as the inaugural Managing Director, Friends Forever, a new program area that will build on Riverview School’s Middle School, High School and GROW programs to support individuals in the post-secondary, 22+ years of age demographic. With the launch of Friends Forever, Riverview will become a longitudinal model of education, support, and connection from adolescence through adulthood. David will report to Stewart Miller, Executive Director.
David will be joining us from AHRC (Advocacy, Humanity, Reimagination, Change) New York City, a 75-year old, advocacy and programmatic leader for individuals with developmental disabilities in New York City. Currently, David is the Regional Director for Adult Day Services and is responsible for nine community-based, inclusive day programs including five college-based sites. David’s team of 225 staff support 700 program participants. During David’s 15-year tenure with AHRC NYC, he has developed and led multiple innovative programs for adults with developmental disabilities. These include the Day Habilitation Without Walls and the Norfolk Street Day Habilitation programs. David started his career in special education. He has an Ed.M., Leadership for Educational Change, from Bank Street College of Education, a M.S. Ed., Special Education from Hunter College, City University of New York and a B.A. in Political Science from Davidson College.
Currently based in Brooklyn, NY, David plans to attend Alumni Reunion on August 25, and he and his family will be relocating to Massachusetts in the fall. We are thrilled to welcome David to the Riverview School Community!
Riverview School is excited to announce our initial plans for the Twin Brooks Golf Course property that was recently purchased. Please watch the video below where Stewart Miller, Riverview’s Head of School, provides an update on initial plans and answers questions.
Hello Riverview Community,
I’m thrilled to confirm that we have received the largest philanthropic gift in the school’s history – a donation that empowers us to achieve strategic priorities, expand programming, and develop an additional campus - a dream come true, that makes possible things that until now we could only dare to imagine…
On April 2 we closed on and now officially own Twin Brooks Golf Course in Hyannis. This beautiful 40-acre golf course, close to Main Street and the many businesses in the heart of Hyannis, more than doubles the size of our existing campus, and allows us to move ahead with two key initiatives:
The land enables us to establish a faculty housing program, which we’ll need to separately fundraise for. We know our program is only as good as the people who deliver it. We meet many passionate, highly qualified and talented people who want to join RV and work with our extraordinary students, but must turn us down because they can’t afford to relocate to the Cape. Similarly, many of our current talented, and dedicated, employees doing important work here a Riverview just can’t afford to buy their own home or condo. A faculty housing program, is critical to recruiting and retaining talent that fosters the success of our program.
The primary purpose of this gift is to develop a campus that houses a post-GROW program for Riverview adults.
We know our students needs are not met at age 22. Families find a safe harbor at RV – students develop passions, have a sense of belonging, and lots of friends… and then they graduate. At age 22, they are suddenly without the community they have belonged to for years – and they need to find a new one. This will no longer be the case.
The program we’re calling Friends Forever is aware that there are three central hopes and needs: social connection, housing, and jobs.
In the first phase we will be creating a community, a social hub that fosters a sense of belonging and purpose. We know the #1 predictor of adult happiness is the strength of the relationships you have in your life. When Riverview students shut their eyes at night tonight, they know they are valued members of this community and they know have friends …. Our donor’s vision – which we share – is that when Riverview alumni go to bed at night when they are 30 they know they are still valued members of this community and are still surrounded by friends, and will be able to remain so for the rest of their lives.….
While we are in the early program planning stages, we are imagining a campus and community for Riverview adults with things like:
Studio Arts - like ceramics, painting, weaving, sewing, mixed media; Performance arts like jam bands, chorus, and theatrical productions,
Spaces for clubs, movie nights, dances, and organized social groups and gatherings
Recreational spaces filled with ping pong, air hockey, TVs,
A Kitchen for food prep, nutrition, and cooking classes
A wellness center for Fitness/Sports and personal training
A pool for free swim, classes, and water aerobics
A Garden and greenhouse that offers jobs and provides fresh food and supports a farmers market
Trails for walking/hiking/biking
Picnic areas and outdoor gathering areas
Courts for basketball, pickleball
An amphitheater for music/theater performances
And Facilitated excursions into the community –trips to museums, parks and beaches
While executing this first phase of the vision will take a while—we believe it’ll be about a year and half before we can break ground — this remarkable gift allows us to build out a much more robust alumni engagement program and to offer new opportunities to extend our RV community to alumni families. We will begin to truly be able to say, once you are accepted into Riverview, you join a family … forever.
This amazing gift also endows the program and generates a healthy annual operating budget. We are actively searching for an executive director of this program, and will be reaching out to you, our alumni, alumni families and other stakeholders for suggestions as we develop this program.
Once of the primary questions we have received is if there will be housing… the school is exploring multiple exciting opportunities on this front, but it’s too soon to share any specifics. We realize how important this is, and ask for your patience as we explore the possibilities.
Since 1957 teams of parents, trustees, faculty and administrators have been working to make our great school even better. We are one lucky school to have such a prolific history, and today we stand on the shoulders of all those who have come before us and acknowledge that none of this would be possible without the strong foundation that has been built over almost 70 years.
We’ll be sending out a survey in the coming weeks asking for your insights and perspectives that will be integrated into the vision for this new program.
This is one of the most exciting times in our history, and we look forward to hearing from you, and updating you as we develop our plans and timeline. Thank you for your partnership; stay tuned for more information as the Riverview family takes the next steps in our journey together.
For questions regarding the purchase of the Twin Brooks Golf Course, Friends Forever or Riverview School please email friendsforever@messianicfamilyfellowship.com. While we are busy in the initial planning stages, and may not have all of the answers, we will do our best to respond to questions in a timely manner.