About Us

A Path in the Woods Foundation

A Path in the Woods Foundation began in 2009 in    honor of Daniel J. McCabe. The Foundation is organized exclusively for charitable and educational purposes, including for such purposes, the making of distributions to organizations that qualify as exempt entities under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code. 

Each year A Path in the Woods foundation continues to advance its mission through programs such as providing work-study internship grants to Wellesley High School students through a grant to the Wellesley Youth Commission dispersed by A Path in the Woods Fund, a fund of the Foundation for MetroWest, a community foundation.

If you’d like to get in touch with us, feel free to email us at thepathfoundation@comcast.net 

A Path in the Woods Foundation Story

Wellesley Media Corp has produced a video to help us tell the story of A Path in the Woods Foundation, our mission, and our work. We are grateful to the board of directors of Wellesley Media, its executive director James Joyce, and the talented director/editor of the video Keegan Shiner.

To learn more about Wellesley Media go to: www.wellesleymedia.org

Board of Directors

Our Mission

The Foundation was created in 2009 in memory and in honor of the spirit and ideas of Daniel J. McCabe of Wellesley, MA. It is dedicated to opening new doors of opportunity and exploration for the young men and women in our community and beyond who are searching for their path in life and need assistance, financial or otherwise in beginning their journey.

The Foundation will raise funds through community based events and direct contributions. The funds will be used to provide grants for young adults to gain access to training and education related to developing job skills and to support community based events and programs that provide opportunities for early career exploration.

Each year A Path In The Woods Foundation continues to advance its mission through programs such as providing work-study internships for high school students and co-sponsoring with the Wellesley Youth Commission, Thrive Wellesley, a movement to engage citizens throughout the community to create the opportunities and culture that enable every child to develop their innate gifts and put all our youth on a path to lifetime well-being.

Our History

Our history begins in the life and death of Dan McCabe. Dan was a student at Wellesley High School, where, with a determination to forge a place for kids searching for a sense of belonging, Dan campaigned for a permanent location for the path in the woods, a place kids could go to gather in peace and harmony.

Dan managed to get town and school officials to let him build a path on town property near the high school. Dan’s commitment to his cause and his friends inspired us to create the foundation in the spirit of his path. The foundation was created by Dan’s family and generations of friends from Wellesley High School.

The symbolic image of a path allowing someone to find their way within the pressures of teenage life and a cloud that grew darker and darker for Dan, did not escape him. He ultimately chose the path out of this world into another, where we will see him again. His work goes on and so will ours through the A Path In The Woods Foundation in order to help kids like Dan find a path in this world that will lead them to a life and career of contentment.

The work we do will continue to evolve through human and electronic networks. We will share our ideas and experiences and promote opportunities for young adults to explore careers. We will help those that have found their path share their talents and gifts with others through our website. We will continue to hold dear in our hearts the afterglow of Dan’s vision to bring people together in peace in harmony.

Our Partners

An organization connecting philanthropic opportunity with demonstrated need in the Metrowest community. The Foundation for MetroWest is also a community foundation that supports family and private foundations and donor-advised funds to help communities respond to emerging issues and opportunities. A Field of Interest Fund, the Path in the Woods Fund has been established to support our work-study internship program.

The Foundation for MetroWest through the generous support of The Fund for Wellesley has created a Youth in Philanthropy (YIP) program in Wellesley. A Path in the Woods Foundation is very pleased and honored to announce that we have received a grant from the Wellesley YIP program in the amount of $2,500 to support the Work-Study Internship program at Wellesley High School. The Fund for Wellesley serves as a permanent source of funding to foster innovation and collaboration in support of community needs and opportunities. The YIP program provides local youth the knowledge to become leaders in our community buy learning the importance of philanthropy and the needs that exist in our backyards. The photo below is from the YIP-Wellesley grant ceremonies held at the Wellesley Free Library on May 5, 2015.

Wellesley Youth Commission

Programs and services designed to ensure that Wellesley’s youth feel they are a valued part of the Wellesley community. The Wellesley Youth Commissioner is our partner in the Work-Study Internship Program.

Wellesley Media Corporation

We have sponsored an internship at Wellesley Media Corporation, the local non-profit community access cable televison production studio.
www.wellesleymedia.org

The NITEO Program at the Center for Psychiatric Rehabilitation at Boston University's Sargent College

NITEO is an intensive; one-semester program supporting young adults who live with a mental helath condition develop wellness tools, academic skills, resilience, and work-readiness.

https://cpr.bu.edu/about

Adolescent Wellness

Adolescent Wellness, a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization, was founded to simplify prevention of mental illness and its most tragic symptom of suicide. Prevention is defined as addressing the protective factors and resilience as well as the risk factors that contribute to the development of mental illness. Two of the resilience skills developed through our practical lessons are self awareness and communication, allowing earlier referral for treatment.

https://www.adolescentwellness.org

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