MFOFC History & Achievements

2012 Gunnar Dybwad Leadership Award given posthumously to Louis Nisenbaum, a co-founder of MFOFC. Louis “Lou” Nisenbaum of Lakeville received this year’s Gunnar Dybwad Leadership Award posthumously. The award is presented annually to an individual who has made a significant impact on enhancing the lives of individuals with disabilities in the Commonwealth. For more than 40 years, Mr. Nisenbaum worked to enhance the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities and early on in his career saw the need to empower people with disabilities rather than simply provide them with care. He established a new community residence in Attleboro, one of the very first operated by a private non-profit organization. Mr. Nisenbaum later was instrumental in the independent living movement guiding people to establish their own accessible apartments and exercise self determination in designing their own supports. He founded The Nemasket Group, a human service agency focused on community integration and was a co-founder of Mass Families Organizing for Change, an organization supporting families throughout the Commonwealth.

MFOFC: A 21 Year Retrospective by Emily Murgo Nisenbaum

VIDEO: Gunnar Dybwad, produced by the Disability History Project - Leadership in the History of the Developmental Disabilities Movement. Click here to view the video.

"Melrose Rotary, school programs provide bridge for students with special needs" Melrose Free Press, March 10, 2011. Click here to read more.

2011 Gunnar Dybwad Leadership Award given to Gary Blumenthal , Executive Director of the Association of Developmental Disabilities Providers. Click here to read more.

2010 Gunnar Dybwad Leadership Award given to Susan Nadworny. Click here to read more.

2010 DDS/SAC State House Honorees included MFOFC Board Member Cathe Carpenter. Click here to read more.

2005 Gunnar Dybwad Leadership Award given to Emily Murgo Nisenbaum. Click here to read more.