Make Believe in Central Park!

Combining efforts to empower children and young adults with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities, Only Make Believe (OMB) has partnered with the Young Adult Institute (YAI) affiliate agencies Manhattan Star Academy (MSA) and The International Academy of Hope (iHope). The partnership has yielded several weeks’ worth of performances hosted by the children of YAI’s two affiliates to celebrate and highlight the talents of youth from each organization.

The actors from the NYC/DC-based nonprofit create interactive theatre with children who have medically fragile conditions or developmental disabilities and who are in hospitals, special education schools or care facilities. This year, OMB is celebrating having served more than 100,000 children since its founding in 1999 by Dena Hammerstein.

Throughout the spring of 2023, these three partner organizations worked with children and young adults to create interactive theatre performances. A rare public final performance was held on Saturday, June 3, 2023 at 10:15am as part of the YAI Central Park Challenge at the Interactive Stage near the Naumburg Bandshell in Central Park.

YAI’s Central Park Challenge is one of the largest events in New York, welcoming more than 4,000 people. Only Make Believe was honored to participate for a second year in this city-wide event. It celebrates people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and, each year, raises much-needed funds for YAI’s mission to create opportunities for people with I/DD to live, love, work and learn in their communities. The event has been going since 1986, and features a 3K Walk, Junior Races and a festival area with live entertainment and performers.

Only Make Believe performed for over 30 children and their families at YAI’s Central Park Challenge, and looks forward to many more interactive performances coming up this summer and fall.