Copley Foundation Grant Supports Arts at TERI Benefitting Those with Developmental Disabilities

North County-based TERI Inc. has received a $100,000 grant from the David C. Copley Foundation to enhance the lives of kids, adults and seniors with autism and other intellectual and developmental disabilities.

The gift directly benefits the nonprofit TERI’s new Walter J. & Betty C. Zable Foundation Performing Arts & Fine Arts Center, and will furnish the theatre, studios and classrooms with new technology.

In November 2022, a groundbreaking ceremony featuring the TERI Players initiated construction of the center’s twin buildings, currently on schedule for completion
in December.

Plans for the 22,000 square-foot center include a 200-seat theatre, drama and music classrooms, multi-sensory rooms, art studios and outdoor performance and recreation space.

This grant also will expand public access to TERI’s adaptive arts and enrichment programs for kids and adults with special needs.

Since 2009, the TERI Theater Program has provided a wide range of experiences for performers of all abilities to discover new ways to express themselves in a safe and
encouraging environment. TERI Players work as a team creating original live performances at TERI’s facilities in Oceanside.

“These are exciting times for growth at TERI, and there is still much to accomplish,” said
Dan DeSaegher, TERI’s chief development officer, adding that the support of the foundation will help his organization “touch hundreds of lives with the power of the arts as we expand the TERI Campus of Life, a transformational and inclusive resource available to all.”

The David C. Copley Foundation (formerly known as the Helen K. and James S. Copley Foundation) began in 1953 as the Copley Foundation and was initially funded by the Copley Press, Inc., owner of multiple newspapers in California, Illinois and Ohio, including, formerly the San Diego Union-Tribune.

Prior to David Copley’s death in 2012, he named the foundation as sole beneficiary of his estate.