FOUNDERS STORY

The Beautiful Lives Project was the vision of Anthony Iacovone, a local entrepreneur and former owner of the New Britain Bees baseball team. Anthony's dream was to give back to the community and create a charitable organization to assist the less fortunate.  But, before he could set his dream into motion, he was inspired to go down a somewhat different path when he was contacted by a young, blind sports broadcaster named Bryce Weiler.  

Bryce had founded an organization called The Field of Dreams, whose mission was to enhance the lives of people with disabilities through sports experiences.  Not only was Anthony intent on having the Bees become an integral part of The Field of Dreams programming, but he also wanted it to be the launch point for a new project that would focus on defeating isolation within the disabled community. Through Anthony's entrepreneurial determination and Bryce's passion to share his life-changing experiences with others, Beautiful Lives Project was born. 

Since 2017, Beautiful Lives Project has given over ten thousand people with disabilities the opportunity to actively participate in activities that may not have been available to them previously. Through these events, they have sparked deeper conversations about the value of integrating individuals with disabilities into the workforce. Under the continued guidance of Anthony, Beautiful Lives Project has expanded beyond the field. Participants are now able to engage in sports, performing arts, visual arts, nature, and wellness events in a safe, inclusive environment. With the generous support of donors, these experiences continue to be free of charge to everyone Beautiful Lives Project serves.

THE TRANSITION

In January of 2018, the Beautiful Lives Project began a process of broadening the way in which the organization lived up to its mission. The core mission of enhancing the lives of people with disabilities remained in place but the scope was widened to include not only sports but performing arts, visual arts, nature, and living well. The wider scope allowed the field of host organizations to be broadened from just sports teams to business, civic and academic organizations of all types. More importantly, the new mission offered the possibility that self-sustaining Beautiful Lives Project chapters could be installed in communities across the nation.