The Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council (Council) is excited to announce its Large Grants.
Donor Name: Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council
State: Maryland
County: Selected Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 08/07/2023
Size of the Grant: Over $5000
Grant Duration: 12 months
Details:
The Council wants to increase access to the availability of information, resources, and training for people with developmental disabilities and their families in underserved communities across Maryland. To do this, they want you to submit proposals to train and empower “cultural brokers” in specific communities. A cultural broker is a member of the community they work with. They build trust and connections between community members and the services and supports they need and want.
While the Council developed the State Plan, they looked at different groups in Maryland who experience disparities. That means they are underserved or unserved compared to others. They saw a need to do more to support people with developmental disabilities and their families from underserved communities. They learned that one barrier for these communities is lack of access to information to know about services, programs, and supports. They learned that people of color, communities of people who do not speak English as their first or native language, and people living in areas with high levels of poverty have less access to information and resources about developmental disabilities services, programs and supports. They also reflected on the Council’s history and determined that the Council needs to do more to understand, build relationships, and share resources with these communities.
With this information, they created a targeted disparity objective. This means their State Plan includes a goal to focus on people that are underserved or unserved compared to others. In their State Plan, Objective says:
- Increase the availability of information, resources, and training to people with developmental disabilities and their families from underserved communities. Focus on people who are African American, Black, Hispanic/Spanish/Latinx, or Asian-American living in areas with high amounts of poverty.
That objective is the focus of this grant. In the State Plan, strategy explains how they will achieve this objective. This strategy is:
- Train and empower a diverse group of cultural brokers to address the needs of people with developmental disabilities and their families in their communities.
- In this project, the organization will work with cultural brokers to build trust and connections in the community, and train and empower them to address the needs in their community.
Funding Information
- The Council set aside $150,000 for this project that starts October 1, 2023 and ends September 30, 2024.
- Large grants: Over $5000.
Eligibility Criteria
- Organizations and individuals may apply. The types of organizations that can apply are non-profit and for-profit organizations. Individuals interested must apply with a nonprofit or for-profit partner. They will receive the funds for you, and together you will agree on how they will pay you for the work you do on this project.
- Organizations led by people with lived experience with developmental disabilities, lived experience with poverty, and/or lived experience as racial, cultural, ethnic, or linguistic minorities are strongly encouraged to apply.
- The Council values collaboration and welcomes joint proposals from organizations or individuals and organizations that wish to partner together for this project.
- Applicants from rural areas are encouraged to apply. For this initiative, rural areas include: Garrett, Allegany and Washington Counties in Western Maryland; Charles, Calvert and St. Mary’s in Southern Maryland; and Caroline, Cecil, Dorchester, Kent, Queen Anne’s, Talbot, Wicomico, Worchester, and Somerset counties on the Eastern Shore of Maryland.
For more information, visit MDDC.