In a competitive job market or stagnant economy it can be arduous for skilled workers and at times far more so for individuals with disabilities given transportation or accessibility challenges, to acquire employment. According to April 2011 statistics released by the Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) the labour force is comprised of less than 21% active employees with disabilities (69% of individuals have no disability). The statistics bear the inequity and reality of the struggles faced by disabled persons in the labour market.
An individual with a disability may pursue the option to retrain for new high demand job skills or perhaps create innovative niche self-employment opportunities with the assistance of government or non-profit social disability grants. Grants are “gifts” and not loans. They do not have to be repaid and can be the excellent vehicle to employability.
There are many sources of financial support that can be sought out for individuals with disabilities but finding legitimate grants and resources when there are so many illegitimate sources online makes the task far more difficult. Searching for qualified grants can be time consuming, however with the correct resources and patience to provide the necessary applications the process can be rewarding and potentially life changing by opening doors to new career possibilities and financial success.
What Is A Grant?
By definition a grant is an award of supports or financial assistance by an agency to an individual to facilitate the accomplishment of a specific task or goal. Grants are also known as a “bursary” or an “endowment”. Traditionally the recipient of a grant is provided with a cash allotment or other remuneration (such as equipment or paid tuition) in response to an application outlining a specific need. There are grants available from a variety of sources including charities, businesses, social welfare agencies, educational institutions as well as private individuals. Wherever there is a group that is willing to provide funds for the betterment of its community, you will find the opportunity to partake in a sponsored grant.
The type of grant will vary depending on the provider and the terms of qualification for the endowment. A commerce community may offer a grant to entrepreneurs for venture capital. Religious communities may provide an endowment for members from within the faith for employment supports or retraining. Essentially a grant is an expression of good will and a vehicle for providing funds or assistance to facilitate an action. In the case of disability grants, many are provided to assist individuals with troubleshooting transportation or accessibility issues (including the purchase of medical devices or supportive equipment). They may also endow capital to invest in computers or equipment for small business.
Many Colleges and Universities also offer special bursaries and grants to individuals with disabilities to assist with the financial costs of post secondary education so that talented students are not precluded on the basis of financial restrictions. Typically grants through educational institutions tend to be sponsored by private business entities. For instance, the Faculty of Business might have several grants available for students seeking to enter the field of Marketing. Individuals seeking to retrain in the field of Para-health care might find several awards or grants offered by local hospitals or Regional Health Information Organizations (RHIO’s). The sources and type of grants available are virtually limitless however they do require investigation to source personal eligibility as well as the required application process.
How to Apply For a Grant
In order to apply for a grant you will be required to provide a great deal of personal information as well as a “proposal” or prospectus which outlines the reasons why you think you should be awarded with the endowment. The summary also requires lengthy detail about the intended purpose of the grant should it be awarded to you. It is not enough to simply stipulate that you deserve to be selected, but you must clearly demonstrate how you will use the grant to better yourself or to create new opportunities for yourself and/or others within the community.
For example, an individual has an idea for a copywriting business. In order to launch her business she requires a capital investment of approximately $5000 to purchase computers, printers and office furniture to set up a small home based business. She intends to have two staff members writing with her and has budgeted for marketing and promotion, website development and other materials to launch her business. The entrepreneur may seek out a variety of different grants to finance this start up expenditure and may be awarded on the grounds of creating self employment (if she is currently unemployed and living on financial assistance) as well as acknowledged for creating job opportunities for two other individuals within the community. Her grant application may be successful given the predicted positive outcomes for herself and her employees, which the providers of the grant would look favourably upon.
The US Small Business Administration or (SBA) provides resources for writing business proposals and business plans here. It offers samples and step by step instructions on how to create your own grant proposal in the accepted format and is worth referencing. It is critical to submit a proposal correctly if you wish to be awarded the grant and many times missing or incomplete information results in an immediate disqualification of the application.
If applying for a grant for a business or entrepreneurial purpose you should have a formal business plan already devised and in place. Budget and estimates, as well as evidence of partial funding using personal funds or leverage. You should be prepared to provide this business plan as part of your application for the grant and be confident to answer any questions relating to it. Also anticipate that the provider of the endowment may opt instead to provide equipment and materials rather than a simple cash investment.
It’s important to remember that you are not the only person who is applying for a specific grant. You may be competing against hundreds or thousands of individuals looking for the same benefit. As such, the more time you spend in articulating your need and plan and demonstrating your eligibility, the better chance you have of making it to the review stage and possibly receiving the endowment.
Do not be discouraged if you are not selected. There are a great many opportunities and grants available for a variety of purposes. It is important to keep a positive outlook and continue to seek out endowments from a variety of sources. Another excellent way is to network that you are seeking a grant, and use social media tools such as Facebook© to your advantage. Word of mouth is one of the best ways to learn of newly offered grants and bursaries in your community. You can also approach individual companies and organizations that have not traditionally provided a grant and inquire whether they would consider awarding you one. Again you should be prepared to make a solid and organized argument supporting the reasons you feel you are eligible to receive a financial endowment or sponsorship by a corporation or social group. Keep the channels of communication (and your own mind) open to creating your own possibilities as well.
Government Grants for the Disabled
The United States Government offers a number of grant and loan opportunities for individuals with disabilities. The premise being that by investing in the skills and training of its citizens it can assist disabled people with the pursuit of education and gainful employment by providing financial and social supports. The American Government is committed to assisting the employment actualization of all citizens of the United States.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) provides an excellent resource and an “events forecast” on its website located here. It offers a complete database of what it refers to as “planned” grants which provide ample time to review and make application for eligibility. The grants are forecasted on the basis of budgetary requests from the federal government and as such are planned but subject to change should specific funding not be available or be declined or reduced to the HHS. The site literally provides hundreds of grant opportunities and is worth bookmarking as a reference and resource. Another helpful site is Federal Grants Wire.
The United States Department of Labour has devised a specialty office called the Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) which was created with over twenty federal agencies to provide assistance to individuals with disabilities. Part of the assistance is to procure lists of grants and endowment opportunities for individuals with disabilities. For the official website of the ODEP please click here.
The Employment and Training Administration (ETA) program of the United States Department of Labor has announced the availability of $240 million dollars for grants to provide training, education and job creation and employment supports for underemployed individuals. For full information regarding this grant click here. This grant has reserved more than $60 million dollars for allocation to long term unemployed or underemployed citizens of the United States. The grant title is: H-1B Technical Skills Training Grants – SGA-DFA-PY-10-13
Another grant available from The United States Department of Labour for the Trade Adjustment Assistance Community College and Career Training Grants Program – SGA-DFA-PY-10-03. Be advised that most of the Department of Labour Grants are posted from January to March every year with applications closing in April. However the site is a valuable resource for available grants through the Department of Labour. To search for grants on the site click here.
Grants for Disabled Children
There are many opportunities through the government and private sector to provide financial assistance for children with disabilities. Alexander Graham (AG) Bell is dedicated to offering several annual grants which serve to support Americans of a variety of ages who suffer from hearing impairment. The focus of the numerous grants available through AG Bell is for the development and support of individuals who have developed oral communication in spite of hearing disabilities, and the outcomes specified in the grants are “communication” oriented.
The organization offers parent-infant financial aid for children with bilateral hearing loss for children under the age of three years with hearing loss within the moderate to profound stage. The program was established in 1986 with the goal of providing financial support to families of infants and toddlers with profound hearing loss in order to facilitate the pursuit of and training of spoken language speech pathology. For more information on this program click here to visit the site. AG Bell also offers a pre-school financial aid program (click here for more information). The grant is provided again to support auditory training of vocal speech and assistive language pathology for older children to contribute to ongoing development of oral speech training.
Grants for Disabled Students
For students of all ages who experience disabilities (whether cognitive or physical impairments) the government and private sector provide many opportunities for endowments to support the success of hard working students pursuing post secondary education.
An excellent place to start is the US Department of Education which offers a variety of loans and grants for students with disabilities on their website here. The Anne Ford & Allegra Ford Scholarship awards two annual grants of $10,000 USD for students with learning disabilities. Visit the National Center for Learning Disabilities site here for more information.
Again, the Alexander Graham (AG) Bell College Scholarship programs offer scholarships and financial aid to older students with hearing impairment and disabilities. For more information regarding the College Scholarship programs for students click here.
Business Grants for the Disabled
One of the best options for individuals who are experiencing difficulty with employability due to their physical or cognitive disabilities is to investigate the option of self-employment. If the person has some technical skills or abilities that can be utilized in a consultant or contractual arrangement (telecommuting from home can be an excellent option for some) it is worth investigating organizations that provide funding and venture capital for launching a small business.
Many large corporations in addition to the federal government are vested in providing support which assists in job creation and employability for individuals with disabilities. According to the 2009 US Census data, more than 15% of the disabled are self employed in the workforce with over 40% owning small businesses. This demonstrates that the option and tendency for self employment is a strong and growing facet of the United States work force.
Some resources for procuring business grants include the US Small Business Administration located at this website which provides among other things, research grants for small businesses in a variety of career sectors. If your small business is technical or healthcare related you may search for awards and grants at the National Science Foundation located here. The organization provides funding for small business innovation.
The Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG) provides additional resources and supports as well as available grant listings. The Social Security Administration’s Office of Acquisition and Grants (OAG) grants “support for research and demonstration efforts involving the Old-Age Survivors and Disability Insurance program and the Supplemental Security Income (SSI) program.”
Private Grants for the Disabled
Often grants can be established by small organizations or individuals in a charitable situation. The grant may be a single event or one-time grant, or an annual provision for the betterment of the community or for a cause or principal held by the endowment. Private grants are often listed through charitable networks or community portals, schools or other support organizations.
Non-profit organizations such as The United Healthcare Children’s Foundation (UHCCF) provide funding and grants in support of the enhancement of quality of life for disabled children where private healthcare benefits are not providing sufficient care. Private grants are available through independent investigation and are not always publicized. Some individual inquiry is required in order to find some of the “hidden” opportunities that lie with private patron endowments. Again word of mouth is one of the best sources of finding opportunity and making needs known in the community.
Enabling Success
American families are supported by a network of government and private industry grants and loan opportunities to assist with training, medical services, equipment and other needs. Many organizations have funding allocated to assist in the development and invest in the employability and job training for children and students with disabilities. It is a society that cares about the contribution and productivity of its members and as such is dedicated to assisting individuals with disabilities in their desire to become educated and to partake or create employment opportunities for themselves.
The current economy requires an additional length of effort and innovation when trying to improve or create new employment opportunities. Persons with disabilities are able to utilize their valuable skill sets to create income and retrain for suitable high demand technical or web based businesses successfully. By investigating the opportunities which exist via business and social endowments, the disability can become an ability to build a venture and enjoy financial success by utilizing grants and community mentorship programs to get started on the road to success.
