The Governor’s Commission on Disability has established a Quality of Life Small Grants Program for New Mexican non-profit organizations to provide enhanced programs or services that will improve the quality of life of New Mexicans with disabilities.
Donor Name: Governor’s Commission on Disability
State: New Mexico
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline (mm/dd/yyyy): 07/15/2022
Size of the Grant: no greater than $15,000
Details:
GCD works to address: economic self-sufficiency; social integration; political resolve; physical and program accessibility; and full rights of participation in the benefits of all individuals with disabilities.
As part of its mission, GCD continues the Quality of Life Grant Program (QOL). QOL provides small grants to New Mexico non-profit and other tax-exempt organizations to improve or enhance programs and services that increase the quality of life of all New Mexicans with disabilities.
Applications may be submitted to address one of five categories:
- Adaptive Movement
- Expand or enhance programs to promote movement for individuals with disabilities through adaptive activities. Programs can be in-person or virtual. In-person activities should follow COVID safe practices. Programs are encouraged to incorporate assistive technology or devices to help individuals find opportunities through innovative and creative adaptations to increase activity in ways that meet their needs and functional level. Examples of activities are: Yoga, dance, stretch and strength exercise, seated workouts or any physical activity.
- Emergency Preparedness
- Produce materials such as an information sheet(s) with such topics as local emergency preparedness info and contacts, provide trainings to the regional disability community on emergency preparedness, develop go bags, collaborate with other disability agencies while working with the local emergency managers and first responders on such topics as a power outage exercise (table top or full scale). Expand on the creation of an accessible registry process to determine city/local wide evacuation process or create a core advisory group. Note: you may contact the NMDEPAC (NM Disability Emergency Planning Advisory Council) for further assistance in creating a local core advisory group per the suggestion of ODIC under FEMA.
- Housing Habitability
- Projects that assist low-income homeowners with disabilities who live in rural areas and/or on tribal lands in New Mexico in making their homes habitable and safe. Projects could include fixing flooring or steps that pose a fall risk, weatherization, and installing smoke detectors.
- Social Integration
- Expand or enhance social community events to include individuals with disabilities, in person or through digital platforms, focused on safe, healthy, and positive integration. Discussion is to include healthy and COVID safe practices while positively and safely re-integrating back into communities. Digital platforms may include YouTube, Facebook Live, Skype or Zoom events that involve participation as a group. These groups shall be inclusive of all disabilities.
- Technology Training and Accessibility
- Provide basic technology training using smart phones, tablets, and computers for individuals with disabilities or updating, upgrading and/or adding software to make technology accessible for individual consumers with disabilities. Priority will be given to rural areas or tribal lands of the state. Training should include the use of basic smart phone/tablet features and use of the computer for searching the internet, writing documents, accessing email, and paying bills. Updates/upgrades may include adding all or a combination of the following: screen reader software to computers used by the public, reading pens for print materials, tablets with accessible software/apps used for services or communication, software to add captions or create transcripts for videos, speech recognition software to fill out digital forms for individuals with physical disabilities or paying IT developers to make your website accessible
Funding Information
The maximum QOL grant per recipient shall be no greater than $15,000.
Eligibility Criteria
- To qualify, grant applicants must:
- Be a New Mexico non-profit organization.
- Provide programs for, or provide services to, people with disabilities.
- Be tax exempt under the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) code, including non-profit (501 (c)(3)) organizations, schools, religious organizations or Tribal-based organizations.
- Provide an official copy of tax-exempt status.
- All organizations meeting the above criteria are encouraged to apply
For more information, visit Quality of Life Grant Program.
