THE GEORGIA COUNCIL ON DEVELOPMENTAL DISABILITIES ANNOUNCES FOUR NEW GRANTEES THIS SUMMER
Written by Tianna Faulkner on .
(June 7, 2022, Atlanta, Ga.) – The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) selected four new grantees in June. Every year, GCDD’s Council members award grant funding for projects that it has throughout Georgia and makes funds available to fulfill its mission in accordance with the Developmental Disabilities Act and its Five-Year Strategic Plan.
Through its grant making, GCDD partners with public, private, and nonprofit entities to improve the lives of people with developmental disabilities and their families. The purpose of GCDD’s grants are to expand best practices and contribute to system-wide changes that support the rights of people with developmental disabilities and their full inclusion as community members. Recipients of GCDD grants are expected to be ongoing partners bringing about change.
The four organizations that were awarded grants in GCDD’s current cycle of funding are the Parental Empowerment Institute (PEI), Friends of L’Arche, Blue Fire, Inc., and Wren Consulting. PEI will work to thoroughly assess the current state of the school to prison pipeline in Georgia. For GCDD’s Storytelling Project, Friends of L’Arche will work to collect a compelling package of visual and written stories from disability advocates (36) working within areas experiencing poverty across Georgia. Through its grant, Blue Fire, Inc. will work to create a research based White Paper to identify barriers for people with intellectual/developmental disabilities to using technology and to develop recommendations to overcome these issues, particularly in rural and underserved areas by 2027. Wren Consulting will work to bring together people with and without disabilities throughout Georgia to discuss and create solutions to local issues.
Lisa Eaves, Operations and Contracts Director for GCDD said, “We are excited about our grantees and the opportunity to work with our partners to fulfill GCDD’s mission and five-year strategic plan, which is ultimately to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.”
There are four types of grants in GCDD’s grants program: Competitive grants (21), Sole Source/Non-Competitive Grants (5), Partnership grants (9), and Mini grants (20), totaling about 55 grants to be awarded this year. The next round of grants that applicants can apply for will be announced fall of 2022.
For more information, visit www.gcdd.org.
About the Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities: The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities (GCDD) is the State's leader in advancing public policy on behalf of persons with developmental disabilities. Its mission is to bring about social and policy changes that promote opportunities for the wide spectrum of diverse people/persons with developmental disabilities and their families to live, learn, work, play, and worship in their communities. For more information, visit at www.gcdd.org.