FY-2010 Grants Awarded
Continuing Projects
Allies, Inc. - Crossroads CSA (Year 2 - Final Year)
Grant: $34,000 Match: $5,200
Continued funding gives the project a second growing season to prove sustainability and more time to develop the new partnership with Mercer County community College. Mercer County College has developed a partnership with Allies Inc. to pilot their CSA ( community share agriculture) concept that will provide a productive, sustainable farm business model to employ individuals with developmental disabilities in Mercer County. The college has partnered by providing several acres for growing as well as a greenhouse fo roff-season and a regular water supply. Students will also participate as mentors and for learning experiences.
ARC-Hudson - Outreach to Immigrant Community (year 3 - FINAL)
Grant: $17,000 Match: $1,700 (poverty area)
The project has done a significant amount of outreach and partnering in the community. The ultimate outcome of the Outreach is to build capacity within existing, local community organizations and support groups to provide initial information, short term assistance and long term supports for individuals with developmental disabilities and their families within the cultural setting of their population. This project has been conceived to bridge individuals and families from different cultural backgrounds with existing service agencies as well as, raising awareness about persons with dd and their families breaking any cultural stigmas.
The council is awarding a third year with partial funding for the purpose of determining:
- what worked in recruiting DD specialists in minority programs
- what has been the usage of the WEB site and information
- what strategy worked well in reaching unserved populations
- data on which and how many
Arts Unbound, Inc. - Retail Opportunity (Year 3 - FINAL)
Grant: $39,150 Match: $11,800
The objective of this third-year project continuation is a sustainable program in earnings in the visual arts for PWDD who are artists or persons interested and capable of working in allied parts of the arts business. By the end of this year it is anticipated that thirty people will be earning money, developing art marketing and business skills and designing their marketing and sales operations. Justification for the time line: Year 1 created a new model with implementation; Year 2 required adjustments, a learning curve and problem solving; Year 3 will provide funding to reach project goals that create future longevity.
Jewish Family and Vocational Services of Middlesex County - connecting with non-Traditional Providers (Year 2)
Grant: $25,000 Match $7,250
Anticipated outcomes for project continuation will be to provide training on community integration to seven non-traditional, community-based agencies throughout Central Jersey and to educate 80 individuals with developmental disabilities or their family members about self-directed decision-making and resources that provide community integration. This second year is funded at lower levels with the objectives being:
- review and enumerate parent efforts, following training, to seek out and secure non-traditional resources; determine internal and external barriers if parent made no attempts
- follow up with providers to determine whether services were available to those who sought them from non-traditional providers
Supportive Housing association of NJ - Locating Housing Resources (Year 2- FINAL)
Grant: $39,720 Match: $13,420
The first year of the grant established a webpage that is user friendly and filled with information on independent living, apartment location, moving strategies, and discussion tools for living as a good neighbor. Second year effort will go deeper into the specific needs of each person with the exploration of wider generic services, life-sharing/home-sharing, as well as home ownership possibilities. Additionally, there will be attachment of an interactive process using Facebook, UTube and other social networking opportunities to bring people together share common needs, interests and opportunities, enhancing their independence
SPAN - Champions In Immigrant After School Programs (Year 2)
Grant: $52,100 Match: $9,900 (poverty)
The end result of the project continuation is an increase in the inclusion of immigrant youth with developmental disabilities in after-school programs, and enhanced advocacy capacity of immigrant youth and families.
Preliminary information available from year one includes:
- # immigrant children with DD in SPAN-partnered after school programs
- results of parent and professional pre/post tests and analysis
- measure of inclusion of immigrant children with DD in after school programs
- outcomes resulting from training (measureable) not just completion of training but application of skills
Second year efforts build on the piloted work at three multi-site after-school programs serving high numbers of immigrant youth with DD in Paterson in which committed after-school administrators are building their capacity to effectively include immigrant youth with DD in their programs and share their learning and leadership with other programs across the state. In the second project year, the champions from year 1 will continue to meet quarterly for ongoing support and to recommend strategies to expand inclusive afterschool opportunities, and the project will expand to 3 additional multi-site afterschool programs in 3 Union County communities with high levels of immigrant families: Edison, Elizabeth, and Plainfield (working with the YMCA after-school programs).
next :New Projects for 2010
New Projects
Allies, Inc. - Mentoring for Career Paths
Grant: $47,754 Match: $15,918
The outcome of the Allies/Trenton Marriot Hospitality Services Internships is to successfully enroll and train individuals with disabilities currently attending Mercer County High Schools in real-life skills and knowledge in a classroom setting and on-the-job training through partnership with the Trenton Marriot.
It is anticipated that the Hospitality Services Internship will be folded into regular transition services contracts by the schools at the end of this three-year cycle and, with proven results, will be offered through regular transition contracts with each school district. Progress will be measured against quarterly milestones to monitor effectiveness of strategies and activity.
Applied Behavioral Concepts - Digital Imaging
Grant: $22,950 Match: $8,510
The overall outcome of this project is to bring into being employment opportunity for p/w/dd in a vocation that has great potential for long-term growth and sustainability. The specific focus in the first 12 months is to employ 5 people with and without developmental disabilities at a time, resulting in training up to 12 potential employees with developmental disabilities for work in the private sector. The task/business selected is digital imaging because of the increase in demand for this service over the past decade. In addition, the development of equipment and technology simplifies the process of creating the digitized image and bringing participants up to criteria in production. By the ninth month, there will be a business plan in place outlining steps for bringing this operation into subsidiary status of ABC, with the option of purchase of shares in an LLC for persons working in the operation that have completed training and acquired appropriate skills.
Association for special Children and Families - Partners
Grant: $ 42,315 Match: $4,702 (poverty)
The goal of Partners is that families of children with developmental disabilities affected by domestic violence receive safe and appropriate services for themselves and their children from agencies they reach out to, whether domestic violence programs or disability agencies. Shelters and battered women programs are able to demonstrate competence and responsiveness to these families in their natural environment. Families benefit because they have support, resources and tools to manage their family life, promote safety for family members, and work toward self-sufficiency through typical, non-disability channels.
The Association previously established relationships with local domestic violence shelters and statewide services and will build on those partnerships.
Family Resource Network - Get FIT (year 2)
Grant: $47,406 Match: $ 18,840
Get FIT will expand on the existing partnership between The Family Resource Network (FRN) and Rowan University (RU) to increase capacity of health & fitness field to serve persons with developmental disabilities (PWDD). Get FIT (year two) will be put into operation in an urban YMCA, a high tech gym, and in collaboration with a private trainer in different geographic areas of NJ. Get FIT will expand on learning modules on wellness coaching/healthy behavior change already developed in collaboration with RU; the partnership will test the efficacy of behavior change strategies for PWDD. The module incorporates evidenced-based findings & community field tested applications. Also, enhancements in other areas of the RU Health Promotion and Fitness Management (HPFM) curriculum will be developed.
The key deliverable and outcome of this project is a curriculum for university programs in health and wellness. Individual wellness training and student workshops are a side-effect of the testing of the curriculum. The link of university curriculum with developmental disabilities and generic providers is the strength of this effort.
New Jersey Coalition for Inclusive education - Self-Direction Mentoring
Grant: $33,420 Match: $ 8,480
The anticipated outcomes of year 1 pilot of this 3-year project will be:
1) A core of self-sustaining parent groups focused on inclusion around the state;
2) Their use of person-centered planning (PCP) tools to problem solve and work toward getting their children with disabilities included in general education classrooms for a greater part of the school day;
3) Information collected for an Inclusion Works! Parent Group Manual (Manual).
Unlike existing parent groups focused on special education and sharing information, these groups will be led by a Parent Mentor to interdependently problem-solve and action plan. The Mentors provided through this grant will be faded as the groups become self-sufficient and given ongoing support, as needed, from NJCIE. The Manual produced through this project will help future groups in self-organizing with minimal support.
NJIT - Architecture and Building Science- Self-Direction Support via the Internet
Grant: $75,166 Match: $48,294
NJIT is requesting funds to create and host a searchable, interactive peer-mentoring website. The anticipated outcome of this project is to develop a sustainable online community for sharing information and providing support. The committee felt this proposal was somewhat high in cost, but that the provider has exhibited success in meeting stated goals and providing results over the years.
The interactive website will include three main components: 1) Information-sharing “Family Forum Roundtables”, 2) a subscriber-based listserv with searchable archives, and 3) links to other developmental disability resources, particularly those specific to New Jersey. The roundtables will be moderated panels of people who have successfully navigated the system to obtain resources and are willing to act as “family mentors,” sharing their experience and expertise. The listserv will provide an ongoing, interactive venue for information sharing and support among families.
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