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The Florida Grantor, Summer 2002

FGA Update

ODEP Offers Grants
The USDOL announces grants that support the President's New Freedom Initiative to enhance employment for adults and youth with disabilities. These grants will be administered and funded through the Office of Disability Employment Policy and are available at www.dol.gov/odep/grants/nfi.htm.

Grant opportunities with a deadline of September 4, 2002, are available for Telework/Telecommunting Pilot Demonstration Grant for Adults with Significant Disabilities, Disability Technical Assistance for Providers; and Employment Training and Services Grants for Community and Faith-Based Organizations Serving People with Significant Disabilities.

New Website for Federal Employers
The U.S. Office of Personnel Management launched a website to provide information on federal employment for people with disabilities. The site, located at www.opm.gov/disability, provides resources to federal HR personnel and hiring managers as well as job seekers with disabilities.

Now Accepting Nominations for 2002 Ability Awards
The Able Trust is accepting nominations for the 2002 Ability Awards, which recognize individuals and organizations that have instituted and promoted best practices toward the employment, independence and service to Florida citizens with disabilities. Specifically, they seek to recognize those that have not only met the legal compliances of the ADA, but have demonstrated a clear and conscious effort to be 'disability-friendly'.

Nominations are being accepted for the following awards:

Beverly Chapman Award for Outstanding Employment Placement Program, which recognizes a nonprofit organization that has developed an outstanding job placement program for people with disabilities;

The Able Trust Award for Outstanding Entrepreneur, which recognizes an individual with a disability who has shown proven advancements in his or her self-owned business;

Employer of the Year, which recognizes small, medium and large-sized businesses showing outstanding leadership in the employment of people with disabilities;

Media Award, which recognizes an individual or an organization for its innovative promotion of the employment of people with disabilities through the use of print, radio, television or electronic media in Florida; and

Youth Leader Award, which recognizes a young adult (age 15-21) with a disability who has shown outstanding leadership, community service or advocacy to help advance the efforts or raise positive awareness about Florida's disability community. This youth should serve as a model leader for other young adults with disabilities.

Call 888.838.2253 or visit the website at www.abletrust.org For a nomination packet. The deadline to submit nominations is 5:00 p.m. on Friday, August 23, 2002, to The Able Trust headquarters, located at 106 East College Avenue, Suite 820, Tallahassee, Florida 32301.

Award winners will be recognized at The Able Trust's Ability Awards at the Westin Grand Bohemian Hotel in Orlando, Florida, on Thursday, September 26, at 6:00 p.m. The event is open to the public and features Henry Holden, actor and acclaimed lecturer, as the keynote speaker.

Grants Awarded to Expand High School/High Tech Program
The Able Trust recently awarded $332,000 in grants to fourteen nonprofit agencies for the High School/High Tech program (HS/HT). HS/HT is an national program of the US Department of Labor's Office of Disability Employment Policy that is sponsored in Florida by The Able Trust. HS/HT encourages students with disabilities to explore careers in science, math, engineering and technology. Program activities include site visits of laboratories and high-tech offices, mentoring, career shadowing, guest speakers, after-school activities where students work on technology-related projects and summer and part-time employment in technology-related careers.

The following agencies received funding to expand existing HS/HT projects: Brevard Schools Foundation (Brevard County) $22,000; Children's Haven and Adult Community Services, Inc. (Manatee County) $22,000; Center for Independent Living of Broward (Broward County) $22,000; Center for Independent Living of North Florida (Leon County) $22,000; Center for Independent Living of Marion County (Marion County) $22,000; Center for Independent Living of Alachua County (Alachua County) $22,000; Goodwill Industries of Central Florida, Inc. (Orange County) $22,000; Hillsborough Education Foundation (Hillsborough County) $22,000; Independent Living Resource of Northeast Florida, Inc. (Duval County) $22,000; Madison County School Board (Madison County) $18,000; Space Coast Center for Independent Living (Brevard County) $18,000 and Suncoast Center for Independent Living, Inc. (Sarasota County) $22,000.

The following agencies received first-time funding to initiate HS/HT projects: Center for Independent Living of Citrus County (Citrus County) $32,000 and Goodwill Industries of Southwest Florida, Inc. (Lee County) $44,000.

An orientation and training for all existing and new project coordinators and funders will take place on Tuesday, September 10, from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at Santa Fe Community College in Gainesville. For more information, contact Donna Mundy, State Coordinator, at 352- 631-5047 or flhsht@aol.com.