Grants
2009 DAWN Grassroots Advocacy Grants
Grants between $500 and $5,000 are available each year in the late spring or early summer. For 2009 the Board developed a two-step process to apply for these grants. In order to receive a Grassroots Grant in 2009, a person needed to finish the first step by June 1, 2009. The “Application for Grant” will be due in the Board offices by August 1, 2009. The Board has trained Community Organizers to assist people to develop their grant ideas and project. This year each grant can be for a period of up to 16 months. That means a person would have to start their grant in September 2009 and be finished by December 2010. People with disabilities and/or their family members are eligible for the grants. Other individuals or organizations are invited to work with consumers in developing and implementing a DAWN grant, but are not eligible for funding.
The goal of DAWN Grassroots Advocacy Grants is to increase the number of people with disabilities and/or their family members doing advocacy activities in their community. These are activities that will make a difference in the quality of community life for people with disabilities. They provide an opportunity for people with disabilities and/or family members to be leaders in the disability advocacy movement and to start local advocacy groups. 2008 Grassroots Grant Awardees.
Apprenticeship Program
The Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD) will be taking applications in the fall of 2009 for people interested in being an Apprentice Organizer and Mentors to work with them. BPDD is works in association with the Wisconsin Apprenticeship Organizer Project (WAOP). Recent applicants have been from southern Wisconsin (south of a line from Sheboygan to La Crosse).
Apprentices serve a seven month apprenticeship with WAOP. They are matched and work with a mentor who assists them in an organizing project in their area of the state. Apprentices work either 20 hours a week for a seven month apprenticeship and are paid $750 a month or a 40 hour week and paid $1500 per month. Five or so apprentices are usually accepted into this program.
DAWN Action Grants
The DAWN action grants provide limited (under $500) support for a well-defined advocacy activity that promotes the legislative agenda of the Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities.
