The PADDC invites you to apply for funding from our Community Grants Program. We will be accepting applications on a rolling basis, meaning you can apply at any time. These community grants are intended to bring together people with and without disabilities in a local community alliance to influence social change and improve the lives of members of the community.

Community grant projects will have the following characteristics:

  • People with developmental disabilities and/or their family members are active members who influence the group and project’s direction and participate in performing the project’s work. Actions should be completed with people with developmental disabilities, not for
  • Project activities focus on making communities better for everyone. This initiative is not about specialized responses to disability, but engaging people who care about working together on local issues of common interest. This means learning to listen carefully to fellow citizens who are both inside as well as outside the circle of those primarily concerned with disability to discover what issues people care about enough to take action together.
  • Project outcomes are expected to align with PADDC’s new State Plan. Each project proposal should describe how their work will contribute toward advancing one of the four overarching goals of self-determination, social and system change, community living, and self-advocate leadership. The projects will supplement, not supplant the Request for Application work planned in those goal areas.
  • Over time, projects build local capacity for collective action by creating and strengthening continuing relationships with a variety of associations and groups. This initiative is not about single victories but rather, building communities where people have a growing capacity to act together.
  • Projects support ways for people with developmental disabilities to do the work of active citizenship and makes the knowledge/outcomes available to other communities.

These grants are intended to support short term projects of between 6-18 months and bidders can request up to $20,000.

Please review How To Apply for PADDC Community Grants.