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Independent Living News & Policy from the National Council on Independent Living

Application Deadline Extended for Vaccine Access Funding for Eligible Centers for Independent Living

Source: ILRU

Kimberly Tissot of Able South Carolina and Richard Petty of ILRU in Houston announced today the Disability Vaccine Access Opportunities Center (DVAO Center) is extending the application deadline to October 15 at 12:00 Noon Eastern Time for applications for grant-based funding to support vaccination access for people with disabilities across the nation. Centers for independent living (CILs) that were not funded through the CARES Act and that were not previously recipients of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention funding are eligible to submit applications. This group of CILs includes centers funded through Part B of Title VII of the Rehabilitation Act (Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act) and/or CILs funded with state and local funding. Awards for up to $50,000 through the vaccine access opportunity program for individual CILs are anticipated.

Interested eligible CILs are encouraged to apply for funding by completing an online application by 12:00 pm (Noon) EDT on October 15, 2021. The link to the online application is at https://www.surveygizmo.com/s3/6530923/Leveraging-CILs-To-Increase-Vaccine-Access-for-People-with-Disabilities-Request-for-Applications-RFA.

The Disability Vaccine Opportunity Access Center is a national center that will further vaccination access for people with disabilities. The prime recipient of the grant for this project is Able South Carolina, which as a center for independent living is a consumer directed organization. ILRU, an organization managed and operated by people with disabilities, is the principal partner and contractor. The DVAO Center will support local disability-run centers for independent living to assist people with disabilities to have full access to the vaccines that fight COVID-19. Funding for this effort is provided by the CDC Foundation of Atlanta, GA.

In addition to providing funding for successful, eligible CIL applicants in support of vaccine access for people with disabilities across the nation, The DVAO Center will also create training, educational materials, information resources, and conduct direct technical assistance consulting for grant recipient CILs and other CILs to assist them in aiding people with disabilities who are local CIL constituents. The DVAO Center will assist CILs to connect with health departments and other local agencies responsible for vaccine distribution. CILs and health departments will participate in training and technical assistance provided through the DVAO Center.

The Disability Vaccine Access Opportunities Center will be operated with grant funding of $6,372,572 granted by the CDC Foundation and awarded to Able SC, which will collaborate with ILRU. Funding for this effort is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U. S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.

Please contact ILRU with any questions:

Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU)

[email protected]

713.520.0232

www.ilru.org