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Access:Ability July 2024 Newsletter

The July 2024 edition of the Ability Central monthly e-newsletter, Access:Ability.

2025 Grant Cycle Applications Open July 9th

A senior Black woman with a visual disability sits at a hospital. She wears a teal blouse and glasses. Her Black husband sits beside her and shakes the hand of a white doctor with a grey beard who has his arm around the woman.

Ability Central Announces 2025 Funding Cycle

In our 13th year of grantmaking, we at Ability Central are proud to announce our 2025 funding year, focused on empowering California nonprofits serving people who are Deaf, disabled, and neurodivergent. 

A total of $1 million in new funding is available, with grant awards ranging from $10,000 to $100,000. Grant applications are live and will be accepted through September 13th, 2024.

This year, we’ve announced two funding priorities for our annual Communication Access Grants:

  1. Developing and training healthcare professionals in strategies and tools that improve access to care for people with communication disabilities.
  2. Career and leadership development projects for people with communication disabilities.

New for 2025, we’ve introduced a streamlined application process. Instead of submitting Letters of Inquiry, grant applicants will now complete a short eligibility quiz. Our grants team will host calls with applicants who pass the quiz, then give applicants who meet our requirements access to the full application.

To learn more about a grant from Ability Central, eligibility requirements, and a cycle timeline, including details on the application process and a webinar for applicants, visit our Grant Opportunities page here.

Ability Central Leadership Update

Ability Central Promotes Alyah Thomas to Accessibility and Partnerships Manager

Alyah Thomas is centered on a light gray background in a tightly cropped photo. Alyah is a mixed-race, Black-presenting young woman in her late twenties. She has a light-to-medium complexion, dark brown, back-length curly hair, and deep brown eyes. Her curls are pulled back on the side closest to the camera, with bangs cascading over the other, exposing a smiling face wearing bright red lipstick. A diamond necklace rests on her chest among the unbuttoned collar of the white dress shirt she wears.

We are excited to announce that Alyah Thomas will be stepping into the role of Accessibility and Partnerships Manager for Ability Central!

In this new role, she’ll be the primary manager of our grants program, interfacing with grantees and our community members to guide the allocation and completion of grant projects.

Alyah will also continue developing outreach strategies for trainings and conferences, presenting on IDEA initiatives and accessibility for organizations of every size.

You can learn more about Alyah’s background and read her bio on our staff page.

Resource Roundup

Disability Pride Month

Celebrated each July in honor of the Americans with Disabilities Act’s anniversary, Disability Pride Month is a time to celebrate the history, lived experiences, and achievements of the disability community.

We’ve made amazing progress as a community to fight for advocacy and awareness, but we still have work to do to fight disability discrimination and embrace equality for all.

This Disability Pride Month, we encourage you to engage with your community and take pride in your identity in new ways. Practice empowerment by educating yourself about your rights as a person with disabilities.

You can start by learning more about the Americans with Disabilities Actdisability rights in the workplace, and how to request accommodations. Get started with our favorite disability rights resources below!

Disability Rights in the Workplace: An Overview

A young white man with short black hair and a prosthetic leg, wearing a checkered shirt gray overalls, sorts wooden planks on a pallet in a brightly-lit warehouse setting

Ability Central guides you through the protected rights of people with disabilities at work: reasonable accommodations, safe work environments, and the right to start, keep, and grow your career.

Read more on the Ability Central Portal.

Employee Guide: How to Ask for Workplace Accommodations

A Latina woman with a muscular disability, wearing a pink striped shirt, black pants, and white Converse sneakers, sits in her wheelchair at a long table in a coworking space, working from her tablet while interviewing candidates for a new job

Having trouble asking your boss for workplace accommodations? Ability Central shares tips for negotiating accommodations with employers, as well as information about workers’ rights protected by law.

Read more on the Ability Central Portal.

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