Specifications include, but are not limited to: SEEDS Grants are “capacity-building grants.” This means that they are intended to increase the ability of an organization or community to support people with intellectual or other developmental disabilities (I/DD). Capacity-building activities include: • Training: Teaching people about a new approach to supporting people with I/DD or a new way of thinking about a disability-related issue. Training can be provided to paid staff, people with disabilities, the public, or other groups. • Outreach and Coalition Building: Reaching out and bringing together people from different groups or communities who work together to change a policy or practice in a way that will positively impact people with I/DD and their families. • Strategic Planning: Developing a plan that lays out how an organization will grow and change in the future for the benefit of people with disabilities. • Demonstration Projects (pilots): Trying out a new approach on a small scale to see if it works and how it can be replicated in other communities. There are additional requirements when applying for a demonstration project. See instructions in Section 3.2 below for application question 2.8. Applicants are strongly encouraged to review the VTDDC’s Five-Year State Plan, which outlines the goals and objectives that the VTDDC has filed with its federal funder, the Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities (AIDD), to accomplish by September 30, 2021 (see attachments). Successful proposals must describe how the grantee will assist VTDDC in implementing at least one goal or objective in this plan. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE FOLLOWING GUIDANCE APPLIES SPECIFICALLY TO THIS ROUND 5 FOR SEEDS PROPOSALS: VTDDC is especially interested in reviewing proposals that help it advance one of two objectives in its Five-Year State Plan. Specifically, VTDDC welcomes proposals that would support: 1) Goal 2, Objective 4: “Build a repository of stories from self-advocates and family members in multiple formats (audio, video, or written) that can be used as advocacy and training tools.” 2) Goal 1, Objective 3: “Support initiatives that position Vermont as a leader in developing and expanding entrepreneurial opportunities and innovative approaches to job training for people with developmental disabilities, especially those living in underserved, rural, low income Vermont communities.”
