Disabled Children’s Assistance Fund

Home

Welcome to the Internet home of the Northeastern Ohio Synod (NEOS) of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America!

These pages contain information about and links to ELCA congregations and ministries in Northeast Ohio. Our web site offers a friendly roadmap of our synod for those seeking a church home, for congregations looking for assistance, for clergy and lay people involved in NEOS ministries, or for those just visiting.

We hope that you will find our web site informative and useful. We welcome your feedback and comments.

Overview

The Church in Society Committee administers the Disabled Children’s Fund. This fund is derived from the interest from endowments. Congregations may apply for grants from this fund by contacting the Synod Office and requesting an application. The committee evaluates requests based on matching funds from the congregation, needs, and congregational stewardship resources. The disability assistance funds are not available to fund church ramp or elevator projects.

Grant guidelines and application form are available for download in Enriched Text Format (RTF) that can be read by most popular word processing programs or Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) that can be printed using the Adobe Acrobat Reader program.

Disabled Children’s Assistance Fund Grant Guidelines & Application in Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF).

Disabled Children’s Assistance Fund Grant Guidelines & Application in Enriched Text Format (RTF).

Guidelines

A generous gift was given to the synod to provide assistance to disabled children. The Church in Society Committee has formulated guidelines by interpreting this direction that accompanied the gift:

“The Disabled Children’s Assistance Fund shall exist for the care and assistance of disabled children to provide them with monetary help, medical help, food, clothing, and recreation.”

Requests for assistance are made on a one-time basis and are not ongoing.

Priority is given to requests that directly benefit individual persons.

The request should not be for the total cost of a project, but should reflect a partnership with congregations and other local resources.

The funds are given and application should be made through a local ELCA congregation when possible.

Building projects, such as ramps, are usually not funded due to the limited nature of the fund.

Awards for recreation should for those who are financially disadvantaged, and priority is given for applicants with a variety of funding resources.

In addition to grants for specific needs, funds are available for distribution through a Pastor’s Discretionary Fund. These funds are to be distributed by the Pastor using the following guidelines:

Awards will be made on a one-time basis and the congregation cannot reapply for 5 years;
Funds are usually given to persons under 21 years of age;
There will be a $300 per award;
Assistance can be made for food, medical help, clothing, and utilities;
An accounting on how the money was spent must be returned to the Church in Society Committee after one year.