By: Savannah Scarborough, Follow South Jersey Intern
SOUTH JERSEY – The Division of Community Affairs (DCA) announced a $333,000 grant awarded to four New Jersey nonprofit organizations to support athletic programs for disabled individuals recently.
The grants, given to Special Olympics New Jersey, Inc. (SONJ), Blind Athletes, Inc., The Association of Blind Athletes of New Jersey (ABANJ), and New Jersey Titan Team Inc., aim to increase opportunities for sports training and athletic competition for disabled individuals in the state.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), approximately 1,415,625 adults in New Jersey have a disability, accounting for 21 percent of the state’s population. There are many different types of functional disabilities these individuals have, including mobile, cognitive, independent living, hearing, vision, and self-care disabilities.
New Jersey spends about $24.8 billion annually (33 percent of the state’s healthcare spending) on disability funding, according to the CDC. And to further support residents living with disabilities, these four organizations stood out to the DCA as supportive athletic programs worthy of these funds.
SONJ is a sports training and athletic competition organization that holds Olympic-type sports for children and adults with disabilities. DCA gave $250,000 to SONJ to fund their athletic training and competition for 24-hour sports for up to 25,000 individuals throughout New Jersey.
Another grant recipient is Blind Athletic Inc., a sports club focused on creating transformative opportunities and enabling the pursuit of excellence for vision-impaired athletes. Blind Athletic INC. earned significantly fewer funds, receiving $26,667. Their organization will go towards training opportunities for blind and visually impaired athletes in track and field and provide recreational walking activities.
ABANJ, who also works closely with blind and visually-impaired athletes, received similar funds as Blind Athlete INC. with $26,666. Their money will go towards athletic training in Beep Baseball, a hearing-based game, Judo, track and field, audio darts, and skiing. Additional funds will contribute to community outreach, promoting participation, awareness, donations, and volunteers.
The New Jersey Titan Team Inc., a nonprofit Beep Baseball organization that provides individuals with visual impairments and blindness the ability to play Beep Baseball, similarly received $26,667. Their organization will utilize these funds to improve athletes’ technique, batting, sprinting, methods of defense skills, and field layout and to allow the team to participate in weekly practices and local and national tournament games.
“We encourage the expansion and development of athletic programs that integrate individuals with disabilities,” said Lt. Governor Sheila Y. Oliver, who also serves as DCA Commissioner. “This funding will help individuals with disabilities pursue quality training and experience the thrill of athletic competition, which can be so valuable to people’s physical and mental health and sense of well-being.”
For more information on the Athletics for Individuals with Disabilities program, visit:
https://www.nj.gov/dca/divisions/dhcr/offices/community.html.
For more information about DCA, visit https://nj.gov/dca/.
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