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Board Urges Shops to Apply for DESE Grants, Looks to 2025
Workshop employees and supporters gathered in the Missouri Capitol Building during a previous Day for Choice. The next such event will be March 11, 2025.
With $2 million in funds available, the grants target three key areas: skills training, infrastructure, and equipment. Maximum awards are based on the number of employees at a workshop: shops with 29 or less can seek grants up to $25,000; 30 to 79 employees, $23,000; and 80 or more employees, $20,000. The funding is for the 2025 fiscal year.
Past President Rob Libera said every shop should apply, and that help is available for completing applications. He praised Missouri legislators for appropriating these funds which will enhance the operation of workshops.
Libera noted some projects that he has installed have included electronic workshop locks openable by staff identification badges, video surveillance systems, and disability services computer systems by Setworks, which presented at a recent MASWM conference.
“We are happy to help anyone who wants to apply for these,” Libera said. “We have some verbiage already written for the applications.” Board members, DESE workshop division Director Dan Gier (Dan.Gier@dese.mo.gov) and grant administrator Lisa Percival (lisa.percival@dese.mo.gov) can also help.
Gier said DESE is also scheduling virtual meetings the week of the Nov. 18 with all shops for question-and-answer sessions. You may also download these documents here: the Grant Application, Grant Guidance and the Grant Invoice.
Other Issues
Other reports included multiple committees and special initiatives. MASWM legislative consultant Lynne Schlosser said the recent election of Mike Kehoe as Missouri’s next governor is good news. “He’s probably one of the biggest fans of sheltered workshops in Missouri,” she said. Kehoe has visited several workshops across the state, and was instrumental in creating a collaboration between MASWM, DESE, the Missouri Association of Manufacturers and the Buy Missouri program, created by the office of the Lieutenant Governor.
Legislative Chair Kit Brewer said the recent national election may bode well for workshops with at least one relevant congressional committee likely to change leadership. Among the areas that could be impacted is the upcoming reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA).
“We’re trying to keep on top of that,” Brewer said. “The landscape has changed significantly, and we need to be ready to move with those changes.”
Board member Heather Pugh serves as the MASWM representative to the Missouri Developmental Disabilities Council where she was recently named to a committee on assessments, which will view disability issues across the state. One upcoming action will be a survey that will be sent to workshops soon.
Pugh also serves as MASWM Advocacy Chair and announced the annual Day for Choice will be Wednesday, March 11, 2025, from 9 to 11 a.m. in Jefferson City. This annual event features groups of employees in the green A-Team T-shirts visiting the state capitol. This year, the gathering will be in a new location: the Capitol building's downstairs rotunda. It will be more of a rally with a welcome speech, and testimony from employees and parents. As always, the event will promote the importance of employment choice for people with disabilities. Groups are urged to arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 a.m.
Pugh also said Missouri A-Team meetings for 2024 will conclude with the Nov. 27 virtual meeting. The group will skip December and resume their meetings the last Wednesday of each month in January.