A Circle of Ten receives grant to help disabled

The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities awarded a $75,000 grant to A Circle of Ten Inc.

The grant money will help fund the creation of a Gulf Coast Network and strategic plan to help individuals with disabilities and their families as a one-year Expanding Community Collaborative Capacity Opportunities project. The goal of the project is to decrease the need for institutional admissions.

"The Gulf Coast Network will include 28 to 42 diverse organizations and individuals that work together to identify unmet needs and set priorities to improve services for people with disabilities in 14 cities," State Sen. Robert Nichols, of Jacksonville, said in a press release.

The network will include Alvin, Bellaire, Crosby, Galveston, Houston, Huffman, Katy, Liberty, Pasadena, Pearland, Port Bolivar, Seabrook, Spring and Sugar Land. Once established, it will provide quality, community-based services including healthcare and behavior support to individuals with developmental disabilities. The network will establish a strategic plan and then seek additional funding to carry out that plan from TCDD.

TCDD works to improve the lives of more than 475,000 Texans with developmental disabilities. Its support comes as grants, technical assistance, public awareness campaigns and leadership training.

For more information on TCDD, visit www.tcdd.texas.gov or call 800-262-0013. For information on A Circle of Ten, email circleof10@circleof10.org, visit www.virtual-village.org or call 903-541-0013.