Last year the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services asked not-for-profit organisations to apply and compete for grants under the Disability Self help program.
The program provides grants to assist Victorian disability self help groups to meet some of the costs associated with providing social, emotional and practical support to their members. Disability self help groups are self-managed groups that:
- bring people with disability and their families together to deal with similar barriers and experiences
- support each other by sharing insights and information gained through personal experience
- support people to become active members of their community, take control of their own lives and to raise awareness in the broader community about the experiences of people with disability.
MiCH applied for a grant and, after some delay, has now been awarded funding that covers vital administrative expenses for the next two years. Importantly, this enables us to buy essential insurance cover, to hold our AGM, to update our brochure and to maintain our website.
Without this funding, MICH would struggle to exist and we are very grateful to receiving this help from the Victorian Government.