Overview

The ANCOR Foundation is proud to sponsor the 2010 Community Builder Award. The CBA recognizes exemplary and praiseworthy initiatives of individuals and communities and/or community organizations that create community inclusivity through opportunities for people with disabilities to build social capital and live full, meaningful lives in their community, as contributing and valued members of their community. The ANCOR Foundation Community Builder Award, a distinguished award with the highest level of professional acknowledgement, seeks to showcase outstanding achievements in three key areas:

• An approach or service that serves as a model for others in creating community inclusion.

• Recognizing individuals and organizations dedicated to creating inclusive opportunities for people with disabilities, especially when the organization is the invisible support for this effort and the community is front and center in the effort.

• Rewarding individuals and organizations that partner with civic organizations, educational institutions, employers, or volunteers to create a community of inclusion. These organizations and/or individuals will have demonstrated the understanding that when we make community better for all citizens we make it better for individuals with disabilities.

The deadline for submissions is October 30, 2009.

Eligibility

The recipients of the Community Builder Awards are selected annually by distinguished providers, representatives of affiliated organizations, and educators experienced in building communities of inclusion.

Categories

These awards are presented in two categories:

• Service Provider: Any individual or provider organization that is financially compensated for providing support directly to persons with disabilities.

• Community: Any individual, group or organization that is not a service provider; e.g. a town; state; civic or religious organization; parks or recreation program; a business or a business group; individuals or groups whose commitments and creativity builds communities that fully include and value people with disabilities.

The Community Builder Awards are sponsored by the ANCOR Foundation, the non-profit charitable arm of ANCOR— the largest professional provider association serving the direct support industry. The ANCOR Foundation's mission is to build the commitment and capacity of providers and communities to improve the quality of life for people with disabilities.

The ANCOR Foundation recognizes that ultimately the quality of life we all seek for people with disabilities is created through acceptance, inclusion, respect and simply being valued as a human being. Through the Community Builder Award, the ANCOR Foundation honors those who demonstrate how communities can be created, modified and sustained to include people with
disabilities in the fabric of these life experiences.

We seek organizations and individuals that not only promote inclusion and citizenship but have made it happen. The Community Builder Award is not about the disability community - but rather it is about the whole community. A community where people are first and labels are second.

Successful nominees and awardees will be notable because the service provider has successfully fostered, promoted, and implemented a different view of success – success measured not by the organization's accomplishments - but rather the community’s success at including, embracing, and supporting people with disabilities as being their own.

If the nominee is a service provider, what will make the nominee notable is that they are an invisible support to the community, and not the focal point of this activity. The very name of this award "Community Builder" denotes the focus and intent we will focus on and promote.

For applicants wishing to obtain a better understanding of what community inclusion entails, please refer to the monograph, Five Star Quality by Derrick Dufresne of Community Resource Alliance, Inc. Click here to download a copy.

This monograph can serve as a helpful guide in helping make community inclusion a reality for individuals with disabilities. The selection committees will refer to this publication as well as review the responses to the application when determining this year's recipients.

Application

2010 Community Builder Award application (requires Adobe Reader)

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Previous Recipients of the Community Builder Award...