CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries Inc, a 501(c)3 nonprofit founded in 2007 by Deshae E. Lott, Ph.D., who has Limb Girdle Muscular Dystrophy (LGMD) requiring her to use a wheelchair and a ventilator, provides through its Outreach Program financial support to persons with severe physical disabilities.
SCHOLARSHIPS: Our non-profit offers scholarships to people with physical disabilities pursuing education beyond bachelor's degrees. Few existing scholarships offer financial support for people with disabilities in their pursuit for certification and degrees beyond the bachelor's level. Since students with disabilities face extra expenses related to personal care that other students do not, the scholarships can help severely disabled scholars defray such costs.
QUALITY-OF-LIFE GRANTS: Our nonprofit also offers quality-of-life grants to help people with disabilities stay in or return to their homes, avoiding institutionalization. The amounts offered for grants often will be smaller — $250 to $300 — unless funds can go directly to medical providers or to a special needs trusts existing on behalf of the applicant; such limits are otherwise necessary to avoid jeopardizing benefits and services, especially health insurance, that people currently receive or are on wait-lists to receive.
DEADLINES: The deadline for Scholarship Applications is July 1, and the winners are announced around Labor Day. Applications for quality-of-life grants are accepted before May 1 and before November 1 each year. Quality-of-Life Grant Applications received by May 1 can expect to hear back from the Outreach Selection Committee around Labor Day, when winners who met the May 1 deadline are announced. Quality-of-Life Grant Applications received by November 1 can expect to hear back from the Outreach Selection Committee by the end of the year; Quality-of-Life Grant winners who met the November 1 deadline will be announced each December.
FUNDING: The scholarships and grants are funded by donations. All donations made to CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries Inc. are tax deductible to the fullest extent allowed by the law for 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations. We have 501(c)(3) status, particularly 170(b)(1)(A)(vi) status, and operate as a non-profit charity. Donations, bequests, devises, transfers, or gifts [under sections 170, 2055, 2106, or 2522 of the tax code] are tax-deductible. This is detailed in a letter from the IRS dated August 29, 2007. Check donations can be mailed to: CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries Inc. P O BOX 9232 Bossier City, LA 71113-9232 Credit card donations can be made via PayPal; the link for such transactions can be found at http://www.deshae.org/cmms/donations.htm.
CONTACT INFORMATION: For more information, including Outreach Program application forms and how to make tax-deductible contributions to the scholarship and grant outreach programs, click on "Quality of Life grant" on the right side of this page, click on "Postgraduate scholarship" on the right side of this page, or e-mail Deshae.
FACEBOOK—LIKE US! You can also keep track of our Outreach Program with Facebook. Click on https://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/CMMS-Deshae-Lott-Ministries-Inc-Outreach-Program-Scholarships-and-Grants/109628669068487 If you have a Facebook account and haven’t already done so, “Like” the CMMS Deshae Lott Ministries Inc. group in order to help us spread the word about its Outreach Program.
Outreach programs