Happy Holidays!
From all of us at National Disability Institute, we wish you a safe and happy holiday season!
Thanks to your support, NDI will begin our 17th year of building a better financial future for people with disabilities and their families in 2022.
Please join the growing group of supporters who are changing the lives of people with disabilities with a year-end donation.
As the new Executive Director, I am humbled by the generosity, expertise and passion of the NDI team and all our colleagues and supporters. Thanks to all of you, 2021 has been a particularly impactful year.
Please take a moment and read through a few of the highlights we have accomplished, together, this year.
More people with disabilities now have bank accounts. The unbanked rate for people with disabilities decreased from 18.1 percent to 16.2 percent, based on FDIC data. NDI will redouble our advocacy and program efforts with our partners to continue this positive trend.
Our National Convening on Race, Ethnicity and Disability convened dozens of partners and sponsors, and hundreds of participants from across the country, to share in NDI’s latest research findings, tools and actionable steps to address economic inequality at the intersection of race and disability.
Our American Dream Employment Network (ADEN) helps people reengage with the workforce after experiencing a disability. Participants have earned more than $10 million in new income, paid an estimated $1.2 million in taxes and saved an estimated $1.9 million from the SSA trust fund.
There are now more than 100,000 ABLE accounts nationwide, representing nearly $937 million in savings, including many first-time savers. The ABLE National Resource Center (ABLE NRC), managed by NDI, is the leading independent source on ABLE accounts. Thanks to this work and our countless partners who advocated for this legislation, we are changing economic expectations for people with disabilities.
NDI was awarded a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) for a Community Navigator Pilot Program in the greater Washington, D.C. area. Ours was the only project selected to focus exclusively on entrepreneurs and small business owners with disabilities at the intersection of disability, race, ethnicity and gender.
Our work is just beginning to change the financial health and well-being of people with disabilities and their families. Together, we can bring proven strategies to low-income communities, support financial counselors with training to meet the unique needs of people with disabilities and ensure that entrepreneurs with disabilities get the lending and support they need to succeed as small business owners. Your support makes a difference.
Each year, NDI is able to increase our impact thanks to our funders, our Board and our staff. Please consider us in your holiday giving so we can continue to create a better financial future for people with disabilities and their families.
With appreciation,
Thomas E. Foley, J.D.
Executive Director
