NMPASI appeals for local funding support

With the end of Fiscal Year 2008 fast approaching, members of the Northern Marianas Protection & Advocacy Systems Inc. say they need more local funding to supplement the federal grants they get.

NMPASI is a local non-profit organization designated to safeguard the rights of individuals with disabilities through a series of federal “protection and advocacy” grant programs.

Citing federal grant terms and conditions which restrict supplanting of local funds, acting executive director Jim Rayphand said, “NMPASI is not immune to the ill effects of a struggling economy and the downward spiral of locally generated funds.”

The organization, he says, relies in part on local government funding and community donations to supplement the costs of administering its federal grants, but that over the years its locally generated funds have been drastically cut from approximately $50,000 per year in the mid-’90s to a mere $12,000 per year in fiscal years 2007 and 2008.

Rayphand said he would be asking the Legislature to consider restoring NMPASI’s local government appropriations to at least $30,000 annually which, he said, given their current operational needs, would be sufficient. “Short of that,” he said, “we face the daunting challenge of having to fundraise in our already battered community of people and businesses struggling to make ends meet.”

Founded in 1993, NMPASI was established to protect the civil, legal and human interests of individuals with disabilities through legally based advocacy to secure, among other things, the right to a free, appropriate, public education, the right to reasonable accommodations in the work place and, generally, the right to be free from discrimination. B

NMPASI also provides disability-related trainings that can range in topics from specific disability laws to basic etiquette in working with individuals with disabilities. Over the past two fiscal years alone, NMPASI reports that it has provided disability-related trainings to over 2,500 people and has assisted in direct representation for approximately 250 eligible clients with disabilities.

“For 15 years, NMPASI has been a constant and persistent advocate on behalf of people with disabilities,” Rayphand said. “Additionally, it has managed to funnel a significant amount of federal dollars directly into our local economy due in part to the supplemental support from our Legislature and generous contributions from the community. It’s important that we get continued and increased monetary supplements if we want to maintain the influx of federal grant funds.”

He was quick to add, though, that donations are always welcome “and no amount is too small.”

NMPASI has 501(c)(3) status under the Internal Revenue Code and is governed by a 10-member, volunteer board of directors comprising of community professionals who in most cases have some personal stake in the need to protect the rights of individuals with disabilities. Each member of the current board are sworn to uphold the purposes and requirements of the federal grant programs.

For more information, call the office at (670) 235-7273/4 [voice] / 235-7278 [tty] / 235-7275 [fax] or log on to www.nmpasi.com. [B][I](PR)[/I][/B]