Autism

Fort Wayne, Indiana: Fort Wayne, Indiana Accessibility (visitfortwayne.com)

Richmond, Virginia: Accessible Travel In Richmond | Airports, Amtrak & Attractions (visitrichmondva.com)

Orlando, Florida (updated): Orlando Special Needs Services & Accessibility Guide (visitorlando.com)

Mesa, Arizona: (updated): Live Life Limitless | Visit Mesa

Lexington, Kentucky: ACCESSIBLE LEXINGTON: Travelability.net/destination/lexington-ky/   

By Jennifer Allen and Dan Tobin

When you hear of someone who is regularly pulling in multimillion-dollar grants, it’s tempting to think they started with a lot of wealthy friends, a team of experts, and a massive budget. Kimberly Danesi disproves the stereotype. Her journey to becoming an accessibility champion, and a major force in Galveston, was built from the ground up—or actually from the sand up. Danesi began by applying for modest $3,000 and $6,000 grants for beach access. Through her tenacity, she parlayed the thousands into hundreds of thousands and eventually into millions, all dedicated to accessibility and infrastructure. She has also risen to the lofty and influential post as interim CEO for the Galveston Island Park Board of Trustees.

Kimberly’s path wasn’t easy by any means, but it is a replicable model as she demonstrated in a recent interview with TravelAbility, provided of course, you supply the scrappiness. 

Find the Passion

It all starts with passion. Applying for grants is a  tedious process that requires time,  commitment, and a thick skin. When Danesi was asked where her passion comes from, she said it goes back to how she was raised. Her mom worked with kids with special needs and shared her own passion with her family. Passion is contagious—which has turned out to be key in Danesi’s work with the Galveston Park Board.

If your organization is lacking that passion, look for others outside your community who can provide ideas and inspiration. “You have a community through TravelAbility. Destinations International is another network that can help,” Danesi advises. 

These networks can help you identify and recruit champions from your own community —a disability mom, a nonprofit, a community member who’s already speaking up. “Go to them and build that relationship and ask questions. They have ideas, and they’ve thought about how to make it happen. Sometimes it’s about asking smart people stupid questions.” You’ll find advocates and their passion will spread. Look at enlisting advocates from local nonprofit organizations, United Way, your school district, the chamber of commerce, and on and on. You can never have too many. 

“You have a community through TravelAbility.
Destinations International is another network that can help.”

–Kimberly Danesi

Find Your Community, Or Build It

So much of Danesi’s success extends beyond her own strengths to the supportive community behind her. “It’s all about a sense of community,” she says. The grants you’re applying for are impacting the people in your community as well as the visitors you’re trying to attract. You’re all in this together. Build relationships with the organizations around you. 

Looking back to the early days of her organization, Danesi acknowledges that it’s hard to dedicate sufficient time to the grant writing process if you don’t have the budget, the staff, or the capacity to do so. Even this can be helped by the community, says Danesi. People often step up to the plate when they are a part of something bigger than themselves and know they can contribute in a meaningful way. You’ll often encounter community organizations who are already looking for ways to give back to the community and may be eager to help fund a project.

Scrappiness often comes through piecing together the smaller contributions from community organizations.

Be a Beacon

By now everybody in Galveston knows the Galveston Park Board is on fire for inclusion. They speak up about it. Everywhere. Always. As a result, funders have started coming to them. “If someone knows you’re looking for money and will act, they will share opportunities with you that they hear about.”

Networking is a lifestyle. When you’re constantly broadcasting a message of inclusion, you create new funding opportunities that weren’t considered before. 

Just Ask

This applies across the board.

When it comes to needing support from your community: just ask.

When a grant isn’t exactly what you need: Just ask.

Instead of funding accessibility assessments, Danesi utilized a college intern. Not only was that intern able to do the accessibility assessments, but she ended up being a link to another sizable grant opportunity. 

Danesi gave the example of the beach wheelchairs being distributed by the state of Texas for the national effort to improve beach accessibility. Danesi was offered one beach wheelchair, but she pointed out the expanse of the Galveston beaches and asked if she could have three, instead. They agreed without hesitation. “The worst they can do is say ‘no,’” she says.

Another example was when they were approved for a 1.4 million grant in 2017. Due to multiple setbacks, they weren’t able to implement the grant until four years later. By then, the cost of the project had nearly tripled. Knowing the project would no longer be possible with the grant, they asked for the difference—and it was given.

It never hurts to ask. The very worst that can happen is someone says “no.”

Keep Inclusion in Mind

Keeping  inclusion in the forefront has been central to Danesi’s success. She’s used her grants for building beaches, for adding Mobi Mats and beach wheelchairs, and for improving infrastructure, and for improving accessible amenities. Not all of these grants were disability inclusion specific. Danesi and her team have developed the vision to see how to make improvements that positively affect all travelers.

“This is not just value added for people with accessibility needs,” explains Danesi. “Every person uses this mat. We’re creating accessibility for everyone.” All of the beach goers with their wagons and gear prefer the easy access of the mat.

Persevere

“When you’re denied, and it does happen, you should follow up to find out why you were rejected,” Danesi advises. “We usually hear, ‘you have a great project, but this one was more aligned with our current grant, come back next year.’ Go back, they mean it.” A rejection isn’t the end.Take suggestions. Accept constructive criticism. Keep going.

Bonus Tips from Kimberly
“When you do get a grant, make darn sure that you blow it out of the water and impress these folks, because they’re usually a fountain. We’re repeat customers,” Danesi says. Go above and beyond. Exceed expectations. Communicate clearly.

A job well done goes a long way in helping with the next grant. When you apply for grants, include money for the positions for the people to implement them—you can do that for many grants. It doesn’t come out of the regular budget.

“Being tenacious, or ‘scrappy,’ is one of the things you’ve gotta do. You can’t give up easily. It’s a lot of work and it’s easy to get disappointed when it doesn’t work. Get back on the hobby horse. Keep trying.”