Financial Support Grant Criteria
Who is eligible to apply for a NELAD Foundation Grant?
· Citizens of the United States, with preference given to the Northeast/New England Region.
· Applicant must demonstrate and provide documentation of authentic financial need.
· For a Treatment Grant, the applicant must be diagnosed with Lyme and/or a tick-borne/vector-borne illness, verified by a practitioner and lab results. If you have not received a diagnosis, please apply for a Testing Grant.
· All ages are eligible to apply.
· Individuals residing in the same household may apply, but they must file separate applications.
Please understand
Please understand . . . We are a new foundation and our resources are limited. Therefore, we cannot guarantee everyone a grant; and if you receive a grant, it is unlikely to meet 100% of your financial needs. However, once you have received a grant from us, we will do our best to help you connect with other resources and support to help you along your healing journey.
Grants cannot be used for:
· Anyone other than the grant recipient
· Treatment expenses incurred prior to receipt of the grant
· Educational expenses
· Past medical debt
· Food, rent or mortgage expenses
Minimum or Maximum Grant Amount:
We review each case individually, and set the amount as a function of both medical and financial need, as well as what we have available to give away.
Notification:
Grant recipients will be notified via email, so when applying please provide us with an
accurate email address and check your junk email frequently. We will notify you when we have received your pre-application or final application. After that, you will ONLY receive an email if you are a successful grant applicant.
Pre- Application Deadlines:
The deadlines for Pre-applications are January 15th and June 15th
If you are invited to apply for the final application, there is no deadline, but we encourage you to complete the application as soon as you are able, since funds are limited.
Requirements when grant is awarded:
· Once selected, we ask that you sign a commitment (online via the portal, or downloaded and mailed) that you will provide feedback on how the grant helped you and verifying the use of funds.
· This form will also ask you if you are willing to share your story on our website, and provide a photo. This is optional, but we hope that you will participate. We want others to know that there is hope!
Grant Expiration Policy:
Grant funds expire after 6 months of non-use. After this period, funds will be given to another individual.
Financial Support Grant Criteria (continued)
Types of Financial Support Grants We Provide
NELAD provides financial support grants for testing and treatment of Lyme Disease and other tick-borne (TBD) and vector borne (VBD)diseases:
Testing Grant
Phlebotomy ordered by your treating physician will be paid directly to the lab. If labwork is partially covered by insurance, the uncovered cost may be covered by the grant, and reimbursed to the applicant. The grant may pay for a phlebotomy draw at home if travel to a lab is not possible.
If you receive a Testing Grant, and subsequently need financial help for treatment, you may apply for a Treatment Grant without the pre-application screening.
Treatment Grant
· Lyme-literate Practitioner*visits. Payment will be made directly to the attending physician.
*What is a “Lyme Practitioner”? A licensed medical professional(MD, DO, DNP, NP, PA) who uses his/her experience and current research with Lyme disease and other tick-borne and vector-borne infections to treat patients. Often they have received training through ILADS (International Lyme and Associated Diseases Society). For further information, please review Dr. Daniel Cameron’s Lyme Science Blog: “What is a Lyme Literate Doctor?”For help finding a Lyme physician/practitioner in your area, visit LymeDisease.org.
· Medications: Prescriptions, non-prescription supplements/ vitamins recommended by your practitioner will be reimbursed by submitting copies of receipts.
· Other practitioners who are integral for care (e.g. Acupuncturists, Chiropractors, Psychologists/Psychiatrists etc.).
· Non-medical therapies including but not limited to: Biomagnetic Pair Therapy, Lymphatic Massage, Sauna, etc. if they are recommended by the attending practitioner.
· Tick Testing: Reimbursement with receipt through Tickreport.com, if you are in treatment and get another tick bite.
Financial Support Grant Criteria (continued)
Application Information:
We use a 2-step application process. The short pre-application helps us to determine the extent of your medical and financial needs, and eligibility for meeting requirements to receive a grant.
· The Pre-application can be downloaded and either e-mailed or mailed to the addresses on the application form. The final application is available to complete on-line or download to prepare manually if you are unable to use the portal.
· We review applications on a rolling basis and will try to notify you in a timely manner. Please be patient. All trustees who are reviewing the applications are volunteers.
· We will review the pre-application and notify you by email if you are invited to apply for the grant. Once you have received notification, we will assign you an account log-in number. Only those invited to apply for the final application will receive the log-in number.
· Applications must be fully completed with any required attachments in order to be considered.
