{"id":161509,"date":"2026-02-19T18:32:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:32:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161509\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T18:32:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T18:32:09","slug":"idignity-receives-750k-in-federal-funds-to-help-expand-id-assistance-program","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/161509\/","title":{"rendered":"IDignity receives $750K in federal funds to help expand ID assistance program"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A small ID makes a world of difference.<\/p>\n

After discovering an unmet need, five downtown Orlando churches joined forces to assist U.S. citizens without identification, creating the nonprofit organization IDignity.<\/p>\n

Today, they are one step closer to opening their first building, which will allow them to assist more people.<\/p>\n

U.S Rep. Maxwell Frost, D-Orlando, secured $750,000 in federal funding for IDignity\u2019s new Orlando headquarters. The nonprofit broke ground on the project last spring<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[WATCH BELOW: IDignity celebrates milestone with Orlando groundbreaking for new headquarters]<\/p>\n

\u201cThis headquarters is needed,\u201d Frost said. \u201cIt\u2019s going to allow them to expand their operation, serve more people and do it in a dignified way, which is so important. They\u2019ve done so much with the little resources they have for years and years and years.\u201d<\/p>\n

IDignity helps people obtain important documents for free, such as Social Security cards and birth certificates, so they can get an ID. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou can\u2019t really do anything without having a government-certified ID today. You can\u2019t get a job. If you can\u2019t get a job, then you can\u2019t support yourself, then you can\u2019t support your family,\u201d Orange County Mayor Jerry Demings said.<\/p>\n

Orange County committed over $2 million to the construction to finally give IDignity a home after 18 years and 36,000 people served.<\/p>\n

This new space will allow them to grow their numbers and demand will likely increase even more if changes at the state and federal level happen. <\/p>\n

The federal government is considering changes to voting, and state leaders in Tallahassee are advancing several bills to change what ID can be used for elections. This will put more emphases on passports.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it so not even your driver\u2019s license will be able to be used to register to vote,\u201d Frost said about the potential changes. \u201cWe shouldn\u2019t be making it harder to vote, we should be making it easier for Americans to cast their ballot and participate in this democracy.\u201d<\/p>\n

As IDs continue to be a topic of conversation, IDignity is setting the stage to help even more people be \u201cseen, known and called by name.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to maintain the integrity of ID at all costs, but there does need to be an organization like IDignity that will assist those individuals in our community that cannot get over those barriers on their own. That\u2019s why we exist,\u201d said Michael Dippy, executive director of IDignity.<\/p>\n

For more information on IDignity, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Copyright 2026 by WKMG ClickOrlando – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 A small ID makes a world of difference. After discovering an unmet need, five downtown…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":161510,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[77315,2223,1335,139,141,140],"class_list":["post-161509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-idignity","tag-maxwell-frost","tag-orange-county","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=161509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/161509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/161510"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=161509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=161509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=161509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}