Dr. Phillips Charities Announces $800,000 Grant to IDignity’s Capital Campaign for the Construction of its Permanent Headquarters

IDignity is honored to have received funding from Dr. Phillips Charities for our new Operational Headquarters! Check out their article and learn more about the wonderful work they do in our community.

Read the full article from Dr. Phillips Charities below or click HERE.

Dr. Phillips Charities Announces $800,000 Grant to IDignity’s Capital Campaign for the Construction of its Permanent Headquarters

Dr. Phillips Charities Announces $800,000 Grant to IDignity’s Capital Campaign for the Construction of its Permanent Headquarters

Dr. Phillips Charities is pleased to announce an $800,000 grant to IDignity’s capital campaign for the construction of its permanent headquarters. A permanent headquarters is a critical step in ensuring IDignity’s long-term ability to serve the community. The new facility is expected to enhance its capacity to serve clients by 30%, providing a solid foundation for further replication and expansion of their impactful work.

IDignity’s mission is to restore dignity and hope by assisting individuals in establishing legal proof of their identity. Legal identification documents are crucial for participating in various aspects of daily life including securing employment, obtaining housing, or accessing education and healthcare. By helping people obtain lost legal identification, IDignity empowers their clients to better themselves while fostering a more inclusive, productive, and secure society.

Dr. Phillips recognizes the importance of IDignity’s mission and vision. Ensuring that all citizens and legal immigrants have access to their identification documents, while protecting the integrity of identification, is a goal that resonates deeply with our focus of innovating, evolving, and adapting to the changing needs of Central Florida.

For more information, please visit: IDignity.org

To see more news articles, please visit: drphillips.org/about-us/news

Empowerment – IDignity and Spectrum News 13 Article

Empowerment – that’s just one of the many things that stem from IDignity’s services. Spectrum News 13 interviewed past IDignity client, Karelyn, to hear how her life changed after receiving her ID. Click HERE to watch the interview and see our Executive Director, Michael Dippy, share where IDignity’s new operational headquarters will be located!

Living without an ID: Overcoming barriers and how a nonprofit is expanding to address the need

By Maria Serrano Orlando

UPDATED 2:14 PM ET Jul. 01, 2024PUBLISHED 10:08 AM ET Jun. 27, 2024

ORLANDO, Fla. — You cannot open a bank account, fly on an airplane, get prescription medications, obtain housing or get proper healthcare without an ID.

What You Need To Know

  • According to Analysis from the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland, nearly 21 million adult U.S. citizens do not have a current, non-expired driver’s license
    • IDignity is working to expand their efforts with plans to build their first brick-and-mortar facility in Orlando
  • A woman says her life took a 180-degree turn after overcoming the barriers of obtaining an ID

According to Analysis from the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland, nearly 21 million adult U.S. citizens do not have a current, non-expired driver’s license.

That’s just under 9% of the U.S. citizen adult population.

It’s an issue the nonprofit IDignity is working to address in Central Florida. Officials there are working to expand their efforts with plans to build their first brick-and-mortar facility in Orlando.

A woman says her life took a 180-degree turn after overcoming the barriers of obtaining an ID.

Karelyn Rodriguez is a medical receptionist for AdventHealth Pediatrics. She says interacting with kids is a rewarding job.

“That’s why when they said pediatrics: I was like: ‘yay!’” she said.

But life wasn’t like that until recently as she recounts an eviction at her home in Oviedo after losing one of her jobs.

“When the sheriffs’ came to remove my documents from my apartment, I felt empty, I felt like a failure to my children, so I left the scene and when I went back I discovered that I no longer had my documents,” she said.

Many people can end up in similar situations as Rodriguez.

IDignity helps people overcome this barrier and access identification.

“And that really just empowers people to better their own life, and to get that job, and to get that housing and to get the proper health care that they need,” said Founding Executive Director Michael Dippy for IDignity.

After three years of experiencing homelessness, Rodriguez says she sought counseling for an addiction to drugs and alcohol. She obtained her ID, birth certificate and social security card through IDignity.

“I got my documents in two weeks. The next day, I applied for this job and I got hired, the next day,” she said.

Right now, the nonprofit is working towards having a stable place of operation.

IDignity currently assists people in a parking lot during drop-in hours. There are two building spaces they rent from a local church.

Spectrum News 13 toured the land that IDignity purchased with Dippy.

“I come here right now every couple of weeks to make sure everything is moving along,” he said.

Dippy says the new space will increase their capacity to serve clients like Rodriguez by an estimated 30%.

“This is where the main building is going to be, the operational headquarters,” he said.

It’ll have a unique vantage point from Interstate 4 East and West, as well as from Division Street.

“Also, just the marketing piece of so many people going: ‘What the heck is IDignity,’ and looking that up and going: ‘Oh my God, my sister needs that, or my neighbor needs that assistance, now I know where to send them,’” said Dippy.

The overall costs for this new building are $12 million.

IDignity has raised $9.6 million so far for it, including donations of $2.25 million from Orange County and $1 million from AdventHealth.

The agency still has $2.4 million to raise, but it plans to finish construction by the end of 2025.

As far as Rodriguez, she will soon become a first-time homeowner through Habitat for Humanity.

Volunteer Appreciation Event 2024

April is National Volunteer Month, and to celebrate our outstanding volunteers, IDignity hosted a get-together at Azalea Lodge in Mead Botanical Gardens! We were able to share our love and gratitude for our volunteers’ dedication to IDignity’s mission, compassion, and generosity. Volunteers celebrated the night with good food, great company, and lots of laughs. Check out the photo gallery below!

Thank you to every single volunteer; you are the heart of IDignity!

Black History Month – Hafford’s Story

It’s the last ‘official’ day of #BlackHistoryMonth but we know it doesn’t stop here. We will continue sharing stories and lived experiences of our clients to celebrate diversity, history, and individual accomplishments. Like Hafford, who has many reasons to celebrate. What he thought was a simple task of replacing his ID after not having it for over a year was much more complex. An error on his birth certificate held him back from his ID, which in turn kept him from obtaining his Social Security card and unable to receive Social Security. He came to IDignity multiple times to work on correcting his documents. After receiving his corrected birth certificate and ID, Hafford told us he went from having $0 income to receiving monthly social security payments and went from living on the streets to having three roommates. Congratulations, Hafford, and thank you for letting us share your story. 💚💛❤️

Quote from filmmaker Ava DuVernay.

Black History Month – Lindsay’s Story

By learning another’s history, listening to another’s story, and walking in yet another’s shoes, we increase our respect for those with different lived experiences than ourselves. IDignity works to prioritize this by sharing those stories. Stories like Lindsay’s, who came to IDignity in need of an amended birth certificate. See, someone accidentally circled ‘female’ on his birth certificate, so when he went to get his ID, his documents didn’t match. With the help of our lawyers, Lindsay was able to obtain a corrected birth certificate and, in turn, an FL ID. Having his identity was important to him for many reasons, one being his business. That jacket? Lindsay designed it. He owns @Yasdinlco, a custom-design brand where he and his team paint custom pieces. With his identification in hand, Lindsay can expand his business, travel to new places, and share his art with the world. Congratulations, Lindsay; now go make history. 🎨

Quote from former first lady Michelle Obama.

Black History Month – Lisa’s Story

In celebrating Black History – we also celebrate the possibilities. The possibilities for the future and the history being made by new generations. Lisa is a mother raising members of such new generations, and like all moms, she wants the best for her kids. That meant getting them into school, something she needed their birth certificates for. So, she came to IDignity for assistance, and when she did, she was all smiles. Congratulations, Lisa, and thank you for helping raise the next generation of change-makers. Go make history. 💚💛❤️

Quote by cleric and theologian Desmond Tutu.

Black History Month – Barb's Story

It’s important to know where you come from to know where you are going.🫱🏽‍🫲🏾 Sharing client stories allows everyone to appreciate and celebrate the richness of Black history as well as individual accomplishments. Accomplishments like Barb and Ernies’. Barb had NEVER had an ID but needed it desperately to obtain her medication and receive health care. With the help of her friend Ernie, the two came to IDignity, where Attonery Sharlene was able to assist them in obtaining a court-ordered name change to get Barb her FL ID. Barb described the feeling of obtaining her documents poetically, “It’s like being a brand new person. It’s like being reborn.”

Quote from American tennis player Arthur Ashe.

Black History Month – Charlene’s Story

Happy Black History Month💚💛❤️ IDignity is proud to embrace the diversity of our clients and supporters alike. So, as we embark upon this month, we are celebrating by sharing client stories and their successes. Successes like Charlene’s who came to IDignity for her New York City birth certificate. She needed it to start a second job. New York City birth certificates often take several weeks to arrive – but Charlene knew what she wanted and remained persistent. When her birth certificate came in, she told us that getting another job wasn’t her only goal. She wants to go back to school and become an accountant. Congratulations, Charlene, go make history! 🎉


Quote by entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist Madam C. J. Walker.

AdventHealth surprises IDignity with 1 million dollar donation!

Santa’s Surprise for IDignity!

AdventHealth surprised IDignity with a generous donation of $1 million for IDignity’s first-ever permanent operations headquarters. Read the article and watch the clip HERE. 

Thank you AdventHealth! 

Orlando Sentinel – Orlando Nonprofit IDignity plans 10m campus south of downtown

IDignity’s first-ever operational headquarters

Check out the amazing article by the Orlando Sentinel by clicking HERE. In this article read about IDignity’s plans for our first ever permanent home.