Application Form


We encourage you to complete your application form electronically here by clicking on: Membership Application .

Alternatively, to complete a hard copy, you may download a PDF of the application form to print and complete by hand by clicking the following link: GILD Application 2023 .

Please mail your completed paperwork with a $10 non-refundable processing fee via check made payable to GILD to:
P.O. Box 322
Brooklandville, MD 21022-9998

or pay online:

Application Fee Application Fee

Please allow 2-3 weeks for the processing and review of your application.
Your $10.00, non-refundable application processing fee must accompany this application.

Application Process

There are four steps to apply for GILD membership:

  1. Submission of an online or written application along with documentation of disability, letter of recommendation, and a non-refundable application processing fee of $10.00.  (An interview may also be required.) 

  2. For a period of six months, an applicant will be a temporary member.  During this time, he/she/they must attend 2 in-person skills classes and at least 3 other GILD-sponsored functions (i.e., any combination of in-person or virtual skills classes, activities, or events). 

  3. After the temporary membership period ends, the Membership & Communications Committee will confer with the GILD professionals to determine whether the applicant will be approved for full membership. 

  4. Full membership in GILD and participation in GILD skills classes, activities, and events are contingent upon full payment of dues each year.

Membership dues:  $50.00 annually

GILD Membership Criteria

ABOUT GILD AND THE CRITERIA FOR MEMBERSHIP: GILD is a membership organization for adults 21 years of age and older with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities. It is a group that promotes success in social life and community living by organizing social activities, fostering friendships, offering social skills/life skills classes, and providing a network where members and their families can find support. Applicants will be selected if they meet the following criteria for membership and are approved by GILD professionals:

1. Have an interest in making friends and participating in social activities.

2. Have an interest in increasing their independent and community living skills.

3. Have submitted recent documentation of an intellectual and/or developmental disability from a physician, psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, service provider, special educator, etc.

4. Have submitted a letter of recommendation from someone other than a family member indicating the applicant’s ability to participate in community activities with the group without significant social, emotional, or behavioral problems.

5. Reside in the Baltimore metropolitan area.