WASHINGTON — Vice President Al Gore and Secretary of Labor Alexis M. Herman on Thursday announced a grant of $6,172,987 to be awarded to 13 organizations for employment and training demonstration projects for people with disabilities. A Boston-based program is receiving $500,000 out of the total to provide services to individuals in Massachusetts and Maine.

“We must shift disability policy in America away from exclusion towards inclusion,” Gore said. “These projects help America’s people with disabilities move away from dependence towards independence, and our policies away from paternalism toward empowerment.”

“Providing opportunities for those with diabilities is not just about fairness or access,” Herman said. “It’s good business. America’s employers have a huge pool of untapped talent to draw from, with workers with great abilities and talents who have yet to contribute to and share in our nation’s prosperity.”

These demonstration grants are intended to help combat chronic unemployment and the lack of career opportunities among people with disabilities. Programs funded under these grants provide innovative job training and placement services to people with severe disabilities who seek career opportunities that will enable them to live independently and productively. The grants also include services to dislocated workers with disabilities who may require alternative job skills or employment assistance to re-enter the labor market.

The Institute for Community Inclusion at Children’s Hospital-Center for Community Inclusion in Boston will receive $500,000 to provide services to 200 people with severe disabilities who reside in Maine and Massachusetts. They plan to place 120 people. The project will focus efforts in Boston, Brockton and Lawrence, Mass., and throughout the rural areas of Maine.