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NOVEMBER 2006
EDITION
WELCOME to the NYAIL newsletter. This monthly e-newsletter is for
and about NYAIL and NYAIL members, so please send your comments, suggestions,
and items for inclusion to info@ilny.org by November 17 for distribution the
first of December. Please forward it to board members and staff and
encourage them to sign up for their own copy by emailing info@ilny.org with
their email address.
SUCCESS! 2006 NYAIL CONFERENCE AND DISABILITY CAUCUS
“The
burden should be placed on the system to change, NOT the individual!” was
the rallying cry from the opening keynote presenter, Bobby Silverstein, as he
welcomed 300 participants to take action for independence at the NYAIL 2006
Conference and Disability Caucus.
“The
disability community must advocate as a united front to change the status quo
in government,” said Silverstein.
For three
action-packed days, October 30-November 1, representatives from 31 of our
state’s 36 Independent Living Centers came together to learn, share, and
plan for a future, where, as keynote speaker Jim Weisman declared:
“Accessibility must be the forethought, not the afterthought!”
Thanks to
all of NYAIL’s members who helped to make the conference an unprecedented
success!
Conference
session handouts, including an outline of Bobby Silverstein’s keynote
presentation, will be available on NYAIL’s website soon!
Continuing the discussion
between sessions while relaxing in the courtyard.
Keynote speaker Bobby
Silverstein chats with conference participants.
Keynote presenter Jim
Weisman gives an update on the Americans with Disabilities Act as Mel
Tanzman, conference committee chair, looks on.
NYAIL's own Jill Poklemba
getting into the Halloween spirit for the opening night reception. When
she's not out trick or treating, Jill coordinates the Statewide Systems
Advocacy Network (SSAN).
BE SEEN VOTING TOMORROW!
 By voting alongside family,
friends and neighbors, we can demonstrate that people with disabilities in
every single community across New York State insist on the right to
vote!
Arrive
with five! There
is a myth that few people with disabilities will vote. To increase the
visibility of people with disabilities, NYAIL urges all voters to take five
people with you to the polls to vote.
Accessible
Voting Machine Map. To find out where the nearest accessible voting machine is
in your county, go to the Board of Elections website.
Disability-related
questions to be included in pre- and post-election poll. New York State Council on
Independent Living (NYSILC) has worked with Siena New York to include
disability self-identification questions in the statewide pre- and post-
election polls. We’ll be reporting the results in an upcoming
newsletter.
Voting
privately and independently at the Southern Adirondack Independent
Living Center on primary day 2006.
MAKE YOUR OPINIONS COUNT
2008 CBVH State Plan
for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) and Supported Employment Services
Deadline: November 9, 2006. The
proposed 2008 Commission for the Blind and Visually Handicapped (CBVH) State
Plan update and policy revisions are available at: http://www.ocfs.state.ny.us/main/cbvh/forum_booklet.asp.
Submit written comments to:
New York State Commission for the Blind and Visually
Handicapped (CBVH)
52 Washington Street, South Building, Room 201
Rensselaer, NY 12144-2796
Attention: Public Comments
Or via email - Vincent.Anderson@dfa.state.ny.us
2007 VESID
State Plan for Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) Public Comment
Deadline:
November 17, 2006.
New York’s 2007 State Plan for implementing VR services to individuals with
disabilities is currently being drafted by Vocational and Educational
Services for Individuals with Disabilities (VESID). Questions have been
posted for open public comment at the VESID Discussion Area website: http://discus.nysed.gov/cgi-bin/discus-mando/discus.cgi
Post
comments directly to the discussion board or send them to:
VESID
Policy
and Partnerships Unit
One
Commerce Plaza, Room 1603
Albany,
NY 12234
Or via
email vrpolicy@mail.nysed.gov
Long Term CareMakee
Your Voice Heard!
Advisory
workgroups are being established to assist the New York State Department of
Health (NYSDOH) in preparing a proposal to restructure Long Term Care. The
workgroups will focus on: consumer concerns, implementation, provider
concerns, regulation, managed long term care, workforce development,
technology, and local county government Issues. Greater participation by ILCs
is needed in these workgroups! DOH is extending the date for responses from
interested parties to November 15, 2006. If you would like more
information, or to participate in any of the workgroups, contact Cynthia
Jones at (518) 408-3744 or cxj09@health.state.ny.us.
TRAINING NOTES
Conference: Partnering
for Successful Discharge Planning
On
November 28, the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH), the New York
State Office for the Aging (NYSOFA) and partners will present a one-day
conference on discharge planning at the Albany Marriott. Click here for more information.
Summer Internships
The
American Association of People With Disabilities (www.aapd-dc.org) is
accepting applications for summer internships in Washington, DC:
- The Mitsubishi Electric
America Foundation-AAPD Congressional Internship is an eight-week paid summer
opportunity for eight college/university students with disabilities,
offering them the chance to obtain first-hand knowledge of the
legislative and political process by working in Congressional
offices. The program includes a $1,500 stipend, transportation expenses
to and from Washington, DC and free accessible housing.
- Microsoft-AAPD Federal IT
Internship
is an eleven-week paid summer internship that gives ten
college/university students with disabilities the opportunity to gain
real-world work experiences involving information technology skills. The
program includes a $2,500 stipend; transportation expenses to and from
Washington, D.C.; and free accessible housing.
Applicants
must be U.S. citizens. Visit the AAPD website for complete program
information and application procedures. Deadline: December 1, 2006.
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NYAIL NOTES
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Upcoming
NYAIL meeting schedule
November
30-December 1, 2006: Quarterly board meeting
January
22, 2007:
Annual legislative day
January
23, 2007:
Quarterly board meeting
January
24, 2007:
Day-long fund development training facilitated by Richard Male. Please
note: This is a new date.
May
23-24, 2007:
Annual board meeting
Additional
information regarding these meetings will be forthcoming.
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FUNDING OPPORTUNITES
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NYAIL members, like nonprofits throughout the
U.S., are striving to diversify their funding sources beyond government
grants and contracts. Funding notes will focus on recently released
requests for proposals from foundations and corporations of potential
interest to individual independent living centers in New York State.
About Foundations: an introduction: If you are
new to foundation grantseeking, New York State is a good place to start
learning. It boasts more than 8,000 foundations out of a total of 68,000
nationwide and is home to some of the country’s biggest and most
prestigious grantmakers whose names are recognized around the world.
Continued at the NYAIL
Members Only page. In addition to this article, we’ve added
tips on raising funds from corporations and religious sources, the
essential elements of grantwriting, and help with putting together a fund
raising plan. You’ll also find profiles of selected New York State foundations
and a complete listing of our state’s community foundations.
The
Bubel/Aiken Foundation and Youth Service America offer grants of up to
$1,000 each to support youth-led and -driven service projects in which
youth with and without disabilities serve their communities together.
Grants will support youth between the ages of 5 and 25, teachers,
youth-leaders, youth-serving organizations, and/or organizations that serve
people with disabilities in implementing service projects for National and
Global Youth Service Day, April 20-22, 2007. Projects must be either
youth-led or co-led by youth and their adult allies. Visit the YSA website
at www.ysa.org
for complete program information and an application form. Deadline:
November 30, 2006
The
Bubel/Aiken Foundation also provides general grants for
organizations serving children with developmental disabilities. This is a
new foundation, begun in 2003 by singer Clay Aiken, so very few grants have
been made to date. Funding priorities include:
·
development of inclusion/integration
curricula, primarily grades K-12
·
educational
approaches that engage different learning styles
·
inclusion
strategies for minority populations including those for whom English is a
second language
·
service learning
opportunities and program development, training, and implementation
·
job training
·
development,
training, and implementation for recreational programs aimed at both paid
staff and volunteers
·
recruitment of
special education teachers
·
assistance to
families through eligible programs
·
continuing
education programs/symposia aimed at the development of best practices,
protocols, and strategies
·
programs that
create awareness, change attitudes and behaviors about the abilities of
young people with special needs and foster full life experiences
There
are no deadlines or geographic restrictions.
Foundation Center, Disability Funders Network Partner to
Improve Access to Disability Funding Sources
The New
York City-based Foundation Center and the Disability Funders Network), a
membership association of grantmaking organizations, have announced a
yearlong collaboration to improve the quality and availability of
information about funding for disability-related issues and causes.
The
goal of the joint effort, which is scheduled to be completed by May 2007,
is to make disability funding information as useful and accessible as
possible to grantmakers and grantseekers. Based on recommendations by DFN,
the Foundation Center is incorporating the most widely used, generally
accepted disability terminology into its grants classification system and
will soon update its storehouse of funding data with information supplied
in part by DFN members. In addition, the Center and DFN will jointly
develop training materials for disability organizations and funders to
promote a better understanding of the information available and to maximize
its usefulness.
According
to DFN executive director Jeanne Argoff, the new disability terminology and
training materials will enable grantseekers to find information that
reflects current, cutting-edge practices. "The updated information and
outreach to funders will show...that disability funding does not exist in a
silo but that disability-inclusive grants can be an essential part of all
philanthropic programs," said Argoff.
Excerpted
from “New Project Improves Access to Disability Funding Sources,”
Foundation Center, Disability Funders Network Joint Press Release 10/06/06.
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RICH TIPS
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Tips
on Developing Next Year’s Fundraising Strategy
The
purpose of the fundraising plan is to have an operational document that
clearly spells out the overall fundraising direction and road map for your
organization. In most plans, the agency takes a historical look at the past
three years and seeks to project probable funding sources three years into
the future and then develops the next 12 months into an operational plan.
Generally the purpose of the plan is to:
*
Develop the overall approaches, strategies, and timetables to increase and
diversify your funding.
*
Identify specific funding needs and match those needs with appropriate
funding categories.
*
Develop the most strategic approaches to each funding source.
*
Explore additional controllable funding streams and opportunities.
* Work
the plan into month by month deliverables.
[Read more here...]
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DID YOU KNOW?
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In New
York State: Among working-age adults (aged 18-64 years), persons with
disabilities were far less likely to be employed, either for wages or
self-employed, than the rest of the population. A large majority (79.4%) of
those without disabilities were currently employed, compared to 63.4% of
those with disabilities not requiring assistance and 26.7% of those needing
assistance. Moreover, 39.8% of those with disabilities requiring help
reported being unable to work, compared to only 0.8% of adults with no
disabilities.
Source:
New York State Department of Health "Disability
Chartbook"
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NEWSLETTER INFO
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CONTACT NYAIL
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One Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Ave
Suite 806A
Albany, NY 12210
(518) 465-4650 ph
(518) 465-4625 fax
info@ilny.org
http://www.ilny.org
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