4You’re Invited to Our OPEN HOUSE in Celebration of the Americans with Disabilities Act: 25 Years and Beyond!
Wednesday, July 22nd, from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
DISABILITY RIGHTS ARE CIVIL RIGHTS
Come by our office and enjoy our Dessert Sampler!
(We will include yummy desserts to accommodate different dietary needs.)
Sign a card letting us know what YOU think would make our NWGA community more accessible and user-friendly for people who have disabilities, and be entered to win a $25 VISA gift card!
DEAR CIL DOG,
My name is Maggie, and I am Kathy’s hearing service dog. Tell me how the ADA has helped people who are deaf, hard of hearing or deaf/blind.
– Maggie, Kathy’s hearing service dog
Dear Maggie,
Here is an excerpt from the U.S. Department of Justice, Civil Rights Division, Disability Rights Section (www.ada.gov)
“ADA Requirements, Effective Communication
The Department of Justice published revised final regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) for title II (State and local government services) and title III (public accommodations and commercial facilities) on September 15, 2010.
People who have vision, hearing, or speech disabilities (“communication disabilities”) use different ways to communicate.
The ADA requires that title II entities (State and local governments) and title III entities (businesses and nonprofit organizations that serve the public) communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities. The goal is to ensure that communication with people with these disabilities is equally effective as communication with people without disabilities.
This publication is designed to help title II and title III entities (“covered entities”) understand how the rules for effective communication, including rules that went into effect on March 15, 2011, apply to them.
- The purpose of the effective communication rules is to ensure that the person with a vision, hearing, or speech disability can communicate with, receive information from, and convey information to, the covered entity.
- Covered entities must provide auxiliary aids and services when needed to communicate effectively with people who have communication disabilities.
- The key to communicating effectively is to consider the nature, length, complexity, and context of the communication and the person’s normal method(s) of communication.
- The rules apply to communicating with the person who is receiving the covered entity’s goods or services as well as with that person’s parent, spouse, or companion in appropriate circumstances.”
So remember, if your mom or anyone else has a communication disability, “Bark Up!” and explain and request what they need for effective communication.
Yours, CIL Dog
OUR TWO NEW PROGRAMS
The Community Closet and Food Bank programs have taken off in the last few months, with 30 consumers served and 12 consumers served respectively through June this year. These programs, afford us another opportunity to offer empowerment and peer support to more people who have disabilities.
BLOG ON!
We have a new term at our office, and it is “Jill Jazz”, for the amazing blogs, web site, flyers, and Constant Contact designs, that Jill Baldwin does for our center. (Don’t blame her for this newsletter; Maia did it.) Jill has even archived and organized our blogs, so please go to our website and check it all out. Then, comment!
Meanwhile, Christina continues to keep you updated on our Facebook and Twitter, while Jim, Avis and Jill keep our databases updated.
THE CONSEQUENCES OF REACHING OUR GOAL
Our intrepid GEORGIA TECH graduate and confirmed Yellow Jacket Executive Director, MAIA SANTAMARIA, will KISS a GEORGIA BULLDOG! (the 4-legged kind). That’s right, help us reach our goal of $10,000, then come to the September 4th First Friday concert at Bridgepoint Plaza and see Maia, dressed in GT garb, brave a teeth-baring, grunting, drooling GEORGIA BULL DAWG and kiss it until its tail wags!
UPCOMING
JULY 22, 2015
ADA 25 Years and Beyond
OPEN HOUSE
A Celebration of the 25th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act
July 31 and August 1
Georgia Council of the Blind
Statewide conference in Cartersville
Staff will be participating on panels and as part of the entertainment
DO YOU HAVE A SIGNIFICANT DISABILITY?
and
WOULD YOU LIKE TO CONSIDER BECOMING AN ACTIVE BOARD MEMBER OF NWGA CIL?
Please contact one of our Board members or contact our Executive Director, Maia Santamaria, at msantamaria@nwgacil.org to learn about the process, responsibilities and joys of serving on our Board.
OUR BOARD
Mark Blanton, Chair
Delana Hickman, Vice-Chair
Mark Krueger, Secretary/Treasurer
Jim Moore
David Smith
Ann Turner
Maureen Zeigler
SERVING FIFTEEN COUNTIES
IN NWGA
Bartow, Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Fannin, Floyd, Gilmer, Gordon, Haralson, Murray, Paulding, Pickens, Polk, Walker and Whitfield
_______________________________
We sincerely apologize for any errors/omissions. Please contact us so that we may correct them.
242 North 5th Avenue, Rome, GA 30165
P: 706.314.0008 ∙ TF: 866.888.7845 https://www.nwgacil.org https://www.facebook.com/NWGACIL Find us on Twitter @NWGACIL
OUR SERVICES
AND PROGRAMS
Services:
- Advocacy (Individual Empowerment and Systems Change)
- Independent Living Skills Training
- Information and Referral
- Peer Mentoring
- Transition (Youth and Nursing Facility Transition/Diversion)
Programs
- Assistive Tools and Technology (wheelchairs, CCTVs, pocket talkers, shower chairs…)
- Home Modifications (ramps, door widenings, accessible bathrooms…)
- Alzheimer’s Caring Closet (pull-ups and blue pads for people with dementia)
- Balanced Incentive Program (providing information and screenings for waivers)
- Community Closet
- Food Bank Referrals
