Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living

Connecting people to the power of independence

advocacy

Accessibility Help Desk

Logo for Texas Reds Festival. The picture is an outline of the State of Texas with a giant t-bone steak covering from the tip of Texas near Brownsville to about Ft. Worth. The steak has a cluster of purple grapes with a green vine situated on top of the steak as if stretching horizontally from the Texas New Mexico border to the Texas Arkansas border.ANDBrazos Valley Center for Independent Living logo

Look for the Accessibility Help Desk near the shuttle drop off location.  Below is a list of what you will find at the help desk. This is a community service brought to you by the Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living. Please stop by and say howdy!

  • Information about:
    • Accessible parking;
    • Transportation options;
    • Restrooms;
    • Exit routes;
    • Accessible routes; and
    • Where to find gluten free food options.
  • Materials in alternate formats:
    • Tactile maps; and
    • Braille schedules.
  • Concierge services/items including:
    • Long bendable straws;
    • Wheelchair charging station;
    • Loaner wheelchair;
    • Service animal relief area;
    • Transportation; and
    • Designated driver services.
  • On-site services:
    • Sighted-guides;
    • Sign Language Interpreting; and
    • Personal Attendants.

The BVCIL is a consumer-based, consumer-controlled, cross-disability, cross-cultural, non-residential, private nonprofit 501(c)(3) corporation. BVCIL’s mission is to promote the full inclusion and participation of individuals with disabilities in all aspects of community life.

 

Guests on Brazos Valley Magazine

KAMU is the local PBS station for the Brazos Valley.
KAMU is the local PBS station for the Brazos Valley.

 

Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living is excited to announce our debut on KAMU TV‘s program, “Brazos Valley Magazine”. Dr. Sharon Colson is the host of the locally aired program and she invited BVCIL to attend as some of her guests. Jackie Pacha, Executive Director, and Shelby Catron, Office Assistant, arrived on set August 21st where they were given the opportunity to talk about BVCIL and our recent Americans with Disabilities Act anniversary celebration. Part of the show consists of footage produced by some of KAMU TV’s student production assistants and our wonderful accessible bus is the star! Please support your BVCIL by watching us on Brazos Valley Magazine next week!

The episode that BVCIL was a guest on will be aired on these dates:

  • August 28th, Thursday, 7:00 PM CST
  • August 30th, Saturday, 5:30 PM CST
  • August 31st, Sunday, 5:30 PM CST

All of the air dates will be on these channels:

  • Locally on HD Channel 12
  • Suddenlink Cable Channels 4 and 700
  • DirecTV Channel 15
  • DishNetwork Channels 4 and 700
  • Or, online streaming… CLICK HERE

 

Youth In Development Internship Program

From the program announcement:

“The summer 2014 Youth in Development (YiD) internship program is aimed at students and recent graduates with disabilities who aspire to careers in international development or international affairs.  Applications are open until January 29, 2014.

The YiD program will bring a group of talented graduate students, recent graduates, and rising college juniors and seniors with disabilities to Washington, DC, for nine weeks. This will include a one-week training and orientation program followed by an eight-week internship at an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. USICD will cover the cost of fully-accessible housing during the YiD progam, reimburse travel expenses to and from DC, and provide a limited stipend. It is anticipated that the program will run from May 25 to July 25, 2014. These dates may be subject to change.

The United States International Council on Disabilities (USICD) launched the YiD internship program in 2013 with funding support from the Mitsubishi Electric America Foundation.  The project follows from a vision, core to USICD’s mission, to increase disability inclusion in U.S. foreign affairs by supporting future generations of Americans with disabilities to invest their skills and talents in this field.

To  learn more about the YiD program, eligibility criteria, and the application process, please visit http://usicd.org/template/page.cfm?id=257.  This website answers Frequently Asked Questions for applicants.  You can also download a printable handout about the YiD internship program.

Please disseminate this email, or the printable handout, among students and recent graduates who may be interested.  If you are an international organization in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area interested in hosting a YiD intern, please communicate with yid@usicd.org.

Application deadline for the summer 2014 YiD program is January 29, 2014.

P.S. In addition to coordinating the YiD program, USICD also leads the campaign for U.S. ratification of the “Disability Treaty”.  This is the first international treaty to protect the human rights of people with disabilities.  We are interested in hearing from campus and student leaders who want to help mobilize others to take action in support of the Disability Treaty.  Please communicate with Andrea Shettle at ashettle@usicd.org for details.  No time to be involved?  Then you may want to simply sign and disseminate a petition at http://bit.ly/Youth4CRPD.”

Very well said! Good luck to all interested youth!

Advocacy Update: What did we learn?

definition of advocacyThanks to The Arc of BCS, Family Support Network, & Brazos Valley Center for Independent Living for hosting speakers from The Arc of Texas last night (11/14/13). Speakers from the Arc’s Governmental Affairs division discussed the impact of recent legislation on issues important to people with disabilities.

The purpose of this web post is to provide some links to the information and resources that were discussed — starting with links to the individual organizations that were part of the presentation (those are linked above).  Thank you all for your attendance at the event.

Get Involved!

  • Sign up for action alerts on the Arc of Texas website by clicking here
  • Meet your local legislators and let your voice be heard!  The Arc of Texas has training to help you learn how to do this effectively.  Locally, one of the core services at BVCIL is advocacy, we can help you learn advocacy skills and organize local legislative visits.  You can email info@bvcil.org to request this.
    • US Congressional members from Texas
    • TX State Legislative Representatives (NOTE:  Listed below are the reps based on BVCIL’s address in Bryan.  To find your specific representatives, you can enter your address.
      • TX State Senate District 5, Senator Charles Schwertner.  His local office is on Briarcrest.
      • TX State House District 14, Representative John Raney.  His local office is on Texas Ave.

Topics Discussed

About your presenters:

Jeff Miller, J.D., Director of Government Affairs
1-800-252-9729 or (512) 454-6694, ext. 7732
jmiller@thearcoftexas.org
Jeff directs all public policy efforts for The Arc of Texas. He plans, organizes and directs the implementation of The Arc’s governmental affairs and advocacy efforts to advance its mission and policy positions at the state and federal level. Jeff also represents The Arc of Texas before volunteers, local chapters, elected officials, state agency staff and other policy makers. In addition, Jeff works to support and coordinate volunteers to facilitate their involvement in advocacy activities and networks with allied organizations and coalitions to advance high priority issues that impact persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Ginger  Mayeaux, MSSW, Advocacy Specialist
1-800-252-9729 ext. 7760 or (512) 454-485-9746
gmayeaux@thearcoftexas.org
Ginger establishes positive working relationships with The Arc of Texas staff and volunteers to assist them in understanding and promoting full participation in the community for persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In addition, she assists in issue development; supports and empowers volunteers to participate in advocacy at the local, state, and federal levels; provides research on issues effecting the IDD population; represents The Arc of Texas at meetings hearings and visits with legislative and agency leaders or staff. Ginger aslo works will allied organizations and coalitions to promote collaboration on high priority issues.

 

October is National Disability Emplyment Awareness Month

Finding and maintaining good, steady employment can be hard for anyone, but if you have a disability, it can take some extra problem solving. National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM) helps to make employers more aware of people’s abilities to promote inclusion and diversity in the workplace. The theme for NDEAM 2013 is, “Because We Are EQUAL to the Task”

The US Department of Labor organizes NDEAM each October, with support and additional activities in each state. To learn more about NDEAM, please visit:

http://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/ndeam/

To learn more about NDEAM in Texas, please visit:

http://www.governor.state.tx.us/disabilities/ndeam/ndeam_poster/

FREE Web Seminar on Accessibility of Long Term Services and Other Community Supports

Heads up, everybody! We apologize for the very short notice, but this event looks to be very informative.

At 3:00 – 4:30 Eastern time TOMORROW, Thursday, August 29, 2013, The Aging and Disability Partnership for Managed Long Term Services and Supports is offering a FREE webcast on health care providers being both “physically and programmatically accessible” to people who have disabilities. The webinar presenters will discuss applicable laws under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation act of 1973, and the new Affordable Care Act.

This webcast is open and FREE to everyone, but preregistration is required. Please visit http://app.certain.com/profile/form/index.cfm?PKformID=0x15836515ebf to do so. After preregistering, participants will receive an email with details on how to log on.