Volunteers with Disabilities

by Lucy Bayard

People with disabilities volunteer for the same reasons that anyone else does–to give back to their communities, to improve their surroundings, and to be active and engaged in life. Some national service participants who have disabilities volunteer with organizations that serve other people with disabilities, while others focus their efforts on helping to meet a wide range of critical community needs. The individuals profiled here represent a small sampling of the many people with disabilities involved in the Corporation for National and Community Service’s Senior Corps, AmeriCorps, and Learn and Serve America programs.

AMERICORPS STATE AND NATIONAL
Michael Tada
AmeriCorps Alumnus 2001, Oahu, HI
Disability: Developmental Disabilities
Michael Tada served in AmeriCorps for a year in 2001 at Goodwill
Industries as a mentor. Serving in AmeriCorps gave him an opportunity to let people know that just because he has a disability does not mean that he cannot do it. “I can do anything anyone else can do! I want to give back to the community that has given me so much,” explains Michael. Serving in national service was also a stepping stone to gain part-time employment. Since October 2006, Michael has worked part-time at the Hawaii Center for Independent Living as an advocate and is president of the Self-Advocacy Advisory Council (SAAC). He is currently the SAAC liaison to the APPLAUD project, a National Service Inclusion Project. Michael also helps with fundraising needs at Easter Seals on an ongoing basis.

SENIOR CORPS
Millie Rusk
Foster Grandparent since 1999, Laramie,WY
Disability: Blindness
Millie Rusk volunteers as a Foster Grandparent for Cathedral Home for Children. She is legally blind. Although she has no grandchildren of her own, she is affectionately called Grandma Millie, which makes her very proud. Grandma Millie volunteers in elementary schools in Laramie. She has an Atlas 600 Reading Machine that allows her to tutor children in reading and writing at the Thayer and Beitel schools. The children love to have the help of Grandma Millie and look at her special reading machine. She has received many accolades from the school where she has volunteered. In fact, when one school celebrated reading more than 2,000 books, the Cat in the Hat made an appearance and read a short poem that included a sentence about Grandma Millie. Everyone over the past eight years has felt the love, dedication, and compassion that Grandma Millie brings to the classrooms.

Please visit the National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) website and share success stories of members and volunteers with disabilities in service.

Lucy Bayard is a Senior Training Coordinator of the National Service Inclusion Project at the Institute for Community Inclusion in Boston. She is a guest blogger.

The National Service Inclusion Project (NSIP) is a training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion, under a cooperative agreement from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS). NSIP strives to increase the participation of people with disabilities in national service and volunteerism. In collaboration with the Association on University Centers on Disability, National Council on Independent Living, Association on Higher Education and Disability and National Down Syndrome Congress, NSIP builds and sustains partnerships among disability organizations and all CNCS grantees. Services include national, state, and program training to all CNCS grantees including AmeriCorps, Senior Corps and Learn and Serve programs; technical assistance and resources to support members and volunteers with disabilities including recruitment and retention, accommodations, accessibility, management, and ensuring Section 504 and ADA compliance.