NAVIGATING GEORGIA'S FUNDING STREAMS WEBINAR

JULY 20, 2010



LIZ PERSAUD: Hello everyone. This is Liz Persaud

and Rhonda Perling with the Tools For Life program. How

are you? And welcome.

Today is the Tools For Life webinar focused on

Navigating Georgia's Funding Streams For Assistive

Technology.

And again, just thank you all for joining us today.

We're very, very, very excited about having you here with

us.

Before we get started, it is 1:30, and we are going

to go until 3 o'clock this afternoon. And before we get

started with the actual webinar content -- and I've got

Rhonda Perling sitting here right next to me. It's like

we're having our own little radio show today -- I'm going

to do a brief orientation of the webinar room for those of

you who may have not been on the webinar before.

So I'm hoping that everyone can see the first page

of the PowerPoint. That's the title slide that has the

Tools For Life logo. And it says "Navigating Georgia's

Funding Streams For Assistive Technology."

I do want to make one announcement and let you know

that we are experiencing some technical difficulties today.FFFFCC>

So I will not be able to push the slides from my end, to

navigate the slides from my end and for y'all to be able to

follow along.

So you guys are going to have to flip through this

file yourselves. And you should be able to, again, see the

first slide of this PowerPoint, this document -- it's

actually a PDF document -- and on the right side be able to

scroll through.

And if you have any problems, feel free to type in

the public-chat area or raise your hand through the

microphone, and we can work that out with you.

So you guys will have to be able to follow us

along. And the way that we can do that is we'll say "Next

slide," and y'all can go through with us.

So this is the Tools For Life webinar room. And

over on the right-hand side you'll see there's a

public-chat area. And I've asked some of you to go ahead

and put in your first and last name and your organization

name as well too. And you can also type in any questions

or comments as we're going through this presentation today.

And I want to let you know that Caroline Van Howe

with ATIA, who is our partner -- thank you, Caroline, for

joining us today -- is here on standby with us.

And she wrote, if you're having any technical

problems, to give Caroline a call on her phone. And thatFFFFCC>

number is (415) 458-3597.

So, Caroline, we really appreciate you being on

standby with us today and working with us during the

technical problems that we're experiencing.

And again, everyone, all the attendees, we

appreciate y'all being here with us and just bearing with

us as we're working through all of this.

Wanted to let you know that, if you have any

accessibility needs or use a screen reader, you can head on

over on the left-hand side to "Options" and click on

"Accessibility" and be able to configure all of the options

for yourself as well too.

If you have a microphone and you would like to ask

a question or leave a comment, you can hold down the

"Control" button on your keyboard and speak directly into

the microphone. And when you're done speaking, you're

going to release the "Control" button. And by releasing

the control button, it leaves it open for Rhonda or I to

jump on and to continue speaking or to allow other

participants to speak as well too.

So with that being said, if everyone can move to

the next slide. And again, you're just going scroll down

on this document.

Okay. If everyone can just bear one second, I'm

going to put the link back on again and see if we can getFFFFCC>

this working for everyone to see it. So just hold on for

just one second. Thank you.

Hello, everyone. Hopefully on your main screen

you'll see a link that says: Click with right mouse button

on this link and choose "save target as."

If you click on that link -- and hopefully the PDF

will pop up for you -- you can also right click it and

download it to your computer and follow along with us.

We will try to be as descriptive as possible as

we're going through this presentation today so we're on the

same slide.

And again, we do apologize for these technical

difficulties. So I'm going to release the mic for just one

second and get this PDF up on our end. And if y'all click

it, you should be able to see it as well and be able to

scroll through yourselves.

So can I get maybe some feedback from y'all, and

let me know if you're able to do that and to see the PDF on

your screen and be able to control it yourself.

Okay, everyone. Sorry about that. We had some

technical difficulties. We're going to go ahead and move

through this PowerPoint. And again, I apologize. And

thank you for bearing with us.

So it looks like everyone is able to make it work

for them. So we're on to the second slide now that says:FFFFCC>

CEUs and CRCs are available.

So we're delighted that we can offer credits for

this. So feel free to get in touch with me if you have any

questions on credits. If you need your CRCs and need your

verification form at the end of this webinar, please send

me an e-mail with your information here. And my e-mail

address is liz@gatfl.org. And again, any questions about

CRCs or CEUs, please contact me.

So if we can move on to the next slide.

And Pat is asking me to speak louder, and I will

certainly do that.

Hopefully this is better, Pat. Thank you.

This is our agenda for this presentation for this

webinar. And again, today we're focused on funding for

assistive technology.

And in just a second I'm going to pass it on to

Rhonda Perling, who is with the Tools For Life team. She's

been with us for about a year and a half now, and we're so

excited that she's with us.

She's done some amazing things when it comes to

funding for assistive technology and working with Georgians

just throughout the state and all ages and all

disabilities. And she's a great networking person, and we

just love all the connections that she has and really

helping us out.FFFFCC>

So we have a brief agenda because we'd like to let

people know where we're headed with everything. So we'll

talk a little bit about Tools For Life. So there's some of

you that are on here may not know too, too much about us,

but we'll breeze through that. Then Rhonda is going to go

into some funding resources and solutions. We'll share

some success stories. And then we have some resources.

So if y'all can click with us to the next slide.

And I'll just do this brief intro. This is a quote

that we love here at the Tools For Life program. And Anne

Lamott said this. And she said, "Hope begins in the dark,

the stubborn hope that, if you just show up and try to do

the right thing, this dawn will come."

We all here at the Tools For Life central office

and on our team really love this quote because for us it

kind of validates everything that we're doing every day.

You know, we love our jobs. We love the mission of the

Tools For Life program.

Our grant says "Access to and acquisition of

assistive technology." So not showing folks about AT and

doing demonstrations but how can they get their hands on

it?

So to me this quote just says, you know, if you

show up and do your job, it's a great thing. And you're

helping out so many folks. And it's truly, truly aFFFFCC>

wonderful thing, and we all dearly love our jobs.

So at this point I'm going to pass it on to Rhonda,

who's going to take over this PowerPoint, this

presentation.

And so if y'all can just flip through with us.

We've gone on to the next slide, "Statistics to Think

About."

RHONDA PERLING: Hi, everybody. It's Rhonda

Perling. And thank you for allowing me to be a part of

this webinar.

The next slide is "Statistics to Think About." And

I think it's important to understand nationwide what's

going on.

And 14 percent of people with disabilities are

fully employed. And that is a pretty low number.

16 percent of people with disabilities are underemployed,

which is an even scarier number because they're not working

enough to make ends meet, live independently, be

independent.

Thank you, Bob. I will do that.

What's really important to see is that 70 percent

of people with disabilities are unemployed or completely

out of the workforce.

And as far as I'm concerned -- and I have 25 years

of history working in the disability community -- anybodyFFFFCC>

with a disability should be able to work if the right

accommodation or assistive technology is provided for them.

So I think that this is a pretty scary statistic, in my

opinion.

The last comment, which is adults with disabilities

work fewer hours and command lower wages, they earn less

annually. And the median annual earnings is right about

$10,000 a year.

I don't know if any of you can live on that, but I

know I sure can't. And whether you're single, married, or

with a family, that doesn't get you very far. So that's a

pretty frightening statistic.

If you'll go to the next slide, please.

Most of you know about our Tools For Life program,

so we'll breeze through this pretty quickly. As you all

know, we are Georgia's Federal AT Act program. We're a

division of the Georgia Department of Labor, and we're

housed in vocational rehab.

We developed Georgia's plan for assistive

technology. And obviously we are designed to increase and

access AT and the acquisition of assistive technology.

The program is focused on education, employment,

community living, and IT. The part about this program that

I personally love, because I've worked with adults for my

entire career, is that this program works with all ages andFFFFCC>

all disabilities.

I've been narrow focused for 25 years. So I have

learned so much about other disabilities that I knew

nothing about, and it's allowed me to work with children,

which obviously I have children. Some of you know that;

some of you don't. And it's been very meaningful to be

able to branch out and learn about all ages and all other

disabilities.

Our main goal is obviously increase independence.

And that could be work, play, school, whatever. So anyone

with a disability has the same opportunities as anybody

else. That's the focus of our program. It's pretty much

that simple.

You can move to the next slide, please.

The mission for Tools For Life is to increase

access to and acquisition of assistive technology devices

to Georgians of all disabilities and all ages so they can

live, learn, work, and play independently in the

communities of their choice.

I think that says a lot because they should be able

to live and work and play in their own communities. They

shouldn't have to move because a bus line or a train line

is accessible in their part of town or their part of the

state. That's the part of the mission that I like so much.

If you'll move to the next slide, please.FFFFCC>

Who we're serving. There are over 54 million

individuals in the United States with disabilities. And we

all know who those people are: people with visual

deficits, hearing deficits, communication deficits,

mobility deficits; folks that cannot perform basic life

functions, they have to be done for them.

You can move to the next slide, please.

Our guiding principle. And Liz and I talked a lot

about the next couple of slides because we both feel very

strongly that disability is a natural part of the human

experience. It in no way should diminish a person's right

to live independently, to enjoy self-determination. And

that means making your own choices, whether it be school or

work or play or to get on an airplane or to take a

vacation.

It's a natural part of life to benefit from an

education, to have a meaningful career and enjoy full

inclusion in the economic, political, social, cultural, and

educational mainstream of society.

And I say that. I can't say it any stronger. I

feel that. I mean that to my core, as does the rest of

this team. And that's why I think that it's a guiding

principle for us. And that's why I think we work together

so well.

If you'll move to the next screen, please.FFFFCC>

The network. This is real important. Some of you

that are already in the network know all this. But for

those of you who aren't, it's important that you understand

the network is statewide. It encompasses four major

ATRCs -- that's assistive technology resource centers --

that we love and work with every single day in Macon,

Augusta, Tucker, and Conyers.

And all four of those programs have the same core

concepts: The AT lending library, meaning try before you

buy; evaluations and training to focus on the individual or

the family member of the person with the disability; the

demos, the assistive technology demos to promote choice.

There isn't one answer for one disability. If you

have X, Y, Z, you don't need A, B, C. There are choices.

And the ATRCs are bound to make sure to promote choice.

Obviously referral and resources with assistance

provided. That, to me, is a very integral part because we

might not know all the answers, but one of us does. So we

all need to network with each other, to refer to each

other, to make sure we all are working together. And that

may mean referring to FODAC or referring to CFII to get

what you need for your client. Everybody doesn't have all

the answers.

DME reuse is huge right now. We're trying to

figure out lots of major problems going on in the city andFFFFCC>

around the country. And FODAC and Touch the Future, all of

our ATRCs, are really working hard to reuse equipment, to

get things sanitized, to get things back out there. So any

ways we can get DME and AT in so we can get it back out is

the way to go.

Obviously funding assistance. We'll get to that

later.

So we'll move on to the next slide, please.

Defining assistive technology. I know all of you

know -- Liz and I are smiling. We know you all know this,

but we need to make sure we say it out loud so we all

understand this every single day.

It's any item, any piece of equipment, any product

system, whether it's acquired commercially, modified, or

customized that is used to increase, maintain, or improve

the functional capability of an individual with a

disability.

Assistive technology services are any service that

directly assists an individual with a disability in the

selection, acquisition, or use of an assistive technology

device.

That's pretty important that we all are able to

articulate that to our clients, our vendors, our

professionals that we work with every day so they

understand what we're doing and why we're doing it. If weFFFFCC>

can't define assistive technology, we can't explain to

other people what we do and why it's so important.

Next slide, please.

Examples of AT. Vehicles, obviously, and vehicle

modifications. Home modifications. We're talking about

ramps; bathroom modifications with grab bars, roll-in

showers; environmental controls so people can control their

televisions, their coffeepots, their light switches.

Something as simple as that can give somebody control. And

I'll go into some of that detail later.

Mobility aids such as walkers, wheelchairs,

scooters. I mean name it, it's out there. Hearing aids,

obviously. Vision equipment. And we can do a whole

webinar on just vision equipment. And obviously computers

and adaptive software.

The next slide, please.

Why assistive technology? I've learned a great

deal about this gentleman in this picture in the year and a

half I've been on board. I wish I could meet him

personally.

But because of his assistive technology, he's able

to work again. This gentleman is working. He is not on

the rolls. He is not a consumer of goods. He is actually

a productive member of society because of the assistive

technology that's around him. And he's able to control hisFFFFCC>

environment with that Sip-N-Puff wheelchair and the other

pieces of assistive technology around him. So he is a

productive member of society.

For a person without a disability, technology

obviously makes things easier. For a person with a

disability, technology makes things possible. It's just

that simple.

When I go through an electric door and I push a

button, it just makes life easier. Somebody with a

disability in an electric wheelchair or a manual wheelchair

needs that button. That's what we're talking about.

To the next slide, please.

This is just a screen shot of our home page, the

Tools For Life home page. You can reach us at

www.gatfl.org.

And there's lots of things on the website. You can

get to all the assistive technology resource centers. You

can get to CFII. The website takes you to gTRADE and to

the Pass It On Center. It gives you all kinds of

information. I absolutely recommend you play with the

website and learn. It's a pretty amazing website.

And there's a picture in the spotlight. Connie

Frier, one of our wonderful colleagues who's our contract

specialist, won an award in Columbus. We were all lucky

enough to be there to watch her be completely surprised.FFFFCC>

And that's a picture of her receiving her award.

You can't tell from the picture, but she's very shocked and

very moved by the experience. She does a lot of great

things for our program.

To the next slide, please.

The need for alternative funding. This is very

important. Funding is obviously the greatest barrier for

individuals with disabilities to acquire assistive

technology. And that's what we're hear to talk about

today.

Third-party funding sources are not increasing

their eligibility criteria, but they are narrowing.

Medicare. Medicaid follows suit of Medicare. And a lot of

the insurance companies follow suit for what Medicare

decides to do. So insurance companies will do exactly the

same. They will follow suit. So the money is not there

like it used to be for alternative -- for funding for

assistive technology.

Traditional credit or financing for assistive

technology has not been available in the past for people

with disabilities. And that's why this webinar was so

important for a lot of people.

If you'll go to the next slide, please.

What do we do when someone needs AT? Many agencies

are a payer of last resort. We need to determine whichFFFFCC>

equipment is needed and which one is a medical necessity.

AT is required for obviously educational purposes and to

reach vocational goals.

There is no agency that can pay for all AT. So

it's important to leverage and to toggle these resources.

And that's really what we want to talk about today.

The next slide, please.

ReBoot. ReBoot is a program within Touch the

Future. ReBoot is a nonprofit statewide collaborative

effort dedicated to promoting independence for people with

disabilities through assistive technology and computer

reuse.

ReBoot is a very close-to-the-heart program of

Tools For Life. It is housed within Touch the Future. It

has placed over 8,000 reused computers to people with

disabilities and senior citizens throughout Georgia, the

southeast, and the United States.

It acquires the equipment. It evaluates it,

repairs it, loads the proper license software, and

distributes it to the people who need it.

There are all kind of programs to get these

computers. People need to call, apply. Touch the Future

is www.touchthefuture.us. Please note that it's a

".us," not an ".org" or a ".gov." And they can send out

an application.FFFFCC>

They do have charges at ReBoot through Touch the

Future. There can be scholarships provided in certain

situations. But it's a very, very wonderful program.

Again, it has reused and distributed over 8,000 computers

statewide.

The next slide, please.

And here is the actual telephone number and the

website. Again, www.touchthefuture.us. And the telephone

number is (770) 934-8432.

And the next slide, please.

Let's talk about FODAC, Friends of Disabled Adults

and Children Too. FODAC is again a statewide partner for

durable medical equipment. They have given away over

16,000 wheelchairs since 1986. During this time, 45 states

and 65 countries have received some equipment over the

years.

FODAC provides to the physical needs of people with

disabilities with all types of ages. If you're lucky

enough to go out there, it's I believe 70,000 square feet,

and they've just started a major renovation to put in a

sanitization room and to be able to sanitize the

wheelchairs and other pieces of DME faster to get them back

out. So the sooner they come in, the quicker they get them

cleaned, repaired, and back out.

FODAC also has a Ramps For Champs program for rampsFFFFCC>

and home modifications. Their remount program helps for

lifts on vehicles. And they also dispose of medical

equipment. And they are able to give out -- sometimes they

are able to have disposable medical equipment such as

catheters and braces. Sometimes they have liquid nutrition

like Ensure and other liquid nutrition if people need that

too. That's on a case-by-case basis sometimes.

The next slide.

FODAC. All the equipment is donated. That's very

important to know. I have been there when a major hospital

bed company -- and I won't name them -- literally has

donated 200 beds. And I've watched the volunteers unload a

truck of 200 hospital beds.

They sometimes have a waiting list for certain

wheelchairs and certain pieces of equipment. But most

people don't have to wait too long, but there is sometimes

a waiting list on high-needed items.

They do not ship items. And they do do repairs for

medical equipment. Sometimes there is a charge for this,

like a battery, for example. They do have to charge for

those because those are usually not donated.

And the next slide.

And here is FODAC's information if y'all don't have

it. 4900 Lewis Road, Stone Mountain, Georgia. The

telephone number is (770) 491-9014. And their website isFFFFCC>

www.fodac.org. And Chris Brand is their executive director

and has been there for many, many, many years. He's a

wonderful colleague.

All right. Now to the next slide.

We are talking about Dollars & Sense. Navigating

the AT funding stream. Dollars & Sense has -- it's been a

while since we've redone the website. It is a web-based

funding guide, and it is a resource for locating funding

sources for AT devices and services.

This guide was developed actually way before I came

on board. And it was to make the funding process easier

and to assist consumers or clients and their families in

getting the assistive technology that they need.

What's really important to know about Dollars &

Sense is that new resources are added frequently. This is

a live program.

So when I learn about something -- and it could be

from one of you -- you call me and say "We need to get this

on" or "We need to make this change," I can do that. And

we are adding resources probably one to two to sometimes

three or four a month. So if you download a CD, just

remember it will be limited because we will be adding more.

And to the next slide.

Here's just a screen shot of the cover page. It's,

again, been redone, and I love the new look. It's veryFFFFCC>

easy to navigate this.

I want to go through this with you so you know how

to use this guide. You can always call me at the

1-800-497-8665 number, and I will get back to you. Most of

you have my numbers and can get to me for questions. But

if you want to use the guide or give it to some of your

clients or family members, you can do that, and they can

play with the guide themselves and try and get the funding

resources that they need themselves, which is exactly what

we're trying to do is to empower people.

Next slide, please.

Getting started. What is Dollars & Sense, and how

do I use it? The key features of this are resources that

are out there, grants that are out there, sample materials

that are out there.

It's very important that you go into the website

and you learn about what's there, because there's a lot in

there that you wouldn't expect. Not just explaining what

assistive technology is but how to actually get it and

where the grant monies are right now.

You can go to the next slide, please.

This slide kind of gives you an idea of how to

access the information you're looking for. So you go into

an age group, and you can actually look for a pediatric

case or a senior, the geographic area. It could be in theFFFFCC>

southern part of the state; it could be in the Atlanta

Metro; it could be statewide; or it could be nationally.

Somebody in South Carolina could be calling for assistance.

And the type of disability that you're looking for

the AT for, because obviously somebody who needs a mobility

piece of equipment doesn't need a communication piece or

both. So you want to be able to define the disability, if

you can, so you can narrow down those resources as best as

possible.

And if you'll go to the next slide, please.

This is just a screen shot. This is a screen shot

for -- you can see Babies Can't Wait, Access of the

Chattahoochee Valley. There's American Printing House for

the Blind in here.

So obviously someone was looking for resources for

children probably with visual deficits. And this is just a

screen shot. So you can go into the "View Details" and

actually get the specific information, how to access that

resource.

And to the next slide, please.

This is the AT resource center, the frequently

asked questions. How do I get funding? And I would

absolutely recommend you going to this page or you

referring your clients or your family members to this page

because it really gives you some specifics, specifically onFFFFCC>

the homeownership program, Credit-Able, the P.A.S.S. plan,

Aldergate, and the Brain and Spinal Cord Trust Fund. We'll

go into some of that later. And the Joni Foundation and

the World Development Fund. So we'll go through some of

those details later.

The next slide, please.

The legal information in the resource center. I

think it's important that we have the actual ADA acts, the

actual Assistive Technology Act of 1998 so people

understand why these services exist, why this money exists,

where we came from.

And the legal side to this obviously is near and

dear to my heart. But it's important to know that, if you

want those resources, if you need those resources, you've

got them here to go to.

And the next slide, please.

gTRADE. Let's talk about gTRADE. gTRADE has a

little bit of a new look. gTRADE is kind of eBay for

assistive technology. It again is web-based. It is a free

resource for finding and exchanging assistive technology.

You can put something online to sell. You can go

online to buy something. Or you can go online to donate

something, which is very important. And we have really

updated this.

And I have sent an e-mail out to all of our ARTCsFFFFCC>

recently to help us reload gTRADE. So we really want to

get it out there to all of our clients and customers and

family members around the state to get things back on

because we cleaned house. I think everything back to 1996

was just kind of deleted. So we want to make sure we get

it back up and running so people can utilize this very,

very important resource.

Next slide, please.

It's just a screen shot of what it used to look

like. Like I said, you put cushions up there, bath chairs

up there, electric hospital beds up there.

A lot of people want to sell things instead of

donate them. That's okay by us. It's just important that

there is a way to do that instead of using eBay, because

eBay is for everything, and gTRADE is for assistive

technology. And we're happy to provide the service.

The next slide, please.

The STAR Network. The purpose of the STAR Network,

it was to create the Southeastern Technology Access and

Resource Network to meet the challenges of AT acquisition.

Obviously state to state the needs are different,

and the needs are greater all across the southeast. So we

wanted to develop a stronger network.

AT reuse has a positive impact on lots of people

with disabilities. We all know that. The STAR NetworkFFFFCC>

allows that to keep going and equipment to be moved

statewide and across state lines. And we're very excited

about this part of our program.

Next slide, please.

All right. Let's talk about some success stories.

And, Bob, I know you're listening. And I'm going to give

Bob a quick shout out for assisting and being such a part

of Donna's story.

Donna is from Athens, Georgia. She'd been living

with transverse myelitis for over two years.

Let me give you just an example for those of you

who don't know what transverse myelitis is. It's a

neurological diagnosis. It's basically a catch-all

diagnosis for "they didn't know exactly what happened to

her." So "transverse" meaning across, "myelitis" meaning

infection of the spinal cord.

So she was basically a paraparetic, meaning she was

an incomplete para. She got sick and had a high fever and

ended up in the hospital. And she basically woke up and

couldn't walk again. She's a young woman. She's in her

mid-50s. And she was a cashier in a grocery store.

She woke up. She couldn't walk. They expected her

to get better, gave her the antibiotics they thought.

Obviously the antibiotics did not match the virus, and she

remained paraparetic.FFFFCC>

This is a picture of when Gigi Taylor, one of our

advisory council members, and I went --

Oh, you're on there. Yay! Give a shout out to

Gigi. There's your picture.

We went to visit her. We did some rounds in Athens

visiting some other folks and doing some other work.

I see you, Gigi.

And we went by to see Donna to see how she was

doing. And because of the STAR Network -- the original

call came in from Donna that she needed a wheelchair. And

she was crawling around -- and she had lost her apartment,

and she had moved in with her daughter.

And she was crawling around her daughter's

apartment, which, if I had to guess, was about 450 to

500 square feet.

And, Gigi, if you want to add anything, you can add

because you were there with me.

Donna was in a really tough spot. So the first

thing we did was call Bob at the STAR Network for help.

And he came right through. And probably within I would say

seven to ten days we had a lightweight wheelchair on a

truck to Multiple Choices in Athens. And her daughter

drove her over to our resource center in Athens to pick it

up.

What else did we do for this woman? She wasFFFFCC>

pending a disability adjudication services. That means

that she had been denied twice by Social Security's

determination unit. So she could not get any benefits.

Now, that means that she didn't have any medical

insurance, which means she didn't have any health care,

which means she couldn't get medication, which meant she

couldn't get her wheelchair.

So there was obviously a domino effect going on

here. So just getting her the wheelchair was a huge piece

to her being independent. But it was taking care of all

those other needs which we did as a group.

And within I would say two weeks -- it happened

right around Thanksgiving -- she did get her Social

Security and got her back pay and was able to -- and I'll

just give you a personal story -- was able to buy a turkey

for her daughter for Thanksgiving.

When we met her -- when Gigi and I met her, she was

definitely more independent. She looked happy. She looked

like she was going to have a life again.

Since then -- and, Gigi, you don't know all this.

Since then she has contacted voc rehab and is

working her way back to the workforce, because with that

lightweight wheelchair and with her Medicaid in place, she

can hopefully get back to work soon.

We know she's not going to physically return toFFFFCC>

complete function, but her functional skills are where she

can work again, and we're pretty excited about the

follow-up.

So not only is she getting proper health care,

proper transportation, proper medication; through the STAR

Network and our efforts with Social Security and the

Disability Adjudication Services she's going to live a

better, fuller, happier life and hopefully come back to

work because she absolutely is employable.

Next slide, please.

Let's talk about Credit-Able. Credit-Able is

Georgia's alternative financing program for assistive

technology. Credit-Able is housed within the center for

financial independence and innovation.

Go to the next slide.

The Alternative Finance Program is federal,

technology-related assistance for individuals with

disabilities that came through the Act of 1988 through

Title 3. And it awards grants to states to establish and

administer the expansion and administration of the

Alternative Financing Program.

It allows individuals with disabilities and their

family members to purchase assistive technology devices and

assistive technology services. This program -- and this is

important -- was reauthorized in 1994 and 1998.FFFFCC>

To the next slide, please.

Credit-Able is committed to flexible rates and

terms, evaluating each applicant on its own merit,

considering all alternatives for the consumer, and equal

partners through the Healthy Collaborative Effort.

This is a program that really can assist someone

with a disability in getting what they need with -- and I'm

not going to say rates because they change from day to day.

But it's very, very important to understand that

putting something on a credit card at 29, 30 percent is

ridiculous when somebody can go through Credit-Able, which

is a federally backed program, one of our grantees, and get

something at a much, much lower level with very low

payments, you know, from anywhere to $30, $50 to $100 a

month, something that's affordable for somebody on a fixed

income to get what they need.

And that could be a home mod, a vehicle mod, a

computer with software. It's a very, very good program.

And we'll keep talking about that.

To the next slide, please.

Daphne, I think you're on board. And we're going

to talk -- we're just going to give a few examples that you

guys gave us. Hello, Daphne.

A family that required extensive home modifications

and an adapted vehicle will save over $16,000 in interestFFFFCC>

on a 10-year $60,000 loan for their child with a traumatic

spinal cord injury.

That's a significant amount of money in interest.

One participant will save over $12,000 in interest because

a participating credit union refinanced his existing loan

to purchase a van from an interest rate of 12.25 to an

interest rate of 5.9 for ten years.

Before you go to the next slide, I'm going to --

and, Daphne, you had left before Jackie told a story about

a risk that she took that paid off.

A gentleman had bought a computer through a private

corporation. I won't say the name. And he asked if he

could refinance it through -- ah-ha. Thank you, Daphne. I

didn't want to say that, but I will say it out loud.

The interest is now 5 to 6 percent with

Credit-Able. This gentleman who had bought a computer had

asked for it to be refinanced through Credit-Able.

The risk was taken, and this gentleman saved $5,000

over two years. He was much happier. The man is working.

It's a beautiful story. It was a good risk that I'm really

glad that Credit-Able took. And this gentleman, he had his

computer, but he saved $5,000 dropping his interest rate

from 29 to 5-point-something percent. So it's important to

know that.

To the next slide, please.FFFFCC>

Here CFII's web shot. They had their first Annual

Financial Fitness 5K in April. In my opinion, it was very

successful, even though it rained. I think everybody had a

great time.

CFII encompasses three programs: Credit-Able,

which is the alternative finance program --

Oh, Gigi. I see what you said. "These stories

make all of these concepts become real. I love them."

Well, I have lots of stories like that, and I will

be sharing more.

-- the Asset Alliance of Georgia; and the Volunteer

Income Tax Assistance Program, the VITA program. Also the

financial education workshops.

Let me talk a little about VITA. VITA is a program

that CFII -- I'm not sure -- and, Daphne, you can add in

how many sets you've got now -- but I was actually a part

of this last year, and we served out at Tech-Able I think

50 or 60 people just the day I was there.

So I think CFII is serving I think 500 to 600

people a season now during tax season with volunteers. And

they are able to serve people with disabilities and seniors

to get free income tax prep. This is huge. This is huge

for people who are on fixed incomes who really can't afford

to go to XYZ Company to get their taxes prepared or to hire

somebody privately. So I'm a big fan of the VITA program.FFFFCC>

The next slide, please.

I am correct. Thank you, Daphne. I appreciate

that.

Here's the Center For Financial Independence and

Innovation's contact information. Jackie Wilks-Weathers is

the executive director. There's the telephone number,

(404) 541-9005; and outside Metro for folks that are in

other parts of the state, (866) 922-6790. And you can find

Jackie at www.thecfii.org or Daphne daphne@thecfii.org.

But I'm a big component, and I recommend them highly.

And the next slide, please.

The Department of Community Affairs Home Access

Program, DCA. Ron Pounds is the disability housing

coordinator, and his website -- his e-mail address and his

telephone number are right here: (404) 327-6864 and

rpounds@dca.state.ga.us.

Ron's job is to work with contractors. He does not

work in direct contact with clients, but he works with the

contractors to get the best prices and then decides, when

referrals come in from the specialists in the field, who

gets what.

He is working right now to try and get some money

back into his budget. And he's just a terrific guy to work

with because he does his best to make sure people get what

they need in regards to housing modifications.FFFFCC>

And to the next slide, please.

Rural Home and Home Mod Loans. This is obviously

for the rural part of the state. It's important to know

that the USDA World Development does give loans to

low-income individuals and people that are purchasing homes

in rural areas.

The funds can be used to build, repair, renovate,

or relocate a home. And that also includes providing water

and sewage facilities, which is important in rural Georgia.

Applicants for loans may have an income of up to

115 percent of the median income for the area. And I would

definitely recommend, if you are in that part of the state

that would qualify, which a lot of you are, go to

www.rudev.usda.gov/ga.

Applicants obviously must have a reasonable credit

history. But this is a very good program. I spoke to

them, I don't know, a month or two ago, and they still have

monies for loans. So I'm just going to give a shout out to

them.

And to the next slide, please.

Let's talk about P.A.S.S., the Plan to Achieve

Self-Support. This is a Social Security program. What is

P.A.S.S.? Let's talk about it.

The Supplemental Security Income, the SSI, work

incentive is called the Plan to Achieve Self-Support. AndFFFFCC>

the key to the P.A.S.S. Program and the absolute must to

this program is there has to be a specific work goal. If

there's not a work goal, there cannot be a P.A.S.S.

You can set aside income or an excess resource to

pay for things needed to reach a work goal. This is a very

important piece to this. I love this program. I work very

closely with the folks who are a part of this program. And

if somebody is motivated to go back to work, I would

recommend the P.A.S.S. Program.

And to the next slide.

Who can benefit from P.A.S.S.? You've got to want

to be self-supporting. You've got to want to work. You've

got to be in vocational rehab or in a ticket plan. You've

got to be in a school or in some type of a training

program. And obviously you've got to be a beneficiary of

SSI with income other than SSI, or you have to have an

excess resource. You can receive SSDI Title 2 payments,

and you could become eligible for SSI with a P.A.S.S.

And again, all of these things are very specific

and very detailed between the Title 2 and the Title 16

benefits. So I would definitely recommend -- and we'll go

to the next slide -- contacting Shanti Aaron.

Shanti Aaron covers outside of Metro Atlanta, her

team. And there's her telephone and e-mail. It's

(404) 638-0375. And it's shanti.aaron@dol.state.ga.us.FFFFCC>

And Sally Atwell's team is based out of the

Shepherd Center, but she is now an employee of Social

Security. But I've known her for 20 years working at

Shepherd. Her number is (404) 350-7589, and she is at

sally_atwell@shepherd.org.

And these two are invaluable resources. They will

answer any questions about a potential referral. They will

come and see you. Their teams are Johnny on the spot and

are incredibly easy to work with.

I've been very comfortable with both of these women

for a very long time. And they know their stuff. So I

would definitely -- if you have a question, I would

definitely call and discuss because they will be there for

you.

To the next slide, please.

Let's talk about GACHI, Georgia's

Telecommunications Equipment Distribution Program. They

provide a variety of specialized telecommunications

equipment to qualified applicants who have difficulty using

a standard phone for free.

Now, this is important to know. There was a

gentleman that I got a phone call from his social worker in

a nursing home in middle Georgia, and he needed a phone,

and he needed a phone because he had a hearing deficit.

Well GACHI sent somebody down to take care of it.FFFFCC>

They got the nursing home to buy in to making sure that

phone was protected and secured. But this gentleman was

able to communicate with his family for the first time in

two years that he had been in the nursing home. How he

heard about it, I don't know. I am so thrilled that they

called in for help because we could make the appropriate

referral to GACHI and get the gentleman what he needed. He

was a young man living in a nursing home, like I said, in

middle Georgia.

The eligibility. You must meet the income

eligibility requirements for your household size. And you

must be certified by a health care professional as deaf,

hard of hearing, blind, or speech disabled. You have to

have phone service in your home, obviously. That's

important to know. And be a resident of Georgia and at

least five years old.

GACHI is a terrific program. And the next slide, I

believe -- yes -- has all of their information. They are

based at 4151 Memorial Drive, and it's Suite 121-C in

Decatur, Georgia. And their telephone number is, in the

city, (404) 297-9461; outside of Atlanta, (888) 297-9461.

And their e-mail address is www.gachi.org/gatedp.

To the next slide.

Now we're going to talk about the Brain & Spinal

Cord Injury Trust Fund. These are direct grants toFFFFCC>

Georgians with traumatic brain and spinal cord injuries.

The most important thing to know about the trust

fund is that they do have a limit of $5,000 a year. For

home mods and adapted vehicles they will go up to 15,000

once in a three-year period. So it's not like you can go

back and back and back and back. There is a limit on how

much you can take out in a lifetime.

A lot of the clients who do applications for this

program, they use the trust fund to buy down the purchase

price of these items, and they work very closely with

Credit-Able to finance the rest. So they can get better

rates; they can, like I said, toggle the funds.

So the trust fund should not be a last-resort item.

It should be utilized as a resource to toggle other funds,

other grants, other loans, whatever else you can to get

everything you need. It cannot be the only provider of

funds because it is limited on its funds now like everyone

else is.

To the next slide, please.

Here's the commission trust fund address and

telephone number and website. It's at 2 Peachtree Street

Northwest, Suite 26-426, Atlanta, Georgia. And the

telephone number in the city is (404) 651-5112; out of the

city, (888) 233-5760. And their website, which you can

download the application for your clients isFFFFCC>

www.bsitf.state.ga.us.

They have a wonderful staff over there. And please

understand that, if an application is done completely and

correctly, the turnaround time is usually six weeks, six to

eight weeks. If the applications are not complete, it will

take longer. There's just no way around it.

And the next slide, please.

Okay. We're going to talk about private grants

because a lot of you really need this information. And I

give these out a lot. Sometimes I send e-mails. But

you've got them now, and I'm excited about sharing these

with you.

Friends of Man. It's a 100 percent charity

providing food, clothing, medicine, DME, AT, glasses,

hearing aids, and prosthetics. This is what's important.

There is no dental coverage outside of Colorado because of

residency requirements.

The key to Friends of Man is that the applications

have to come through a professional. If I had a

disability, I could not apply to them directly. I'd have

to go through somebody, which means the money would go to

the organization, the vendor, whoever that would be.

And they are very old fashioned in Colorado.

Everything is done by paper. So even though you can call

for an application, you can e-mail them atFFFFCC>

applications@friendsofman.org, or go to their website, they

will mail you a paper copy.

Again, I'm going to say this. If you complete the

application, the turnaround time usually is six to

eight weeks. Nothing should be an emergent situation in

this.

With Friends of Man grant, when I spoke to them

about six weeks ago, they had just supplied some

therapeutic recreation activities for a teenager in North

Carolina. They paid for camp for him. So they definitely

pay for things on the East Coast.

I've been giving this name and e-mail address out,

and I've heard some very good success stories with this

grant. So definitely use it.

But you cannot give it to your clients or your

family members. They literally will not accept a referral

from an individual.

Joni and Friends is a Christian fund. It's a very

good fund. They do have a $2,500 limit. They cover AT,

rehab, special treatments, and educational opportunities.

Again, their website is www.joniandfriends.org. Very nice

people to work with. And you can apply for a grant there

yourself without a professional mediator.

The next one is the Texas Center For the Visually

Challenged. It's a computer-refurbishing program. TheyFFFFCC>

average between 350 and 400 PCs per year. And since they

started, they have distributed over 3,500 computers.

They send to the U.S. and Canada. They do charge a

shipping and handling cost. And I believe, Martha, that

charge was $50. I'm not sure. Tell me if I'm right or

not. Am I right? You don't remember.

There is a charge for shipping and handling. That

much I do -- I do remember you saying there was a shipping

and handling charge.

It does come with the software on it, which is the

most important part. There is software that comes with it.

So it comes ready to go with an instructional manual.

And the next slide, please.

The Ideal Group. It specializes in online

conference calls, accessible math resources, and realtime

closed captioning. This would be used more in a higher

educational setting or a business setting.

American Association of People With Disabilities.

They organize a disability community. They're a powerful

voice in Washington, D.C., trying to change the voice

politically, socially, and economically.

I would go to their website. It's a very

interesting website to look at. They do not -- they're a

voice. I would definitely go into their website and go

exploring.FFFFCC>

GiveTech is a nonprofit organization based out of

San Francisco, California. They give computer input

devices to individuals who cannot input in a traditional

way. And their website again is www.givetech.org. And I

want to thank Martha Rust for giving me those three pieces

of information because I wouldn't have had them without

her. And they're now on Dollars & Sense.

Let's go to our next success story. And I know

this case pretty well. Jack is a security guard, actually,

at Georgia Perimeter College. He's 52 years old. And he's

been losing his hearing for two years.

His wife called me, actually, and said he was

getting ready to lose his job because he couldn't afford

hearing aids. He couldn't hear people at the college. He

couldn't do his job effectively or efficiently because he

couldn't hear people very well, so he was missing a lot of

things.

So his wife literally was exploring the -- she was

surfing the web and found us and called the 800 number. He

did have insurance through his job, but they wouldn't pay

for a hearing aid because they considered it a luxury item.

And that's really important to know how ridiculous

this is, because, again, insurance companies follow suit

for Medicare and Medicaid.

And Jack, just from a social situation, is marriedFFFFCC>

with teenage kids. And he's not happy about the situation.

So his wife called in because he wouldn't. And I

immediately told her to do several things.

We immediately went to the Starkey Foundation and

called them and got them involved to start the application

process. And we'll give you the site for Starkey in just a

minute.

Starkey Foundation gives grants for hearing aids.

They do not give money to the applicant. They give money

to the person supplying the hearing aid, quote, unquote,

the vendor.

Starkey likes to work with vendors who also do

hearing tests. So the monies cover both, which sometimes

they're separate charges, and you want to try and avoid

that.

So she immediately called Starkey. I called

Starkey on his behalf to try and make sure that the

application process was streamlined and did not get stalled

in any way because this was a situation where he could

actually lose his job.

Then we had them call vocational rehab to try and

get in a job-save situation. We wanted to make sure that

Jack disclosed that he had applied for a grant through the

Starkey Foundation to get hearing aids so voc rehab would

know to help with saving his job, not paying for hearingFFFFCC>

aids.

In a matter of four to six weeks, because voc rehab

was involved, Georgia Perimeter College worked with Jack.

They reassigned him until he got his hearing aids through

Starkey, who paid for them. And because vocational rehab

was involved to look at other ways he could be utilized in

his job with his other skill set, Georgia Perimeter College

has definitely promoted Jack, and he is in a better

position than he was when this started six months ago

because VR got involved just to assist him with making sure

that he worked to the best of his ability, and his skills

were being used properly.

But because of toggling those resources, he now can

hear. He's not embarrassed. He is doing his job better

than ever. And vocational rehab has a success story on

their hands. So it's a very nice situation.

And the next slide will have the Starkey

Foundation's mission. It's to change the social

consciousness of hearing and hearing matters through

education and research while providing the gift of hearing

to those in need around the world.

The support allows us to deliver more than 50,000

hearing aids annually through more than 100 hearing

missions a year in countries stretching from the U.S. to

Vietnam.FFFFCC>

In addition to giving the gift of hearing, the

foundation promotes hearing health awareness while

supporting research and education.

Their telephone number is (800) 328-8602. And

their website is www.starkeyhearingfoundation.org.

There are three women that help people with

applications. And these three women, I'm blown away when I

talk to them. They're as kind and as nice and as helpful

as they can be. And they make sure, before they get off

the phone with the applicant, that the applicant knows

exactly what they need to streamline the process.

Again, if the process gets stalled because they

don't send in whatever, then they have to wait. And

getting your assistive technology as fast as possible is

the key.

Gigi: "I love to hear about the integration of

services and agencies."

Thanks, Gigi. I appreciate your comment.

And the next slide.

Okay. Free solutions. The Adobe Acrobat Reader

with Speech. It allows the Acrobat docs to be read out

loud with variable speed and pitch. It's an excellent

resource.

Microsoft Reader with Text-to-Speech Engine and

Read in Microsoft Reader add-ons. It's installed throughFFFFCC>

the Internet Explorer, which is important to know.

Bob, I'm sure you know all about these, but I'm

going to list them any way.

And the next slide.

More free solutions. Microsoft.com's Reader

Developer, Microsoft.com's Reader Developer Downloads.

This one creates the one-click conversations from MS Word.

The first one is text-to-speech; and the last one is a

dictionary, which is extremely helpful.

And the next slide.

Firefox Browser. Actually, I have that on my

computer. It's a fantastic website. It's easy to install.

It allows for wonderful translations. It has a dictionary.

It's fantastic.

The Google Notebook allows students to grab online

data, organize it, and share it from Google Labs.

Google Docs & Spreadsheets. It's sharable within a

room or worldwide. Free word-processing and spreadsheets.

Google Calendar. Did we -- Google Calendar is

another wonderful resource that we use in our office to

make sure -- oh, we do have it.

It's the next slide.

Google Calendar. They can send reminders to you

and remind people of their activities. So you can do it

monthly, weekly. It's color-coded so your whole teamFFFFCC>

can -- if they input your activities on a day-to-day basis,

then we all know what each other are doing on a day-to-day

basis.

I'm sure most people are using Google Maps by now.

And the nice part is it has different languages.

The Graph-Calc, the on-screen graphing calculator.

It allows you to paste equations into notes in a word

processing program. That's a wonderful program.

And then Wayfaring. It's another map making

software to build simple geography and history projects,

which is wonderful for students.

And the next screen has the click-and-type, the

on-screen programmable keyboard. It shows upper- and

lowercase letters to struggling writers and runs in many

languages. That website is www.lakefolks.org.

And then the SENSwitcher, the simplest switch

program, is great support for students with high needs.

And I would definitely reference that website at

www.northerngrid.org.

And the next slide.

Okay. I'm going to give this one back to Liz

because this is definitely one of her quotes, and she can

talk about this gentleman, who is known to a lot of people.

LIZ PERSAUD: Thank you, Rhonda. You did a

wonderful, wonderful job.FFFFCC>

And we're actually coming to an end. Just want to

know if anybody has any questions or comments. We can

release the microphone in just a little bit. But if you

have any questions or comments, feel free to type them in

the public-chat area.

This quote is from Judith Heumann. And we love to

share this. It says "Technology gives people the

opportunity to move about in their environment,

communicate, and be more independent, which allows people

to see us more as an equal as opposed to someone they have

to take care of."

And I think that's true for anyone that uses

assistive technology. Technology gives them hope, and it

gives them that ability to be independent, whether they're

at home or in their work environment or in school, and not

have to always ask folks or friends or family members or

colleagues for assistance. They can be independent and do

things on their own.

So it was wonderful that Rhonda went through this

presentation and shared a lot of these different funding

options and streams with all of you, so that way folks can

get the assistive technology that they need.

This is a great picture of Lyndell Hill, who has

worked very closely with our ATRC and independent living

center in Macon, disAbility Connections.FFFFCC>

Lindell is just a cutie. He was in a nursing home

and is living on his own now. And there he is in his

apartment using his Sip-N-Puff and his voice activation.

That he's able to get in and out of his apartment

independently, turn on and off his TV, answer the phone,

and just do a number of different things on his own. So I

really love that picture and love Lindell and love to share

his story.

These are some more resources that we have that we

just love to share with y'all. Get into our Tools For Life

website.

The Job Accommodation Network, JAN. Assistive Work

Technology, that is within Department of Labor Vocational

Rehabilitation Services. GPAT, Georgia Project For

Assistive Technology, is in the Department of Education.

CATEA, the Center For Assistive Technology and

Environmental Access out at Georgia Tech.

And if anyone is interested in getting information

about any of the other AT programs across the country and

also in the territories as well, you can visit the RESNA

website, www.resna.org, and click on "State AT Programs"

and take you to the state of your choice. That puts you in

touch directly with any of those programs.

And at this point I'm going to release the mic for

just a few seconds. And if anyone has any questions, feelFFFFCC>

free to jump on and ask.

Was this helpful to everyone out there? I'm going

to go ahead and release the mic for just a few seconds.

Thank you, Gigi. Gigi Taylor said, "Great list of

resources."

Naomi Walker with GAO. Great to see you on here.

"Very helpful."

Again, thank you so much for being with us today.

Help us improve. We love these webinars, and we're hoping

that we're giving you great information. But we want to

make sure we are giving you the information that you want

and get your suggestions and feedback on things that we can

do better, things that you liked, and more suggestions for

more webinars and topics you would like to see in the

future.

So if y'all could click on the link that's on your

screen as you're flipping through and go to that website

and fill out that evaluation, we would greatly, greatly

appreciate that. And help us improve our program.

And just a reminder. I want to let y'all know that

we do have CEUs and CRCs offered. So if you need any of

that information, feel free to get in touch with me.

Again, I'm Liz with the Tools For Life program, and my

e-mail address is liz@gatfl.org.

Again, thanks everyone for being on here today.FFFFCC>

Wanted to let you know that this webinar is being

recorded.

Kimberly Griffin, want to give a shout out to you.

She's our transcriptionist. Within three or four

weeks we'll have this PowerPoint, we'll have the audio of

Rhonda and I speaking, and also a written transcript of

this session today archived on the Tools For Life website.

So in a few weeks, feel free to jump on there, and you can

access this information and share it with folks, as well,

too.

And Andreena from disAbility Connections. I know

that you and Tina are together. Thank you for that

comment. You said, "Great job. Learned a bunch of new

funding resources. Thanks."

So thank you again. And I will pass this on to

Rhonda to share our contact information and give just her

final thoughts. So thanks everyone again.

RHONDA PERLING: Thank you so much for tuning in to

us. It was a pleasure. It was an absolute pleasure.

Most of you know I am available. I'm on

www.gatfl.org. You can call me at (404) 638-0390. I love

to connect people with resources. That's my thing. And I

enjoy getting those resources to the people who need them

the most.

So if you need me, don't hesitate to call on me forFFFFCC>

help. If I don't know the answer, I'll find somebody who

does. And I don't have a problem saying I don't know

everything because we all know something, and I think that

Carolyn has taught me one thing, that collectively we are

all brilliant, and we all need each other to do our jobs

better every day.

So do not hesitate to call on me or anybody on the

Tools For Life team to help you out. And thank you so much

for attending.

LIZ PERSAUD: Thank you everyone. We'll see you

next time. And be in touch with us any time. Thank you.