Project Description:
Disability Pathfinder is a bilingual and multicultural statewide information and referral HELPline service and a clearinghouse of disability related resources that is available on our website. Information includes a statewide database of community agencies and a database of bilingual providers, Camino Seguro, that is managed by 17 partners (agencies) across Tennessee. In addition, there is a statewide calendar of disability events and meetings, a library of disability resources (state and national), an accessibility training program that is easily replicated, Access Nashville, and materials on various topics from the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center that can be downloaded. On January 21, the 2011 Disability Services and Supports directory became available as a downloadable document that includes Camino Seguro database with over 250 bilingual providers across the state.
Priorities for Pathfinder in 2010-2011 have included:
*assist individuals of all nationalities and/or agencies across the state with disability, health, and social service information needed
*keep agency services in the statewide database (and Camino Seguro) updated to provide current and accurate information to individuals seeking services,
*research and expand disability information available on the website to be a centralized clearinghouse for disability information in Tennessee,
*network and collaborate with agencies around the state to share disability related information and/or services using methods that are coordinated and effective,
*provide training presentations across the state that create a better understanding of disabilities and disability etiquette, how to navigate Pathfinders website for information, cultural diversity and partnerships in Camino Seguro, how to evaluate accessibility needs in a community.
2010-2011 Highlights
1. Pathfinder's Bilingual HELPline worked with over 2200 individuals from 89 counties in TN, 27 states, and 14 countries of origin. A total of approximately 4000 calls were made on their behalf. Services for refugees and immigrants were more information and assistance due to language barriers, cultural differences, and difficulties navigating systems in Tennessee.
The Multicultural Program sponsors 2 Spanish speaking parent support groups that meet monthly. This year 75 families were involved with the support groups. A replication manual is available for dissemination. A second support group for parents of children from Africa has recently organized and is a collaboration effort with
Meharry Medical College. All support groups meet monthly.
2.The Disability Pathfinder website had over 90,900 visits by 64,700 visitors to the site with over 330,000 pages viewed and is considered a clearinghouse of information for Tennessee. The following sections are available on the site:
2a.A statewide database of disability and community services on the website is updated annually and includes over 1800 agencies with approximately 4,000 programs. The database uses over 70 keywords standardized by the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). A 2010-2011 Directory of Disability Services and Supports is available online as a downloadable printed document.
2b. Camino Seguro is a database of bilingual providers that is maintained by 17 agency partners across the state. Partners in this collaboration work closely together to identify providers and maintain current information in this interactive database. There are over 225 bilingual providers identified at this time. This database links with Pathfinder database and uses keywords standardized by the Alliance for Information and Referral Systems (AIRS). A replication manual is available for dissemination.
2c. There is a statewide interactive disability events calendar on the website with 180 agency representatives from across the state that enter events.
2d. A Disability Resource Library of state and national resources is organized by topic sections.
2e. Access Nashville, is an accessibility service learning program that trains college students who survey the accessibility of local restaurants for homework. Over 600 students have been trained with over 450 restaurants surveyed in the Nashville area.
3. Pathfinder participated in 40 training events at local, region, state, and/or national meetings this year. Training modules include: Disability Etiquette and People First Language, Finding Resources and Navigating Pathfinder's Database, Working with Spanish-speaking Callers, and Access Nashville, an accessibility service learning project in college classrooms.
3a.The Pathfinder Community Training Series is a morning workshop, free and open to the public, on specific topics with invited guest speakers. These events are co-sponsored by local agencies in the region. This year a community training event on Advocacy Services was held in Memphis (West TN), Chattanooga (East TN) and Nashville (Middle TN). They were well attended.
3b. Pathfinder gave over 25 presentations at local, state, and or national meetings. A presentation on Disability Etiquete and Working with Individuals With Disabilities was presented at the Alliance for Information & Referral Systems national conference in Michigan.
3c. Access Nashville, accessibility training, was presented at 4 local colleges including Tennessee State University, Nashville State Community College, Belmont University, and Vanderbilt University. A graduate student in Special Education worked as a trainee in our office on this project.
Area of Emphasis
Quality Assurance, Education & Early Intervention, Child Care-Related Activities, Health-Related Activities, Employment-Related Activities, Recreation-Related Activities, Quality of Life, Other
Target Audience:
Professionals and Para-Professionals, Family Members/Caregivers, Adults with Disabilities, Legislators/Policy Makers, General Public
Unserved or Under-served Populations:
Racial or Ethnic Minorities, Disadvantaged Circumstances, Limited English, Geographic Areas, Rural/Remote, Urban
Primary Target Audience Geographic Descriptor:
Single-County, Mulit-County, State, Regional
