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GUEST POST: USF and Best Buddies Team Up for Community Service with REI Tour Partner United Way of Tampa Bay
This guest blog post is contributed by Alexia Barnes, President of the University of South Florida Chapter of Best Buddies.
People with disabilities are too often seen as charity cases and time spent with them is logged as community service hours. But on the University of South Florida’s (USF) biggest day of service, nine students with intellectual and developmental disabilities gave back to the community. Best Buddies is an international organization that provides one-on-one friendships and leadership development for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). USF’s chapter has 130 members and has provides one-on-one friendships for 29 members who have an IDD.
On Saturday January 14th, USF Best Buddies gathered with 3,000 other USF students awaiting their community service assignment. Best Buddies got assigned to the United Way of Tampa Bay, and were happy to see that they were working inside on a cold 45-degree morning. So while other clubs sodded parks or picked up trash on the side of the rode, Best Buddies put informational tax packets together for the United Way.
Our members sat side-by-side assembly-line style to put these packets together. One of our members played music for us on her phone, which provided entertainment and an opportunity for silly singing. At USF’s Best Buddies we strive to give our members the opportunity to be in a laid back setting where they aren’t being judged. At United Way, our members were able to put together 4,600 plus packets in the course of two and a half hours.
As president of USF’s Chapter of Best Buddies I get the opportunity to work with the members of my club that have IDDs on a regular basis and they have impacted my life more than they know. I couldn’t ask for a better job, and am grateful for every moment that I get to spend with this group. I have the honor to see the joy my members get when they are treated as equals in an organization that consists of 80 college students. I am inspired by the empowerment the club brings to my members. The opportunity for our club to give back to their community was one that doesn’t come often, and the joy our members felt to give back ment more to me than helping the United Way.
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National Disability Institute Convenes Leaders at Boston Federal Reserve Bank to Discuss Economic Future for Americans with Disabilities Living in Poverty
(Washington, D.C. – Sept. 26, 2011) – As the U.S. poverty level climbed to its highest point in nearly 20 years, National Disability Institute will bring together community, corporate and government leaders from across America to the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston from Sept. 27-28, 2011, to address issues and offer solutions to help one of the largest groups affected by the nation’s growing poverty rate – persons with disabilities.
According to the latest Census data released on Sept. 13, nearly 28 percent of persons with disabilities ages 18 to 64 – nearly 1 in 3 – live in poverty, among the highest percentage of any minority group profiled in the Census report. The poverty rate for persons with disabilities was nearly double the 15.1 percent overall poverty level – affecting nearly 1 in 6 Americans – cited as the nation’s highest poverty rate in nearly 20 years.
National Disability Institute will convene partners, sponsors and government agencies at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston that work together on the organization’s Real Economic Impact (REI) Tour, a movement of more than 800 organizations in 100 cities across America that has helped individuals with disabilities take steps out of poverty by providing access to financial education and asset building programs as well as free volunteer income tax assistance for more than 1 million Americans with disabilities generating more than $1 billion in tax refunds.
“This is too important of an issue to be ignored or go unnoticed,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said. “People need and deserve the tools to improve their quality of life and the National Disability Institute has done a great job of convening the right partners to tackle this problem head on. I’m confident that by working through the Real Economic Impact Tour we can make an actual difference in the lives of millions of Americans, thousands of which live right here in Boston.”
Mayor Menino will join representatives from community tax coalitions, asset building and disability organizations, government agencies including the REI Tour’s main national partner, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and state governor’s councils, as well as representatives from REI Tour sponsors Walmart, Bank of America, AT&T, Sealund, Acorda Therapeutics, Burton Blatt Institute at Syracuse University and the Institute for Economic Empowerment to discuss ways to continue making disability thinking, awareness and inclusion a natural part of the financial independence conversation at the local, state and national level.
“Nearly a decade ago, National Disability Institute helped start an important conversation among various groups to address a vital question – why are so many Americans with disabilities living in poverty and how can we change it?” said Michael Morris, Executive Director of National Disability Institute. “Today, thanks to the dedication of a nationwide network of community groups, government agencies and businesses, we are effecting change on a community and policy level to help pioneer a roadmap out of poverty for millions of Americans with disabilities.”
About National Disability Institute
National Disability Institute (NDI) is national non-profit organization dedicated to building a better economic future for people with disabilities. The first national organization committed exclusively to championing economic empowerment, financial education, asset development and financial stability for all persons with disabilities, National Disability Institute effects change through public education, policy development, training, technical assistance and innovative initiatives such as the Real Economic Impact (REI) Tour, which brings tax and financial education for people with disabilities to more than 100 cities nationwide. To learn more, visit www.realeconomicimpact.org.
Contact:
Lisa Karp
National Disability Institute
lkarp@ndi-inc.org
(202) 695-2180 -
Vanessa Muniz, a great friend to the REI Tour, was interviewed on Bay Area television, promoting the United Way of the Bay Area’s Earn It! Keep It! Save It! campaign.
Read more at the UWBA blog: http://www.uwba.org/news/2011/01/earn-it-keep-it-save-it-on-comcast-newsmakers/
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Easter Seals staff in Des Moines, Iowa accept their check for 2nd place from Sealund & Associates.
Sealund, one of the great REI Tour sponsors, ran a contest for Tour cities this past year to see which city could get the most people to use the financial education software Sealund has so graciously provided all of our cities.
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5th Annual REITour Mayor’s Leadership Academy in Chicago.
Photo by David Chernis
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Alexandra McArthur, Ms. Wheelchair America 2011 at the 5th Annual REITour Mayor’s Leadership Academy in Chicago.
Photo by David Chernis
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Join Us to help Celebrate the 6th Year of NDI’s Real Economic Impact Tour!
Each fall, we prepare for the coming tax season with our annual Real Economic Impact Tour (REI Tour) October Kick-Off and Celebration at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Join us on Tuesday, October 19th:
- to thank our sponsors;
- to honor four REI Tour cities and their Mayors;
- to celebrate the 2010 REI Tour successes;
- to honor four outstanding national leaders;
- to award the American Dream Video Contest Winner;
- to launch the 2011 REI Tour; and
- to introduce new sponsors, partners and initiatives.
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Real Economic Impact Tour Kickoff
National Press Club
529 - 14th Street NW, 13th Floor
Washington, DC 20045
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.
Refreshments ProvidedBecause of limited space, please respond with your contact information to
Margaret Callahan at mcallahan@ndi-inc.org or 202.296.2040 by October 14, 2010. Please request any accommodation needs when you respond with your reservation. -
National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Impact Tour made its way to Tulsa yesterday!
From left to right: Our own Johnette Hartnett, Karen O’Neil Territory Manager, IRS and Pam Smith, Tax and Volunteer Program Manager, Community Action of Tulsa County Oklahoma.
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Real Economic Impact Tour Visits Burlington, Vermont
May 24, 2010: Over 30 organizations and state disability agencies met at United Way of Chittenden County in Burlington, Vermont to learn about the advantages of tax filing and financial education for taxpayers with disabilities. Whether going back to work, or going to work for the first time many providers, parents and individuals with disabilities are not aware of the various tax credits and savings opportunities available. IRS SPEC and the Center on Disability and Community Inclusion, University of Vermont hosted the event at United Way of Chittenden County.
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REI Tour Best Practices from the Field: Birmingham, AL
Welcome to another edition of our Best Practices from the road!
Recently, the Real Economic Impact Tour visited Birmingham, Alabama in order to host a workgroup meeting with United Way of Central Alabama and the IRS. Our goal was to unite and educate disability partners about VITA and Earned Income Tax Credit services and brainstorm ways we can introduce these resources to the Birmingham disability community.
One exciting Best Practice highlighted in the above video came from Judy Allen of United Way of Central Alabama. Want to take advantage of free direct deposit for your tax return but don’t have an established bank account? You can! Watch the video and let Judy tell you all about it.
Stay tuned for more REI Tour Best Practices and thanks to Richard, Judy and Elaine for starring in this edition!
This post was contributed by Michael Roush, National Program Director for the National Disability Institute’s Real Economic Impact Tour and “Chief Financial Officer” of his family.
Real Economic Impact is the mission of National Disability Institute, a nonprofit organization focused on creating a better financial future for Americans with disabilities.
