HOW TO HELP

Information Services and Technology

In the late 1970s the unfulfilled need of consumers for peer-reviewed information services was the strongest motivating factor in establishing this agency. Reliable information resources were not available to people with disabilities and their families.

CDR Reports, our monthly newsletter, is now in its twenty second year of providing information about issues of interest and concern to our community. The newsletter is sent to over 5,100 people and agencies every month in every state of the Union. It is also posted on our web site. Past issues back to 1996 are archived on the web site as well.

Without endangering the privacy of our members, we occasionally allow selected agencies to send materials to our membership. However, the list is never given to other agencies. The other agencies provide their materials with postage to our staff who then put on the mailing labels.

Our web site continues to be a source of information for thousands of visitors who are interested in learning more about our work. The web maven who volunteers her expertise and time has been hard at work keeping our web site up to date. As always they are interested in hearing your reactions to the changes — when they are made. We welcome comments, suggestions, or complaints about the site at any time.

When we stopped counting the hits on our web site several years ago, we were receiving 11,000 hits a day; it was opened in January of 1996. The email it generates is amazingly varied — and personal — in the requests for assistance and information. This year staff has responded to several hundred emails requesting information and referral.

Referrals

Our referral staff has worked harder than ever this year to provide assistance to people with inquiries — by phone, by e mail, or in person — to more than 1,000 formal intakes. The most frequent requests were for the education rights of children and information about CDR; employment rights of adults; housing rights and availability; and job placement. Other requests were for legal referrals, transportation rights, and information about disability benefits.

Referral staff uses resource information sheets for the most frequent areas of inquiry, e.g., special education and youth issues, and employment issues. The sheets have been passed out at information fairs, e.g., the DHS ADA Celebration and MOPD's Access Chicago and Employment Fair. Others are currently being developed on housing issues and benefits issues.

Information Technology

The Federal government believes that information technology (IT) has become an excellent career path for people with disabilities. For its part, the Council provides outreach services to people with disabilities in the Chicago area to inform them of the free tuition at Chicago City Colleges for courses in IT. Through our membership in CAN TV, Chicago's community cable television, information was provided about the availability of courses and certifications in IT, the free tuition and books, the ADA accommodations available at City Colleges, etc.