Disabilities Issues (MI) « Michigan Matters

Articles, Organizations, Resources
re: Disabilities Issues in Michigan

Articles/Publications About Disabilities Issues – Michigan

• Letter to the Department of Community Health from the Michigan Developmental Disabilities Council (4/4/12)
  Comments regarding the Department of Community Health's proposal to integrate care for people who are Medicaid and Medicare enrollees.
• NOTA Acquires 4 Vans to Give Rides
  A nonprofit organization has acquired four new vans to provide rides to seniors and people with disabilities in a 165-mile radius area of northern Oakland County.
• Support Service for Disabled Adults Pulling Out of Wayne County (ClickOnDetroit – 2/22/12)
  An Ann Arbor based company that provides adults with developmental disabilities the opportunity for employment is closing it's Wayne County program due to downsizing.  Michigan Ability Partners says it must close the Downriver Ability Project (DAP) after approximately 19 years of service.
• Supported Self-Employment 101 (MI Dept. of Community Health – Aug. 2007)
  There has been increasing interest and work over the last several years in areas relating to helping people with disabilities to become business owners. As this work continues, it seems that there are more and more questions that arise and issues that need to be addressed. This handbook is an attempt to address these questions and issues.
• Why's It So Tough to Get Disability in Michigan? (AARP – 5/20/10)
  About 40,000 Michiganders are waiting for Social Security to decide their pleas for disability benefits, a backlog among the nation's worst because of the state's lingering economic problems.

Organizations & Services About Disabilities Issues – Michigan

• Ann Arbor Center for Independent Living
  A nonprofit organization dedicated to the success of children, youth and adults with disabilities at home, at school, at work and in the community.
  Alex Gossage; 3941 Research Park Drive; Ann Arbor, MI 48109
  734-971-0277; Email: agossage@aacil.org
• ARC of Oakland County
  Advocates for the rights and full participation of all children and adults with intellectual and other related developmental disabilities.
• ARC Services of Macomb, Inc.
  An association comprised of people with disabilities, parents, friends and professionals involved with supporting people with disabilities in Macomb County, MI.
• Area Agency on Aging 1-B
  A resource connecting seniors and adults with disabilities to services in six counties in SE Michigan.
• Assistive Technology Exchange
  A free Michigan classified-ad website to help people with disabilities get the tools they need.
• Bloomfield SCAMP
  A 5-week summer program that seeks to provide an exciting and therapeutic summer program for individuals with disablitites ages 3-26 in the Metro Detroit area.
• Brain Injury Association of Michigan
  A non-profit organization that brings together people with brain injury, their families, friends, and concerned professionals to improve the quality of life that people experience after brain injury.
• Bridging Communities
  Based in Southwest Detroit, Bridging Communities Inc. is a grassroots collaborative involving local unions, businesses, residents, social service and faith-based organizations working together to create caring communities where people of all ages can live in dignity in Southwest Detroit.
• Capital Area Center for Independent Living
  Established in 1976 to empower people with disabilities to take control of their lives. Independent Living is the principle that individuals with any disability, to the fullest extent possible, shall work, live in their own homes, raise families, and participate in the everyday activities of life.
• Community Advocates
  Supporting individuals with developmental disabilities and their families in the Kalamazoo area since 1953.
• Community Housing Network
  Looking for a service or program that might help you or someone you love? Community Housing Network has developed affordable housing programs throughout Oakland and Macomb counties that have helped many formerly homeless persons with disabilities and other low-income families find a place to call home.
• Community Living
  A private organization promoting inclusion, full citizenship and a self-determined life for people with developmental disabilities in Wayne County.
• Deaf and Hearing Impaired Services, Inc.
  Serving deaf and hard of hearing older adults and their families in southeast Michigan.
• Department of Energy – Commission for the Blind
  Providing services to people in Michigan who are blind or visually impaired.
• Detroit Radio Information Service
  A radio reading service for people with disabilities by offering a simple, cost-effective method of accessing printed news and information published in hundreds of daily, weekly and monthly periodicals.
• Disability Network Michigan
  A collaborative organization representing 15 Centers for Independent Living (CILs) throughout the state.
• Disability Network of Oakland & Macomb
  A private non-profit, non-residential organization run for and by people with disabilities.
• Easter Seals Michigan – Disability Services
  Our mission is to create solutions that change lives of children and adults with disabilities or other special needs and their families.
• Independent Living Program (Michigan Commission for the Blind)
  For people age 55 or older who are legally blind and want to continue living at home as self-sufficiently as possible.
• Michigan Assistive Technology Loan Fund (UCP MI)
  Allows people with disabilities and seniors (or their family members) to purchase assistive technology devices or services, including modification of vehicles and homes.  
• Michigan Commission for the Blind
  Mission is to provide opportunity to individuals who are blind or visually impaired to achieve employability and/or function independently in society.
• Michigan Council for Rehabilitation Services
  Mission: To improve public Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services delivered by the Bureau of Services for Blind Persons (BSBP) and Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS).
• Michigan Disability Rights Coalition (MDRC)
  Works to build opportunities for people with disabilities so they may live fully integrated lives within their chosen communities, now and in the future.
• Michigan Protection and Advocacy Service
  Promotes, expands and protects the human and legal rights of people by providing them with information and advocacy.
• Michigan Rehabilitation Services (MRS)
  MRS partners with individuals and employers to achieve quality employment outcomes and independence for persons with disabilities.
• Michigan Resource Guide for Persons with Traumatic Brain Injury and their Familes (8/2007)
  Info on available aid and services, along with explanations of syptoms and the impacts for individuals and families.
• Michigan State University Libraries
  Information on assistance the libraries provide to persons with disabilities.
• Michigan State Animal Response Team
  Folks with disabilities that use guide dogs should know about this organization.
• Michigan Statewide Independent Living Council
  An organization of individuals who represent the interests of people with disabilities across Michigan.
• National Federation of the Blind – Michigan Resources List
• On My Own of Michigan
  A private, non-profit agency in Oakland County that helps adults with mild developmental disabilities become independent, social and contributing members of the community.
• Peckham Rehabilitation
  Committed to overcoming and eliminating barriers.
• QuickRamps for Kids
  A program from United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit that provides free portable wheelchair ramps to families of children who experience Cerebral Palsy and other paralysis-causing conditions.
• Resource Center for Persons With Disabilities (MSU)
  Disabilities need not preclude the achievement of goals and dreams. Rather, they mandate a greater level of creativity, commitment and a repertoire of compensatory techniques. The team of professionals at the RCPD is ready to assist students, employees and visitors with resources that create an environment of opportunity.
• Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART)
  With advance reservation, provides ADA curb-to-curb transportation for riders whose disability prevents them from using SMART's fixed route service.
• Superior Alliance for Independent Living
  A member of the Disability Network, they help people with disabilities and their families who live in the Upper Peninsula.
• Therapy Choirs of Michigan
  Their goal has never been to produce a musical masterpiece, but to Inspire, Build Hope, Raise Public Awareness, and Education about people who are "differently-abled" doing the best they can with what they have through the medium of music.
• UCP-Michigan
  A non-profit advocacy organization that works for life without limits for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities.
  Patti's comments: I am on the board of this fine organization.
• United Cerebral Palsy of Metropolitan Detroit
  Provides an array of services for people with cerebral palsy and other disabilities, including advocacy, employment services, assistive technology, community outreach, person centered advocacy, ramp assistance and much, much more.
• Visions Unlimited
  Through a joint venture with Farmington Public Schools, Oakland Schools built a new facility located at 22915 Commerce Dr., Farmington, Michigan. The building houses two programs; Visions Unlimited, a post-secondary special education program, serving young adults, 18-26, with developmental and physical disabilities, and an alternative site for Oakland Schools Special Education Department staff.
• Washtenaw Association for Community Advocacy
  One of the first grass-roots organizations in Michigan to advocate for persons with developmental disabilities and their families.