50 Staff and $5 Million Budget Burst Seams

EFE Moves to Larger Space and New Level of Services

Because of the rapid expansion of programs and staff, Equip for Equality is currently sprawled over three floors of the 11 E. Adams location it has called its Chicago home since 1989. And, for the past year and a half, new staff have been crammed into converted storage space and partitioned areas. It is rumored that interns occasionally hang from the rafters.

All of that is about to change on Sept. 1, 2003, when EFE takes up residence at its new location, 20 N. Michigan Ave., in 19,000 square feet of multi-use space on the third floor of the building. Months of negotiations and a favorable rental market finally bore fruit in early March when EFE signed the lease.

"The new space brings us together on one floor and allows for planned expansion," says Zena Naiditch, President and CEO. "But the move represents more than increased size. It reflects a new level of sophistication for the agency and a new level of empowerment for people with disabilities in Illinois as we enhance our programs and services."

Growth and change have been evident the past two years as EFE staff in its three regional offices have doubled to 50, up from 25 in 1999. To address the needs of an expanded workforce, a new human resources position was created in 2002 to implement policies and practices ranging from employee benefits and job descriptions to performance evaluations.

EFE's budget for 2003 is $5 million. It reflects congressional appropriations and grants from federal and state agencies, as well as funding from private foundations, corporations and individual contributors. Management of a budget this size with its attendant reporting requirements and need for strategic planning to maximize use of resources requires a major upgrade in our fiscal operations.

New Programs and Projects

EFE's increased staff and budget have resulted in part from the implementation of several important and exciting new programs. In 2001, EFE created an Abuse Investigation Unit with its own director and dedicated staff. For the first time, EFE is able to exercise its full authority as the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy System (P&A) for Illinois to investigate and expose practices of institutions and community-based programs that place individuals at risk of serious harm.

The new Unit is funded by two direct congressional appropriations as a five-year national demonstration project to show how a nongovernmental P&A can enhance the safety of individuals receiving services and strengthen state systems for investigating abuse and neglect.

A highlight of 2002 was the expansion of EFE's Training Institute on Disability Rights into a dedicated unit, also with its own manager and staff of experts. It includes training for people who are deaf and hard of hearing about their rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act, conducted by a staff attorney who is deaf, and special education seminars in Spanish, led by a bilingual and bicultural staff member.

The Institute's new independent status came about through a generous three-year grant from The Chicago Community Trust (CCT) and Polk Bros. Foundation, with additional support from the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. Launched in 1996 with an initial CCT grant, the Institute also provides training on other topics critically important to people with disabilities and their families, including employment rights and guardianship.

Until last year, it was operated through EFE's legal advocacy program, utilizing attorneys and advocates with expertise on the range of topics being offered. Much of the Institute's success is also attributed to funding from the Illinois Department of Human Services and the Robert R. McCormick Tribune Foundation, which enables EFE to offer the seminars free-of-charge.

EFE's priority for reaching underserved populations has also led to staff and program expansion by creation of the Latino Advocacy Project with its own manager. Under the aegis of the Legal Advocacy Program, it will address the unique cultural and language challenges facing the Latino disability community, and provide legal advocacy for Latino students with disabilities.

Other new projects of EFE's Legal Advocacy Program include a congressionally funded Traumatic Brain Injury P&A project and a Voting P&A created by the recently enacted federal Help America Vote Act of 2002. Both projects will be staffed through existing positions.

The Public Policy Program has also sprouted new initiatives, most notably the Community Integration Policy Project, which is funded by the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities. The national survey of states' progress in this critical area is being conducted by EFE's policy analysts. Several new initiatives are in the planning stage that will require additional policy staff in the future.

Technological Advances

The ever-increasing demand for services has also led to structural changes and additional staffing for EFE's ongoing programs, including increased staffing for intake and a soon-to-be implemented state-of-the-art case management system. This automated system, which will coincide with EFE's move to new office space, will address the day-to-day management of requests for EFE services and resulting cases, plus the onerous and complex reporting requirements imposed by the federal government and other funders.

The ongoing technological innovations required by the move and generally keeping pace with EFE's remarkable growth are other aspects of the ongoing challenges. The expansion and improvement of EFE's Web site, which has led to increased awareness of the rights of individuals with disabilities with more than 30,000 visitors a year, and the subsequent greater demand for EFE's services, are important examples, as is the need to expand accessible technologies for staff and clients.

Expanded Community Role and New Leadership Demands

EFE has also expanded its role in the community-at-large by reaching out and joining with others who are working to better the lives of individuals with disabilities in Illinois. These efforts are reflected by EFE's presence on the Chicagoland Business Leadership Network, a coalition that includes major businesses such as Boeing, Sears, McDonald's and Northern Trust, as well as the Commissioner of the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), David Hanson.

Other examples of EFE's leadership on a range of issues include participation as a member and subcommittee chair of the new State Planning Committee of the Illinois State Board of Elections, which was established to implement the new federal Help America Vote Act; membership on the MOPD's committee for emergency evacuation of individuals with disabilities; and continued leadership in the Disability Rights Consortium, a collaboration of numerous disability and civil rights organizations.

EFE's President and CEO has also catapulted the organization onto the international stage of the disability rights movement, specifically, by bringing the P&A concept, using Illinois as a model, to Japan on two occasions at the invitation of grass-roots advocacy activists representing a broad spectrum of disability groups.

Of course, new programs, new staff and new space cost money, and EFE has expanded its ability to address this critical issue as well. With two individuals now dedicated exclusively to fundraising, and others assisting in an organized program to address resource development, EFE has been able to tap grants and donations to augment funding in a time of belt-tightening, and remains poised to explore new arenas.

Not least of the many rapidly occurring changes has been the expansion of the role and responsibilities of the President and CEO. Today the office involves a much more visible position in the community in order to raise money, recruit Board members, and establish EFE's presence and leadership as the only comprehensive statewide advocacy organization offering self-advocacy assistance, legal services, disability rights education, public policy advocacy and abuse investigation under one roof. This enormous transition to a wider scope of activities requires more staffing to provide essential substantive and administrative support.

At the helm of EFE's dramatic movement has been its Board of Directors under the new leadership of Michael Parks and in partnership with President and CEO Zena Naiditch. Together they face the daunting task of riding the wave of continued expansion by recruiting new members with entrepreneurial and fundraising expertise and, as always, reflecting diversity. The Board will remain focused on strategic planning to ensure the continued success of EFE when it moves to new quarters and on fulfilling its privileged mission of empowering people with disabilities in Illinois. =

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