Free Training Seminars on Disability Rights Now Offered On-Site

For the first time, Equip for Equality's Training Institute on Disability Rights is offering a series of free training seminars for people with disabilities and their families at its centrally located Chicago office, 11 E. Adams, Suite 1200. Beginning in early March, the curriculum included employment rights, special education rights (in English and Spanish), adult guardianship, the rights of people who are deaf and hard of hearing, and employment rights for people who are beneficiaries of Social Security. Scholarships to attend are provided by a grant from the Illinois Department of Human Services.

"This educational program is all about supporting people with disabilities to advocate for themselves and become more independent and empowered in the process," says Zena Naiditch, EFE President and CEO. "By offering these trainings on-site at our Chicago office, we hope to reach a new constituency who will find us more accessible, including individuals requesting or receiving legal advocacy services from EFE and those not currently linked to other agencies."

Geared for a diverse audience of people with physical and mental disabilities and their family members, the two-hour seminars are limited to an enrollment of 15. Each participant will receive a reference handbook (available in alternative formats and Spanish), which covers the seminar topic in detail and includes a resource guide, as well as a certificate of completion. Upon request, a sign language interpreter will be present. Advance registration for all seminars is required.

"Since 1996, EFE has trained more than 15,000 people with disabilities and their family members through Training Institute seminars co-sponsored by local consumer and parent organizations, service providers, schools and government agencies," says Barry Taylor, EFE's Legal Advocacy Director. "By offering on-site training, we are supplementing an already successful program."

"It is important to point out that anyone who has an immediate, personal concern about disability rights should call Equip for Equality and ask to speak with a member of our legal advocacy staff," says Stacy Yusim, EFE's Training Institute Manager. "A one-on-one assessment of the problem might be of more value than waiting to attend a training seminar."

Last year, the Training Institute expanded to become a separate EFE program with its own dedicated staff, through the generous support of The Chicago Community Trust, the Polk Bros. Foundation and the Lloyd A. Fry Foundation. Conducting the on-site trainings are EFE staff members Senior Advocate Kevin Irvine, Senior Attorney Howard Rosenblum, PABSS Advocate Cheryl Martin and Consuelo Puente, Manager of EFE's new Latino Advocacy Project.

Visit http://www.equipforequality.org/programs/ for information about all of EFE's programs and services.

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