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| Community Budget Issue Requests - Tracking Id #198 |
| Able Adults |
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| Requester: |
Becki Forsell |
Organization: |
YES! of America United, Inc. |
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| Project Title: |
Able Adults |
Date Submitted |
1/3/2006 10:30:58 AM |
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| Sponsors: |
Crist |
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| Statewide Interest: |
| YES! of America United, Inc., is located in Hillsborough County but at the present is serving individuals with disabilities and their families in Hillsborough, Pasco, and Pinellas counties with a goal of serving the entire state. YES! is a unique organization which is filling the gap in our area as a hub where people of all abilities work together. YES! provides recreational therapy and social peer mentoring to support the individual participant's choice of how he/she wants to give back to the community through volunteering, working, and/or attending school. Our members and supporters are the pioneers in this adventure to be inclusive of all disabilities along with the general population of our counties.
Hillsborough, Pinellas, and Pasco counties have a combined population of approximately 2,438,000 persons (U.S. Census). Of this total, nearly 500,000 persons, or slightly more than 20% of the total population, ages five and older report some type of disability. Adults (ages 21-64) report an employment rate of about 55%, with the average adult employment rate for persons without disabilities being 75% - a difference of twenty percentage points. YES! has the ability to help connect adults with disabilities to support and services that lead to employment and full participation in our communities.
YES! is working in each community to have a voice on many committees, organizations, and boards to enrich the lives of all people. We have worked closely with the Real Choice pilot initiative to get grassroots input and consensus on issues related to living arrangements, services, and treatment options for adults with disabilities living in our communities. We educate volunteers to speak at organizations, faith based events, employment opportunities about inclusion and the need to be part of the solution, and not a problem for our community. YES!, as its name suggests, is a positive environment which leads to positive outcomes. YES! is an organization which we hope to expand not only in the immediate area but across Florida. YES! is starting to spread our ideals at the present in different parts of the state and YES! has been asked to encourage the creation of more chapters from the panhandle to the southern tip of our state.
Our founder and Executive Director has been taking classes through Partners and Policy Making for the past 5 months and many of her associates at these classes are interested in our goals and desires. There are a number of people in our state that appreciate what YES! is doing including representatives from - the Florida Developmental Disability Council, ADA Governor's Working Group, Florida Inclusion Alliance, Advocacy Center and Agency for Personal with Disabilities. Also there is a proven track record in our own area that we have the community support from our mayor, Pam Iorio, to many agencies in our area including Self Reliance, CARD (Center for Autism and Related Disorders),and Alliance for Access to name a few. YES! is represented on committees with the Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO), Citizen Action Transit Taskforce (CATT), Missing Children's Task Force, Transportation Disadvantaged (TD), Evangelical Lutheran Church of America Taskforce (ELDA taskforce), Supportive and Affordable living committees, Bicycle, Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAK), Mayor's and Hillsborough Co. Alliance for Citizens with Disabilities, Project Connect and others. All this can be duplicated throughout our state by building chapters with strong leaders that have come out of our Partners class. YES! is requesting seed money to acquire a permanent home and headquarters from which we can help these many dreams come to fruition.
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| Recipient: |
YES! of America United, Inc. |
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Contact: |
Becki Forsell |
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PO Box 341104 |
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Contact Phone: |
(813) 968-5818 |
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Tampa 33694 |
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Contact email: |
yesunited2@msn.com |
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| Counties: |
Hillsborough |
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| Gov't Entity: |
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Private Organization (Profit/Not for Profit): |
Yes |
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| Project Description: |
| YES!'s project - Able Adults - is to take our early efforts and vision and put them into a business situation where YES! has an identifiable location for meetings, activities, mentoring and socialization. YES! will add paid staff, including an executive director and administrative assistance to expand the present programming.
YES! has a speaker's bureau, education program on self determination and advocacy, and is working on a literacy program to show the public about technology that helps people with disabilities to be equal in all ways. YES! also has an Abilities Bank which is utilized to put mentors together with others who might need their knowledge about their challenges. This effort leads to bringing these individuals out into their community to socialize, feel comfortable to begin learning to be self advocates, and finally volunteering, working and attending school as his/her choice of self independence. At the present, YES!'s services have been directed to the adults in the membership. Our dream, once we have a permanent location, is to open our programming up to young adults in transition and also children's programming. We also plan to open our meeting room up to community meetings to make the public aware of issues pertaining to community issues, social events, and educational events.
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| Is this a project related to a federal or state declared disaster? |
No |
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| Measurable Outcome Anticipated: |
| YES! will be able to show that people who have had little self esteem will be included in their community by working in the community as a volunteer, employee or student. YES! will have a place where people can come for referrals, mentoring, and social involvement and programming from young to elderly. YES! will be able to have materials including pamphlets, speaking materials, and literacy materials that can be shared and disbursed throughout our counties. Eventually, new chapters will be developed with strong leaders to develop needed programs for different areas including urban, suburban and rural areas in our state. YES!'s dream is to be the hub where people of all disabilities can go to gain education, enrichment, and empowerment towards inclusion and choice. The following measurable outcomes will be accomplished in the next year through the Able Adults project:
1. YES! will provide at least 45 outreach presentations to various community groups that connect with the disabled population.
2. YES! will provide at least 15 community opportunities for disabled individuals to connect to existing services, receive referrals, and integrate into the community.
3. Yes! will identify and train 25 mentors who will then provide mentorship activities to adults seeking services.
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| Amount requested from the State for this project this year: |
$200,000 |
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| Total cost of the project: |
$200,000 |
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| Request has been made to fund: |
Operations |
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| What type of match exists for this project? |
Local |
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Cash Amount |
$10,000 |
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| Was this project previously funded by the state? |
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No |
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| Is future-year funding likely to be requested? |
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Yes |
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Amount: |
$100,000 |
To Fund: |
Operations |
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| Was this project included in an Agency's Budget Request? |
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No |
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| Was this project included in the Governor's Recommended Budget? |
No |
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| Is there a documented need for this project? |
Yes |
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Documentation: |
The Real Choice Partnership, Governor's Americans with Disabilities Working Group (lack of programs) |
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| Was this project request heard before a publicly noticed meeting of a body of elected officials (municipal, county, or state)? |
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Yes |
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Hearing Body: |
Hillsborough County Legislative Delegation |
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Hearing Meeting Date: |
01/07/2006 |
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| Is this a water project as described in Section 403.885, Laws of Florida? |
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No |
