Winter Heating Assistance

ARC Master Trust Winter Heating Assistance Program: The Arc of Indiana is now accepting certification forms for The Arc Master Trust's 2010 Winter Heating Assistance Program. $35,000 has been approved by The Arc of Indiana's Board of Directors for the 2010 program. This will allow 350 low-income individuals with disabilities to receive assistance with $100 toward their winter heating bills. Funding for the Winter Heating Assistance Program comes from The Arc of Indiana's Master Trust Remainder Fund.

The Trust wants to distribute funds as equally as possible throughout the state. Therefore, a limited number of applications will be accepted from each of Indiana's counties. Also, for 2010 initial payments will be made only to those that have not received assistance in the past. If they have received assistance in the past, their name will be placed on a waiting list. After first time applicants have received their check, and money remains to be distributed, checks will be issued to those on the waiting list on a first come first served basis. Complete information about the 2010 Winter Heating Assistance Program is available on The Arc of Indiana’s web site at http://www.arcind.org/news/?naid=24.

Making the MDGS Disability-Inclusive

Yesterday's International Day for Persons with Disabilities was themed "Making the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) disability-inclusive." The MDGs are "the set of global targets to halve poverty, hunger and other social ills by 2015," as set out by United Nations officials like Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

American singer Stevie Wonder, who has vision impairment, was appointed the new "Messenger of Peace." In a New York news conference to address his appointment, he said, "It is beyond my ability to fathom that 10 per cent of the people of this world [living with disabilities] do not matter to the other 90 per cent of the people in the world...seeing a person who’s left without an opportunity means that we are all with a disability."

You can read more about the goals and activities of IDPwD at the UN News Centre.

International Day of People with Disability

Happy IDPwD! Today, events around the world will bring together people with disability and the general community. The goals of IDPwD are to:

• showcase the skills, abilities, contributions and achievements of people with disability
• promote a positive image of people with disability
• involve people with disability and the broader community in activities to celebrate and raise awareness of IDPwD.

The official International Day of People with Disability website is based in Australia, and can be accessed at http://www.idpwd.com.au/. You can also celebrate by visiting the IDPwD Facebook page!

Whistler Resort and the Paralympics

Whistler Village, British Columbia is getting an accessibility makeover in preparation for the 2010 Paralympics. The village, which is a resort-style city, will be the site of the medal ceremony and other Olympic-related events.

Some of the upgrades include transportation improvements, with an addition of 21 new accessible vehicles to the public system, wheel-chair accessible taxi services, barrier-free pathways to get around the city, and the creation of a database of accessible lodging establishments.

For more information about the transformation, see the Able Traveler article on Whistler. For more information about barrier-free travel, see some of our past posts on the subject.

National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped

The National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped is a national network of cooperating libraries that provide braille and audio materials circulated to eligible borrowers in the United States by postage-free mail. A US resident is eligible if they have a visual acuity of 20/200 or less or limited range of vision with correcting lenses, or those certified by a competent authority as unable to use standard print materials as a result of visual or physical limitations.

The service can provide books in English or Spanish. The NLS also publishes biweekly reviews of the most recent additions to their braille and talking book collections.

To find a local participating library, consult this search engine. To sign up for mail-order library service, visit this page. To browse their collection, you can utilize their online catalog.