I imagine that everyone is wondering, what has happened to Fast Fact Tuesday?
Well the answer is simple. Family Voices has run out of up-to-date Fast Facts! While there is an event calendar, it’s not updated. Hopefully I will get that updated for you this week.
We would like to know the opinions of the people who read Family Voices blog. We want to know what posts you are most interested in. Did you like Fast Fact Tuesday? Would you appreciate more informational sheets from some of our partner organizations?
Please help us gather some information so we can better service our families!
What it is: An attempt to align the Colorado Civil Rights Act with the Americans with Disabilities Act. This legislation would make the Disabilities portion of the Colorado Civil Rights Act enforceable.
It will increase statutory damages from $50-500 to $3,500.
Adjustment of a provision that allows for attorney fees in cases of discrimination against a service animal, but not a person.
Continues current protections for service animals in training.
The presence of families/children at this hearing is strongly encouraged – this is the greatest legislative priority for the disability community this year and will significantly affect people for many years to come!
Juanita and her daughters at the October 2013 Walk ‘n’ Roll
Juanita Dominguez is a Spanish-speaking mom to three daughters, ranging in age from 3 to 17. Erika, her middle child, has spina bifida with secondary hydrocephalus. The main expression of this condition for Erika is that she cannot feel her legs and cannot walk, so she uses a wheelchair to get around.
At age 9, Erika is beginning to get a bit heavy for her mother to pick up on a regular basis, which meant that getting in and out of their family van was becoming increasingly difficult. Without a wheelchair ramp, Juanita had to lift Erika from her chair into the van, and back out again, any time they wanted to go somewhere. So they began asking the health care providers and others in the community how they might be able to get a ramp installed, allowing Erika to roll right up and into the van in her chair.
The first referral to a foundation that considers funding requests like this resulted in a dead end: to qualify, applicants need a driver’s license and a social security card, which was not possible for the Dominguez family. Fortunately, a staff member in the Special Care Clinic at Children’s Hospital Colorado referred Juanita to Family Voices Colorado, and the family got connected with Ileana Perez, one of our bilingual Family Navigators.
Erika uses her new wheelchair ramp
Ileana was able to direct the Dominguez family to Variety Colorado, a children’s charity that seeks “to provide life-saving and life-enriching assistance to children challenged by physical and mental disabilities, poverty, abuse and neglect.” Ileana helped Juanita apply for the funding of a wheelchair ramp for their van, and within a relatively short period of time, Variety Colorado approved the application, granting the family $1900 in total, plus a $200 gift card.
Juanita shared that her experience with Ileana and Family Voices was “Very fast, very friendly. There were no obstacles in getting the help we needed. I am so grateful.”
While grants fund much of Family Voices Colorado’s work, we increasingly rely on individual donations to help us fulfill our mission to increase access to and quality of health care for children and youth with special health care needs. Please consider supporting Family Voices on Colorado Gives Day, Tuesday, December 10, to help us continue making Colorado a better place for all families!
Making Colorado a better place for children and youth with special health care needs
