NEWS

First Lady Michelle Obama Keynoted National Conference on Volunteering and Service
The conference, June 22-24 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, co-hosted by the Corporation for National and Community Service and the Points of Light Institute, brought together more than 4,000 volunteers—including the opening general session featuring First Lady Michelle Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Jon Bon Jovi, Matthew McConaughey and service leaders from across the nation for service and civic engagement. “The First Lady has made service and volunteering a life calling, and her leadership is helping to inspire a whole new generation of Americans who are making service a part of their daily lives,” said Nicola Goren, Acting CEO of the Corporation for National and Community Service. “Her participation demonstrates the high priority the White House has placed on service as a way to help in our nation’s recovery.” The First Lady’s appearance launched United We Serve, an extended call to service challenging all Americans to help lay a new foundation for growth by engaging in sustained....

Iowa 9-1-1 Call Center First to Successfully Trial 9-1-1 Text Messaging
Black Hawk Consolidated Public Safety Communications Center has become the first 9-1-1 Call Center in the nation to successfully receive text messages sent directly to 9-1-1. A broad team of communications companies worked collaboratively to support the public safety needs of the 31 million citizens with speech and hearing issues who rely upon text messaging as a primary means of communications. Currently they must communicate with 9-1-1 operators using a relay center or a specialized communications device. This groundbreaking effort allows people with speech difficulties, deaf or hard-of-hearing to use text messaging to communicate directly with a 9-1-1 operator in an emergency. The team of companies included...

Keypoint Credit Union Sued For Discriminating Against People That Are Deaf
A class action suit filed in California state court in Alameda County charges that KeyPoint Credit Union has committed “systemic civil rights violations” by repeatedly refusing to accept telephone relay service calls from deaf customers and potential customers. The class action suit, seeking relief on behalf of deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals who have been denied full and equal access to KeyPoint’s services, products and information, was filed by Disability Rights Advocates, a Berkeley-based non-profit law center. The suit seeks to end discrimination against individuals who are deaf by requiring KeyPoint to accept telephone relay calls, which are commonly used by deaf people to communicate with businesses and others, just as it would accept ordinary telephone voice calls. Plaintiffs Megg R. Davis and Colin Piotrowski charge that KeyPoint, one of CA’s largest credit unions with 80,000 members and 10 branches, has as a matter of policy systematically refused to...

Families Struggling with Pediatric Cancer to Receive Non-Medical Aid
The Andre Sobel River of Life Foundation (ASRL) has received a $300,000 grant from the Genentech Foundation to form the centerpiece of its newly launched Everyday Needs Assistance Program. ASRL will use the funding to assist approximately 500 single parent families of children this year who face the dual tragedies of their child's diagnosis and severe finanical distress. Families who experience the crisis of their child's critical illness often meet with insurmountable expenses. While the child is struggling for survival, their parents...

President Obama Signed the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act
President Obama signed into law the Edward M. Kennedy Serve America Act, expanding national service opportunities to address America's most pressing challenges. The President signed the act at the SEED School, an academically intensive public boarding school for underserved urban youth in Washington, DC. Among those attending the event were First Lady Michelle Obama, Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden, former President Bill Clinton, former First Lady Rossalyn Carter, Members of Congress, nonprofit leaders and national service volunteers. At the signing ceremony, the President drew significant attention to one of the bill's architects, Senator Ted Kennedy (D-MA), highlighting the long-standing commitment by the senator and his family to service and the country. Stressing that the act works to "connect deeds to needs," President Obama urged all Americans to...

Associations for Blind Partner to Support Wounded Veterans
National Industries for the Blind (NIB) and The United States Association of Blind Athletes (USABA) will work together to enhance each organization’s mission and target initiatives on the promotion of sports and employment opportunities for people who are blind and visually impaired with an emphasis on wounded warriors and veterans who are blind. Goals of this partnership include locating and identifying various professional organizations in the blindness fields and making them aware of USABA sports and NIB employment opportunities; identifying and promoting to people who are blind and visually impaired, including wounded warriors, various employment opportunities.....

President Obama Recognizes Disability Rights Leader Kathy Martinez
President Barack Obama announced his intent to nominated Kathy Martinez, for Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy (ODEP), Department of Labor. Kathy Martinez is an internationally recognized disability rights leader specializing in employment, asset building, independent living, international development, diversity and gender issues. She was appointed Executive Director of the World Institute on Disability (WID), based in Oakland, CA, in 2005. Martinez, blind since birth, directs Proyecto Visión, WID's National Technical Assistance Center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities in the United States, and Access to Assets, an asset-building project to help reduce poverty among people with disabilities. At WID, she also led....

Housing Bill, Inclusive Home Design Act, Requires Visitability Standards
"Universal standards for homes built with federal money are long past due," said Rep. Jan Schakowsky, D-IL. "Implementing accessible features when homes are built is a simple matter of fairness, cost effectiveness, and common sense." People with mobility impairments have limited access to most homes constructed with federal assistance because there are currently no federal standards for accessibility features that these homes must include. However, new legislation introduced by Rep. Schakowsky, the Inclusive Home Design Act (HR 1408) would greatly increase the number of homes that are accessible for people with disabilities. Currently, 95 percent of new single-family homes and townhouses built with federal assistance fail to....

Memorial Service Held to Honor Millard Fuller's Life and Work
The Fuller Center for Housing held memorial service to honor Millard's life and work from Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Ga., where the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. once co-pastored with his father. The service opened by current senior pastor of Ebenezer, Rev. Raphael G. Warnock. Millard’s longtime friend and supporter, former Habitat for Humanity board member and fellow world-renowned charismatic speaker, Dr. Tony Campolo, will be the keynote spokesperson for the celebration. Former President Jimmy Carter – as well as Habitat and Fuller Center homeowners — spoke about Millard’s work and influence on their lives....