EQUITY e-newsletter, Summer 2004: Disability and Asset Building Communities Working Together

Unfamiliar with asset building? EQUITY brings you articles that educate and inspire. For the seasoned asset building community member, EQUITY advises on how to better serve participants with disabilities.

Every month, articles from leaders in the field, program administrators, and actual participants with disabilities challenge us to narrow the divide, mutually benefiting both communities. Also included: helpful tips, answers to your questions about disability issues, periodic federal policy updates, and valuable resources.

In the Summer (July/August) EQUITY: Connecting the Dots: Corporate Finance, Asset Building, and Disability Communities Working Together http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity

FEATURE ARTICLE
Benefits to Inclusion: A New Market in People with Disabilities http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200407&topic=fa
Megan O'Neil, Access to Assets Project Coordinator, summarizes a roundtable discussion that focused on the stereotypes, barriers, as well as the financial incentives of including people with disabilities in asset building programs. The roundtable was coordinated by the World Institute on Disability and included Jeanne Argoff, Disability Funders Network; Steve Mendelsohn, Law, Health Policy & Disability Center, University of Iowa College of Law; and Deborah Kaplan, Kathy Martinez, Kevin Dalcamo, and Megan O'Neil, World Institute on Disability.

PROGRAM OF THE MONTH
Corporate Financial Institutions, Asset Building, and Disability: Making the Connections http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200407&topic=pm
National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions (NFCDCU), ShoreBank, and Washington Mutual have a common characteristic: they all sponsor asset building programs and have incorporated accessibility features to best serve their customers with disabilities.

PROFILE OF THE MONTH
Diversity, Disability, and Deb Dagit: Working for an Inclusive Corporate America http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200407&topic=profile
Deb Dagit, Executive Director of Diversity & Work Environment for Merck & Co., Inc.- one of the world's largest pharmaceutical corporations, insists that disability be included in the diversity discussion. As one of the country's most well-respected lecturers on diversity in the workplace, Dagit, a woman with a disability, embodies diversity.

TIP OF THE MONTH
Savings for Working Families Act (SWFA) http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200407&topic=tm
In order for Individual Development Accounts to be truly effective, expansion of program availability is necessary. SWFA would allocate $450 million in IDA Tax Credits to match the savings of working families and would allow for up to 300,000 IDAs to be created.

EQUITY RESPONDS
WID Answers Your Questions. Our credit union wants to do more extensive disability outreach and learn how to serve the disability population better. Any advice? http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200407&topic=responds

LEARNING & NETWORKING RESOURCES
Informative websites of interest to both communities http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity-resource

CONFERENCES & EVENTS
http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=conf

CFED'S Individual Development Account (IDA) LEARNING CONFERENCE!
http://www.idaconference.org
Register today for the 2004 IDA Learning Conference: Sharing Our Visions, Forging Our Paths New Orleans, Louisiana September 21-23!

World Institute on Disability (WID) is a non-profit public policy center dedicated to the promotion of independence and full inclusion in society of people with disabilities.

WID's Access to Assets (ATA) program provides training and technical assistance to asset building and disability organizations seeking to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction programs. In addition, ATA provides information and referral services to individuals with disabilities and conducts federal and state policy analysis on related issues.

NEW! Toll-Free Technical Assistance Hotline: 1-866-723-1201
Do you have questions about asset building strategies or serving people with disabilities? Please contact:
Megan O'Neil
World Institute on Disability
Access to Asset Project Coordinator
megan@wid.org

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