Including those with disabilities in service can be as simple as providing written instructions as well as giving them orally, or it can be slightly more complicated. As you move forward to plan service activities and make plans to have your projects accessible to all, it is critical to develop strong partnerships to support the work. You should identify community partners that you can collaborate with to accomplish project goals that would be more difficult or impossible to accomplish on your own.

The following organizations have local or state chapters in your area that can help support your effort to include persons with disabilities in service events. These groups all specialize in integrating persons with disabilities in everyday life and can help make your outreach efforts successful. In most cases, the links are to directories of local affiliates. This list is quite limited. Every community has a wide variety of independent organizations that serve the disability community. Contact your Chamber of Commerce or mayor's office for ideas.

Additionally, the Corporation for National and Community Service's Resource Center has published a document on improving access and participation for those with disabilities on days of service like Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, National Youth Service Day, and Make a Difference Day.  Click here to download the document (PDF).

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) a federally funded resource that offers consultation and recommendations and extensive information relating to reasonable accommodations. They can be reached at 1-800-526-7234 or http://www.jan.wvu.edu.

Independent Living Centers (ILCs) are federally funded centers located across the country. You can find your closest ILC at http://www.ilru.org or you can contact the National Council on Independent Living at http://www.ncil.org.

The Corporation for National and Community Service training and technical assistance provider on disability inclusion issues is the Institute for Community Inclusion (ICI) at the University of Massachusetts/Boston. They can be reached at (617) 355-4788 or paula.sotnik@tch.harvard.edu.

Centers for Independent Living (CIL's) - These non-residential centers aid people with disabilities to achieve their life goals. The staff assists people in making connections within the community, for access to employment, transportation, recreation, and other community activities-- like volunteering! www.virtualcil.net/cils.

Best Buddies - This organization is dedicated to enhancing the lives of people with mental retardation by providing opportunities for one-to-one friendships and integrated employment. Local chapters are a great resource for experts and volunteers. http://www.bestbuddies.org - see the "Chapter Listing" link!

National Federation of the Blind (NFB) - The NFB helps blind persons achieve self-confidence and self-respect and acts as a vehicle for collective self-expression by the blind. With fifty thousand members, the NFB has affiliates in all fifty states plus Washington D.C. and Puerto Rico, and over seven hundred local chapters. http://www.nfb.org.

Disability and Business Technical Assistance Centers - Provide trainings and materials on ADA-related information. The regional centers have affiliates in many area cities that can also provide training and resource support. www.adata.org.

State ADA Coordinators - Each state has an ADA Coordinator that advises community organizations and businesses on the ADA. This resource can be helpful in connecting to other organizations that are working toward accessibility to community life. http://www.barbri.com/app.aspx?cmd=go_AdaCoord.

State Commissions of Volunteerism and Community Service - All state commission offices have a disability coordinator that specializes in supporting community service organizations in engaging persons with disabilities in their work. These coordinators have information on best practices and successful programs in your state who can help you with their experience and know-how. http://www.nationalservice.gov/about/contact/statecommission.asp.

The Association of University Centers on Disabilities - These centers are located at major universities and teaching hospitals in all states, the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and territories. The centers target and engage in activities to support the independence, productivity, integration and inclusion into the community of individuals with developmental and other disabilities and their families. http://www.aucd.org.

Easter Seals - Easter Seals creates solutions that change lives for people with disabilities. It can mean help getting back to work and leading a more independent life after a spinal cord injury. It can mean help learning about all the things kids with spina bifida or Down syndrome can do - not what they can't do - and teaching them the skills they need to get out and swim, rollerblade, play soccer or go horseback riding.
www.easter-seals.org/services/services.asp.

Compeer, Inc. - an international non-profit organization based in Rochester, New York. Since 1973, Compeer, Inc. has been recruiting and training community volunteers to serve as advocates, mentors, and friends to children and adults being treated for mental health and emotional problems. Compeer began with only 12 friendships in Rochester and has grown to 120 programs in 33 states, Canada, and Australia. For more information about Compeer, Inc. and to locate a local affiliate near you visit their website at http://www.compeer.org.

Volunteers of America - a national, nonprofit, spiritually-based organization providing local human service programs and opportunities for individual and community involvement. From rural America to inner-city neighborhoods, Volunteers of America provides outreach programs that deal with today's most pressing social needs. Volunteers of America helps youths at risk, frail elderly, abused and neglected children, people with disabilities, homeless individuals and many others. To find out if there's an office near you use their Local Directory at http://www.voa.org.

Other National Resources with links to local groups: National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) - This voluntary national membership association of protection & advocacy systems and client assistance programs assumes leadership in promoting and strengthening the role and performance of its members in providing quality legally-based advocacy services. NDRN has a vision of a society where people with disabilities exercise self determination and choice and have equality of opportunity and full participation. http://www.ndrn.org.

The National Organization on Disability (NOD) - promotes the full and equal participation of America's 54 million men, women and children with disabilities in all aspects of life. N.O.D. was founded in 1982 at the conclusion of the United Nations International Year of Disabled Persons. Funded entirely by private sector contributions, N.O.D. is the only national disability network organization concerned with all disabilities, all age groups and all disability issues. http://www.nod.org.