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Uniting The Voices Of Independent Living In Rural America
From the President
APRIL Board President
May 31, 2005
Dear All:
Presented in this document is our Annual Report. The theme is "Uniting the Voices of Independent Living in Rural America."
Our work with the Association of Programs for Independent Living (APRIL) is often marked with only glimpses of the efforts that have occurred. A brief report, a thank you note - and we move on. We take this moment to reaffirm our commitment. APRIL will continue to create opportunities to unite, build and empower as well as listen to the voices of those in the Association.
Starting with a few people years ago, APRIL is now stronger and wiser. As you take a moment to read this report, reflect on your participation, your commitment and your contribution to APRIL's efforts. Look to the future - can you see the plan?
Are you a part of the unity that we continue to strive to achieve? If so, consider this a thank you note for the opportunity to see just a little of the hard work that has gone into the many accomplishments we have achieved.
Respectfully submitted,
Mary Fern Holloway
President of the Board of APRIL
CEO of Resource Center for Independent Living, Inc.
From the Director's Chair
APRIL Executive Director
It has been an exciting time to be a part of APRIL, and take it from me I've been with APRIL since day one! Even though the organization has been around for almost two decades, only in the past three or four years has it come into its own.
This premiere Annual Report highlights our achievements of recent years and is designed to be an informational and marketing tool for our various publics. It is our intention to expand our sphere of influence to include corporate partners and foundation sponsors. We are on the brink of an era of new growth - in membership, in services to our members and in impact on the local, regional and national levels - giving voice to the concerns of people with disabilities living in rural America. It is fitting then, that the theme of this Report is "Uniting the Voices of Independent Living in Rural America".
As is reflected here, there are lots of reasons for us to be excited about APRIL.
Read on and find out why.
Linda Gonzales
APRIL Executive Director
A Bit of History
The Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL) is a national grass roots, consumer controlled, nonprofit membership organization consisting of centers for independent living (CILs), their satellites and branch offices, statewide independent living councils (SILCs), other organizations and individuals concerned with the independent living issues of people with disabilities living in rural America.
1986 - APRIL was founded by twelve directors of rural CILs meeting in Houston, Texas. That meeting was sponsored by the Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU) in Houston, who continued to support the organizing efforts for several years thereafter.
1994 - APRIL attained its 501(c)(3) status and hired a national coordinator.
- APRIL's first monetary support came in a small annual contract with the University of Montana, Rural Institute on Disabilities (RID).
- Other important affiliates have included: University of Kansas, the ILRU, the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) and the World Institute on Disabilities (WID).
1995 - APRIL held its first National Conference on Rural Independent Living in Lawrence, Kansas with a gathering of about 80 participants. Subsequent conferences have been held in Austin, Texas; Albuquerque, New Mexico; Shreveport, Louisiana; Cincinnati, Ohio; Salt Lake City, Utah; Portland, Oregon; Nashua, New Hampshire; Savannah, Georgia and Minneapolis, Minnesota. Today, attendees number over 300.
2000 - APRIL began the five-year Rural Independent Living Leadership Mentoring Initiative (RILLMI) project in collaboration with the Rural Institute on Disabilities at the University of Montana.
2001 - APRIL was awarded a major grant from the Department of Education to demonstrate a national transportation voucher model for rural consumers with disabilities. With the funding of this project came the development of an infrastructure that allowed APRIL to support phenomenal growth. A staff was hired, policies and procedures were developed and an array of services and fiscal accountability were put in place.
2002 - APRIL presents the Best Practices Award for outreach to unserved and underserved populations to four member centers.
2005 - Membership has grown to over 220 members and APRIL's budget exceeds half a million dollars.
As a national advocate, APRIL has built a reputation as being the leading
advocate in rural accessible transportation issues
Organizational Chart
APRIL Governing Board
Bookkeeper
IL Net Regional Coordinator
Executive Director
Administrative Assistant
Transportation Project Manager
Advocacy Intern
Youth Intern
APRIL 2003/2004
From Profit and Loss Statement
Revenue Source-Income-Sum of Grants Listed
RSA $ 311,500.18
IL Net $ 85,000.00
Univ. of KS $ 5,148.52
RTC:Rural $ 19,441.93
RILLMI $ 27,265.96
Grants and Contracts $ 448,356.59 $ 448,356.59
Dues $ 25,617.00
Interest & Misc. $ 5,571.16
Program Income $ 25,000.00
Conference Income $ 55,640.00
TOTAL $ 560,184.75
Expenses
TC Site Vouchers $ 149,376.80
TC Consultants $ 7,571.25
Personnel $ 113,146.89
Fringe Benefits $ 21,087.85
Operating/Other $ 74,977.00
Travel $ 52,589.51
Conference $ 60,280.61
Member Services $ 45,749.48
TOTAL 524,779.39 ($ 35,405.36 net income)
APRIL Revenues (2003/2004)
Total = $ 560,184.75
APRIL Expenses (2003/2004)
Total = $ 524,779.39
APRIL Board of Directors
President
Mary Holloway, CEO
Resource CIL, Inc.
Osage City,
KANSAS
Internal Vice President
Liz Sherwin, ED
Illinois-Iowa ILC
Rock Island,
ILLINOIS
Treasurer
Robert Gomez, ED
Dakota CIL
Bismark,
NORTH DAKOTA
Member at Large
Billy Altom, ED
Delta Resource CIL
Pine Bluff,
ARKANSAS
Member at Large
Gary Maddox, ED
Access II
Galatin,
MISSOURI
Member at Large
Garry Owens, ED
Red Rock CIL
St. George,
UTAH
Member at Large
Ronald Rocha, ED
ARCIL, Inc.
Austin, TEXAS
Member at Large
Mike Blatchford, ED
ASSIST! To Independence
Tuba City, ARIZONA
Member at Large
Susan "Tink" Miller, ED
Placer Independent
Resource Services
Auburn, CALIFORNIA
Member at Large
Tom Osborn, ED
North Central IL
Services, Inc.
Black Eagle, MONTANA
Member at Large
Sid Cook, ED
CIL of Central NE, Inc.
Grand Island, NEBRASKA
Member at Large
Steve McCallum,
Advocacy Specialist
PAL CIL
Charlotte, NORTH CAROLINA
Member at Large
Patricia Puckett, ED
Georgia SILC
Decatur,
GEORGIA
Immediate Past President
Mike Schafer, CEO
League of Human Dignity
Lincoln,
NEBRASKA
Secretary
Kathleen DeSpain,
Program Coordinator
OPTIONS for
Independence
Logan, UTAH
External Vice President
Carol Fontaine, ED
Wyoming Services for IL
Lander,
WYOMING
APRIL Program and Services Highlights
Transportation Demonstration Voucher Project
APRIL administers a Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) grant to demonstrate the effectiveness of a voucher model to provide transportation for people with disabilities living in rural areas. Ten sites (8 CILs and 2 Indian reservations) located in rural Alaska, Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Utah (see pictures) were selected to provide diversity in location, population density, geography, minority populations, disability groups served and transportation availability and service. This ensured that our experiences and replication materials could be applied widely across the United States. Site coordinators were trained and data collection, management and training materials were prepared and distributed.
To date, sites have enrolled 482 consumers, 117 of whom have obtained employment (65 full time and 52 part time jobs). The table below shows performance data for the three years of operation.
APRIL Program and Services Highlights
Advocacy
Reauthorization of TEA21 and Implementation of New Freedom Program
The following advocacy efforts span multiple years and will soon culminate in the reauthorization of the Transportation Equity Act (TEA-21).
APRIL continues to:
- Work at the "systems" level to increase transportation opportunities in the 1200 rural US counties that have no rural transit.
- Use its national status, visibility and influence to advocate for increased options in rural transportation.
- Foster working relationships with the Administration on Developmental Disabilities (ADD) at HHS and Federal Transit Administration (FTA) at DOT.
- Maintain membership on the Project ACTION National Steering Committee.
- Participate in the Transportation Equity Network and the Surface Transportation Policy Project as Congress deliberates on the reauthorization of TEA-21.
- Present workshops at the state, regional and national levels
- Advocate for increased funding and innovative programs to improve transportation options during the reauthorization of TEA-21 and continue vital advocacy with FTA to insure that effective rural transportation programs are implemented.
Training and Technical Assistance Services / Mentoring Services
- Provided Peer-to-Peer Mentoring to 8 sites per year since 2003.
- Provided two CILS - through RILLMI - with intensive mentoring services.
- Presented at regional and national training events and conferences.
- Published articles on APRIL's Mentoring Program in magazines and monographs.
- Incorporated the Organizational Snapshot - an assessment tool developed by the RRTC on IL Management - into APRIL's Training and Technical Assistance (T&TA) Program.
- Provided leaders in the IL field as Peer Mentors.
- Developed a strong, nationally recognized service with the commitment of the APRIL Board, T&TA Committee and the APRIL team.
- Developed long standing collaborations with the University of Montana, the University of Kansas, ILRU and NCIL.
IL Net Regional Training Coordinator
The Independent Living Network (IL Net) is a training and technical assistance (T&TA) resource for the field of independent living. IL Net is a joint project of ILRU and NCIL. APRIL is an emerging partner with IL Net through its T&TA services. APRIL serves as the base for one of six regional coordinators placed around the United States who are charged with the responsibilities of addressing the T&TA needs of CILs and SILCs. APRIL works with states in Regions 5 (Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota) and 7 (Iowa, Kansas, Nebraska and Missouri).
Membership Services
APRIL continues to expand the benefits of membership, including efforts to maintain affordable dues, provide resources to its members and other CILs through its services and programs as well as those accomplishments noted below:
- Sponsored the 2004 Tenth Annual National Conference on Rural Independent Living held in October in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. Over 300 attendees.
- Provided regular and timely information on a variety of topics and issues relevant to the field of rural independent living through group distribution email, a transportation list serve and the APRIL website.
- Published the 2004 Membership Directory, (updated annually)
- Published two issues of an APRIL Newsletter (March and July)
- Recognized Steve Thovsen, Executive Director of the Southeastern Minnesota CIL as recipient of the 2004 Earl Walden Award for Outstanding Achievement in Rural Advocacy. A trophy and a check for $1000 were presented to Steve in a cere-mony at the annual conference. Past recipients of this prestigious award included Dr. Tom Seekins of Missoula, Montana; Michael Blatchford of Tuba City, Arizona; and Helen Roth of Logan, Utah.
Bringing On the Youth
APRIL has begun an ambitious and beneficial collaboration with rural youth with disabilities, recognizing that the young people of our country are our true leaders. With the support of the University of Kansas RTC on Full Participation in Independent Living (RTC:FPIL), APRIL has begun to focus on bringing rural youth into the independent living movement by:
- Hosting the first large-scale gathering of rural youth with disabilities and CILs at the tenth annual National Conference on Rural Independent Living in Minneapolis.
- Working with the Youth Steering Committee to plan a pre-conference.
- Providing stipends to a number of youth to attend the Minneapolis Conference.
- Working with a noted photographer to capture the youth involvement at the Conference.
- Providing support for a Kent State University Student Intern to work at the APRIL office throughout the school year.
- Developing a reciprocal relationship with Kent State University through use of interns, practicum placements and student volunteers.
2004
ASSOCIATION OF PROGRAMS FOR RURAL INDEPENDENT LIVING
5903 Powdermill Road
Kent, OH 44240
330-678-7648
fax: 330-678-7658
tty: 330-678-8467
www.april-rural.org
ANNUAL REPORT
CONFERENCE SPONSORS
On behalf of APRIL's Board of Directors and its membership, we would like to thank the following agencies and individuals for their support of the APRIL Conference over the years. Without your generous contributions our conference would not be possible.
Access II - Gallatin, MO
Austin Resource CIL - Austin, TX
CIL of Central Pennsylvania - Camp Hill, PA
Delta Resource CIL - Pine Bluff, AR
Easter Seals AgrAbility Project - Washington, DC
Illinois/Iowa CIL - Rock Island, IL
Independent Living Resource Utilization/
Independent Living Network - Houston, TX
IndependenceFirst - Milwaukee, WI
Institute for Educational Leadership - Washington, DC
Kansas Youth Leadership Forum - Topeka, KS
League of Human Dignity - Lincoln, NE
LINK, Inc. - Hays, KS
Metropolitan CIL - St. Paul, MN
Michigan SILC - Lansing, MI
Missouri Council for the Blind
c/o SADI - Cape Girardeau, MO
Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council - Columbus, OH
Oklahoma Statewide Independent Living Council - Norman, OK
Placer Independent Resource Services - Auburn, CA
Research & Training Center: Full Participation on IL
University of Kansas - Lawrence, KS
Research & Training Center on IL Management,
New York Independent Living Project - Buffalo, NY
Research & Training Center: Rural
University of Montana - Missoula, MT
Topeka CIL - Topeka, KS
Betty Walden - Houston, TX
Western Wisconsin CIL - Menomonie, WI
The Whole Person - Kansas City, MO
Wyoming IL Rehab - Casper, WY
Wyoming Services for IL - Lander, WY
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Association of Programs