THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 22, 1995 TAG: 9512220441
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBRA GORDON, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 100 lines
Eight agencies that serve the area's disabled got an early Christmas present Thursday - grants ranging from $26,000 to $1,500 - courtesy of the state of Virginia.
The money is being funneled through the South Hampton Roads Disability Services Board, a regional group formed two years ago that advocates hope, will give the disabled more influence over issues affecting them.
The board has been working in relative obscurity since its inception. But that is about to change, its vice chairman says.
``I think we're going to be more effective as we get more people involved in identifying the needs,'' said Nelson Malbone of Chesapeake.
Malbone, who also serves as chairman of the Chesapeake Mayor's Committee for Persons with Disabilities and is blind, said the DSB's primary goal is to identify the needs of the region's disabled and then use state grants to fulfill those needs. The board also serves as a clearinghouse for information about services for the disabled.
The General Assembly created 44 DSBs two years ago after advocates asked for more local oversight of disability issues.
Since then, the South Hampton Roads board, with three representatives from each of the region's five cities, has worked to identify the region's most pressing needs and has prepared to deliver $71,000 in state grants to meet those needs.
But at least one recipient of that money isn't happy with the new board.
Richard DiPeppe, director of community services at Endependence Center Inc., a Norfolk-based organization that promotes independent living for people with disabilities, said he is worried that the DSB is just another way of ``segregating'' disabled people's needs.
``We don't believe in setting up special organizations and agencies to deal with disability-related issues,'' he said.
For instance, he said, if a disabled person needs housing, he should go to the housing authority - not to a special organization created to help disabled people.
His boss, executive director Stephen Johnson, said the DSBs are valuable in parts of Virginia that don't have independent living centers or mayors' advisory committees on disability, as many Hampton Roads' cities have. But they're not necessary here, he said.
``We worked hard to establish ourselves as the focal point in the community to handle the majority of information and referral calls that come in,'' Johnson said. ``So one of my concerns is that there's another entity being identified as a planning and focal point for information. That's really duplicating services already in the community.''
When advocates asked then-Gov. Douglas Wilder to create a commission to explore disability issues in 1990, DiPeppe said, they hoped the result would be greater local control and input into the services provided.
The disability boards are the result of that commission, but their purpose - to provide information and funding but not services - doesn't meet the disabled community's needs, DiPeppe said.
Board members disagree.
``There are negative people everywhere,'' Malbone said when told of DiPeppe's concerns. But those naysayers, he said, aren't giving the board time to reach its full potential.
With business people working side-by-side with government employees and the disabled on the board, Malbone said, ``it's got to have some impact.''
Additionally, the DSB can provide a stronger voice for the disabled community, enabling it to express its dissatisfaction with the current system, said DSB Chairman Ronald L. Hepler.
John N. Skirven, executive director of the Southeastern Virginia Areawide Model Program, which works with the region's elderly and disabled, and is receiving a $5,000 DSB grant, also thinks the board can be effective.
``To have a regional organization that brings the needs of people with disabilities into the public eye is very important,'' he said. ``And in terms of their getting access to funds that weren't previously available, that's always important.''
The board is distributing $71,000 in grants that the General Assembly approved when it set up the DSBs.
Most of the South Hampton Roads grants will go toward projects involving transportation, identified in a 1993 DSB needs assessment as the region's biggest problem.
The money is a beginning, Malbone said, although he would have liked to see it all go toward a transit system for weekends and evenings.
Hepler expects the state will continue providing such grants in years to come. MEMO: If you have a question about services for the disabled in the area, or
about the Americans with Disabilities' Act, contact Ron Hepler at
547-6446.
GRANT RECIPIENTS
Society for the Aid of Sickle Cell Anemia $11,000
Southeastern Virginia Areawide Model Program (SEVAMP) $5,050
Endependence Center $26,000
United Cerebral Palsy of Southeastern Virginia $1,525
City of Suffolk $3,000
Old Dominion University $4,725
Lake Taylor Hospital Auxiliary $10,700
Hope House Foundation $9,000
by CNB