Tennessee National Service Inclusion Advisory Team

Volunteer Tennessee, with technical assistance from the National Service Inclusion Project, and in collaboration with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center, has established the Tennessee National Service Inclusion Advisory Team.

The purpose of the Inclusion Advisory Team is to work to involve more people with disabilities in national service programs like AmeriCorps. AmeriCorps connects more than 70,000 individuals each year in intensive service to meet our country’s critical needs in education, public safety, human needs, homeland security, and the environment. National service is an ideal way for people of any ability to make positive contributions. For adults with physical and/or intellectual disabilities, service can be the perfect outlet to use talents, gain employment skills, transition from school to work, and build a strong network.

Currently, there are 40 members of the Inclusion Advisory Team representing 25 nonprofit, state, and federal agencies. The group convenes quarterly to provide advice on recruitment, management, accessibility, and the provision of reasonable accommodations in service programs throughout Tennessee.

Inclusion Advisory Team members work in smaller committees in the following areas: 

• Marketing, Outreach, and Communication
• Partnerships and Linkages
• Training, Technical Assistance, and Materials

Inclusion Advisory Team Activities

• The Marketing, Outreach, and Communication committee has created a flyer advertising inclusive national service opportunities within Tennessee, and is developing a video to showcase the benefits of service inclusion for individuals with disabilities.
• The Partnerships and Linkages committee recently recruited Hands On Nashville to participate in the advisory group. For individuals in Middle Tennessee who may not be able to participate in AmeriCorps, Hands On Nashville will provide guidance on other service opportunities in Tennessee. Representatives from Hands On Nashville also will assist People First of Tennessee in identifying and coordinating service projects that will help the agency meet grant goals. In addition, the partnerships committee has recruited a representative from Vocational Rehabilitation Services to promote service as a positive transition into gainful employment.
• The Training, Technical Assistance, and Materials committee is developing a training toolkit to educate other nonprofit and service leaders across Tennessee about opportunities with AmeriCorps and other volunteer service projects.
• Volunteer Tennessee and Vanderbilt’s Best Buddies program are collaborating on an Alternative Spring Break (March 2009) to connect 10 people with disabilities in a weeklong service project alongside two AmeriCorps programs in Knoxville, Tennessee.
• A presentation about service opportunities made at the Young Leaders Forum (an initiative of the Developmental Disabilities Council), inspired a student participant from Knoxville to become involved in the Aspire service-learning youth leadership program.  The student has since recruited an entire team of leaders in her high school to work on a year-long campaign breaking barriers between students with and without disabilities and promoting full inclusion. This energetic young student also has raised $2,500 to support her program.
• Additional presentations have been made to People First of Tennessee, Memphis Recovery Center, and the Tennessee Rehabilitation Center.
• Four members of the Inclusion Advisory Team attended the 2008 National Conference on Disability Inclusion and National Service in Washington, D.C., in October. The group was asked to be a part of a pre-conference event to benchmark best practices of effective inclusion teams, and was honored with the "Excellence in Partnering" Award.
• The Inclusion Advisory Team will present at the 2008 TASH Conference, which will be held in Nashville in December.
• An upcoming initiative will establish “Access Points” at all the colleges and universities throughout Tennessee.
• All AmeriCorps*State programs are being surveyed to benchmark the number of people with disabilities included in national service programs and to track the progress of accessibility and providing reasonable accommodations.

Contact

Courtney Evans Taylor, (615) 322-5658