06.11.20

Grantee Spotlight: Center for People With Disabilities

Grantee Spotlight: Center for People With Disabilities

The Center for People With Disabilities (CPWD) – a grantee of your Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund Boulder County – quickly and nimbly shifted its independent living services in response to the pandemic, in order to continue serving community members living with disabilities.

According to a June 10 report on the PBS Newshour, “Nearly one in four Americans lives with a disability. For some, that means a compromised immune system and greater risk for the Coronavirus.”

 
On a local level, the Center for People With Disabilities (CPWD) – a grantee of your Community Foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund Boulder County – quickly and nimbly shifted its independent living services in response to the pandemic, in order to continue serving community members living with disabilities.
 
“When COVID-19 hit, we had to stop seeing people in person,” says Chris O’Brien, CPWD Director of Development and Communications. Since 1977, CPWD has been providing core services in independent living skills, peer-based support, advocacy, and information and referrals – all purposed to empower people with disabilities.
 
“We had to make a rapid transition to providing services online.”
 
According to Chris, “The Community Foundation understood the importance of keeping their support going – now more than ever. Most of our support through the foundation’s COVID-19 Response Fund went to computers and laptops for members of our home health department, so we could continue to serve people who have daily needs in order for them to stay independent.”
 
Continues Chris, “As a result, we were able to keep those people from being transitioned to nursing homes where we’re seeing among the highest rates of COVID-19 cases. By ensuring ongoing quality control, quality assurance, and scheduling online, we’re able to continue to make sure that people stay in their homes and get the services they need.”
 
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He concludes, “We’ve seen some ups and downs in our history, and we know that COVID-19 will result in a sea change. But by keeping focused on the long game – supporting people with disabilities to live the lives they want – even as we adapt, we’re confident in our commitment to our clients’ independence, and to ensure that our community if one of choice and equity.”

 
Your Community Foundation established the COVID-19 Response Fund Boulder County to ensure essential services for community members who find themselves at the intersection of being most vulnerable to the virus and most impacted by inequity. Learn more and please consider donating.