Disabilities
Below you will find a listing of Disability Agencies
in the Athens-Clarke County area, along with relevant and
helpful statistics, resources, and service-learning reflection
questions.
Best Buddies (also on UGA Student Organization sheet)
The UGA chapter is
affiliated with Best Buddies International, a program that matches
college students with adults who have an intellectual disability.
The goal of Best Buddies International is to enhance the lives of
these individuals through one-on-one friendships and integrated
employment.
Volunteers should
spend at least two hours with their buddy, and are responsible for
keeping up with his or her own time sheet. Volunteer UGA hosts an
event each month for volunteers and their buddies.
Contact: bbuddies@uga.edu
Goodwill Industries
of North Georgia – (also
on General Resources sheet)
There are volunteer
opportunities in the following areas: tutoring, teaching assistants,
mentoring, speaking about careers, motivation, etc., program
assistant, and retail/thrift store assistant.
Contact: Alicia
Battle at 706-433-1908 or abattle@ging.org
High Hope Center
This agency serves
clients with intellectual disabilities.
Contact: Donyetta Green at 770-963-8694 (ext 35) or donyettagreen@hihopecenter.org
Hope Haven
This agency
services clients with intellectual disabilities. This organization
works closely with Volunteer UGA's Best Buddies.
Contact: Jonessa
Alexander at 706-548-4361 or Jonessa@hopehaven.net
Recording for Blind
& Dyslexic
There are volunteer
opportunities in the following areas: readers, directors,
bookmarkers, office assistants, orientation leaders, speaker’s
bureau presenters, and educational outreach.
Contact: Kane
Stanley at 706-549-1382 or kstanley@rfbd.org
Special Olympics of Georgia
Volunteers are needed for work with the adult athlete program in the Athens area.
Contact: Leslie
Black at 706-613-3625
Athens-Clarke Demographic Information (data from 2000 Census &
Family Connection Partnership)
Total population –
101,489
64.9% White; 27.3%
African-American; 6.3% Hispanic or Latino; 3.1% Asian
2,107 people in Athens between the age of 5 and 20 identify as disabled
9,696 people in Athens between the age of 21and 64 identify as disabled & 56% are
employed
3,355 people in Athens over the age of 65 identify as disabled
Resources
Disability Statistics Center
Disability Resources on the
Internet
Best Buddies
Pre-Service
Activities: Enhance your service experience.
If you would like
to get the most out of your service experience, please consider the
following questions:
-
Why are you
interested in working with disability issues?
-
What have your
experiences been so far with these issues?
-
What do you
think your service experience will be like?
-
Are you
interested in learning about these facts at the service site? If
so, what are some ways that you might be able to do that?
-
What are your
goals in participating in service?
-
What issues do
you think will be present as you begin volunteering?
Post-Service
Reflection Questions: To understand your service experience
In order to
understand your experiences please reflect on the following
questions:
WHAT:
SO WHAT:
-
What did your
experience(s) mean to you?
-
What did you
learn from your experience(s)?
-
What do you
feel is your main contribution to the agency or the people you
worked with?
-
What did you
learn about yourself?
NOW WHAT:
-
In what ways
can you apply what you are learning to other areas of your life?
-
The most
important thing you will take with you from this experience is…
-
Has your
community service sparked an interest in service or in the issue
that you worked with?
-
If so, how do
you plan to continue pursuing that interest?
(Reference: Florida State University’s
Disabilities Sheets)
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