Proyecto Visión: National Technical Assistance Center for Latinos with Disabilities

Proyecto Visión, the first national technical assistance center to increase employment opportunities for Latinos with disabilities, provides culturally and linguistically appropriate services to employers, service providers and jobseekers to address barriers that preclude Latinos from effectively utilizing disability services and connecting to work.

Proyecto Visión's toll-free technical assistance hotline provides access to a bilingual, bicultural job specialist for employment, independent living and benefits inquiries; a website (www.proyectovision.net) that includes news, resources and opportunities for scholarships/internships/jobs; an electronic newsletter that features success stories about Latinos with disabilities who found employment; a listserv that allows PV's readers to interact with others facing similar issues; an annual conference that brings together employers, service providers and jobseekers to network and exchange ideas; and regional trainings covering disability awareness, cultural competency for corporate recruiters, Latino and disability service providers, and emerging leaders with disabilities.

Proyecto Visión provides services to three primary groups:

• Jobseekers can access education, employment preparation, job development, skills acquisition, and information and referral to vocational rehabilitation, independent living centers and other service providers.

• Employers can take advantage of training regarding recruiting, hiring, training and retaining employees with disabilities, and accommodations and disability etiquette in the workplace.

• Social service providers can learn how to provide culturally competent services and how to include Latinos with disabilities in their constituencies.

Over the last five years, Proyecto Visión's activities have been carried out in conjunction with regional community organizations including Access Living in Chicago, Best Buddies International in Miami, the Central Coast Center for Independent Living in Salinas (CA), Public Health Institute in Oakland, and the Westside Center for Independent Living in Los Angeles. The project was established in 2001 with support from the U.S. Department of Education's Rehabilitation Services Administration.

For more information about Proyecto Visión, contact Kathy Martinez, Executive Director, at kathy@wid.org.