Previous Article / Next Article
Consumer-directed supports, consumer-controlled housing, and other individually-oriented innovations offer people much greater control of their lives. Many participants have noted that while they are generally pleased with such options and the freedom they provide, they wish they had more options for shaping one particular area of life: creating meaningful and enjoyable social and recreational activities outside the home, and building relationships in the community. Partners in Community Supports (PICS), a joint venture of six non-profit service providers in the Minneapolis/St. Paul area, is using the Web to address this need.
LifePages.org (www.lifepages.org) is an interactive Web site designed to increase opportunities, choice, and support for community inclusion for people with disabilities. It connects users with information, with one another, and with the community at-large. This Web site was developed through a partnership of PICS and the University of Minnesota’s Research and Training Center on Community Living, with support from the Administration on Developmental Disabilities. The site has been created, piloted, and evaluated in the Minneapolis/St. Paul metropolitan area, and is now expanding coverage to communities outside Minnesota.
LifePages.org features sections titled Recreation/Leisure, Services, Community, and Resources that connect people to a range of information, from respite providers, to music events, specialized equipment and clothing suppliers, volunteer opportunities, and faith communities. Users can search for activities and resources by keywords, date, or any number of other variables. Users can also receive personalized information by creating a personal interest profile that allows them to indicate the type of information they’re most interested in, and receive e-mail alerts when matching events, activities, or resources are added to the site. In addition, the site has an “invitation” feature that connects individuals who are interested in the same types of events; this feature is limited to use by people supported through PICS or its partner agencies, and access is controlled to reduce risks for vulnerable users.
LifePages.org has averaged 3,800 visitors per month during its first nine months, and it continues to evolve in response to needs and desires of users. Through partnering with organizations in other locales the scope of resources and opportunities it offers will continue to expand, providing yet another option for supporting individuals with disabilities and their families to shape their lives.
Contributed by Anne Roehl, LifePages Project Coordinator, and John Gehan, Associate Director, PICS, Minneapolis. For more information or to inquire about bringing www.LifePages.org to your area, contact Anne at anneroehl@PICSweb.org or 952/854-6364, ext. 107.
Previous Article / Next
Article
__________
Retrieved from the Web site of the Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota (http://ici.umn.edu). Citation: Gaylord, V., Moseley, C., Lakin, C. & Hewitt, A. (Eds.) (2004). Impact: Feature Issue on Consumer-Controlled Budgets and Persons with Disabilities 17(1). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota, Institute on Community Integration. Available from http://ici.umn.edu/products/impact/171.
__________
Hard copies of Impact are available from the Publications Office of the Institute on Community Integration. The first copy of this issue is free; additional copies are $4 each. You can request copies by phone at 612-624-4512 or E-mail at icipub@umn.edu, or you can fax or mail us an order form. See our listing of other issues of Impact for more information.
The print design version (PDF, 776 K, 32 pp.) of this issue of Impact is also available for free, complete with the color layout and photographs. This version looks the most like the newsletter as it was printed.
The University of Minnesota is an equal opportunity employer and educator.