Quick Guide and Tips
What's New
- Local and regional resources have been highlighted in pink and placed at the beginning of each category.
- State resources are highlighted in blue and follow local, where applicable.
Tips
- EOCIL is about community, and throughout our service area there are a number of broad-based community agencies that provide a wide range services, from emergency food supply to tranhsportation to support groups to opportunities to socialize — and volunteer. Many of these are listed below under topic area (food, meals, energy assistance, etc.), but here's a brief list of the parent organizations:
- Community Action Program of East Central Oregon (CAPECO) serves residents of Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties
- Malheur Council on Aging & Community Services
- Malheur County Commission on Children and Families
- Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (CAP) serves Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties
- Your local public library offers books, magazines, music and videos and likely a computer terminal or two. It also probably has a community bulletin board, newsletters, newspapers, brochures and pamphlets about local organizations and services. AND it has staff who are only too happy to help you get connected to whatever you need or whatever interests YOU. Find one in your area:
- Area colleges and community colleges are a treasure trove of information: check out their common areas, libraries and counseling and activity centers.
Advocacy and Opportunity
- American Association of People with Disabilities
- The Association for Airline Passenger Rights (AAPR)
- The Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living (APRIL)
- Disability Rights Advocates, which pursues class actions on behalf of people with disabilities
- Disability Rights Education Defense Fund (DREDF)
- Disability Rights Oregon (formerly Oregon Advocacy Center)
- Disability Awareness in Action
- Independent Living Research Utilization (ILRU)
- Mobility International
- National Center for Law and Economic Justice
- National Council on Disability
- National Council on Independent Living (NCIL)
- National Dissemination Center for Children with Disabilities (NICHCY)
- National Rehabilitation Information Center (NARIC)
- Network of Care for Seniors & People with Disabilities
- The Nth Degree: Celebrating the human spirit — its diversity, power and potential
- Research and Training Center on Full Participation in Independent Living (RTC/FPIL)
- Research and Training Institute on Rural Rehabilitation Services
- U.S. Department of Justice's ADA homepage
- United Nations Enable: Promoting the rights and dignity of persons with disabilities
- VSA arts
- World Institute on Disability (WID)
Animal and Pet-Care Assistance
- IMOM Inc.
- Help-A-Pet
- The Pet Fund
- United Animal Nations LifeLine Fund
- Brown Dog Foundation
- Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program
- Cody's Club (radiation treatments)
Communications Services / Related Discounts
- Speech-Generating Devices Program (through Oregon Public Utilities Commission)
- Consumer discounts on telephone service under federal universal service programs
Disability-Specific
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, aka Lou Gehrig's Disease
This section is dedicated to the memory of Trannie Rogers. Trannie lived with multiple disabilities, one of which was ALS. She worked until the last six months of her life providing personal care services to people with disabilities.
Asperger's
Autism
Blind and Vision-Impaired
- Accessible World
- American Council of the Blind
- American Foundation for the Blind
- National Federation of the Blind
Brain Injury
- Brain Injury Association of Oregon
- Brain Injury Association of America
- Traumatic Brain Injury Center
Cerebral Palsy
Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Deaf-Blind
Developmental Disabilities
- State of Oregon Community Developmental Disabilities Programs (CDDP), by county:
HIV/AIDS
- Cascade AIDS Project
Oregon AIDS Hotline:
Phone: 503-223-AIDS
Toll-free: 1-800-777-AIDS
en español: 1-800-499-6940
- Oregon HIV Care and Treatment Program newsletter
- AIDS Drug Assistance Programs (ADAP) Advocacy Association (aaa+) promotes and enhances the ADAPs and improves access to care for persons living with HIV/AIDS
- The Body: The Complete HIV/AIDS Resource
- HIV Treatment Is Power
- M.A.C. Aids Fund
Mental Health and Psychiatric
-
National Alliance for Mentally Ill
- Newsletters
- Eyes and Ears (formerly Renaissance Times)
- Oregon State Hospital Recovery Times
Mobility-Impaired
Multiple Sclerosis
Short Stature and Dwarfism
Spinal Cord Injury
- Apparelyzed — Spinal Cord Information Peer Support
- NINDS Spinal Cord Injury Information Page
- The National Spinal Cord Injury Association
- SPINALCORD — Spinal Cord Injury Information Network
- SCI PILOT — Spinal Cord Injury Peer Information on Technology
- The Spinal Cord Injury Zone
- United Spinal Association
- This is a Canadian commercial, for-profit site, but this information page contains much well organized information: 1-800-Wheelchair
Domestic Violence
- Ontario: Project DOVE (Domestic Violence Eliminated)
PO Box 980, Ontario, OR 97914
Office: 541-889-6316
Hotline: 1-800-889-2000 - The Dalles: Project HAVEN (Help Against Violent Encounters Now!)
Local crisis support line: 541-298-4789
Toll-Free: 1-800-249-4789 - Hood River: Helping Hands Against Violence
24-hour crisis line: 541-386-6603 - Pendleton: Domestic Violence Services
24-hour crisis line: 1-800-833-1161
Local (Pendleton): 541-278-0241 - Domestic Violence Services (LifeLine)
Education
- Dufur School District, Dufur, OR
Phone: 541-467-2509 - Hood River County School District, Hood River, OR
Phone: 541-386-2511 - North Wasco County School District, The Dalles, OR
Phone: 541-506-3420 - Sherman County School District, Grass Valley, OR
Phone: 541-333-2250 - South Wasco County School District, Maupin, OR
Phone: 541-395-2645 - We Connect Now, a Web site for college students with disabilities emphasizing access to higher education and employment issues
- The HEATH Resource Center at George Washington University; provides online, Web- based resources on postsecondary education for individuals with disabilities
- Institute for Human Centered Design - online orientation to career development in the design professions for people with disabilities
- National Center on Secondary Education and Transition (NCSET) — coordinates national resources, offers technical assistance, and disseminates information related to secondary education and transition for youth with disabilities to create opportunities for youth to achieve successful futures
- The Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) (U.S. Department of Education)
- The Venture Program at Bellevue (WA) Community College offers Associate in Occupational Life Skills (AOLS) Degree for students with learning, cognitive and intellectual disabilities
- We Connect Now, Web site to help connect college students with disabilities with access to higher education and employment issues
- Zarrow Center for Learning Enrichment (University of Oklahoma, Rainboldt College of Education), "facilitates successful secondary and postsecondary educational, vocational and personal outcomes for students and adults with disabilities"
Employment-Related
- Mid-Columbia Council of Governments Workforce Development
Phone: 541-298-4101 - Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVRS) — Pendleton
1555 SW Southgate Pl., Pendleton Phone: 541-278-4161 (voice & TTY)
Fax: 541-276-1942 - Oregon Department of Human Services - Employment services for adults, seniors and people with disabilities
- Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVRS)
All state OVRS office addresses and contact information are listed. - Work Incentives Network — Oregon (WIN-Oregon)
- Leadership for the Employment of Americans with Disabilities (LEAD)
- Job Accommodation Network (JAN), a service of the Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) of the U.S. Department of Labor. Provides information on job accommodations, self-employment and small business opportunities as well as on the Americans with Disabilities Act
- Self-employment start-up technical assistance, resources and training
- U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
- Employer support of veterans and workforce development
- We Connect Now, a Web site for college students with disabilities emphasizing access to higher education and employment issues
Food and Meals
Food Stamps / Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)
- Estimator and benefit calculator
- Application form available from DHS Web site. There are two options:
- Print out a hard copy and complete by hand, or
- Fill in the form online (instructions on the Web site).
- If you need assistance completing an application:
- Contact an EOCIL Independent Living Specialist or
- Contact Oregon SafeNet
Emergency Food Services
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties:
- Tribal members:
- Hood River, Sherman and Wasco Counties: Emergency food boxes
- Oregon Food Bank
Meals
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties
- Meals-on-Wheels — Sherman and Wasco counties
- Ontario, Vale and Nyssa
- Meals on Wheels
- Ontario: Hot meals served at 5:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday at First Christian Church, 180 NW 1st Ave.
- The Dalles
- Meals on Wheels and meals for seniors
Phone: 541-298-8333 - Community meals — schedule posted online
- Meals on Wheels and meals for seniors
Government Services
- Oregon County Health Departments
- Oregon Department of Human Services
- Oregon Health Division HIV Case Management and Support Services
- Oregon Helps — Free online prescreening tool to help determine services to which an individual may be eligible. Site is in English, Spanish, Russian and Vietnamese.
- Oregon Home Care Commission (Facebook page)
- Oregon State Independent Living Council (SILC
- Oregon Telecommunications Relay Service
- Office of Vocational Rehabilitation (OVRS)
All state OVRS office addresses and contact information are listed. - Social Security
- STEPS (Self-Empowerment Training for individuals who Employ homecare workers and who are People with disabilities or Seniors
Health, Wellness and Support
Addiction Services
- Hood River County: Mid-Columbia Center for Living
1610 Woods Ct., Hood River
Phone: 541-386-2620 - Sherman County: Mid-Columbia Center for Living
Contact the Hood River office for assistance: 541-386-2620 - Wasco County: Mid-Columbia Center for Living
Wasco County Annex A, 419 East 7th St., Rm. 207, The Dalles
Phone: 541-296-5452
Crisis
- Pendleton: Lifeways Behavioral Health
Local phone: 541-276-6207 - Oregon Partnership's Suicide Lifeline
Phone 800-273-TALK (800-273-8255) - Oregon Partnership Military Helpline — 24-hour-a-day immediate mental health and suicide crisis intervention from a team of veterans and trained volunteer crisis workers
Toll-free: 888-HLP-4-VET (888-457-4838). - Youth help line: A peer-to-peer crisis line for teens
Toll-free: 877-YOUTH-911 (877-968-8491). - EOCIL's Suicide Prevention Policy
General Health
- Have you ever gone to the doctor and been not been able to get onto the exam table? Has a health care provider talked to your interpreter or assistant — and not to you?
Self-Advocacy 101: Tips for Being a Good Medical Consumer - Ontario: Four Rivers Free Clinic — Medical service on Wednesday from 1 to 9 p.m. Walk-ins only.
640 SW 4th Ave., Ontario
- La Grande: Walla Walla VA Medical Center, La Grande Community-Based Outpatient Clinic
202 12th St, La Grande
Phone: 541-963-0627
Fax: 541-963-2809 - Pendleton: Umatilla County Public Health
200 SE 3rd St., Pendleton - Regionwide: Yakima Valley Farm Workers Clinic — General and specialty clinics
- Mirasol Family Health Center, Hermiston
589 N.W. 11th, Hermiston, OR
Phone: 541-567-1717
- Mirasol Family Health Center, Hermiston
Mental and Behavioral Health
- Ontario: The Family Place, Inc.— Counseling for chidren, adolescents and adults
390 NE 2nd St., Ontario
Phone: 541-889-1050 - Ontario: Lifeways Malheur
702 Sunset Dr., Ontario
Phone: 541-889-9167
Toll-free: 1-800-995-9169 - Umatilla (secure residential facility): Lifeways McNary Place
290 Willamette St., Umatilla
Phone: 541-922-6226
- Pendleton: Lifeways Umatilla
331 SE 2nd St., Pendleton, OR
Phone: 541-276-6207
Toll-free: 1-866-343-4473 - Wasco County: Mid-Columbia Center for Living
Wasco County Annex A, 419 East 7th St., Rm. 207, The Dalles
Phone: 541-386-2620
Insurance
- Health insurance for all Oregon youth — contact an EOCIL IL specialist for help completing the application!
Medical Marijuana
- Stormy Ray Cardholders' Foundation
- Oregon Medical Marijuana Program (OMMP)
- Mothers Against Misuse and Abuse (MAMA)
Public Health
- Oregon Public Health News and Alerts
These are updated frequently; most are in PDF format. - Oregon Lead Poisoning Prevention Program News
These regular updates include consumer product recalls and include photos of affected products.
Respite Services
- Pendleton: Umatilla Lifespan Respite Services
721 SE 3rd Street, Pendleton
Phone: 541-278-5696
Toll-free: 800-752-1139
Support
- St. Alphonsus Medical Center Ontario offers a wide range of health, education and lifestyle classes. Topics range from living with diabetes to fall-prevention to prenatal care. Check out current offerings.
- HIV/AIDS: Blue Mountain Heart to Heart
2316 Eastgate St., Ste. 105
Walla Walla, WA 99362
509-529-4744- Umatilla Morrow Alternatives Human Dignity Group
- Vista Youth Center
Housing
Accessible Housing
- Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties
- Mid-Columbia Housing Authority
Phone: 541-296-5462 - Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (CAP)
Phone: 541-298-5131
- Mid-Columbia Housing Authority
- Home Access Program
- Equal Rights Center — send any personal story of inaccessible housing or medical facilities to intakes@equalrightscenter.org
Emergency / Temporary
- Ontario: Community In Action
49 NW 1st St., Suite 6A
Ontario, OR 97914
Phone: 541-889-1060 - Oregon Human Development Center
- Christian Aid Center
202 W. Birch St.
Walla Walla, WA 99362
(509) 525-7153
Utilities and Energy Assistance
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties: CAPECO
- Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties: Mid-Columbia Community Action Council (CAP)
Phone: 541-298-5131 - Ontario: Harvest House Missions
161 SW 9th St., Ontario
Phone: 541-889-1905 - Ontario: Community In Action
49 NW 1st St., Suite 6A
Ontario, OR 97914
Phone: 541-889-1060
Low-Income Housing
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler Counties: Housing Authority of the County of Umatilla, Oregon
Phone: 541-567-3241
TDY: 800-221-6729, ext. 771
Fax: 541-278-5445 - Ontario: Crossroads, 92 NW 2nd Ave., Ontario
Contact the Malheur Council on Aging and Community Services
Furnishings
- LOVE INC (Love in the Name of Christ)
Phone: 541-889-7860
Fax: 541-889-9230
Housing and Rental Financial Assistance
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties
- Ontario
Harvest House Missions
161 SW 9th St., Ontario
Phone: 541-889-1905 - Oregon Human Development Center
Home Ownership / General
- Gilliam, Morrow, Umatilla and Wheeler counties: www.capeco-works.org/housing.htm
- Department of Housing and Urban Development
Law and Legal Services
Disability Law
- Disability rights course, a free online overview of disability rights laws produced by the New England ADA Center
Legal Services
- Legal Aid Services of Oregon, Pendleton Regional Office
365 SE 3rd St.
Pendleton, OR 97801
Phone: 541-276-6685
Toll-free: 1-800-843-1115
Fax: 541-276-4549 - Oregon Law Center— providing legal service for housing laws, lamily law (highest priority domestic violence), farm-workers law and administrative law
Ontario office:
35 SE 5th Avenue, Unit #1
Ontario, OR 97914-1727
541-889-3121, toll-free 1-888-250-9877 - Fuson Law, specializing in Social Security Disability claims
Sandijean Fuson, Attorney
301 E. A St:
Vale, OR 97918
Phone: 541-473-3470
Fax : 541-473-2380 - Equal Rights Center
Mobility Devices
Other Oregon Centers for Independent Living
- Association of Oregon Centers for Independent Living (AOCIL)
- Central Oregon: www.coril.org
- Portland: www.ilr.org
- Klamath Falls: www.spokesunlimited.org
- Lane County: www.lilaoregon.org
- Grants Pass: www.haslonline.org
- Roseburg: www.uvdn.org
Preparedness
Financial EmergencySeniors
Sexuality
- Equity Foundation
- Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG), Pendleton, Oregon, chapter
- Umatilla Morrow Alternatives Human Dignity Group: www.umalt.com
- Vista Youth Center
- Youth help line: A peer-to-peer crisis line for teens. Call 877-YOUTH-911 (877-968-8491).
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Disabled Veterans: American Veterans for Equal Rights
- United States Holocaust Museum
Statistics
- Annual Disability Statistics Compendium 2009
- Disability statistics
- Disability statistics (more!)
- New York Times interactive county-specific map of the 2010 census
Technology
- Access Technologies, Inc., specialists in ergonomic and assistive technology
- ADA & IT Technical Assistance Centers (aka DBTACs), comprehensive resources for information on the Americans with Disabilities Act and accessible information technology. Also toll free at 1-800-949-4232 (V/TTY).
- Assistive Technology News: www.atechnews.com
- COAT (Coalition of Organizations for Accessible Technologies), a coalition of over 200 national, regional, state, and community-based disability organizations advocatinge for legislative and regulatory safeguards to ensure full access by people with disabilities to evolving Internet technologies
- Family Information Guides from The Family Center on Technology and Disability
- TecAccess.net — comprehensive accessible technology programs and disability employment services
Transportation
- Hood River, Sherman and Wasco counties: Gorge TransLink
Toll-free: 877-875-4657 - Malheur Council on Aging and Community Services
Phone: 541-881-0000 - Mid-Columbia Council of Governments Transportation Network
Phone: 541-298-4101 - Pendleton
Dial-a-Ride: 541-276-1926
Elite Taxi: 541-276-8294
Travel
- Accessible Travel — tips and guides (from Disaboom)
- Air Travel Tips for People with Disabilities (from Mobility International U.S.A.)
- The Association for Airline Passenger Rights
Veterans
- Brain Train cognitive retraining software, available through EOCIL
- The Oregon Partnership Military Helpline provides 24-hour a day immediate mental health and suicide crisis intervention from a team of veterans and trained volunteer crisis workers. Call 888-HLP-4-VET (888-457-4838).
- Oregon Department of Veterans' Affairs Veterans' Services Outreach Form
- ADA: Know Your Rights — Returning Service Members with Disabilities (publication)
- Blind Veterans Association
- The National Center for PTSD
- Disabled American Veterans
- Employer support and workforce development
- Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered Disabled Veterans: American Veterans for Equal Rights
- National Resource Directory ("an online partnership for wounded, ill and injured service workers, veterans, their families and those who support them")
- News and general
- Paralyzed Veterans of America
- Some Veterans with TBI Still Waiting for Purple Heart (video and transcript)
- Veteran Advocates of Ore-Ida
- Veterans and mesothelioma
- Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment
Youth
- Youth help line: A peer-to-peer crisis line for teens. Call 877-YOUTH-911 (877-968-8491).
- SEASON (Safety, Education, Advocacy, Support, Outreach, Networking) Project — serving homeless and at-risk youth in unstable living environments)
161 SW 9th St.
Ontario, OR 97914
Phone: 541-889-1905 - Health insurance for all Oregon youth —contact an EOCIL IL specialist for help completing the application!
- Family Information Guides from The Family Center on Technology and Disability
- National Youth Leadership Network (for young people with disabilities)
- National Consortium on Leadership and Disability for Youth — a youth-led resource, information and training center for youth and emerging leaders with developmental disabilities, housed at the Institute for Educational Leadership and funded by the Administration on Developmental Disabilities
- National Collaborative on Workforce and Disability for Youth — information on employment and youth with disabilities
Miscellaneous
- HIV/AIDS: Blue Mountain Heart to Heart
Dream it! Plan it! Achieve It!