Utilizing Your Village

Understand that it may actually “take a village” of service providers to assist an individual through the business planning process and into implementation; often times our success is determined by how well we communicate our needs.  For consumers, this may include rethinking how you communicate with your rehabilitation counselor.  For service providers, reaching out to communicate with new and unfamiliar organizations requires time and energy.  Recently, Elizabeth Lind, Senior Project Manager at the Iowa Able Foundation, sat down with WID to discuss the issue from both the consumer and provider side.

WID:  How can a consumer communicate their needs to a counselor if they are learning about those needs along the way – like during the business planning process? 

LIND:  We normally meet the VR client once the business plan is done.  However, from time to time, a counselor or consumer will call us early on in the business planning process to learn more about our business financing services.  When that happens, we offer to review as much of the plan as has been created and then take the opportunity to remind the business owner that it is their obligation to find out more about their credit, ability to save, etc.  Inevitably, they say that their counselor has to approve any actions taken.  We remind them that they are the ones in control of the business planning, not the counselor, and it is their responsibility to communicate their needs as they are discovered.  The consumer has the right to request additional services.  Consequently, the consumer becomes the one with the knowledge and should communicate their new found needs back to the counselor.  Doing so in a well documented and researched way will help the counselor satisfy the consumer’s needs.

WID:  How about service providers?  For example, if a microenterprise group targets women as clients and a woman with a disability selects their services, how can they be sure they are providing services in a meaningful way?

LIND:  In this case, I assume that “meaningful” could be referring to things that are different for women with disabilities such as benefits and accessibility.  During the initial evaluation process, while the micro group determines whether or not they can provide services based upon their funder requirements, both demographic and economic data is recorded.  Obviously, when a woman notes Supplemental Security Income as a cash benefit, it is the service providers cue to look to the local village of service providers and find a benefits counselor.  At a minimum, the service provider should ask the client if she has access to benefits counseling through Social Security or others. 

It’s kind of the reverse with accessibility.  The client should clearly communicate their accessibility needs to the service provider who, in turn, goes back to the village to make it happen.  However, it is equally important that the service provider ask about accessibility at the time of application.  This type of communication goes both ways.