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EQUITY e-newsletter: April 2006 Disability and Asset Building Communities Working Together http://www.wid.org/equity In the April EQUITY: Pooled Special Needs Trusts: Opportunities & Challenges http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity FEATURE ARTICLE: Pooled Special Needs Trusts: Preserving the Assets of People with Disabilities http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200604&topic=fa Stephen W. Dale, Esq., recognizes that opportunities for people with disabilities to build assets are extremely limited. Here, Dale clearly defines the different types of Special Needs Trusts, who could benefit by a Pooled Trust account, and a few tips on how to choose a qualified non-profit organization managing a Pooled Trust. SPECIAL SECTION: Event to Introduce World Institute on Disability (WID) Projects and New Leadership Held in Washington, D.C. http://www.wid.org/news/#eiwid Held on the eve of the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Leadership Gala, the event provided an opportunity for the capital’s disability leaders to dialogue with Kathy Martinez, the new executive director of WID, and Megan O’Neil of WID’s Access to Assets project, one of two recipients of AAPD’s Paul G. Hearne emerging leader awards for 2006. PROGRAM OF THE MONTH: Shared Horizons, Inc.: A Pooled Special Needs Trust Enhancing the Lives of People with Disabilities http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200604&topic=pm Yolanda Mazyck, Shared Horizons Inc. Executive Director, manages the Pooled Special Needs Trust that serves Washington, D.C. residents. See how Shared Horizons is currently helping over 50 individuals with limited assets preserve, invest, and build for their futures. PROFILE OF THE MONTH: What a Difference Assets Make: Dave Baldassara http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200604&topic=profile Dave may have started out as the typical daredevil-turned-quadriplegic, but because of Enhanced Life Options and his Special Needs Trust he has become a mature, hard-working businessman that thoroughly enjoys life. TIP OF THE MONTH: Special Needs Trusts: Problems and Solutions http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200604&topic=tm While Special Needs Trusts can neither be considered a positive step towards self-direction or independent living, they are currently one of the only options that people with disabilities have to retain or build assets. Pooled Trusts may be a way to solve some of the problems. EQUITY Responds: WID Answers Your Questions http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity&sub=200604&topic=responds The Social Security Administration recently made some changes to Supplemental Security Income (SSI) that affect Special Needs Trusts. What were they? LEARNING & NETWORKING RESOURCES: Informative websites of interest to both communities http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=equity-resource#current CONFERENCES & EVENTS: http://www.wid.org/publications/?page=conf World Institute on Disability (WID) is a non-profit public policy center dedicated to the promotion of independence and full inclusion in society of people with disabilities. WID's Access to Assets (ATA) program provides training and technical assistance to asset building and disability organizations seeking to improve the inclusion of people with disabilities in poverty reduction programs. In addition, ATA provides information and referral services to individuals with disabilities and conducts federal and state policy analysis on related issues. Toll-Free Technical Assistance Hotline: 1-866-723-1201 Do you have questions about asset building strategies or serving people with disabilities? Please contact: Megan O'Neil World Institute on Disability Access to Assets Project Coordinator [log in to unmask] Is there an article, conference, or website that you would like to have included in EQUITY? All comments and suggestions are welcome. We encourage the widest possible dissemination of EQUITY- please forward this message to colleagues and friends. To subscribe or unsubscribe to EQUITY, please send an email to [log in to unmask] EQUITY is disseminated in plain text in an effort to be as accessible as possible to a variety of audiences. If you have difficulty reading this email or accessing our website, please send comments to [log in to unmask] EQUITY is a publication of World Institute on Disability's Access to Assets Program and is supported by the Asset Accumulation and Tax Policy Project. The Asset Accumulation and Tax Policy Project (AATPP) http://disability.law.uiowa.edu/lhpdc/projects/assetdevtaxpol.html is a partnership of The Law, Health Policy, and Disability Center at the University of Iowa College of Law, in collaboration with Southern New Hampshire University School of Community Economic Development, the National Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, the World Institute on Disability, and the National Cooperative Bank Development Corporation. AATPP is 100 percent funded by U.S. Department of Education grant #H133A031732. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of NIDRR or University of Iowa. EQUITY is also generously funded by the J.W. and Ida M. Jameson Foundation, the Charles and Helen Schwab Foundation and the Friedman Family Foundation. _________________________________________________________________ On the road to retirement? Check out MSN Life Events for advice on how to get there! http://lifeevents.msn.com/category.aspx?cid=Retirement ________________End of message______________________ This Disability-Research Discussion list is managed by the Centre for Disability Studies at the University of Leeds (www.leeds.ac.uk/disability-studies). Enquiries about the list administratione should be sent to [log in to unmask] Archives and tools are located at: www.jiscmail.ac.uk/lists/disability-research.html You can JOIN or LEAVE the list from this web page.