Launching a Disability, Religion, and Spirituality Initiative

1
Launching a Disability, Religion, and
Spirituality Initiative

• A Planning Process

2
Outline of Presentation

• Previous activities related to initiative
• Planning process
• Focus groups
• Resource sharing
• Next steps

3
Previous Activities Related to Initiative

• Partnering with Mayors Advisory Committee for
  People with Disabilities during Disability
  Awareness Month to hold interfaith worship
  services modeling physical and attitudinal
  accessibility
• Partnering with Tennessee Council on
  Developmental Disabilities to develop and
  maintain Tennessee Disability Pathfinder
  information and referral service. The service
  includes a searchable database of Interfaith
  Resources
• Partnering with All Gods Children and Center for
  Child and family Policy, Vanderbilt Institute for
  Public Policy Studies, on a congregational survey

4
Previous Activities Cont

• Listening to family stories
• 40 years of experience working with the
  community to provide disability information,
  resources, and training-working to transfer
  research into practice

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Planning Process

• Prompted by a father of a young son with Down
  syndrome. Ties to fields of religion and
  psychology
• Development of initial draft proposal with
  broad-based VKC UCEDD input

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Draft Proposal

• Phase I Establishing Community Leadership
• (Interdisciplinary and Interfaith Advisory
  Council)
• Phase II Becoming Informed
• (Gathering information through surveys-families,
  congregations, and disability service providers
  and advocates)

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Draft Proposal

• Phase III Becoming Connected and Offering
  Support
• (Encouraging congregations to have a contact or a
  committee responsible for addressing
  disability-related issues)
• Phase IV Offering Training
• (Seminary and Divinity School, Congregation,
  Disability Agency and Service Provider)

8
Focus Groups

• Day-long series of meetings held to
• gather information about current congregational
  and community activities
• assess needs, opportunities, and barriers
• brainstorm
• assess whether VKC UCEDD could contribute in ways
  compatible with its core functions, emphases, and
  faculty/staff strengths and skills

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Focus Groups Included

• Clergy, religious and lay leaders
• Individuals with disabilities, family members,
  community disability organizations and advocates
• Vanderbilt Divinity School faculty and students
• Vanderbilt Kennedy Center researchers and UCEDD
  staff

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What we learned From the focus groups

• A lot is happening

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What we learned From the focus groups

• A lot is happening
• No one knows about it

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What we learned From the focus groups

• A lot is happening
• No one knows about it
• How we might lend support

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Resource Sharing

• Established an electronic distribution list
• Shared a summary of the notes from the focus
  groups
• Shared a list of local resources
• Continue to send periodic resource updates

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Next steps

• Funding

15
Next steps

• Funding
• Gaining support of Vanderbilt Divinity School

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Next steps

• Funding
• Gaining support of Vanderbilt Divinity School
• Taking pre-initiative steps

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Contact information

• Courtney Taylor, M.Div.
• Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Excellence in
  Developmental Disabilities (TN UCEDD)
• courtney.taylor_at_vanderbilt.edu

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• When a child is diagnosed with a disability, the
  first place a young family turns is to their
  doctor. The second place they turn is often to
  their faith community. Faith communities need to
  be able support families across the life span and
  stages. Congregations need to have knowledge and
  be able to give good advice to families on both
  spiritual and practical issues.