NASHVILLE, Tenn.— Many people with disabilities not able to evacuate from the Gulf Coast, as well as those who did evacuate, are having difficulty finding needed resources in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. In response, Tennessee Disability Pathfinder, an online referral service for individuals with disabilities, has created a Web-based collection of resources at www.familypathfinder.org.
“Evacuees contacted us needing services such as specialized equipment, especially wheelchairs, adult day care and special education services. We created this website to serve them,” said Carole Moore-Slater, Pathfinder director. “We have approximately 20,000 evacuees here in Tennessee. Pathfinder can provide them with information they will need during their time here, from where to find specialized equipment, such as wheelchairs, to what kinds of adult day services are available and how to enroll their children in special education programs.”
By clicking on Pathfinder’s Hurricane Resources page, users can find a wide array of information, including emergency management agencies, education, employment, equipment, financial assistance, health care, insurance, long-term care, shelter, social security disability, transportation and more. The page is updated frequently. Additions, corrections, or suggestions can be sent to tnpathfinder@vanderbilt.edu.
Tennessee Disability Pathfinder has phone, Web and print resources in English and Spanish and provides information and referral services to people with disabilities, family members, service providers and advocates. Pathfinder is a program of the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center for Research on Human Development and the Tennessee Council on Developmental Disabilities.
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Media contacts: Jan Rosemergy, (615) 322-8238
jan.rosemergy@vanderbilt.edu
Melanie Moran, (615) 322-NEWS
melanie.moran@vanderbilt.edu