TylerPaper.com 

Posted 11:32 pm  Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Grants awarded to 2 East Texas services for the disabled

Staff Reports

The Texas Council for Developmental Disabilities has awarded two grants to organizations in East Texas to improve community-based services for people with disabilities and their families.

“I am pleased that the Council has awarded these grants to help people with developmental disabilities reach their full potential,” state Sen. Kevin Eltife, R-Tyler, said in a news release. “I look forward to hearing the success stories.”

The council awarded $74,640 to the East Texas Center for Independent Living for one year and $75,000 to Community Healthcore for 18 months, according to the release.

The East Texas Independent Living Center will establish a network of individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members, mental health authorities, human service providers, educators, and medical, vocational and transportation providers to create a strategic plan.

The plan will focus on people with developmental disabilities who are at risk of institutional placement and live in Tyler, Athens, Jacksonville, Canton, Henderson, Mineola and surrounding rural communities.

Community Healthcore’s project will focus on Gregg County first, then Harrison, Marion, Panola and Upshur counties.

Its strategic plan will have a special emphasis on three areas: respite services, culturally appropriate individual- and family-friendly health care and behavioral supports.

It will use a community-building model that focuses on discovering and mobilizing existing assets.

Once the plans are done, each organization can request more funding from TCDD for up to five years to implement its plan.

Visit www.tcdd.texas.gov or call  1-800-262-0334 for more information.

ALTO, TX (KTRE) –

“Alto Health For All” is a local health care program bringing a variety of health care services together under one roof for alto residents.

“It’s basically a small scale of a health fair. We offer it on a monthly basis on the 3rd Tuesday of every month from 1-3 in the afternoon for the local citizens.”

Program Director Kathy Davis says the idea for the program started five years ago with a community assessment where citizens voiced that they wanted to have a local health care program.

Twenty-five different health care providers have teamed up with Alto Health For All to bring medical services to Alto.

“We do all kinds of screenings,” Davis said. “We have health care providers that come and deliver blood sugar screenings, blood glucose. We’ve had chiropractors giving spinal analysis. We have dental screenings, vision screenings.”

Health care professionals donate their time and residents get free medical screenings, education on early detection and general health advice.

Davis pointed out how much it meant to residents, due to the normal expenses.

“Especially with people that don’t have medical insurance or underemployed or unemployed it really helps them out a great deal,” she said.

Jewel Myles came to the program to get her blood sugar tested.

“We need something like that here,” she said.

Funding is provided by Alto economic development and grants from CVS Caremark and the Walmart local giving program.

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