Building Economic Futures for Americans with Disabilities
Real Economic Impact Tour
Real Economic Impact Tour Bloggers
The Real Economic Impact Tour is is sponsoring this opportunity for individuals with disabilities to share their unique story about their financial situation and goals.
Bloggers
Six individuals with disabilities, three adults and three youths, are the official REI Tour Bloggers and will blog over the course of six months (January to June 2008). The adults will share their personal stories and advance their views on personal finance, planning a better economic future, and their daily aspirations to be part of the American Dream that begins with working and preserving income and building assets. Possible posting topics include but are not limited to difficulties and successes with asset development, savings and budget. The bloggers are required to write multiple postings per week, and at the end of June, a winner and runner up will be chosen.
The adult bloggers
- Claire - The blogger "Claire" is writing a blog about her hopes and dreams as a disabled person and ways to live within a budget, including means of communicating during the solitary end-of-winter, start-of-spring months. She looks forward to using her blog for sharing, being understood and hearing your wonderful feedback.
- Patience - The blogger known as “Patience” is working toward starting her own business. She has been blogging about her purchasing habits and ways to cut costs, such as making her own coffee in the morning as opposed to buying a cup at a local coffee shop to save money.
- Dizone - Dizone became deaf at the age of 18 and is working toward paying off her car that she purchased two years ago. Dizone has been blogging about the status of her job as the company she works for might have to shut down.
Youth Bloggers
Once a month for six months the youth will write a blog about their dreams to become more financially independent, to manage a budget, to open a savings account and other thoughts about working, saving money, and building assets.
The youth bloggers
- Countrygal8891 - CountryGal8891 is starting to prepare for college by taking the ACTs and SATs. She will also be blogging about financing her college education.
- Jcmunoz2009 - Jcmunoz2009 is also starting to prepare for college and has been blogging about finding ways to pay for college besides loans such as scholarships and grants.
- HearMeNow - HearMeNow is in high school and had a hearing disability when she was younger. She is involved in community service activities and plans to go to college.
Now it is up to you to comment on the blogs and begin a dialog with any or all of the REI Tour Bloggers. To register, go to one of the blogs and click on “comments” at the bottom of the page. Click on “You must be logged in to post a comment.” Click on “register” and follow the direction. After a one-time registration you will just have to log in to post a comment.
Real Economic Impact Tour
The Real Economic Impact Tour is attracting media attention across the country. The focus in 62 cities in 2008 is to build expectations about the possibilities of a better economic future for individuals with disabilities. For too long, individuals with disabilities have not been part of the American Dream. Today, more individuals with disabilities are working and saving to buy a home or start a business someday.
The Real Economic Impact Tour is about to begin its fourth year of activities in 62 cities nationwide. Last year we touched 1 million individuals with disabilities with information and special events and assisted over 36,000 individuals with free tax preparation with over $32 million in returns and EITC.
The National Disability Institute is creating through its Real Economic Impact Tour and other work in asset development a social network to advance a better economic future for persons with disabilities nationwide. NDI’s message is that individuals with disability can work, save, build assets, and reduce dependence on government benefits. Our vision is that all persons with disabilities become valued members of the mainstream economy.
The National Disability Institute has started a movement with the REI Tour unlike anything else in the disability world. For the first time in history, reports are going to Congress about the needs of taxpayers with disabilities; new bills are circulating in Congress about tax advantaged savings for persons with disabilities and their families, and people with disabilities are receiving real economic impact through receipt of refundable credits and other tax provisions previously not claimed.