Commission on Disabilities

The Virginia United Methodist Commission on Disabilities (COD) affirms the responsibility of the Church to be in ministry with all persons, regardless of their physical and/or mental conditions. The Commission seeks to fulfill this responsibility through advocacy, education and direct services, in the belief that ALL PEOPLE are ONE in the Body of Christ. The COD therefore is the ministry of the Virginia Conference with:

1. Persons with mental retardation and their families, including Camp Rainbow Connection.
2. Persons who are deaf, late deafened, and hard-of-hearing.
3. Persons with physical disabilities.
4. Persons with sight deficits and blindness.

Virginia United Methodist Men have supported this ministry since 1972.

All monies donated support the following programs of the COD:

• Accessibility Grants — which assist local churches in working their way toward total accessibility in both church facilities and parsonages.
• Program Grants — divided among the areas listed above to assist any church and/or church-related organization wanting to develop new minsitries with persons with disabilities.
• Respite Grants – established as part of the conference-wide initiative, "A Gift of Time," to encourage churches to become involved in providing or supporting opportunities for respite care for their members and communities.
• Camper Scholarships — to help campers who otherwise could not come to special needs camps without full or partial financial assistance.
• Annual Conference Accessibility — provides for ASL interpreters and Computer Assisted Notetaking (CAN), large print materials, and other steps to allow access to all conference activities and events.

 

A large part of the work of the Commission is in the area of education and advocacy. The Virginia Conference churches need to invite all of God’s people into the faith community. The COD is there to assist congregations in accessibility issues. Funding comes from two sources:

• Conference Benevolences — for the administrative aspects of the Commission.
• Local Church and Individual Donations — for the programming aspects of our ministry. United Methodist Men, United Methodist Women and local churches contribute to help this ministry financially.

 

The commission, while an administrative agency of the Virginia Conference, is ecumenical in its programming as long as the programs meet the needs of individuals with disabilities.

Services to the local churches include:

• Education and training for volunteers, church school teachers, pastors, and interested individuals.
• Workshops which deal with awareness of local congregations, workshops for special groups within the conference and nationally, including United Methodist Men/Women, Youth and Church school teachers.
• Seminars for various groups and organizations across the conference are developed. 
•  Projects/programs that need to be developed.
• Legislative issues are addressed that touch any of the areas.

 

For more information about the Commission on Disabilities, contact the Office of  Lay Life & Work, Disabilities, and Older Adults at: P.O. Box 1719, Glen Allen, VA 23060; phone: 1-800-768-6040 or (804) 521-1100; fax (804) 521-1178; e-mail MarthaStokes@vaumc.org.