The Access to Food (A2F) project provides FREE training for California’s food banks, food pantries and other emergency food distribution sites. A2F will travel to your organization and provide training to your staff and volunteers on one or more of the following topics. Each of the training modules is approximately 90 minutes.

 

Disability Awareness:
Staff and volunteers who work at emergency food distribution sites care about people. Sometimes even people who care about others may find themselves uncomfortable around people with disabilities or unable to communicate effectively. This training helps participants build communication skills and increase their understanding of the many abilities that people with disabilities possess. It is a safe space where participants can talk about past experiences and present attitudes with the goal of improving future service to people with disabilities. Whether this is your organization’s first step in its journey toward greater disability competence or a refresher course for participants, this interactive training will allow all participants to come away with a broadened perspective. 

 

Physical Access:
This training provides a broad overview of the principles of physical access that are further defined by the Americans with Disabilities Act and other access regulations. The trainers work with participants to understand the barriers and challenges that people with disabilities may face getting to and inside your organization. Expect a lot of hands-on activities and practical solutions to common accessibility problems. At the request of the organization, the trainer(s) can discuss one or more of the Access Surveys organizations are required to complete prior to applying for Access to Food Fund monies.

 

Programmatic Access:
Non-physical aspects of disability access can be even more important than physical access. Some of the many questions we will explore include: Does your organization ask potential clients if they need accommodations? Do you ask your volunteers? If they request accommodations, do you know what to do? If you have a website, is it accessible to screen readers? Do you even know what a screen reader is? Does your staff know when and how to call the California Relay Service? We will cover all of this and discuss outreach strategies that will catch the eye of members of your local disability community.

 

To sign up for a training, or to learn more, please contact Kim Cantrell , Training Director