Opening Doors
Opening Doors is an effort to create a more efficient, sustainable one-stop portal for the healthcare industry to effectively reach diverse underserved communities. By organizing and strengthening fragmented grassroots multicultural organizations that serve individuals with developmental disabilities and their families, a united federation is developed .
Building on the assumption that there is strength through cooperation, the federation is creating a corporate infrastructure that will allow organizations to leverage limited resources through cooperative solutions, such as sharing resources, implementing cross-cultural programs, providing incubator functions to new organizations, mentoring new leaders, and collectively influencing systems--all within the context of multicultural communities helping each other.
The purpose of this planning grant is to increase the capacity of ten minority focus disability organizations to assist their constituencies to access appropriate healthcare by providing them with intensive training, mentoring, and community experience with the healthcare delivery system and healthcare policy and advocacy groups. Parallel activities will include healthcare outreach and training efforts by member agencies to constituent groups, building relationships with policymakers and legislators, and beginning the process of organizing as a member-driven federation.
The following organizations are Opening Doors members:
Population Served: People with Disabilities and their Families
Project Director: Barbara Wheeler, Ph.D.
Project Coordinator: Rita Maldonado
323-361-2450 x8325
rimaldonado@chla.usc.edu
Funding Sources: Cal Endowment