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| Home / For Your community / | ||
| service providers coalition | ||
| In 2002, the Hearing, Speech & Deafness Center
(HSDC) formed a focus group of nonprofit agencies who serve the same
or
similar
populations:
Deaf,
hard of hearing, Deaf-Blind and speech challenged. At that time, there
was no cohesion between agencies, there was consistent competition
for funding for duplicate services, and there was no vehicle for sharing
of best practices and information. Convening this group fit HSDC's mission, which includes a focus on impacting systemic change and building capacity in the community. HSDC was in a unique position to organize what came to be called the Service Providers Coalition since our campus houses thirteen nonprofits, and we have a strong infrastructure and management. It was also clear that the community was looking to HSDC to provide leadership in bringing these agencies together. The belief was that we could strengthen the individual agencies through collaboration and increase the quality and coverage of services for disabled communities. HSDC stepped up to the plate and hosted the first focus group meeting with thirty-five participants in December of 2002. The goals of the focus group were:
The group, now called the Service Providers Coalition, has been meeting quarterly ever since and has had exciting results: coalitions and partnerships between agencies, training and mentoring, identifying trends and needs in the community, agencies volunteering for each other's steering and advisory committees, agencies exploring the possibility of merging where appropriate and increased visibility for a number of the individual providers. Members of the Service Providers Coalition include:
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