>> -- from Cornell University's Employment and Disability Institute, and I want to welcome you to this month's wise cam 1 event. We're here with some great people from Boston. We have people speaking to us from all over the country during these webinars, but today we've got the folks from ICI in Boston. And I'll introduce them to you in a wee bit. We're going to talk about exploring community services as a pathway to employment. So it's just another option that's open to you in order to move from a benefits recipient to financial independence. And let's see what we've got next. We want your participation. Now the slides that you're seeing right now are not exactly for this platform. We're breaking in a brand new computer platform. And you people are our guinea pigs. So what we do want to do, however, is have your questions come to us. If you look over in the webinar console on the right-hand side of your screen you're going to see a Q and A box. There's an arrow in front of the word Q and A. You click on the arrow. And it will open a box similar to the one that you see here. You'll be able to type in your question or your comment and hit send. That question box is going to be monitored by Jamie. And we will stop after each speaker's presentation to ask them the questions that you have. We're not likely to get to all of you because there are hundreds of you on the line, and we do, however, want to get your questions answered. So we will be providing you with resources to get those questions answered throughout today's session. Now webinar accessibility, we are striving, which is why we moved platforms, to make these webinars as accessible as possible to the largest number of people. If you have any problem today with screen readers, with sound, anything at all, any accessibility issues, please let us know. And as well as letting us know what your issue is, if you happen to be aware of a program or some kind of fix we can make in our program that will fix the situation, let us know about that too. Because we not only want to know you had a tough time, but we want to know if you know how to make this better for you. So that we can make sure that the next session is accessible to a few more people. Now for today there is a free number to call in. So if you're listening through your computer right now and you do happen to lose that Internet connection you can dial this toll-free number and you will be able to access the voice part of this session. That toll-free number is 1-855-244-8681, 1-855-244-8681. And the access code is 315804922. Anybody needing closed captioning, there is a link on your screen, and if you need to type that in, it is http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/captions.cfm? Activity_id=4097. And that is going to get you to our closed captioning. The Power Point and accessible PDF are located in that link that you received in your confirmation, along with your access letter. We will be archiving this presentation hopefully in about a week, give us a week or so. So it will be up and posted to the web site so you will be able to access it again. There it is, in two weeks. And here's where you can locate it, at www.ilr.cornell.edu/edi/ m-wise-webinars.cfm. Again, we're going to have question and answers after each presenter's presentation. We want you to type those into the Q and A box, please do not use the chat box. You shouldn't have access to it anyway, but we don't want your questions in the chat box. We want Jamie to only be maintaining one box at a time. You can submit those to the Q and A box, or if you want to you can send your questions via e-mail to chooseworkquestions, all one word, chooseworkquestions@Gmail.com. And if you have a question after the session is over, e-mail your question to Support@Chooseworkttw, that's choosework@ttw.net. We'll give you all of that information later on as well. Today's agenda, you're getting your introductory information from me, I'll be taking you through some of the basic slides as well as some video presentations from social security, then I'm going to turn it over the Corporation For National and Community Service, and Sheila Fesko, an old buddy of mine, we worked together many, many years ago in Boston, is at the institute For Community Inclusion. We're going to talk about the Serve America Act, the relationship between National Service and other volunteer opportunities, service leading to a national [Inaudible] other volunteer opportunities [Inaudible] okay, service leading to work. Sorry for that glitch there. How to connect with service opportunities if you decide that's how you want to start your road back to work. Then I'll take over and give you some other resources and we'll take any last minute questions that we have. So that's our format for today. Right now we have Williams, who is the associate commissioner in social security in the office of employment support programs who is a big fan and supporter of the return to work programs. So I'm going to ask Mike to queue up that video, and we'll get the message from Commissioner Williams.

[ Silence ]

[ Music ]

>> Hello, and welcome today to the webinar. My name is Bob Williams, and I am [Inaudible] Commissioner For Employment Service Management and Social Security Administration. [Inaudible] self sufficiency programs which [Inaudible] at SSI who want to improve their life and [Inaudible] by becoming employed. By viewing this webinar you will learn how you can receive training, become employed, and increase your earnings, reduce your reliance on disability benefits, and eventually earn a better living by becoming fully self-supporting [Inaudible] practice is not for everyone. This is why [Inaudible] take advantage of the [Inaudible] I know for a fact that people with significant disabilities may [Inaudible] barrier to becoming employed. This is especially proved in today's economy. A major reason you receive social security benefits is a [Inaudible] social security that you are not able to work up to [Inaudible] health. But I also want you to [Inaudible] having a significant disability no longer adds to a [Inaudible] lifetime of employment and greater financial security. But it can offer you [Inaudible] training opportunities and support you need to go to work and gain financial independence. I hope today's webinar begins your journey to greater self-sufficiency, your life and future can be better. Thank you for joining us.

[ Music ]

>> Okay, as always we want to thank Commissioner Williams for his good words in support of our work. Why are we choosing work? That's the main question we have to answer today. And there are some very simple answers and there are some more complex answers. And the first answer is because there is more money involved. There's absolutely more money involved. With the process of planning a return to work, and for all of you who might be receiving SSI benefits, it's not going to be possible for you to end up with less money than you have now. We will also in that process do our best to protect your health benefits for as long as possible. And I can assure you that that's a long time. Why else are we going to choose work? To gain in dependence. That's a very important thing. Not only are we trying to gain independence from the benefits plans that we're on, but to allow you to make choices. To make choices as to where you want to live, how you want to live your life, when you want to go, what you want to go, how you want to eat. All of this allows you to be more independent than you can be on the benefit system. Meeting new people. Jamie has heard this a thousand times already, but you meet all kind of people at work. I met my spouse at work. I'm married because I work. I go to Christmas parties because I work. You know, all kinds of new people and friends. I know Jamie, I know everybody on this webinar because I work. So meeting new people to allow you to participate more in a wider society than you might be doing so now might be a good thing. Learning new skills. You know, we can assist you in learning new skills that you may need to get a job. We can get you education if you need that, to get a job. And as a matter of fact, even if you are work-ready now, you will be learning new skills on the job. So there are lots of things that social security makes available to you in order to help you get back to work. Now the one large program that we're going to be talking about is the Ticket to Work program. And that's a program that started at the end of 1999, when President Clinton signed the Ticket to Work act. The Ticket to Work program is part of that act. Notice, and commissioner Williams told you, it is free and it is voluntary. It is available to SSD I and SSI beneficiaries who still have a disability and want to enter the work force either for the first time or to increase their current hours. Now people between the ages of 18 and 64 who receive benefits, either from the Title 2 program, the SSDI program or the SSI program, Title 16, will be eligible for a Ticket to Work. Social security is no longer putting them in the mail. Some of you may have received them in the mail a few years ago. That's not happening any more. That does not mean you don't have a ticket. All you need to too is contact one of the numbers we're going to give you or an employment network and they can find out next to an immediately whether or not you have a ticket that is assignable. The only thing I want to tell you is about the younger group here, if you have 18 years of age you must have gone through the age 18 redetermination in order to be eligible for a ticket. So all the folks that we're talking about are ages 18 through 64 and are disabled adults according to social security. Now when you're ready to work what can this ticket get you? If you want more income, we can help you by improving your earning potential. Again, education, skills training, technical school. Relearning a job you could do in the past. All of these things are possible. And remember, it's free and completely voluntary. If you're looking for personal fulfillment that comes from working, what we can do is allow you to focus on work with confidence and provide you with the stability that you need so you don't need to worry about losing your benefits, either cash or healthcare, while you are focusing on work. If you want to be able to get benefits back because that job doesn't work out, sometimes it doesn't. Sometimes life happens, and you might have an exacerbation and you're not able to continue that. Social security has thought about that too. And there's a mechanism known as expedited reinstatement that is a fast track back on to receiving benefits after you have been terminated because you're working. So social security is not only looking out for you until that termination date, they're looking out for you beyond that termination date. And if you're feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to turn, by the end of this webinar you're going to find out it doesn't matter where you turn. We're going to connect you with the people, resources, and services that you need to develop an individualized plan to get you back to work. And it really is a no-wrong-door policy. You can connect with any of the entities that we're about to tell you about and get the information that you need. Now, notice this notion, building your employment team is the best way to begin. Now you're wondering what is an employment team? I thought I just had to get a job. Well, the employment team is the whole group of people including a spouse or a parent, a social worker, a doctor, your VR agency, an employment network or somebody who's helping you plan what will happen to those benefits of yours when you begin to work. All of those people are going to come together and work as a team on your behalf. And how do you get that started? You can contact the Ticket to Work help line at 1-866-968-7842. That's a toll-free number. 866-968-7842. Or for TTY users, 866-833-2967. They will start the process of getting you in contact with the people who will begin to make up your employment team. Learning more about the Ticket to Work, what you're doing now, paying attention to our blog, watching success stories that we're going to show you today and others you can access to see how other people have gotten through this process. Always, this web site is a great web site for you, www.socialsecurity.gov/work. A wonderful, very user-friendly to web site to get tons of good information. You might want to start by finding an employment network. Now how do you find an employment network? An employment network is a private person or an agency that can help you get back to work, can do all kinds of things for you. Your state VR agency is an employment network. So you could call your state VR agency, you could call the Ticket to Work help line to find any [Inaudible] or go onto the web site to find an employment network that serves your area. Notice, you can do any one of these things to get started. What's your job once you get started? Stay connected that employment team is working for you. You are directing that team, you are telling them what you want to do, what type of work you want, how much you think you're able to work. And the team will then begin to work on your behalf, to build the education that you need, build the skills that you need, get your resume ready, get you some practice interviewing and potentially point you to a few job openings. Again, no wrong door. The help line, socialsecurity.gov, or contact your state VR agency. All of those will get you to go. That being said, I am now going to turn you over to Sheila Fesko. Sheila, take it away.

>> Thank you, Ray. And thank you all for participating in the webinar. We're very excited that you're interested in the topic and interested in thinking about returning to work. My name is Sheila Fesko. I'm with the National Service to employment project. We're based out of the University of Massachusetts in Boston, and with me today is Nancy Keeler who also works on the same project with me, and [Inaudible] Belgard, who is with the corporation for national and community service. And each of them will introduce themselves in one minute. We are going to be sharing some ideas about how to think of National Service as a way to get some experience and make that transition back into work. So this may not be a concept you really have heard much about before or are familiar with, so we're going to explain the different pieces, what we mean by National Service, how you might use things that you learn in National Service to help you prepare for a job, where to find out about those kind of opportunities and what sort of impact that has on your benefits, all those sorts of issues we're going to cover over the course of the next hour. But as Ray said, feel free to post questions in the Q and A box, and we'll respond to suppose as each of us makes a transition. Jewel is going to present the next slide, talking more about what the Corporation For National and Community Service is, as well as explaining the Serve America Act, which establishes the corporation. So I'm going to pass it on to Jewel, and we can go to the next slide.

>> Good afternoon, everybody, as Sheila said and Ray, thank you all for participating. My name is Jewel Bazillo Belgard. I work at the Corporation For National and Community Service. Or CNCS. In case you haven't heard of CNCS, maybe you've heard of AmeriCorps or Vista. Those are our programs. The corporation for national and community service is a federal agency that was created in 1993 and '04 with the national community service act. And its purpose is really to engage Americans of all backgrounds, all walks of life, in helping their communities to be stronger, to grow. And at the same time, also help themselves. Because we know that in the act of performing community service or volunteering the benefits extend to the communities that people serve, but also their loss of benefits that come back to the individual who's engaged in service. And you'll hear us talk some more about that. We are organized basically into three different programs. The one you may have heard about is AmeriCorps. And we like to refer to it as sort of the domestic peace corps in the sense that we have programs throughout the country and territories. We partner with states and local organizations, non-profit organizations, and local governments to engage Americans in service to the community. The AmeriCorps program include one of them is the Vista program, which has been around since 1964-5, that engages young people and actually the ages -- starting at age 17 and all the way up. And then we have another program, the National Civilian Community Corps, and we can go into more detail about that. And also you'll get information on where to find out more about it on our web site. And then there's the senior corps program. You have to be 55 and older. And there are three ways that you can engage in helping your community through senior corps programs. What means is we have a program that can probably fit anybody at any stage in their lives. So you have a choice of any of these programs, and some of you may have heard of the learn and serve program. Many of them still exist, and these are programs that engage students, pupils from kindergarten all the way up through college in service, while they're actually engaged in their educational pursuits. So there's lots of ways that you can serve and we'll talk about how, depending on what your interests are. But no matter where you are in the country there's a way for you to engage in community service, if you would like to too that. Sheila, you'll tell me when to stop, right?

>> I will. [Inaudible] America next.

>> As I mentioned, I mentioned the national community service act of 1994, that was reauthorized, or re-jiggered in 2009, in the Serve America Act. Serve America Act was signed -- actually, I should give you the whole name. It's the Edward Kennedy Serve America Act that was signed in 2009 by President Obama. But this is the act where we kind of learned a lot from the previous years of National Service and the programs that we were implementing and heard from a lot of people around the country and made some significant changes. Actually strengthening the community service act that [Inaudible] in the country. One of the things that was always a primary part of all of the acts that created this agency and this program has been the inclusion of people with disabilities in everything we do. And when we say Americans from all walks of life and all backgrounds, we literally mean that, and it does include people with disabilities. The Serve America Act actually strengthened that notion, reemphasized the CNCS commitment to inclusion of people with disabilities, and also talked about the role that service can play ace way to get people to employment or to higher education, or to whatever it is they want to do, including people with disabilities. So we talk about services as a pathway to all kinds of things. And we'll talk some more about that. But the other thing that is emphasized is the role service can play in education, and civic engagement. We like to think that we are -- if [Inaudible] part of your makeup, we're fostering a sense of an ethic of service, we're fostering a way for people to try this out and then they realize this is something that's really good, and I feel really good when I do this, I look at all the skills I'm developing, the networks I'm creating, the people I'm meeting, and the good work I'm doing, and I'm really a strong part of contributing to my community. And they keep doing it for life. So if you want to keep doing it for life you can, either in a non-radiational volunteer program that's not a part of the this National Service program. You can always volunteer for Red Cross or one of the other agencies who are also partners of ours, by the way. And you can do it through one of our programs until you're whatever age you are. Through senior corps, AmeriCorps, or any of our programs. And we're looking for ways to increase the number of people serving, and specifically for our purposes in my office, increase the number of people with disabilities who are serving because we know how really beneficial it is in all kinds of ways that you can actually see and touch. But lots of ways that you really can't. They're very intangible.

>> Thank you. That gives folks a context in terms of what we're going to do. Nancy is going to talk more now in detail about the specific programs and what some of the requirements are for the programs. Ray, if you can just jump ahead to the slide with the quote? Thank you. And Nancy, you can go ahead and get started.

>> Thank you, Sheila and Jewel. This was a quote that was taken from an AmeriCorps alumni in Michigan, and it's just a great way to encapsulate how the service experience positively impacted this alum's life. The quote says, the service experience really set me up for the career that I want to go into and where my passions are, and where I want to be. When I talked to AmeriCorps members, this is something that has come back to me over and over again, that the AmeriCorps experience for these members really helps them test out a career, figure out where they wanted to go. So I'm going to talk a little bit about AmeriCorps in general, and what are the benefits, what are the opportunities that are available in AmeriCorps, and then Jewel going to follow up with some of the direct benefits we've seen through our research at the next step. So Ray, if you could forward the slide for me.

>> Okay, Nancy, I just wanted to reemphasize that quote and give you a little bit of my own experience. My own experience of going into legal services and ending up doing the job I'm doing is because I volunteered at a legal services agency during one of my summers of law school. So this volunteer stuff can be life-changing.

>> I completely agree with you, Ray. That's great. And that's something -- yours is just one example. So many people whose lives have been positively impacted by going into service, by volunteering. And what AmeriCorps offers, and I'm going talk about AmeriCorps in particular because it's open for people who are 17 and older, and we'll talk about some of the age differences between the programs. But that's what's really important is that it's open for people that are potentially looking for a way to transition into a job. And so it's just an excellent opportunity to get your toes wet. Now senior corps is also a great option, and Jewel did talk about that. But senior corps is for people 55 and older. So that may not meet your needs right now. The first one I have AmeriCorps State and National. And AmeriCorps State and National is run through thousands of programs across the country. And it reaches out to the community through direct service. So that means really hands-on, getting involved in the community. There are a lot of different opportunities through AmeriCorps State and National. Some of them are full time, some of them are part-time or quarter time. Some of them can be full time for the summer or full time all year. And so as you look at these opportunities be mindful of the time commitment that you're able to give and what the requirement from that program is in particular. To be in AmeriCorps State and National member you have to be at least 17 years old. Although programs have different requirements just based on specifically what they need. So some programs may expect you to be at least 18 years old or older, some of them have different education requirements whether you need to have your high school diploma or equivalent, which is a basic standard for most programs, or a BA or a master's degree. Continue to the next slide. We also have AmeriCorps Vista, and Vista as Jewel mentioned comes out of the 1960's, and it's volunteers and service to America. And this is I think most closely tied to the idea of the peace corps. It's volunteers all over the US that are specifically working to fight poverty. In the US, it's estimated that there are 37 million Americans living in poverty. So this is a very big need. And as an AmeriCorps Vista, the focus on not on direct service, not on getting your hands dirty, but more so on building the capacity of an organization. Basically, you would go in and do a project for a non-profit or a government agency in your area that has a Vista program. And when you leave, you have created something that can sustain itself. It doesn't need to be your presence in the organization. So it could be, like, you know, building a system for filing for the organization, or a volunteer management system. It tends to be pretty involved, and there's a lot of self-direction with Vista, but there are great benefits to being in AmeriCorps Vista, and I was in AmeriCorps Vista, and I can tell you that frequently you'll run into people who were vistas, just because the program has been around for the past 40 years. Now AmeriCorps Vista is full time for a year. And they say that it's 24/7, it's something to be mindful that when you become an AmeriCorps Vista, you're putting off going to school or putting off commitments you might have in another job to say you are available to be in AmeriCorps Vista. Next slide, please. Now the final AmeriCorps program that I'm going to talk about is in NCCC. And that is the national civilian community corps. And this is a team-based residential program. What we have is campuses across the US. They're located in Denver, Colorado; Sacramento, California; Perri Point, Maryland; Vicksburg, Mississippi; and Venton Point, Iowa. And these campuses serve as a base for service members that then work in teams to go out to different regions of the country and to build trails and fight fires and to do hand-on, more physical labor type of projects in those communities. It includes a lot of disaster relief and it is -- it is full time. So with Katrina several years ago, in NCCC, these were the AmeriCorps members that were going down there and working to help bring disaster relief to the New Orleans area. And that's just one example of what they do. Because they are so good at what they do, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency recently linked up with NCCC to create the FEMA corps, which is a devoted unit of 1600 service corps members within AmeriCorps and NCCC that typically do the work FEMA does with disaster relief and emergency management. So if that is something in particular you're interested in, this could be a really good option for you. Now the one caveat with NCCC is it is for people who are 17 to 24 years of age. It's an excellent student, a lot of team-building and team work, but it is for a specific age range. If you can forward my slide again.

>> Okay, Nancy, we do have one question going back to the senior corps. Is that for people 65 and over or 55 and over?

>> It's 55.

>> People that are 55 and older. And it depends on the program. As Jewel covered in her section, and they have a lot of great information on the web site as well. But it has three basic programs, foster grand parents, RSVP, and the senior companion program.

>> Okay. Thank you.

>> There are some excellent benefits built into National Service. First of all, there is a living stipend, and it is a stipend, it's not a wage. But it's something to help compensate a person for being involved in National Service. It varies by area, it's based on the cost of living, and this is just a rough estimate, and Jewel you can yell at me for saying this. Typically, it's between $9-14,000 per year. So it is something that is just to cover basic living expenses. But it also allows the freedom to be really involved in the service project and not have to worry about finances, per se. There's also health insurance, and this is for full time participants only, but there's access to healthcare as well as prescription coverage. And that's something you can learn more details about as you pursue going into National Service. Another great benefit is the Segal AmeriCorps Education Award, which is current $5500, and that is prorated to the amount of time that you're in National Service. So if you do half a year then it would be half of that sum. And this can be paid towards most student loans, something to really think about. Or it can be used for future schooling. So if you want to go back to school this is a great opportunity to have a nice chunk of change to put towards school. I know for me and my first year of work, I know for me in my first year of work I don't think I could have put away that much money towards school. So this is a great opportunity to do that. You can also postpone student loan payment, and that's something that you would work out with your loan organization that your student loans are through to defer payment. And what they also do through Segal is that that education award will pay any sort of interest that's accrued on your loans in that amount of time. So it's an excellent opportunity to have money for school or to pay off previous loans. Now there is some child care reimbursement. And that would be something if you're interested in it to look into in more detail, we can get you more information if you're interested. But some of the biggest benefits, per se, of National Service is just the training and professional development. And we're going to talk about -- and Sheila in particular -- is going to talk about the intangible benefits. But there is also opportunities to pursue professional training while in service. A lot of programs either have it built into the service program or if you're interested in grant writing or something where you would need to take a class. A lot of these programs will pay to send you to a class that you can take for professional development, which is really wonderful. And then some of the service programs do have uniforms. NCCC [Inaudible] which is an example of a national direct program, a national AmeriCorps program, they both have uniforms that they provide their members. So if you need to wear one they'll have it there for you. If that's something you're maybe not interested in, it would be good to ask the program before hand, just to have an idea of what their expectation is. Now I'm going to give you a few examples of service activities, because I know I just talked through some of the nitty gritty details of AmeriCorps, but it's good to see what people actually do. This right here is a picture of AmeriCorps members that are trail-building. They're working in a big group, they're going out and doing physical labor. And based on the responsibilities that each one of them has they're going to gain a lot of different skills. Whether it's project management or just learning how to build a really good trail. Depending on what you want to do down the road, this could be a great opportunity. On the next slide we have an AmeriCorps member who is actually a volunteer manager for a community garden. So he's working in his own community to create a garden and he's also coordinating the activities of people that are coming in and volunteering. And this is something that could be pretty typical, volunteer management as an AmeriCorps member. You are a volunteer, but you are also helping coordinate the activities of other volunteers. On the next slide we have an AmeriCorps member who is tutoring. That's another big activity within AmeriCorps is working with students. And then finally, we have two women on the last slide here that are part of disaster relief. And so they're working out of an office, which is a little different from the other slides, but another common AmeriCorps activity is working in an office to help coordinate the activities of what that non-profit does. At this time, I'm going to let Sheila take over again and talk to you a little bit more about how service transforms lives. But do we have any questions at this point?

>> Yeah. We have a couple of questions. I'm trying to think -- I'm trying to get to the ones that are most appropriate right now. But we have -- one is how does the volunteer activity impact my work incentives such as the trial work period?

>> That's a great question. And actually, I'm going to cover that in detail in a few minutes. And I'm got to [Inaudible] build it all out. So I'm going to defer on that question for a minute, but I promise we'll get to it.

>> Absolutely. The others I think are going to come up better later on as well.

>> This is Sheila again. Let me give a little bit of context. As Nancy referenced, we've been working with alumni to learn from them on what their experience in participating in service has meant to them and how that's impacted their lives and their future employment goals. So I'm going to describe a little bit about what we've learned from individuals, and then also share the information about the impact on benefits, because I know that's a critical variable, and it's a little different depending on the program. So I want to be able to represent that all at one point. Some of the issues that we looked at in working with individuals with disabilities that have participated in service are three main areas that folks have seen a real difference in that. It's building their own character, their own personal sense of self, their career, and building and contributing to their community. And I'm going to talk about each of those in a little bit more detail. So if you can go onto the next slide. Actually, there may be a transition one. So we'll -- bounce forward. Thank you. In the issue about building character, own personal growth, one of the things that we've heard from a lot of folks is the impact of service and how they feel about themselves, both in terms of how engaged and their self esteem improving, their own sense of self and personal satisfaction and happiness increasing, but also really learning some valuable skills about themselves and their capacity to interact in different settings. For individuals, the ability to be able to advocate for themselves, make a decision about disclosure of disability if that's the issue that they're dealing with, being able to have that out within the context of the service program so that they're -- they've gotten a better sense of themselves and their disability, what accommodations they might need and how they're able to address that. All skills that are very useful for them in preparing for employment opportunities after that. Another area of really important personal growth for individuals is the sense -- being able to identify better for themselves their own future and what kinds of environments they are interested in and where they're going to be most comfortable and most successful. So by trying out some different activities through National Service it's helped them define their career a little bit more. Another personal benefit of that as well is the variety of individuals folks have interacted with. As we referenced, Jewel said previously a real core component of National Service is that it is inclusive of a wide range of individuals and a broad spectrum of individuals. So for a lot of folks it was an opportunity to interact with some people they may not have previously had much contact with, either, you know, variety in terms of ages or racial or ethnic differences. For one individual that we've talked with, that was an individual with a significant physical disability that came from a more suburban community, his interaction in a more urban environment was very eye-opening for him in terms of the variety of different ways that people interact. You had to have that previous experience in high school, and did this between -- did a year of service between high school and going on to college, and felt it really gave him a broader world view. Can we go onto the next slide? This is a quote for an individual, talking about what it meant for them in terms of the impact of the experience of being able to participate in National Service. And their comment, and this is an individual who acquired a disability later in life and was making a transition back into employment. And they said they were able to provide me with just a lot of confidence. Really for me, even more than the accommodations I needed most was to get my sea legs under me again and understand that I was competent. So again, this sort of-- how it defines it for the person and everybody's experience is very different from that. But as a way to transition back to work or for people who haven't worked significantly in the past, it's a way to get a different kind of exposure, different opportunities. Can we go onto the next slide?

>> Nancy referenced some of the different types of work that individuals were exposed to, and so the kinds of job skills -- one of the things as we're talking with people about is the importance -- the opportunity to participate in National Service is very similar to thinking about employment in general. Because you really want to be very mindful about what are you looking to try and get out of this experience, is it a good match for you as you would think about in terms of employment. Is it the right kind of environment, both in terms of the culture and the kinds of work that I want to try. So it's a way to develop those skills, but also to be very mindful about looking for the kind of environment that's going to be most successful for you. For a number of folks, it was the opportunity to develop skills. Nancy referenced that volunteer management is a big component in a lot of the programs, when they're talking about the NCCC and disaster responsiveness, not only are they volunteers that are going in and helping, dealing with issues like food distribution and repair and cleaning kinds of issues, they're also typically organizing all the volunteers that come in, in a disaster. They're also typically organizing all the volunteers that come in, in a disaster. Typically, when something has happened like that a lot of people come to the area and want to do something, but they're not sure what to do and can kind of be confused about how to be [Inaudible] AmeriCorps programs can go in and manage those groups of people and get them together and organized and efficiently. All of those are really critical skills in a lot of work environments. What we find it's important for people to really think about those job skills. When we talk about volunteering and service that's kind of softer language, sort of more human service kinds -- businesses don't always understand or relate to that. When you think about leadership and management, and organizational strategies around managing people, those are critical employment skills. So that part of service being a really important element that folks are able to do. The capacity to also meet new people. This was something that Ray had identified early on is the advantage of meeting new people. And one that's a nice opportunity from a social perspective. But from a job development perspective, it's a really critical component. A lot of folks hear about jobs, job opportunities get identified through people's networks and the people they know and the people they worked with. So being able to work as part of a team on an AmeriCorps program gives you a whole new group of people to network on, in terms of thinking about the employment opportunities. Go ahead to the next slide. The other piece, in terms of how people think about their role in terms of the community. For individuals, again, there may be exposure to a whole different world view than they had previously. So the capacity to kind of think more broadly. For a number of individuals with disabilities, that different perspective, to be able to be the person who is providing service to individuals rather than being the recipient of service is a very critical opportunity. It changed their world view, but also exposed them to different things that they weren't familiar with in their own environment, and being able to contribute and give back to their community, making a connection and making a difference in their own community is both powerful for the individual and powerful for the community. You go ahead to the next slide, please? This is an alumni, an individual who had had a traumatic brain injury while he was in school, and did an AmeriCorps program to kind of ease him back into education, so kind of to help him with that adjustment. And when he talks about his experience, one of his comments was it was the first time in my life there was a direct correlation between something I did and someone benefitting from it. And that still effects me when I think of it. So how powerful for him to really be able to see the direct relationship between his work and the benefit that other people achieved from it. One of the things, and we like to make a distinction between National Service and other kinds of -- there are a variety of different kinds of volunteer opportunities, all of which are really positive ways to give back to your community and contribute. One of the things that National Service allows that's a little different than other kinds of volunteers, is that there is typically a structure to the kind of service that you're doing, there's a time limit to it, and specific activities that you're going to be engaging in. It's a nice way to kind of make that transition back into work, versus in some cases folks have been in a volunteer situation hoping it would turn into work, but there hasn't been -- it hasn't been really actively planned or thought through in terms of how to convert that, and they end up in a volunteer situation longer than they want to be and not able to information that transition. Because of the structure and time-limited nature of the AmeriCorps program, it's a great way to kind of get those skills and then move along. Can we go onto the next slide? One of the things that is important in terms of how people approach volunteering in general and National Service in specific, is how to think about using that experience so that when they complete their experience they can take all of that experience and all that they've gained from participating, and move that into employment. So one of the strategies that we talk about is journalling, meaning documenting what it is that an individual is doing over the course of their year, in some cases some individuals participate for two years, to identify all of the different work skills that they've been able to develop. A lot of times we think we're going to remember all that detail, oh, I don't need to keep track of all of that, I won't forget that I had done these different pieces. But you try to look back at a full year, you can sometimes drop some of the pieces, some of the detailed parts of it. So journalling and kind of keeping track of what it is that people participated in, what skills they learned, how to think about that from a business mindset, business language. A piece of that, too, is also tracking the network. So being able to remember if some of the programs, like, subsidiaries of a project that was referenced, [Inaudible] individuals tend to move around to a lot of different sites over the course of a year. So they may have a number of different placements. Being able to keep track of if you worked directly with someone at a site, you know, if you were part of a tutoring effort, are there teachers, or the principal you made a good connection with and could be part of your professional network to use as a resource when you're looking for your job search. Keeping track of all of that information is also very available. While folks are still in service, again, to raise the point early about that employment team, those folks that are going to support you. Thinking about that as being part of your network as you're working into National Service and as you move on from that. So vocational rehabilitation, your employment network, a one-stop career center. All of these resources that can help you once you're ready to look for the job next. Next slide?

>> Okay. Sheila, I have a we for you that's right on point with this slide. This person is interested in the resume that you mentioned, and they're wondering if it's really possible to use non-paid work to list on your resume?

>> Yeah. Absolutely. That's a great question. And that's something that we -- one of the partners for us in the project was the US Business Leadership Network. And the -- and that's an organization of employers that are interested in hiring folks with disabilities. And we asked them that question exactly, and they said that is -- they do look at those issues around experience, and how you identify it. But what's the really important distinction for them is how that information is described. So again, rather than kind of listing it as volunteer opportunity at the Red Cross, talking about you know, what's the job title in terms of your responsibility, disability response management was what your role was, and all the tasks people do. Being able to have that kind of detailed information so when an employer looks at a resume they can see it as a parallel to a -- to another job situation versus it kind of being buried as a volunteer and not presented as work ready. So it's an important piece, yes, they are open to it. And actually a lot of the employers who are part of USL B N have a number of initiatives around service and volunteerism as well as corporate giving kinds of efforts. So they have a lot of activities where they've got individuals, their own employees, out doing service. They value that, and volunteering. So they conceptually think this is a good idea. You just need to be able to -- really be able to talk about it and sell it in terms of employment skills.

>> If I might add -- this is Jewel -- just the idea of having volunteered, many, many employers are looking at that as a positive thing on a resume. But as Sheila said, being able to describe exactly what you did, and there's no many skills that are transferable, doesn't matter what the work setting is. And National Service experience really mirrors a job experience in many, many ways. There's lots of things that you do as an AmeriCorps member, as a part of a team that is doing work in a specific area that are easily transferable to -- and comparable to a job experience. We talk about being able to develop resume-building skills as a part of your service experience.

>> Okay, and I have two people who are interested in the same issue, and one is expressing themselves as really severely disabled and one has indicated that she has a spinal cord injury and it paralyzed from the chest down. And they're wondering if the times of programs you're discussing work for people with severe physical disabilities.

>> That's a great question. The -- the variety of different kinds of jobs and employment opportunities under the -- I shouldn't really say employment opportunities, but volunteer opportunities under AmeriCorps varies widely. As Nancy was talking about, there are some that are physically demanding. And they are part of the mandate for service programs is to be able to provide accommodations and work with individuals with disabilities. But if it's an essential part of the job -- again, very similar to employment -- if an essential element of the service experience, the individual is not able to provide, that may not be a good match. And we're going to show in a few minutes kind of where you can get more information about programs in your local community. So we're talking kind of nationally, these are all the different things that happen, you can find out about within your state, within your area, what are the kinds of work opportunities there would be. And so depending on where you are, there may be jobs that are a better match for somebody with a significant physical disability, and that's again not dissimilar to thinking about a job or looking for a job is kind of finding what's available and how that works for you in terms of a match. So there certainly are [Inaudible] not every program may be an appropriate match.

>> Okay, thank you. That's all for now.

>> Okay.

>> If we can go onto the next slide. This is a piece just to be thinking about this as part of your employment plan. You know, we very much appreciate the value of service in terms of the experience and the contribution to your community, and that that's an important piece of this process as well. But from our perspective, we also think there's an absolute value, and the person, the individual participating needs to be getting as much out of that experience as they can be. So starting to think about what am I looking to get out of this service experience, what is my long term goal in terms of, you know, skills I want to develop opportunities I want to have, so when I leave service I am as prepared as I can be to move into employment. So helping to kind of think about those things in advance. Thinking about what you might need in terms of accommodation, being able to sort of test some of that out within the context of a service program. Working with your vocational councillor or employment network, we've been talking about -- National Service is thinking about this as work experience. It is an opportunity to develop some skills in preparation for future employment. It is not the end in and of itself. An AmeriCorps program is a time-limited opportunity so that's not where you want to be, sort of the ending point. But this is part of the plan and it is leading to a vocational goal where you'll be working after that fact. Okay --

>> And this is Jewel the whole purpose of National Service is to provide these opportunities to volunteers to contribute to the community, the strength of the community. That's the main purpose. We do know, however, that while you're doing that there are so many other things that happen. Like you develop job skills or resume-building skills and networks, and professional growth, and all of those things. So we talk about National Service as a way to be a contributor to your community while gaining all of these other things, like job skills.

>> Okay, Ray, if you can go forward. Okay, the -- not going to spend a lot of time on this, but one of the things from the folks we talked to, it really is important, and again, similar to a work situation, is that what you want is to be really mindful of what are your interests, what are your priorities, what are your goals, and how does that correspond with the programs in your area. So you want to be -- it's not -- there isn't going to be a perfect match for everybody, because you're going to be looking for different kinds of opportunities than what happens to be available in your local community, or you know, spending a year during services on something that's part of your employment plan. But really thinking that part through to make a good connection and really understand what your commitment to and the service program understanding what you're looking to try to get out of the experience as well. And then if we can go to the next slide, I'm going to talk about the impact on benefits. So for folks who have been holding for on ten minutes, where I keep saying I'm going to get to that. Nancy had explained some of the different programs, and I'm just going to kind of revisit that for folks, because it makes a difference in terms of the impact on benefits. The AmeriCorps state and national programs are programs where people typically work as part of a team. They are -- a national program would be something like Habitat For Humanity or [Inaudible] Red Cross had some national program. And states are ones that are funded by the corporation in individual states that are responding to a specific need within the immunity. For people who are participates in those two programs, if they're an SSI recipient their income does not -- the living allowance does not count as income. Okay? So if it's an AmeriCorps state or national program, and the person is an SSI recipient it is not viewed as income, and so therefore does not have any impact on benefits.

>> Individuals in AmeriCorps state and national who are SSDI recipients, the living allowance does count as sub substantial gainful activity. So in terms of trial work time, that would count for individuals who are SSDI recipients. Part of -- the resources we're talking about in terms of the ticket and the work incentives are to help people think about that. Nancy was saying it's about, depending on the state, about 900 to 1100 that people might get as the living allowance, using some of the work incentives like the impairment related work expense or other work incentives to bring that down below substantial gainful activity. Maybe an option. But only on SSDI and the AmeriCorps State and National does the living allowance count as income. We are working on getting that changed, but that's where it's currently true. All the other programs reference their food stamps, Pell grants, housing, veterans, they do not -- the living allowance does not count as income. And for people who participated in AmeriCorps Vista, and Vista is the more individual placement where you're working with an organization on capacity building, on -- no matter what benefits someone gets they are not impacted at all by the living allowance. Okay, so now that I've gone over that, if folks have other -- have a -- but that it is a little bit challenging because it is a difference, based on which type of benefit you get and which type of program you're in.

>> Okay, we do have a question, Sheila. And actually comes come up a lot. You just mentioned -- we're talking about volunteer opportunities and you just mentioned a living allowance. And lots of questions have come up. So are these aid volunteer opportunities?

>> The AmeriCorps -- there is a living allowance. It's the distinction that it is not a wage. That's the living allowance that Nancy had referenced. Again, it can vary depending on the region of the country and the kind of program. It's about -- on average, $10,000 a year. So it -- people do a get a stipend for that. But it is not a salary. It is not the same as minimum wage or employment so it doesn't have the same rules, it's still called volunteer because it doesn't have the same rules as employment because it's a stipend.

>> Okay. That's been a question that's been coming up an awful lot. So some of these volunteer opportunities are providing some funding, so the people who are saying I can't afford to volunteer, I need a job, might be able to find a spot where some of their expenses are met?

>> Absolutely. The program --

>> And it does tend to be packed to the minimum wage, so it's very close to the minimum wage levels in the different states. But again, it's not a wage, it's a living allowance.

>> The -- and all of the programs that we're talking about, the AmeriCorps programs through the corporation have that living allowance. So that's the difference between this National Service and the -- all of the programs that we're talking about, the AmeriCorps programs through the corporation have that living allowance. So that's the difference between National Service and this corporation activities that we're talking about, versus other kinds of volunteer opportunities where, you know, volunteering as traditionally viewed are not paid, have no stipend activity, these do have stipends.

>> Okay, thank you very much.

>> Okay. I'm going to pass that back to Nancy right now. And she's going to share a little bit of work from some of the work we've done with Education Works. Okay?

>> Yeah. Thank you, Sheila. So I'm going to talk about -- we're going to show you a clip in just a minute, but I want to give you a little bit of background information on Education Works and on the two women that you're about to meet, Shawna and Fran. Next, we went to Pennsylvania and we said we want to figure out how National Service programs interact with the intellectual and developmental disability community, and in particular through [Inaudible] agencies. So we worked with a specific agency in Philadelphia, and they had two women that they were providing services for that did not have jobs, that were looking to move forward in their careers and were not having any luck. And both these women have intellectual disabilities. And so next [Inaudible] came in and said all right, let's see what we can do. And so we provided a little technical assistance and helped maneuver through the process, and these women ended up finding a service placement with Education Works. And Education Works is an after school program for disadvantaged youth in the Philadelphia area. So we followed these women through the entire year, and what we're going to show you is the outcome, basically, how their year went when they reflected on it, what they thought about, and the accomplishments that they were able to make by the end of the year. So if you could go ahead and play that?

[ Background sounds ]

[ Music ]

>> When they told me that I had [Inaudible] like, I never experienced that my whole life. [Inaudible] is to work with them. I just realized that I was just a regular person, not oh, [Inaudible] can't do it. Somebody else is telling you there's a place to go, go for it, somebody else tells you to stop, [Inaudible] pushing yourself. Whatever your dream is telling you to do, catch it, go for it. Don't be nervous, don't be, like, shy. Just be yourself.

>> That is Shawna and Fran's own words after completing service terms, and Fran was promoted, as she said at the beginning of the video. She was promoted to a staff position at Education Works, which was fantastic, she'll very excited to take that position. And Shawna actually ended up using they are experience to put on a college application and is now in a certificate program at Temple University. And I should mention that she applied to this program a year before she did service, and was not accepted. So her time in service made the difference that enabled her to get accepted to the program. Now she has -- both of them have so many opportunities that they didn't have before, as well as just the hands-on experience. So if you can go to the next slide, how can you get involved in service, how can -- let's say you have a family member that you think would be great in National Service or maybe you work with someone that you think would be really great in National Service, what can you do? Well, we have a couple of suggestions here. First of all, job shadowing, and this is, you know, you have your traditional job shadowing. We call it sometimes service shadowing because you basically contact the service program and say I'd like to come in for the day and see what you do, see what your service members do. And follow them for the day, ask questions about what's involve in being a volunteer at their organization, and then make a decision. And that can be a great way to just open the door so they know who you are as well, as well as you knowing what's involved in their program. You can also use situational assessments, which is just trying it out, having a little period of figuring out whether it's a good placement for you or not. Just about every service program participates in service activities throughout the year, service events, service days. A lot of these end up on Martin Luther Day. Most programs will have a service project of some sort, and we recommend -- go volunteer with the program, let them know who you are, and let them know that you're interested. And that why when their applications go out and they're looking for new AmeriCorps members you can come to the top of their list. And then you can just outright go and apply to become a service member. I'll show you exactly where to go on the web site in just a minute, but find a project that you're interested in, go through the application process and know this is a competitive process, but it's an excellent opportunity and there's thousands of these opportunities across the US. So if you find that you're having -- not able to go with one program, look at other programs, because there is a lot of variety and a lot of options. On the next slide, if you are an organization that's interested in partnering with service, there's several different ways that you can do that. First of all, identify a service program in your community, which I will show you how to find programs, again, in just a minute. Identify a program that has similar interests to you or you feel like you can have a reciprocating relationship with. You can offer training opportunities to that program, and then also look for opportunities to place people in service for that relationship. You can also participate in state inclusion teams. Just about every state has an inclusion team and that is through [Inaudible] which I'll tell you about in just a minute, and basically a state inclusion team helps direct for AmeriCorps, for the state service commission, the direction of National Service in that state. And having a really strong, good voice saying that disability is important is very valuable to every state. And just understanding what the specific needs are within that state will benefit everyone that's involved in National Service. And then finally, if you are a non-profit or a government agency, consider becoming an AmeriCorps program. It's an excellent opportunity to bring in people to do specific work for your organization, and to provide opportunities for personal and professional growth for those members, as well as to expand the capacity of your own organization. So if you're interested in any of these things, on the next slide you can visit, and if you just forward it again, the web site will come up. Nationalservice.gov. And nationalservice.gov is CNCS, that's Jewel organization. This is their web site where you can go and find out more information about service opportunities. If you look on the right-hand side of your screen it says find a volunteer opportunity. And you can do that two ways. You can type in what your interest is. Maybe you're interested in after school programs or education. You could type that in. And then what you're just missing but below that, it says your location. You can put in your location and look for programs that might be of interest to you in your area, or if you're feeling wild go somewhere else. Maybe Hawaii or Alaska is calling you. I often wonder why I don't go to Hawaii when I was a service member. So there are lots of opportunities out there for you. Now when you press find opportunities, it's going to take you to another page. And Ray, if you can just forward the slide. This is allforgood.org. And allforgood.org lists all the volunteer opportunities around the country. And so when you put in your specific information what they'll too is they will show you what's available in that location or under that interest area that you've put in. So if you're an individual interested in service, go and do this. If you're an organization that's interested in partnering with a service program, go through this process to sort through and find programs close to you.

>> And allforgood, you can find opportunities that are not part of the National Service program that work. But there's volunteer opportunities in your community, any kind of opportunity.

>> That's right. On the next slide we have the National Service Inclusion Project. NSIP, as it's called, is a sister project of ours. They are a TA center for CNCS around service and inclusion. So questions around inclusion and accommodations and training, disability training, are all of the elements that they provide. So if you're an organization that's interested in becoming a service program, the specific disabilities focus, maybe you're looking to bounce off some ideas they would be a good person to go to. If you're interested in joining your state inclusion team and want to know who your disability coordinator is, visiting their web site which we'll provide on the resource page is a great place to go. They work directly with each of the states to make sure that any sort of disability question that comes up is answered appropriately. And finally we have --

>> Could I just add one piece to it? One of the things Nancy referenced, each state has a service commission that's kind of responsible for not only the AmeriCorps kind of service and volunteer opportunities, but other volunteer activities in the state. And in most states there's a disability coordinator that helps to ensure that all the programs are accessible of the they're also the person that helps address accommodation requests, and there were funds available for accommodations to be able to support that. And all of that information is available through the NSIP web site. You can -- on the NSIP web site you can go directly to disability coordinators and they will tell you who that person is in your state. And we'll go ahead and give you that web site right now. On the next slide we have all of the web sites that might be of interest to you from today's webinar. First of all, the Corporation For National and Community Service, CNCS, their web site, the nationalservice.gov. NSIP's web site, serviceandinclusion.org. And Next Step web site, which is serviceandinclusion.org/nextstep. And we also have Sheila Fesko who is the project lead on next step. Her contact information is listed here as well. If you have other questions beyond the webinar, but right now --

>> Excuse me, sorry to interrupt. I just noticed there's a typo in my e-mail. I just want to correct it for folks. It should be my full name, which is right above, so it's S-H-E-I-L-A dot, F-E-S-K-O, but then it should end at the O. There's an L there for some reason. Sorry about that. But then if you're trying to reach me through e-mail just use my full name, dot, @UMB.edu.

>> Good catch. I think -- we only have a few minutes left, so Ray I'm going pass it back to you, and that way we can leave time for any questions.

>> Okay. Thank you. Before we get into some of your questions, and we do have a couple of good ones I want to ask, I want to give you some other resources. Now remember we talked about all of these web sites that Nancy and Sheila shared with you, they're all wonderful places to find local and national opportunities. But in order to start this whole process, as we said there's really no wrong way to do it. So look at www.socialsecurity.gov/work. You can contact that, you can look at that web site and explore all of the possibilities and all of the work incentives that we really didn't cover. But pay attention to your e-mail and look for the next webinar where we might be covering those in more detail. That's a great place to start. Ticket to Work help line is also a great place to get some great answers to your questions or get the ball rolling. And that's at 866-968-7842 for voice and 866-833-2967 for TTY and TZZ users. As you can see on this scene, you can like us on Facebook, and if you know what a Twitter is, you can tweet and follow us on Twitter. Tweet, I guess. Sheila and Nancy and Jewel we've got some questions here. A lot of people are wondering about the Segal award and how much that might pay towards student loans, and whether or not that's a way to possibly get money for future education.

>> That's a great question. The Segal AmeriCorps educational award is $5,550. What happens is it is pro rated to the amount of time that you're in service. So if you're in service for one year then you would receive the full amount. Now the award is only available for -- and Jewel you might catch me if I'm wrong, for up to two years of service. So it's not something that is indefinitely given out to service volunteers.

>> So you can earn about $10,000 towards future educational pursuits in any Title 4 institution, or you can use it to pay back a loan. And this ties in with another question I see, Ray, if I might, the term of service. Depending on the program and depending on what's available you can do one year of -- and we usually count it in hours. That's about ten to twelve months of full time service, like a full time job. Or you can do a part-time placement or even half time, quarter time. But you're only allowed to earn two education awards. So that could be two years, it could be three years. You know, but it's only the equivalent of two years of -- two full time years you can do over the period of one or two years, or three.

>> -- toward future schooling?

>> Yes.

>> We talked about it for loans, you can also use it for future. People can also use their Ed award for grandchildren. So you can [Inaudible] people.

>> All right. And --

>> You really need to go into -- I'm sorry, just looked at the individual programs, there's some slight differences. Senior corps and living allowance is slightly different. We've been talking about AmeriCorps a lot, but we don't want to confuse people at this point. The best thing is to go into the web site and look through and see what's available. Everything we said is generally true.

>> Those folks who are looking for educational funding most certainly getting on that web site or calling the help line is a very direct way of getting information about where you might be able to get funding. We have one gentleman who has a job offer and needs some startup money, you know, needs is some gas money to get to a training course and some money for lunches an things like that for about three weeks, he's going to be -- before he gets paid. And again, I want to just point out to that gentleman, give that Ticket to Work help line a call. There are lots of ways we can find you that kind of money. So just wanted to answer that question real quickly. Overall, we have three or four people who are saying this just seems like such a long process. If we have a Ticket to Work are you telling us we have to volunteer first or can we just get a job?

>> Absolutely, both. Can just get a job.

>> All right. So --

>> This is just an option for folks. You know, for folks who may want some help kind of making that transition, this is maybe the right choice for them. For other folks, it may just be I'm ready, I want a job now, and that's fine. This is just one of the options that folks can access.

>> Yeah. And it sounds like, Sheila, this is a great way. Particularly since you can do a quarter or a half or three-quarters or full time. You're giving people options here. Yeah, you're giving people options to try a short-term stint or see what their capacity to work is before they might want to get that job.

>> Yeah.

>> Or if they're not sure what kind of job they want, not sure what their skills are, you know? Yeah.

>> Absolutely. I think this is a great opportunity, particularly for those folks who might have those questions outstanding. But there is absolutely nothing to stop you from just going right ahead and getting jobs.

>> Absolutely not.

>> And we have somebody from the disability resource, that's a disability resource coordinator from northern New York, and she says she is thrilled to hear about all of these ideas. So there's a professional, an employment network, who is buying into this and realizing that volunteering can be a great resource for folks. Particularly to get that experience and find out what you want to do, what you might have the capacity to do. So what I'd like --

>> I would encourage you to just -- Melissa, right? Go to web site and find out exactly how to contact the state service commission of New York, which is in Albany, and they would be happy to talk to you, talk to the disability coordinator in that state. They'd be very happy to talk with you.

>> All right. And that just about does it for today. Sorry we kept you a little bit over. For those questions we haven't gotten to remember to give that Ticket to Work help line a call at 866-968-7842. Lots of you were looking for information specifically about the benefits. Watch for future webinars, because we do cover different topics during different webinars. So just watch your e-mail or wherever you found out about today's webinar. Find out about the next one and we hope to see you again. So thank you, speakers, great job, good information, thank you, Jamie. Thanks Mike in the background for making all things webinar work, and have a great holiday season. Take care, everybody.

>> Thanks Ray, bye-bye.

>> Thank you.

>> Thank you.

[ Background noise ]