[MUSIC PLAYING] SPEAKER: Hello. Welcome to the Ask About the ADA Podcast. This is the Northeast ADA's podcast where we answer questions about the Americans with Disabilities Act. Today we're going to have a longer conversation, not our usual short questions and answers. Today we're going to give you a chance to become familiar with our affiliates. If you remember before, we've had our affiliate in the Virgin Islands on, Archie Jennings of the Disability Rights Center of the Virgin Islands. Today we're going to have our Puerto Rico affiliate on from MAVI. And we'll talk more about MAVI and more about what they do, but first let me give a chance for the MAVI staff joining us today to introduce themselves. We actually have three people. Mildred, would you begin with yourself?
MILDRED GOMEZ: Hello. Good evening, everybody. My name is Mildred Gomez. I'm the associate director of MAVI, an independent living center in Puerto Rico.
SPEAKER: Wonderful. Go ahead, Yessica.
Yessica GUARDIOLA: Thank you. Hello, my name is Yessica Guardiola. I'm one of the Technical Assistance Specialists for the Northeast ADA center through MAVI.
SPEAKER: And Nellie.
NELLIE: Hello, my name is Nellie Correa I am Technical Assistance Specialist to the Northeast ADA center through MAVI.
SPEAKER: Wonderful. Thank you all for coming today, and taking the time to be with us. Mildred, I'd like to begin with you. And a few questions I'd appreciate your help answering. First can you explain to people what MAVI is, and what are your different roles there?
MILDRED GOMEZ: OK. Yes. Hello, everybody again. MAVI's an independent living center. It is the first independent living center created in Puerto Rico and the largest in the Caribbean. As an independent living center, we offer five core services, which are information and referral, peer counseling, individual and systems advocacy, independent living skills, and translation. We also offer different other services, and we offer technical assistance, guidance, and workshops for the general population and community in Puerto Rico.
We also have different programs through public and private grants. For example, for employment, we have MAVI Employment Solutions, WIPA, ADA Employment Network, and Sustained Employment. We also have MAVI on Wheels. That is the only accessible mobile unit on the island adapted to offer independent living skills around the island for people with disabilities that don't have transportation or are not able to reach our centers. We also have a program in emergency management where we train companies, people with disabilities, their families in the preparation before, during, and after an emergency. We have two different workshops there and a manual that we deliver to those people that participate in the program. And in that program, we offer free sign language classes for first responders.
We have also a Leadership Academy for people with disabilities from 18 through 24 years old to empower them in leadership and advocacy. We have a personal assistance program that we are working on, Capacity Building. And we are creating a curriculum to train people with disabilities and personal assistants. And we have these great collaboration with the Northeast ADA center as affiliate of the Northeast ADA center in Puerto Rico, where we offer technical assistance, orientation about the ADA to Spanish speakers, people in Puerto Rico, and in other places.
And in MAVI, my role is the Associate Director. I supervise different programs, like the Leadership Academy, person and assistant programs, MAVI Employment Solution. The training for deaf employees. Our center in Arecibo, I supervise to that center and all the other things that we have in administration.
SPEAKER: And another valuable service that you really help us out with at the Northeast ADA is helping to communicate with people that contact our 1-800 number who are Spanish speakers. Right now, we don't have any mainland staff who are Spanish speakers. So if you're someone or know someone that calls our 1-800 number or sends us an email, you'll probably hear from one of the people from MAVI. Actually, probably one of the three people on this podcast will be in touch with you. So MAVI is a wonderful partner for us.
Yessica, I'd like to ask you a question next. Could you describe in your work with the Northeast ADA how you educate people about the Americans with Disabilities Act in Puerto Rico?
Yessica GUARDIOLA: MAVI collaborates as the Northeast ADA Center's affiliate in Puerto Rico. As mentioned, providing free technical assistance to Spanish speakers on the ADA including individuals, families, and public and private entities. We provide free training in Spanish on the ADA by request. We provide educational sessions and videos on the ADA in Spanish in social media. And we develop and we build Spanish materials on the ADA, and make outreach on the Northeast ADA center's services.
SPEAKER: I know you all, you and Nellie, you all do quite a bit of training too as you mentioned, Yessica. In addition to providing the information, you all are very busy, and we appreciate all the work that you put in. I'd like to maybe switch things up a little bit. And Nellie, come to you with a next question that we have, and sort of taking a look at a big picture question. For people who maybe haven't been to Puerto Rico or aren't very familiar with it, what should people know about life with a disability in Puerto Rico?
NELLIE: Well, I love this quote that said that living with disability is kind of artistic. Well, living in Puerto Rico is kind of hard for people with disability and for people who doesn't have a disability. We have beautiful beaches. Our topography, culture, and language are very unique. And inclusive, our sign language is different from American Sign Language.
SPEAKER: That's true. I think you worked on solving a problem with that back in January. There was a problem with some of the governor's press conferences not being translated correctly, I think. That may have been last year, but I think it was this year, right?
NELLIE: I think it was for the Hurricane Maria. After the Hurricane Maria, we have that kind of situation. The American Sign Language on the island is very different than the same language that we use. The base is the American Sign Language, but we use words in Spanish. And some signs, they are specific created for the community of deaf in the island.
SPEAKER: Thank you. Mildred, let me come back to you with sort of a follow up question building on what Nellie was talking about. What are some of the biggest challenges facing people with disabilities, in particular in the region in Puerto Rico?
MILDRED GOMEZ: So in Puerto Rico, around 21% of the population are people with disabilities. And that does not include the elderly. And from 40 through 48% of people live below poverty levels. So that make a big challenge to people with disabilities in the island to reach services, and have access to many services that they request or they need. So based on many focus groups that we make constantly around the island and we conduct in many parts of Puerto Rico, we found out a few points that are very important.
And one of the biggest challenges, like Nelly said, that we have a lot of mountains, we have a lot of beaches, and it's a very interesting place to visit. We have a very problem regarding transportation. This is a very, very important issue because, if people don't have transportation, they don't have access to service. And this is due to our topography. Like I said, with many mountains and areas in the coast, we don't have an accessible unique transportation system only in the Metropolitan area.
Because in Puerto Rico, we have the culture that we have our own car. So we are very independent people. So everybody here have a car. Not everybody, but most of the people have a car, and they prefer to travel by themselves and privately than use public transportation. But we know that people with disabilities, most of them or some of them, are not able to drive, or are not able to have a car because the expenses. So that means that many people in the Mountain area and in other places outside the Metropolitan area have this issue and this problem of transportation.
And the other big issue, like Nelly said, that we are talking about sign language, deaf people in Puerto Rico have a problem of having an effective communication. We have many laws on the island, but we have to say that not all of the laws is enforced. So deaf people have a big challenge, and have many issues when they have to or they need to access a service, like health service that is a basic need for human, education, employment. And this is a big, big challenge. Even though we have traveled a lot and do many things for people with disabilities in the island, when we look back and we say, wow. We are doing our work.
We are on the right track, but there's many, many things that people with disabilities need and access to services. And through this program with the Northeast ADA Center, people in the island are able to have access to issues or problems, or resolve problems, or have information about the ADA and how the ADA cover them as people with disabilities.
SPEAKER: Nelly, let me go to you next. And we're talking about some of the challenges faced by people with disabilities in Puerto Rico. And some of them are ones that we might have sort of on the mainland in the US. Certainly transportation is, and health care access, and effective communication. How do you at MAVI customize some of your work so that you can most benefit the people that you serve?
NELLIE: Well, we had we face, like you said, a lot of the barriers that people in the US face. But also we face the lack of services for people with disability on the island. And the difficulty that we have with this kind of safety net programs as a size SNAP that increase the barrier of people that live under poverty to have access to different services. And also, the fact that Puerto Rico has imposed restrictions on the release of federal funding further delayed the release of further disaster aid affect the community of disabilities on the island. We also in MAVI provides services. It's important to say all MAVI services are free to the community with disability. We are affiliated of the Northeast ADA Center. We ensure that Spanish speakers and people living in the island have access to the information of the ADA. We know that the access to the federal education resources is lower for people that speak Spanish state and territories. So we work creating different materials to have the access to this kind of language that our community talks in our community understands. And our access to them and have the same opportunity that people with without disabilities.
SPEAKER: That's an important part of your work, certainly, is helping people to have that equal opportunity. Certainly a big challenge. Yessica, I'd like to come back to you again, and this is sort of my last big question, but I'd like you to answer it. Are there any common misconceptions that you come across about your work as an affiliate when you're working with people with disabilities?
Yessica GUARDIOLA: Well, some people misunderstand that the ADA is an agency or entity, or that the ADA National Network provide legal advice or representation, or that the ADA National Network force the ADA. So however, what we do is we always clarify to these people what is our real role.
SPEAKER: Yeah, that confusion too is something that we hear too in New York and New Jersey, which is the other region part of the region that Northeast ADA serves. That last part, we get that confusion too. That people think that they're contacting someone that can either make a charge for them, a federal charge, or something like that. We have that same issue too here in the States.
And that really gets to the idea of that education work that we all are working on together, and collaborating on, and trying to let people know more about both about what the Americans with Disabilities Act is as well as how we can help empower them to know their rights and the opportunities that should be open to them. And you know, thank you, on behalf of all of us at Northeast ADA for being our partners in Puerto Rico, and helping to do the work that we're charged with doing. We appreciate it. And I appreciate each of you joining us today. And let me just say, thank you for taking the time to be with us, and sharing a little bit about Puerto Rico and what you do.
I hope at some point in the future, we can have you all back on again at some point. We're continuing to work together, and we look forward to continuing to do it in the future. And hopefully, we'll get a chance to come to Puerto Rico. We were talking before recording that it's been some years since the mainland staff has had an opportunity to visit the island because of damage from hurricanes. So we're looking for that, and hopefully in the year ahead we can do that. And also, maybe when we do that, we can record all together in one place, which would be nice. Well, Mildred, Nelly, Yessica, thank you for joining us today.
MILDRED GOMEZ: Thank you, Joe, for your invitation. And if you're hearing this podcast, and you're a Spanish speaker, call the Northeast ADA Center, and we are going to be able to answer your calls, answer your questions, and gave you the information and the technical assistance that you request. So call.
SPEAKER: Yes, please do. Thank you for listening to this edition of Ask About the ADA. Always feel free to call our 1-800 number, 800-949-4232. That's if your phone area code is in New York, New Jersey, Puerto Rico, or the Virgin Islands. You can also visit us on our website, northeastada.org. Feel free to email us. Look for us on social media. Also look for MAVI on social media. They are very active and have a lot of good information out there, and videos in Spanish. So if you're a Spanish speaker, I encourage you to follow MAVI as well. And we look forward to speaking with you again in the future. Let's continue the conversation.
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