ABIL.ORG: Launches Youth Outreach Program

February 5, 2002, PHOENIX, AZ – Often overlooked by traditional outreach programs, Arizona teens with disabilities confront staggering challenges. In Arizona, approximately 33 percent of this group drops out of high school; a rate nearly three times higher than the state average of 12 percent. Arizona Bridge to Independent Living (ABIL) hopes to lower the Valley’s drop out rate, while giving teens with disabilities what they may be missing: advocates and mentors to help guide them through the challenging transition to adulthood.

Aptly titled “Empowering Youth with Disabilities into Adulthood,” ABIL’s new youth outreach program focuses on helping teens complete high school and succeed in navigating the path to independent living, eventually choosing higher education and/or the work force. The program pairs each participating teen with a mentor who has successfully overcome similar obstacles. ABIL is currently recruiting mentors in their late teens and twenties to share their experiences and serve as advocates. ABIL will train volunteer mentors to ensure they have the skills and resources necessary to help guide others.

“Young mentors have the ability to connect with teens and give them personal guidance,” said Leanne Jones, ABIL’s youth outreach coordinator. “The student knows their mentor has faced and overcome the same obstacles first-hand.”

To help guide teens through the transition, ABIL will also teach valuable life skills. Monthly workshops will focus on topics including: transportation, financial management, housing, employment, recreation and advocacy.

“We know that by teaching teens with disabilities fundamental life skills, they can go on to live more independent lives and have a better chance at becoming economically self sufficient,” said Phil Pangrazio, ABIL’s executive director. “The key is to make sure that we reach every teen with a message that conveys the importance of attitude change, that opportunities exist, that adjustment to disability is possible, and that successful transition to adulthood is obtainable.

In addition to mentoring, ABIL will also take an active role in serving as educational advocates. By meeting with high school students (who are often on Independent Educational Plans), as well as their parents and teachers, ABIL hopes to avoid the common pitfalls that can derail a student’s academic success.

To learn more about ABIL’s Empowering Youth with Disabilities into Adulthood program, or to become a mentor, contact Leanne Jones at (602) 296-0535.

Established in 1981, ABIL advocates personal responsibility – by, and for, people with disabilities – as a means to independence. To help consumers achieve self-sufficiency, ABIL offers comprehensive programs including independent living skills instruction; home modification; advocacy; ADA training and counsel; early intervention for newly disabled individuals; peer mentoring; employment services; Social Security work incentives; youth transition programs; personal assistance services and social recreational programs.