CERV Receives $75K Grant to Enhance Healthcare Communication

CERV of the Monterey Peninsula Gains Funds to Improve Healthcare Outcomes through Effective Communication

(Monterey, California) Community Emergency Response Volunteers (CERV) of the Monterey Peninsula is excited to receive $75,000 of grant funding by Ability Central [philanthropy.abilitycentral.org] to support California and the broader nationwide Patient Provider Communication Network to multiply its reach to Improve Healthcare Outcomes through Effective Communication.  The funds will be used to reorganize, diversify, and augment the usability of resources that are relevant, respectful, and readily accessible to healthcare providers and people with diverse communication disabilities. CERV’s mission is to support local CERT programs, build public awareness about emergency preparedness, and promote the community's capacity to respond to natural disasters and man-made emergencies. CERV supports local CERT programs and community preparedness through networking, grant writing, workshops, collaborating with local organizations, co-sponsoring community events and operating a countywide emergency readiness campaign for the most vulnerable populations. 

“CERV of the Monterey Peninsula is pleased to receive this grant award and use it towards improving healthcare outcomes to create meaningful impact for people with diverse disabilities that impact hearing, vision and speech” said Sarah Blackstone, Secretary/Treasurer, CERV. CERV was formed in 2011 to promote and sustain preparedness, readiness and response to emergencies and critical events by among other things, promoting individual and community capacity to respond to emergencies and disasters, with a focus on our most vulnerable populations.

“By creating tools and resources that improve healthcare outcomes for people with disabilities that impact communication, our response in California will be improved, and so will access to healthcare more broadly across the nation.”

Ability Central, based in Oakland, California, is a nonprofit organization serving as an educator, convener, and resource for people who are Deaf and disabled and the organizations that support them. Since 2010, Ability Central has been working to transform the field of communications and information access so that all individuals can realize their right and ability to receive information and express themselves.

This project has a broad reach in supporting the existing Patient-Provider Communication Network that addresses gaps in individual and provider communication practices in times of critical healthcare need. The project team includes subject experts from the United States.

CERV has seen firsthand the urgent need to educate providers on ways to improve communication with the people they serve, as well as promoting self-advocacy among people with disabilities, access, and functional needs.