The Utah Assistive Technology Foundation (UATF) is an initiative of the Utah Assistive

Technology Program

No matter how we travel,

we are all on the

same journey.

Utah Assistive Technology Program

MissionThe Utah Assistive Technology Program (UATP) gets assistive technology (AT) into the hands of people who need it.

LocationWe are located at the Center for Persons with Disabilities (CPD) on the Utah State University (USU) campus.

GoalOur goal is to help people use technology to be more independent in education, employment, and community settings.

Utah Assistive Technology Foundation (UATF)

UATF is a private, non-profit foundation which provides low-interest loans to qualified Utah residents with disabilities to purchase assistive technology devices, modified vans, and home modifications, in collaboration with Zion’s Bank of Utah. Loan minimum is $500.

UATF 1-800-524-5152

www.uatf.org

Utah Assistive Technology Foundation

UATF has helped more than 1,600 individuals with disabilities obtain AT devices worth over $9 million.

What Loan Recipients Say:“Without your program, we wouldn’t have been able to buy the Braille note. Our daughter has gone back to school and is doing very well.”

“It would be the only way we could receive any equipment we might need. It’s a great program. You know someone cares.”

Telework Loans Approached Utah Microenterprise

Loan Fund about a possible partnership.

Beneficial for us to partner with good microenterprise bank that had established clientele, marketing strategies, and small business expertise that could offer small business loans to people with disabilities with low to moderate credit scores and income.

Beneficial for UMLF to receive partial guarantee of loans

New market (People with disabilities)

Additional funding

1st Telework Partner Zions Bank Struggled to find applicantsAdvertised through different means, but generally people with disabilities called to ask if we knew of or could offer telework jobs

UATF Small Business Loans • Available to Utahns

with disabilities who want to start their own business.• Loans available from

$500 up to $25,000.• Simple process: to

apply visit uatf.org or call 1-800-524-5152

Above: Gerald Larsen, a left-leg amputee, used a small business loan to purchase an automatic

semi-truck and now successfully contracts with a large company

delivering loads regionally.

Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund

Who We Are:The Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund is a private, non-profit, multi-bank community development financial institution, (CDFI), whose mission is to provide financing and management support to entrepreneurs in start-up and existing firms that do not have access to traditional funding sources.

How we’re helping: Through our loans ($1,000-

$25,000), we’ve been able to help people with low to moderate incomes supplement their earnings.

We’ve helped women find the flexibility they need to balance their work and families.

We’ve also helped minorities, immigrants and people who have been injured in the workplace find economic security through ownership and operation of their own small businesses.

Over the past eighteen years, the Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund has worked in partnership with members of Utah’s financial banking community to help launch or expand more than 760 small businesses across the state.

ApplicationProcess

No application or loan origination fees

Length of loan is determined on a case-by-case basis, but maximum is five years

Loans offered at prime rate fixed

May apply to start or expand a small business, including a farm

Any adult with a disability may apply. Must verify disability through letter from a medical professional or VR counselor or proof of enrollment in SSI or SSDI.

Goal is to increase employment opportunities and positive outcomes for Utahns with disabilities.

UATF Application

Our application includes:1) Applicant information2) Verified disability3) Employment status4) Monthly income5) Employment barriers, including

fatigue, lack of transportation, lack of job opportunities, inaccessible environments, demanding work schedule, personal assistance, other)

6) Amount and purpose7) Type of device or equipment seeking

funding for8) Employment goals9) Any other funding sources10) Signature/date

UATF determines if the applicant is qualified though our program.

Utah Microenterprise Loan FundApplication

UMLF loan requirements: Detailed loan application Business Plan 3 years tax returns Applications are presented in

person. Decisions are made within two

business days. Loan decisions are based on

your business plan that shows you understand your proposed business, know your customers and know how to sell enough to make your business successful as well as your experience, talent and dedication.

Loans are funded 50 – 50 or 40 - 60, between UATF and UMLF, depending on the amount. UMLF makes the loan determinations and services the loans.

Telework/Small Business Loans

Loans include: trucking, piano teaching; gluten-free, sweetish delights, and sweet

potato bakeries; custom leather shop; auto diagnostics; powder coating; marriage and personal counseling; catering; gourmet foods; cleaning; livestock; hot chocolate; welding; handy-man services; tree/brush removal; consignment company; music amplification.

23 loans total worth $273,929. Some recipients have received more than one loan.First loan was made in August of 2011 for $7,500, most recent 2013

Marketing UATF Small Business Loans

• Brochures • Presentations• Social

Networking• News Media• Conferences • Trainings • Fairs • Online

Resources

Notes & Tips Coordinated effort

UATF is generally marketed in the same way/time as UATP’s other programs.

Branding, branding, branding….. Colors, logos, messaging, etc. should be the same across all

mediums Get personal quotes & take photos

Show success stories! Info/photo release of loan recipients

Keep them in one place. Track referrals

Provide questionnaires to recipients Track online mentions

Use Google alerts Make it a staff effort!

Verbiage….

Don’t only use the term ‘telework’. Misconceptions Limiting

Include small business in your terminology, if applicable. Help people understand that disability qualification can

include things they may not realize. Get a motto!

UATF: Independence is priceless, we can help!

Brochure Dissemination Where:

Small Business Development Centers in Utah

Vocational Rehabilitation Agrability Transition Fairs Centers for Independent

Living Disability Organizations Chambers of Commerce Local Libraries

How: Snail Mail Email In-person

Brochures Tips: Include a QR code Create a Spanish

version Make an electronic

version

Presentations, Conferences, Fairs and Trainings

What to attend/present: Health Fairs Transition Student Fairs Community events Disability agency fairs Senior conventions Voc Rehab Centers for Independent Living

How to present: Make it a point to add in a bit about the program if it is during a

training or conference. Ask the presenter if you can take a minute.

Include large posters with program info & pictures of previous recipients.

Bring an email listserv sign-up sheet.

News Media

Public Service Announcements Check with your local TV & Radio Stations

Press Releases Send 1-page success stories to local media Include data and program info.

If your program is located in a college town, utilize student mediums. The USU Statesman has a 12,000 person circulation.

Social Networking Blog: www.utahatprogram.blogspot.com

Stories & photos Resources Email subscription widget

Facebook: facebook.com/UtahAssistiveTechnologyProgram

Pinterest: Utah AT Program Twitter: @utahATprogram Youtube: utahATprogram

Tips:• Include tags on posts.• Include pictures

whenever possible.• Be consistent. Don’t go

for weeks without posting.

• Videos & posts don’t have to be perfect, but rather include good content.

Online Resources Start a listserv of interested and relevant people to send

emails to, like: eNewsletters Blog posts News updates

Ask other related agencies, bloggers, etc. to put up info about your program. Do the same for them.

Website Branding! Up-to-date info Email subscription widget Links to social media

Check to make sure your info is right & included on referral websites, from 211 to state agency lists. Use Alexa rankings to see referring sites.

ExampleDon and Penny McMahon adopted Isaac 20 years ago. While making Isaac part of the family was easy, transportation was another story. Isaac's lack of mobility due to some disabilities made it difficult for the family to take Isaac to appointments and outings.

Don said, "In my own life as a caregiver for a wheelchair bound 19-year old young man, Penny and I were becoming trapped in our home along with Isaac because of lack of transportation that was suited to him.“

The McMahons decided to apply for a low-interest loan from the Utah Assistive Technology Foundation to purchase an adapted van.

“Life is so much better because if we need to go somewhere either one of us can just wheel Isaac into the van and take off,” Don said.

The UATF is an initiative of the UATP that provides low-interest loans to Utahns with disabilities to purchase assistive technology.

“I have seen the Utah Assistive Technology Program make a difference in people’s lives and give them to freedom to be involved in the community and by providing technology that changes people’s lives,” Don said. “I highly recommend this program.”

Chynna’s Kitchen

After 20-year-old Utahan, Chynna Stanely, learned she had Celiac Disease, her family realized that finding and affording gluten-free food was going to be a challenge.Much of Steven’s family has gluten intolerance or Celiac Disease, making family-get-togethers difficult. From these difficulties, Steven got the idea to start a business to create gluten-free convenience foods. The first step was to finance the business, and through the Utah Microenterprise Loan Fund, Steven received a loan from the Utah Assistive Technology Foundation. The UATF is a nonprofit that provides small-business loans to Utahan’s with disabilities.

Thus was born Chynna’s Kitchen, named for Steven’s daughter. The business, located in Heber City, Utah; is a family business and a work in progress, but is officially producing gluten-free food for distribution to grocery stores statewide. Chynna’s Kitchen specializes in frozen pizzas, corndogs, chicken nuggets, and cookie dough among other convenience foods. Some of their products are already in some stories, like Day’s Market in Heber City. More food will hit 22 store shelves in Utah the first of 2012, which is being distributed by Associated Foods.

Telework Example A self-described rugged individualist wasn’t sure

how he could continue to work after losing a leg as a result of artery-clearing surgery.

Sixty-four-year-old Gerald Larsen said his work ethic is part of his lifestyle, especially from living in Alaska wilderness for 20 years on his own, minus his team of sled dogs. But after retiring from law enforcement and truck driving, Larsen wasn’t sure what he could go back to work doing. He spent a month working at the Census, and decided he was not an office worker.

Larsen had driven semi-truck loads for 14 years before his surgery, but since he had no left leg, he couldn’t do the clutch. He decided to look for a truck that operated on automatic so he could take a required federal test to prove he could drive and maintain a truck.

He had to look no further than Vocational Rehab in Ogden, which had bought an automatic semi-truck.

The loan for the truck came from the UATF, a private, non-profit organization that works with the UMLF to provide low-interest loan to Utahns with disabilities to purchase assistive technology to start or expand small businesses.Larsen said, “The folks at Microenterprise helped me develop my concept and business plan. The experience of starting my own business was scary, but the UATF and the Microenterprise Loan Fund helped me understand what to expect when owning a small business,” Larsen said. “You can think about things or do nothing but hang out, and I enjoy that time,” Larsen said. “I’ve become a good driver, and it is nice to be good at what you do. I will retire to part-time driving when I’m 70, and I will probably die driving truck.”

Utah Assistive Technology Program

For more information about UATP, please call us at

800.524.5152 or 435.797.3824, or visit our website www.uatpat.org

or blog utahatprogram.blogspot.com

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