Your Community

Disability Services in the Community

General Disability / Special Needs

Handi-Dogs, Inc.
Handi-Dogs, Inc. enhances the quality of life for people with disabilities and/or hearing impairment by teaching them to train their own dogs to assist them with their daily activities. Contact info: 75 S. Montego Drive, Tucson, AZ 85710, 520-326-3412, 1-866-398-4456, fax 520-319-8186, service@handi-dogs.org, www.handi-dogs.org, 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Technology Access Center of Tucson (TACT)
Contact: 520-745-5588, Ext 412
A clearinghouse of information and exploration about all types of assistive technology, training center, and equipment lending library, TACT is housed in a spacious facility on Tucson's DDD campus.
Top Dog
This nonprofit group is dedicated to teaching people with physical disabilities how to train their own dogs to become fully certified service dogs.
Sun Van of Tucson
Provides public transportation service to persons qualified under the Americans with Disabilities Act in the metropolitan area of Tucson.

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Advocacy, Legal Issues & ADA Compliance

Arizona Center for Disability Law
Advocates for the legal rights of persons with disabilities to be free from abuse, neglect and discrimination and to have access to education, health care, jobs, and other services in order to maximize independence and achieve equality.
Arizona Families On-Line Coalition
Provides children and adults with disabilities and their families access to each other and reliable information about disabilities, services and supports, within their communities and worldwide via computer technology.
DIRECT Center for Independence, Inc.
Voice and TDD: 520-624-6452; Outside the Tucson area: 1-800-342-1853
Information, referral, training, advocacy, counseling, and many other programs and support services for people with disabilities
Pilot Parents of Southern Arizona
Support organization for parents of children with special needs. It is one of two designated Parent Training and Information Centers in Arizona.

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Blind & Low Vision

Arizona Council of the Blind
This nonprofit organization focuses on blindness-related issues, especially on dealing effectively with the challenges of daily living.
Arizona State Library Braille & Talking Books Division
Contact: 1-800-255-5578
Provides free services for visually and physically disabled people including the loan of braille and recorded books and magazines, as well as the necessary equipment to play the recorded publications.
Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
Non-profit state agency which specializes in the education of children and youth with hearing or vision loss throughout Arizona.
AZ Newsline: Voice Telephone Newspaper and Job Services
Contact: 1-800-255-5578
Newsline delivers today's, yesterday's, and the previous Sunday's issue of selected newspapers via touch-tone phone to the homes and cell phones of those who are eligible to subscribe. Download an application from the web site or call to receive one by mail.
If you are looking for employment, Jobline is a free public service provided by state agencies with assistance from the NFB and the US Department of Labor. This service is available on the telephone, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. New jobs are listed on the system each day. No application or subscription is necessary. Users dial a toll free long distance number to access Jobline: 1-800-414-5748.
Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation
Contact: 1-800-486-0518; 1-602-954-1723
"Our Mission is to provide sight and hearing care to those in need."
National Federation of the Blind of Arizona
Arizona chapter of the National Federation of the Blind. Works to achieve equality, opportunity and security for the blind.
Sun Sounds of Arizona
Sun Sounds of Arizona is an on-air and online radio reading service that provides access to print for individuals who are blind, visually impaired, or physically unable to read. These materials include the daily broadcast of The Arizona Republic, the Wall Street Journal and other local and national newspapers, magazines, catalogs, newsletters, short stories, and the weekly grocery and retail store ads.
Tucson Downtown Lions Club
Contact: 520-574-0614
"The club raises funds to directly provide sight and hearing services to those unable to afford them. These include eye examinations, eyeglasses, and hearing devices."

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Deaf / Hard of Hearing

Adult Loss of Hearing Association, Arizona, ALOHA!
Voice: 520-795-9887; TTY: 520-795-9585
Provides peer support, advocacy, information and training to individuals with hearing loss, enabling them to improve their quality of life. Training includes speech reading, sign language, and computer training. Services focus on such issues as communication, coping skills, and emotional adjustment.
Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Contact: 1-800-352-8161
A state agency providing free TTYs and amplified telephones to qualified Arizona residents, administrating the statewide 24-hour telephone relay service, and producing the TV show "Sign Out" which airs on Saturday morning at 6:30 am on KUAT Channel 6 in Tucson. ACDHH also provides information and referral to other state, local, and national agencies for issues dealing with the hearing impaired.
Arizona Relay Service
Contact: 1-866-259-1768 (voice) or 1-800-347-1695 (TTY)
A public service provided by the State, making communication by telephone easy, accessible, reliable and convenient for people who are deaf, hard of hearing or speech disabled. Telephone and TDD/TTY users dial 7-1-1 to connect with an AZRS relay operator. Using available computer technology, AZRS users now can dial up a relay operator through the Internet. Check the AZRS web site to find links to free Internet Relay Service Providers.
Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind
Non-profit state agency which specializes in the education of children and youth with hearing or vision loss throughout Arizona.
Community Outreach Program for the Deaf (COPD)
TDD/Voice: 520-792-1906
COPD is a non-profit community based agency serving Deaf and Hard of Hearing persons since 1973. Services include interpreting, counseling, residential and independent living skills, comprehensive vocational assistance, case management, transition, deaf-blind and rural outreach.
Lions Sight and Hearing Foundation
Contact: 1-800-486-0518; 1-602-954-1723
"Our Mission is to provide sight and hearing care to those in need."
Tucson Downtown Lions Club
Contact: 520-574-0614
"The club raises funds to directly provide sight and hearing services to those unable to afford them. These include eye examinations, eyeglasses, and hearing devices."

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Developmental Disabilities

Arc of Arizona
Contact: 1-800-252-9054
A statewide volunteer organization whose major goal is to help children and adults with mental retardation and other developmental disabilities to choose and realize their goals.
Technology Access Center of Tucson (TACT)
Contact: 520-745-5588, Ext 412
A clearinghouse of information and exploration about all types of assistive technology, training center, and equipment lending library, TACT is housed in a spacious facility on Tucson's DDD campus.

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Employment

Arizona Rehabilitation Services Administration
Government agency that works with individuals with disabilities to achieve increased independence and/or gainful employment through the provision of comprehensive rehabilitative and employment support services in a partnership with all stakeholders.

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Housing

Housing & Mortgages for People with Disabilities
This guide has been created to help individuals living with disabilities, and their family members, in the process of buying a home of their own.

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More Resources

To find more help in Tucson, Pima County and Arizona check with Community Information and Referral at www.cir.org or call 800-352-3792.

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