Allegany County

Maryland State Dental Association Sponsors Missions of Mercy
http://www.msda.com/mission-of-mercy.php 
While there are other Missions of Mercy around the country, ours is a gathering of volunteer dental professionals who along with a volunteer staff of several hundred hold free, two-day dental clinics at locations around the State.

Baltimore Mission of Mercy www.uwcm.org/bmom 
1100 Wicomico Building, Baltimore, MD

Eastern Shore Mission of Mercy www.easternshoremom.org 
Wicomico Youth & Civic Center, Salisbury, MD

Mid-Maryland Mission of Mercy www.midmdmom.org 
X-finity Center, College Park, MD

Western Maryland Mission of Mercy www.westernmdmom.com 
Allegany Fairgrounds, Cumberland, MD

Southern Maryland Mission of Mercy www.southernmdmom.org 
North Point High School, Waldorf, MD

ADA Mission of Mercy www.ada.org/en/meeting 
Washington DC

Diabetes Self-Management Program (DSMP or Living Well with Diabetes)
https://phpa.health.maryland.gov/ccdpc/diabetes/Pages/local-classes.aspx
A 6-week program for people with type 2 diabetes. Caregivers who assist them are also welcome. The class helps people to adopt and maintain healthy behaviors and to live active and fulfilling lives. Classes are led by a team of peer leaders.

Aberdeen - Harford Co Library - Aberdeen Branch 
Annapolis - John Wesley United Methodist Church 
Baltimore - - John Booth/Hooper Senior Center - Fleming Senior Center - Hopkins Bayview - Catonsville Senior Center  - Linden Park Apartments in Bolton Hill 
Charlotte Hall - Northern Senior Activity Center - MedStar St. Mary's Hospital 
Elkton - Cecil College - Elkton Station 
Frederick - Toll House Classroom 
Jarrettsville - Jarrettsville Library 
Leonardtown - MedStar St. Mary's Hospital Health Connections 

Parent Support Group of Children with Type 1 Diabetes
http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/support/us-md.htm  

American Diabetes Association Maryland 410-265-0075
www.diabetes.org  English
www.diabetes.org/espanol  o llame al 1-800-DIABETES

National Kidney Foundation of MD 410-494-8545
www.kidneymd.org 
Provides patient education, support and research, medical identification jewelry, emergency financial assistance and free health disease screenings.

Thrive with type 2 diabetes
https://www.diabetes.org/diabetes/type-2/living-with-type-2-diabetes-program
Call 1-800-DIABETES (800-342-2383)
Created for those recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, the Living With Type 2 Diabetes initiative offers participants an opportunity to learn about diabetes and diabetes management gradually over a 12-month period.

This free program  – available in English and Spanish – provides:
1. Six e-booklets, each with a topic aimed to meet the participants where they are after diagnosis.
2. Monthy e-newsletter offering seasonal tips and resources to help the participant thrive with diabetes.
3. Peer support through the ADA's Online Community
4. Information about local community events
5. Receive six free, consecutive issues of Diabetes Forecast magazine (English only)
6. Participate in the monthly ask the Experts Q&A series (online or by phone)

Education topics include:

• Food and nutrition
• Stress and emotions
• Physical activity
• Preventing diabetes complications
• Staying on track

Disability.gov: https://www.dol.gov/odep/topics/disability.htm Search for practical information about securing employment, job accommodations, employment rights of people with disabilities and much more.

Division of Rehabilitation Services https://dors.maryland.gov/Pages/default.aspx Videophone 410-415-9310

Job Accommodation Network (JAN) http://askjan.org/ A service of the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy that offers comprehensive resources for workplace accommodations. Check the searchable database for reasonable accommodations based on specific disabilities. For example: brain injury.  Products: Alternative Lighting, Applications (apps), Apps for Concentration, Cubicle Doors, Shields, and Shades, Desk Organizers, Desk Pedal Exercisers, Electronic Organizers, Environmental Sound Machines / Tinnitus Maskers / White Noise Machines, Fidget Devices. Services: Job Coaches. Strategies: Color Coded System, Behavior Modification Techniques, Flexible Schedule.

Office of Disability Employment Policy: http://www.dol.gov/odep/ An agency of the U.S. Department of Labor

State Directory of Vocational Rehabilitation Offices: https://askearn.org/state-vocational-rehabilitation-agencies State-operated programs designed to assist people with disabilities in preparing for, securing and maintaining employment.

Administration for Children and Families: http://www.acf.hhs.gov/help  An agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, ACF provides information about programs for people with disabilities, including education, energy assistance, health insurance for children and much more.

Americans with Disabilities Act: http://www.ada.gov/ Find information and technical assistance pertaining to the Americans with Disabilities Act.

United States Access Board: http://www.access-board.gov/the-board Federal agency focused on ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities in architecture, transportation, telecommunications and more.

The Advocacy Institute http://www.advocacyinstitute.org/index.shtml is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to the development of products, projects and services that work to improve the lives of people with disabilities.

Families and Advocates Partnership for Education (FAPE) http://www.fape.org/ provides information and resources for families and advocates about the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 1997 (IDEA) and promising practices, including fact sheets on many aspects of special education in several languages.

Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA) http://www.copaa.net/ is an independent, nonprofit, tax-exempt organization of attorneys, advocates and parents established to improve the quality and quantity of legal assistance for parents of children with disabilities.

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, Inc. (DREDF) http://www.dredf.org/ is a national law and policy center dedicated to protecting and advancing the civil rights of people with disabilities through legislation, litigation, advocacy, technical assistance, and education and training of attorneys, advocates, persons with disabilities, and parents of children with disabilities.

The IDEA Partnership http://www.ideapartnership.org/  is dedicated to improving outcomes for students and youth with disabilities by joining state agencies and stakeholders through shared work and learning.

Matt Cohen’s Special Education, Disability and Human Services Law E-Newsletter http://www.mattcohenandassociates.com/ is devoted to sharing information about special education, disability rights, mental health and human services law that is of importance to people with disabilities, their families, and the professionals that work with them.

National Organization on Disability http://nod.org/

Protection and Advocacy (P&A) System and Client Assistance Program (CAP) http://www.ndrn.org/about/paacap-network.html  comprise the nationwide network of congressionally mandated, legally based disability rights agencies.

TASH https://tash.org/ Advocacy for special needs.

Wrightslaw http://www.wrightslaw.com/ offers accurate, up-to-date information about special education law and advocacy for children with disabilities, a newsletter and several helpful publications.

1-800-799-7233 (SAFE) Domestic Violence 24/7 Hotline TTY 800-787-3224

1-800-999-9999 Covenant House Nineline Hotline Hours: 7 days a week 1pm-5pm http://covenanthouse.org/  Crisis hotline for youth and parents. Shelter, referrals, information, crisis intervention and health clinic. Referrals throughout the U.S. Bilingual. It’s free, it’s confidential.

1-888-880-7884 House of Ruth Domestic Violence Hotline  https://hruth.org/about-us/ The House of Ruth Maryland leads the fight to end violence against women and their children by confronting the attitudes, behaviors and systems that perpetuate it, and by providing victims with the services necessary to rebuild their lives safely and free of fear. FYI: Johns Hopkins Medical Institute presents a benefit for V-Day to raise funds for the House of Ruth. V-Day is a global activist movement to end violence against women and girls*. https://www.vday.org/about.html  and https://jhuvday.wixsite.com/vaginamonologues/about  

410-749-HELP (4357) Life Crisis Center Hotline Provides counseling for victims of domestic violence or sexual assault, suicide prevention, support groups, emergency shelter, shelter referral, medical care, and assistance with the process of prosecution.

1-800-422-0009 Maryland Crisis Hotline Crisis intervention, support and referrals. 

Maryland Crisis Online Chat www.Help4MDYouth.org  Available Monday – Friday, 4pm - 9pm. 

1-800-273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline

Break the Cycle: http://www.breakthecycle.org/ Break the Cycle is a leading non-profit that works with youth, educators, service providers, and lawmakers to prevent and end dating violence. This national organization develops and operates programs designed to ensure that no young person is excluded from receiving the help, tools and information they need to live free from violence.

Preventing Dating Violence - a project of the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence. Download the guide to start planning your It's Time To Talk Day event for Teen DV Month! https://www.breakthecycle.org/sites/default/files/ITTD%20How%20to%20Guide_2018.pdf Parents and caregivers play a critical role in preventing and responding to dating violence. Parents and caregivers can model and instill values that promote healthy dating relationships as well as observe signs of dating abuse or perpetration and seek appropriate help for their children. The documents included in this section provide information to parents and caregivers on helping their children build healthy relationships, identifying if their children are experiencing or perpetrating dating abuse, initiating conversations about dating violence with their children, helping their children navigate dangerous relationships, and learning more about the dynamics of TDV.

Futures Without Violence: The RESPECT! Campaign addresses dating violence. Through work with coaches, teachers, and parents, and public service campaigns aimed at youth, the organization strives to keep teens safe and stop violence before it begins. http://www.futureswithoutviolence.org/children-youth-teens/ The RESPECT! Challenge Action Toolkit offers resources and tools for parents, including tips for talking to youth about respectful relationships, guidelines on how to navigate their digital dating world, and information on modeling respect at home.  
Respectful Relationships: http://d3vc4vygg8dc62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Conversation-Starters-Respectful-Relationships.pdf  
Digital Dating Abuse: http://d3vc4vygg8dc62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Conversation-Starters-Digital-Dating-Abuse.pdf  
Are you Modeling Respect at Home? http://d3vc4vygg8dc62.cloudfront.net/wp-content/uploads/Quiz-Are-you-modeling-respect-at-home.pdf  

Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project: http://www.gmdvp.org/  The Gay Men's Domestic Violence Project is grassroots, non-profit organization founded by a gay male survivor of domestic violence and developed through the strength, contributions and participation of the community.

Hear My Voice Campaign: http://www.breakthecycle.org/press-release-break-cycle-expands-lgbtq-efforts Break the Cycle’s Hear My Voice is the first national campaign specifically designed to educate LGBTQ youth about dating violence. Since its launch in 2009, the campaign has distributed resources to nearly 10,000 young people and advocates in the Austin, Chicago and Los Angeles.

Jennifer Ann's Group: http://www.jenniferann.org/  Nonprofit organization dedicated to preventing teen dating violence through awareness, education, and advocacy. “Our award winning video games are an evidence-based approach to helping save adolescents from abusive relationships. Visit JAGga.me to play + learn + share.”

Let’s Be Real (LBR): https://www.breakthecycle.org/lets-be-real An initiative of Break the Cycle, LBR is a movement for young people created by young people. “Under 24 year olds lead the way to truly young people-informed violence prevention with real, unedited conversations about dating and hookups, friends and crushes, boundaries, and #relationshipgoals.” 

Love Is Not Abuse: http://www.breakthecycle.org/join-love-not-abuse-coalition  The Love Is Not Abuse (LINA) Coalition is a growing national grassroots coalition of parents, teachers and ANYONE advocating for teen dating abuse education in every middle school and high school in the country. Break the Cycle is proud to be organizing the LINA Coalition, having been granted the program from Fifth & Pacific Companies (formerly Liz Claiborne Inc.).

National Online Resource Center for Violence Against Women https://vawnet.org/ For over 2 decades, the National Resource Center on Domestic Violence has operated VAWnet, an online network focused on violence against women and other forms of gender-based violence. VAWnet.org has long been identified as an unparalleled, comprehensive, go-to source of information and resources for anti-violence advocates, human service professionals, educators, faith leaders, and others interested in ending domestic and sexual violence.

One Love: http://www.joinonelove.org/  One Love was founded in 2010 to honor Yeardley Love, a UVA student who was beaten to death by her ex-boyfriend just weeks before their graduation. After her death, Yeardley’s friends and family were shocked to learn the statistics about relationship violence and to realize that no one knew how at risk Yeardley really was. Today, One Love honors Yeardley by working with young people across the country to raise awareness about the warning signs of abuse and activate communities to work to change the statistics around relationship violence.

The Network/La Red: http://tnlr.org/en/  The Network/La Red was formed to address battering in lesbian, bisexual women's, and transgender communities through a) the formation of a community-based multi-cultural organization in which battered/formerly battered lesbians, bisexual women, and transgender folks hold leadership roles; b) community organizing, education, and the provision of support services; and c) coalition-building with other movements for social change and social justice.

Things Aren't Always What You See Campaign: https://www.breakthecycle.org/what-you-see  Created by Break the Cycle, the purpose of this campaign is to provide information to young people who are going through unhealthy and abusive situations in their relationships that they self-describe as “drama.” The goal of the campaign is to provide awareness and intervention information in private spaces like fitting rooms, lockers, changing rooms and even restrooms about the subtle forms of abuse or warning signs.

The Arc Maryland http://www.thearcmd.org/about-the-arc-maryland/ 
Advocacy for people living with intellectual and cognitive disabilities.
Find a Chapter http://www.thearcmd.org/find-a-chapter/  
The Arc Maryland is the largest statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the rights and quality of life of persons with I/DD and their families. We are a membership-based organization of 8,000 members. With our ten local chapters serving 19 counties and Baltimore City, we encompass all ages and more than 100 different diagnoses including intellectual disabilities, autism, cerebral palsy, Down syndrome, fetal alcohol syndrome, Fragile X syndrome, and other developmental disabilities. Our local network of chapters provides a wide range of human services and other supports to people with I/DD and their family members, including individual and public policy advocacy, residential, educational, and vocational services, employment, family supports and early intervention that promote people with I/DD to participate and be included in their communities.

Best Buddies https://bestbuddies.org/ Friendships, integrated employment, leadership development. 
Who We Serve: The IDD community that Best Buddies serves includes, but is not limited to, people with Down syndrome, autism, Fragile X, Williams syndrome, cerebral palsy, traumatic brain injury and other undiagnosed disabilities. Programs: Best Buddies is the world’s largest organization dedicated to ending the social, physical and economic isolation of the 200 million people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Our programs empower the special abilities of people with IDD by helping them form meaningful friendships with their peers, secure successful jobs, live independently, improve public speaking, self-advocacy and communication skills, and feel valued by society.

Dyslexia Basics http://www.webmd.com/children/understanding-dyslexia-basics  

International Dyslexia Association (IDA) http://www.interdys.org/ Non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals with dyslexia, their families and the communities that support them.

Learning Ally (formerly Recording for the Blind & Dyslexic) http://www.learningally.org/ provides information on over 80,000 recorded textbooks and other classroom materials, from 4th grade through postgraduate levels, available for loan. Individuals with learning disabilities are eligible to participate but must complete the certification requirements.

For more information, navigate to: 
1. Glossary "D" for Disabilities
2. Glossary "E" for Special Education

Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation (BEBRF)
www.blepharospasm.org The mission of the Benign Essential Blepharospasm Research Foundation, Inc. is to fund and promote medical research in the search for the cause and cure of blepharospasm, Meige, and other related disorders of the facial musculature, to provide support, education and referrals to persons with these disorders, and to disseminate information and serve as an authoritative resource to the medical community and the general public.

Cure Dystonia Now (CDN)
www.curedystonianow.org Cure Dystonia Now is a non-profit 501(c)(3) charitable foundation committed to advancing research for more and/or improved treatments, and ultimately a cure, for Dystonia.

Dystonia Coalition
https://www.rarediseasesnetwork.org/cms/dystonia The Dystonia Coalition is a collaboration of medical researchers and patient advocacy groups that is working to advance the pace of clinical and translational research in the dystonias to find better treatments. We can help you: Learn about how you can participate in clinical research to help in the effort to learn more about your condition. Get in contact with experienced doctors and other providers familiar with your condition. Find other people with your condition who may wish to share their knowledge and experience through patient support groups.

Dystonia Medical Research Foundation (DMRF)
www.dystonia-foundation.org The mission of the DMRF is to advance research for more treatments and ultimately a cure, to promote awareness and education, and to support the needs and wellbeing of affected individuals and families.

Foundation for Dystonia Research
http://foundationdystoniaresearch.org FDR is a private, not-for-profit organization supporting and promoting research in Dystonia. The aim of this support is to improve diagnosis and therapy, and ultimately, to find a cure for this third most common Movement Disorder. We believe that, in the interest of people with Dystonia, groundbreaking research aimed at understanding the pathogenesis of Dystonia is the only way to develop better diagnostic tools and treatments.

The National Spasmodic Torticollis Association (NSTA)
www.torticollis.org The mission of the National Spasmodic Torticollis Association (NSTA) is to support the needs and wellbeing of affected individuals and families; to promote awareness and education; to advance research for more treatments and ultimately a cure.

Tyler's Hope for a Dystonia Cure
www.tylershope.org Tyler's Hope for a Dystonia Cure was created to passionately pursue solutions and a cure to the pain and limitations caused by DYT1 Dystonia. We are inspired by the fearless energy, courage and love of life exemplified daily by our namesake, his sister and all those affected by Dystonia.

National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association (NSDA)
www.dysphonia.org The mission of the National Spasmodic Dysphonia Association is to advance medical research into the causes of and treatments for spasmodic dysphonia, promote physician and public awareness of the disorder, and provide support to those affected by spasmodic dysphonia. The NSDA is the only organization dedicated solely to the SD community.