X4Impact, the leading Insights-as-a-Service company in the Nonprofit and Tech for Good sector honored by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea, partnered with Ability Central, providing the data that powers their disability-related directory service.
Ability Central’s Service Locator, powered by X4Impact, is a searchable database of organizations supporting Deaf and disabled communities. The Locator helps people easily find resources and local services that fit their needs. Included are organizations serving people who are Deaf, blind or low vision, neurodiverse, have speech or mobility issues, and more. X4Impact provided up-to-date information and links to local support services anywhere in the United States, from community organizations to care facilities.
“Search engines show millions of results to answer any query, but few are relevant. The Ability Central Service Locator is a great implementation of technology for the public interest (Tech4PI) to solve the problem of finding relevant and trustworthy results,” said Luis Salazar, co-founder X4Impact. “We love how Ability Central leverages our data to create greater social impact for those needing services.”
Ability Central is a California-based nonprofit organization whose goal is to expand communication and information access for people with disabilities. Ability Central offers grantmaking and technical support to other nonprofits working to help people who are Deaf or disabled. It also provides online information and resources for people with disabilities and communication access questions.
Ability Central licensed a custom dataset from X4Impact to understand the number, location, and mission of active nonprofit organizations serving people with disabilities throughout the United States. X4Impact detailed segmentation provided the nonprofit with a database including K-12 special education programs, disabled persons’ rights organizations, and support centers for those who are Blind, Visually Impaired, Deaf & Hearing Impaired, or with Developmental Disabilities.
Because of X4Impact’s work to clean, classify, validate and organize nonprofit data directly from the IRS and other trusted sources, Ability Central saved over 660 hours researching directory listings.
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“Whether technology provides a lifeline for people with disabilities or isolates them further often depends on easy access to practical information and support,” says Matt Cherry, director of philanthropy at Ability Central. “As the only foundation focused on all forms of communication disabilities, we have learned that many people with these disabilities struggle to find and use the resources that are already available to help them. Our first-of-its-kind disability site cuts through the hours of wasted effort to help people discover the best technology for their needs, connect with community resources, and share news and information. The Portal has been built from the ground up with accessibility in mind for diverse needs and abilities.”
In the future, the Ability Central team hopes to use X4Impact insights to partner with funders and policymakers in identifying service gaps to provide access to disability support in underserved areas.