If you are having a life-threatening emergency call 9-1-1. For example, if you have lost power to essential life-sustaining medical devices and do not have backup power for them, or you have a medical need for temperature control.

FREED works with the California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC) and PG&E to support people with disabilities and older adults during a Public Safety Power Shutoff (PSPS) event or other emergencies due to power shutoffs. The goal is to enable them to remain safe while independent in their residences and communities. 

Funding for some services listed below is ONLY for PSPS events (or other power outage events for which PG&E may activate FREED). There is no funding for generators. No generators are available through any of these programs.

FREED is available to possibly assist in several ways:

DISABILITY DISASTER ACCESS & RESOURCES (DDAR) - DDAR assists individuals with disabilities and older adults in disaster readiness and r… [read more]

Offers complete health assessments by medical providers for the early detection and prevention of disease and disabilities in children and youth. Services also include well baby, child and teen check-ups and care, school entry exams, and sports and camp physicals.

Nevada County Now offers paratransit and senior on-demand dial-a-rides. There is no Sunday service. Service area includes Grass Valley, Nevada City, Penn Valley, Lake Wildwood, and other local areas (see link to map in Web Pages section below). Bus hours: 7am - 6pm  Monday - Friday. 7:30am - 4:30pm Saturday.

See bottom of this listing for info about evacuating with animals in event of disaster.

PARATRANSIT
The County of Nevada Transit Services administers an origin-to-destination/door-to-door paratransit service for persons with disabilities who, due to a mental or physical disability, are unable to use the fixed-route bus system, as mandated by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Eligibility for Paratransit Service

• In order to become eligible for paratransit service, a passenger must complete an ADA application form and be certified as eligible. Forms (printer friendly and fillable PDF) are available on the web page and through the Nevada County Transit Office 530-477-010…

[read more]

Any Nevada County resident who has a current positive test result for COVID-19 or who has long COVID may be eligible for some County services if they have no other support available from family or friends. Positive test result can be from a testing site or a home antigen test. If a home test, a public health nurse will determine if a PCR/on site test is needed. People in these situations can call 211 to be put on a list. County staff will contact them to see if they can assist with services.

All COVID-19 support referrals received over the weekend or on holidays will be reviewed the next business day (regular hours are Mon-Fri 8am-5pm excluding holidays). Hotel rooms are not available as an isolation resource.
 
For people with a current positive COVID test result, the County may be able to provide supplies that can be ordered online for delivery:

• groceries
• toiletries
• diapers
• cleaning supplies

For COVID-19 test kits call Nevada County COVID-19 Nurse Line at 530-265-7258 and arrange f… [read more]

PSPS is a Public Safety Power Shutoff event. Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) may do a PSPS when danger of wildfires is high. PSPS Care Coordination is a program to help PG&E customers who have health and medical needs that require electricity. Care Coordination helps to get a plan in place for resources that can be used during a PSPS power outage event. Callers will receive a follow up call from Connecting Point staff so they can create their plan. The care coordination call will typically take 30-45 minutes.
 
Who qualifies?
Those who have access & functional needs, and/or are electricity dependent during a power outage (examples include medical equipment or medications that rely on power, accessibility equipment that relies on power, etc).
 
What is Care Coordination?
Care Coordination helps you create a safety plan by providing information about what to do before, during, and after a power outage. The Care Coordinator can help you:

• Build a list of emergency c…

[read more]

Nevada County Suprior Court offers Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Accommodations

Nevada County Superior Court has an ADA Coordinator (Americans with Disabilities Act) to ensure full access to the judicial system.

POLICY
In accordance with California Rule of Court 1.100, it is the policy of Superior Court of California, County of Nevada to assure that qualified individuals with disabilities have equal and full access to the judicial system.

REQUEST FOR ACCOMODATION
Requests for Accommodation including but not limited to auxiliary aids and/or services should be made as far in advance of the requested accommodations implementation date as possible, and in any event should be made no less than five court dates prior to the requested implementation date. The Court may, in its discretion, waive this requirement..

QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS WITH DISABILITIES
Are persons covered by the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 and includes individuals who have a physical or mental impairment th… [read more]

Sierra Community House offers Crisis Intervention - https://sierracommunityhouse.org/our-services/crisis-intervention-prevention/

24-hour Help Line at 800-736-1060.

You may also call the national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline by dialing 988. For more resources please visit the Tahoe Truckee Suicide Prevention Coalition at www.tahoelifeline.org.

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Formerly known as Tahoe SAFE Alliance, Sierra Community House’s Crisis Intervention is dedicated to serving victims of intimate partner / domestic violence, sexual assault, and child abuse. All services are free and available in multiple languages. Sierra Community House will not discriminate against anyone based on actual or perceived race, color, religion, national origin, age, sexual orientation, gender, or disability. All of our services are designed to empower victims in reclaiming their rights and to provide the tools individuals and families nee… [read more]

Qualifications for the Residential Generator and Battery Rebate Program (GBRP) are as follows:
Customer must have a Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) active Electric account tied to a qualifying address (Site), has not participated in PG&E’s Customer Resiliency Programs which include the California Foundation of Independent Living Centers Disability Disaster Access and Resources Program, the Portable Battery Program, and the Self-Generation Incentive Program AND customer must meet ONE of the following criteria:

• Customer's Site depends on a water well pump for its water needs and is NOT included in the CA Water Agency map (https://gispublic.waterboards.ca.gov/portal/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=272351aa7db14435989647a86e6d3ad8) but rather the customer's Site is served by a water agency, does not have a water pump, and is located in a high fire threat district or risk area (HFRA) tier 2 or 3 area on the HFRA map California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC…

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The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) protects people with disabilities from discrimination.  See below for info about service animals and emotional support animals. There is no official registry for service animals or emotional support animals, but some businesses, etc may request a letter explaining why an emotional support animal is needed.

California law allows persons with disabilities to bring trained service dogs and psychiatric service dogs, but not emotional support animals, to all public places.

Service Animals are:

• Dogs
• Any breed and any size of dog
• Trained to perform a task directly related to a person’s disability

Service animals are not:

• Required to be certified or go through a professional training program
• Required to wear a vest or other ID that indicates they’re a service dog
• Emotional support or comfort dogs, because providing emotional support or comfort is not a task related to a person’s disability

A public place can ask only two questions to determine if a p… [read more]

FEMA’s Individuals and Households Program (IHP) provides financial and direct services to eligible individuals and households affected by a disaster, who have uninsured or under-insured necessary expenses and serious needs. IHP assistance is not a substitute for insurance and cannot compensate for all losses caused by a disaster. The assistance is intended to meet your basic needs and supplement disaster recovery efforts.

IHP Assistance may include:

• Funds for temporary housing while you are unable to live in your home, such as rental assistance, or reimbursement for hotel costs
• A temporary housing unit, if approved for the disaster, when you are not able to use rental assistance due to a lack of available housing resources
• Funds to support the repair or replacement of owner-occupied homes that serve as the household’s primary residence, including privately-owned access routes, such as driveways, roads, or bridges
• Funds for other uninsured or under-insured disaster-caused expenses …

[read more]