VIDBE-Q 2025 Volume 70 Issue 3
EMPOWER VI employs a multi-pronged virtual approach to address the
most pressing needs of students who are B/LV, their families, and school-based
transition professionals. Virtual resources and training allow EMPOWER VI to
disseminate materials, respond quickly to identified training needs, curate flexible
programming, and eliminate the cost and complication of travel. Many parents and
educators of students who are B/LV in rural areas are the only such parents or
educators in their communities. Transition-aged students who are B/LV may not
have local exposure to other individuals who are B/LV. As a result, each of these
groups often struggles to envision postsecondary education and employment for
students who are B/LV, understand how to pursue work, or know how to acquire
the support they need to attend a postsecondary program—particularly if access to
pre-vocational or pre-college experiences is limited in their middle and high
schools. To remediate these isolated experiences, EMPOWER VI creates
opportunities for personal connection, joint learning, collaboration, and community
building among these groups. Below, we summarize our project deliverables and
how each is having an impact on our target audiences.
Our Website
During the first year of our grant period, we developed a high-quality, fully
accessible website (www.empowervi.org) that serves as a central hub for all our
materials and resources.
