VFI and TRPIL Come Under Voices for Independence Banner
By Lois Thomson
According to Steve Johnson, VFI (Voices for Independence) in Erie and TRPIL (Transitional Paths to Independent Living) in Washington, PA, had been suffering from an identity crisis. Johnson, director of marketing for VFI in both Washington and Erie, explained: both organizations were a CIL, a Center for Independent Living. TRPIL, which has been established in the Washington community for more than 30 years, was the CIL for Washington, Fayette, and Greene Counties, while VFI covers Erie and a handful of surrounding counties. But now, both entities will be under one umbrella and known as Voices for Independence.
Johnson said, "VFI was allowed to do certain things and TRPIL did the rest, but now moving forward, everything is going to be Voices for Independence. The good news is that people don't have to scratch their heads when looking online or when they call, wondering – 'is this the right place, am I talking to the right people?' We can say Voices for Independence is a one-stop-shop for all resources."
Johnson said the organization had been talking with regulatory figures about merging VFI and TRPIL since late 2019, but the problem was that with each entity being recognized as a CIL, there was a great deal of red tape involved with making sure that the naming process was being handled appropriately, and without jeopardizing the status of either organization. "We wanted desperately to introduce this wide range of services to the disability community under one name, but it's not as easy as one might think. As a nonprofit, we rely on every penny, and so we must be conscious of that and fully adhere to the process."
“When somebody is new to the system, there are so many touchpoints and they’re trying to figure out how to get through, and by the time they’re approved, they’ve been put through the wringer. Folks don’t need another headache, and this is the light at the end of the tunnel. We make it easy with the services we provide.”
He said it was important to make sure they were doing it the right way, then went on to say, "Now that we have go-ahead, it's going to be a cloud of confusion lifted off of the situation." While this change will admittedly make it easier from a marketing and branding point of view, Johnson emphasized that the people they serve are what's most important.
He said it's about the public and what they've had to adjust to the past six years. They've been seeing two different logos side-by-side, and that was very confusing and also cumbersome to try to explain to them.
"We're all going to be Voices for Independence, and they're going to have the Voices for Independence experience in Washington. That will be the name on the tip of the tongue when they're thinking about anything disability related; you can rely on us for anything or get you to the right place, and to say it's valuable is such an understatement."
For more information, call (724) 223-5115 or visit www.vficil.org.