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Two times a week Vanessa Coveau commutes from her home in Fremont to Berkeley, where she takes classes at Vista Community College.  

The 21-year-old uses a wheelchair for transportation because she has Cerebral Palsy – a disorder that limits her ability to move and speak. 

Like so many disabled people in Berkeley, Coveau has had trouble finding a personal attendant to help her with her daily activities. The struggle that the disabled community has had in finding qualified personal attendants in past years has led The Berkeley Center for Independent Living to make it a top priority. 

“Without an attendant it complicates things,” said Lucy Coveau, Vanessa’s mother.  

Vanessa’s attendant had to quit the job for personal reasons in October, and she was left searching for a replacement for several weeks. The CIL formed the Personal Assistant Services Crisis Team last summer that is trying to spread the word that disabled people are having more difficulties than ever in getting attendants to help them with everyday chores such as cooking, cleaning and shopping. 

“There hasn’t been a big difference yet, but we just started our push in the last few weeks,” said Jan Garrett, executive director for the Berkeley CIL, the first independent living center in the world. 

Garrett said disabled people in Berkeley have usually found help from Cal students wanting to make a little extra money with a part-time job, but the supply of college students has diminished in the last decade. She attributes the decline of attendants to the improved economy, among other things. 

“In the ’60s and ’70s people knew (the attendants program) existed and through word of mouth people would find out about being an attendant.  

In the ’80s and ’90s people didn’t know this existed and they could get better jobs that pay more money.” 

Scott Luebking, is in charge of technology for the crisis team, said the attendant situation has gotten so bad recently that there have even been cases of attendants stealing things from the disabled people who hired them.  

He said many disabled people are considering moving into nursing homes. “That is contrary to what the idea of independent living is,” Luebking said. Like many of the people who are looking for attendants, Luebking uses a wheelchair to get around. 

“Because of the attendant shortage, finding good people is hard and we are hiring people who are less than appropriate,” Luebking said. 

One step the crisis team has made to recruit attendants is drafting a set of frequently asked questions about what services the attendants have to partake in.  

The FAQs can be found on the CIL web site at www.cilberkeley.org along with a free e-mail group that disabled people can use to contact potential attendants. The team is also attempting to get the word out about needed attendants to people who are less likely to use the Internet. About 20 to 25 businesses from Berkeley and Oakland have each donated 500 to 3,000 printed copies of those FAQs, which the team has posted in envelopes around the university and local community colleges. 

In return, the CIL, which is working with no budget, doesn’t have to spend any money on publicity. The goal of such publicity is to end misconceptions about helping the disabled.  

Luebking said one reason for there being fewer attendants now is because people think they need to have prior experience to take on such a job.  

He said people do not have to be medically trained for many attendant positions.  

“If you are afraid or uncomfortable with somebody, then you won’t want to work with them,” he said. 

Some attendants are hired to help bathe or feed the disabled, but many just run errands or clean houses. 

The crisis team also wants people to be aware of the benefits of becoming an attendant.  

Most attendants get paid above minimum wage, and pre-medical students can put the experience on their résumés and work adjustable hours. Most disabled people pay the attendants themselves based on the type of work they do.  

Some attendants are paid through the county government or private insurance providers. 

“It is good because it gets the community involved,” said Garrett, who hopes the other 350 independent living centers in the country can follow Berkeley’s model.