Our Mission

The mission of Disability Rights Mississippi is to promote, protect and advocate for the legal and human rights of all people with disabilities, and to assist them with full inclusion in home, community, education and employment.

What is the main function of this agency and what does it mean?

Disability Rights Mississippi (DRMS) is a private, non-profit corporation with a federal mandate to protect and advocate for the rights of individuals with disabilities across the state of MS. DRMS has been providing advocacy services for almost thirty years, free of charge, to Mississippians with disabilities and has helped improve the lives of thousands of our state’s most vulnerable population by championing their rights. DRMS is the only disability advocacy agency in MS that has attorneys on staff to pursue legal remedies if necessary. The mission of DRMS is to promote, protect and advocate for the legal and human rights of all persons with disabilities and to assist them with full inclusion in home, community, education and employment.

What issues does DRMS advocate for?

Accommodations in the classroom; Employment Accessibility and Benefits; Medicaid Rights; Increased Community-Based Services and Supports; Equal Access to the Electoral Process; Fiscal Responsibility of Policy Makers; Accessible Transportation; Affordable and Accessible Housing.

Family First Braille provides resources and inspiration for people with visual impairments and their families through our Family Grant Program, our Custom Braille Transcription Service, and our Quarterly Magazine.  We also provide services to professionals serving people with visual impairments through our yearly Tyler Ramsey Special Educator award and our Resource Guide to all the visual impairment resources in the state of Mississippi.

We offer funding to help with anything that will support a person with visual impairment or their family. We want to help support you in breaking barriers to community integration in whatever way we can.  You can request help for training, equipment, home improvement, or anything else that you need.

We offer a free custom Braille transcription service for families.  We prepare your document using Duxbury software and a Juliet Pro 60 embosser.  We will mail your document through the Free Matter for the Blind rate at the post office.

We offer a free quarterly magazine with inspiration and resources for people with visual impairments and their families.  We also have content especially for teachers and other professionals who work with people with visual impairments.  This is an excellent resource to share with extended family members and other who may not be familiar with visual impairments.