The Arc of the United States’ Post

Accountability and active listening are the ticket! Topics of discussion include reps for seniors in every Ward office, finalizing a senior tenants' bill of rights, creating a Chicago department on aging (you read that right: there is none), consolidating and expanding all interior and exterior home repair services, establishing local grocery stores and health clinics on the south and west sides, and more!

September 14th SAMHSA Office of Recovery Equity Week Webinar Through the Looking Glass: A Closer Look at Disparities for Americans living with Disabilities in a Post-COVID Era The event will focus on challenges faced by people with disabilities and in recovery, and dialogue about efforts to address areas of need to ensure people living with a disability also have access to recovery supports and services. The event will also examine the historic challenges for people living with disabilities access to recovery supports, and what is being done to address the challenges at state and national levels. https://lnkd.in/gPUY2xJS

July is #DisabilityPrideMonth. MEFA is proud to serve as the state sponsor of Attainable, the Massachusetts ABLE Savings Plan, which provides the opportunity for individuals with disabilities to save in a tax-advantaged account without affecting their federal means-tested benefits. Learn more about how individuals with disabilities can save in this account at bit.ly/3VH34nZ

In 2024, over 40.2 million people with disabilities are estimated to be eligible to vote. Today, the U.S. Election Assistance Commission – in partnership with Rutgers University – released a new report examining how the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) has impacted the voting experiences of voters with disabilities since enacted in 2002. Key findings include voter turnout for those with disabilities has INCREASED and accessibility barriers have DECREASED over the last 20 years. Learn more, including what work remains in “Voting Experiences Since HAVA: Perspectives of People with Disabilities” https://lnkd.in/eanfgQrt

July is #DisabilityPrideMonth! This year, the theme is “We Want a Life Like Yours.” One challenge Virginians with disabilities and their families face is finding useful info on services. A lot of info about disability services is confusing or wrong. Change takes time, but you can take the first step toward positive change today. Ask your agency or organization take the pledge to become an Information Access Champion: https://lnkd.in/ePBPYKzb

Here are the key takeaways from the April 2, 2024 'Making Spaces Inclusive and Accessible: A Conversation on Intellectual Disabilities and Equity' hosted by the American Public Health Association: - Healthcare professionals need more training and experience to support people with disabilities effectively. Call to action: Implement disability-focused education and hands-on training programs for healthcare workers. - Poor coordination between providers and lack of accessibility create barriers to care for people with disabilities. Call to action: Establish integrated care models and enforce ADA requirements to improve access. - Stigma and lack of understanding fuel discrimination against people with disabilities. Call to action: Launch public awareness campaigns and sensitivity training for groups like law enforcement. - Inadequate funding and resource allocation limit disability services and support. Call to action: Re-evaluate budgets and increase funding for programs that empower people with disabilities to live fully. The key is centering the needs and perspectives of disabled individuals, treating them with respect, and taking concrete steps to dismantle barriers. Community organizations and loved ones should offer support while respecting autonomy. #NPHW2024

***ANOTHER UPCOMING WEBINAR. PLEASE SHARE WIDELY*** The Center for Lebanonese Studies will host a webinar this coming Tuesday, July 11, 2024 that will explicitly discuss the lives of people with disabilities under occupation and war. Once again, I am urging all of my disability activists and colleagues across the globe, especially those living in the US, to make an effort to attend this call and learn how your individual and organizational advocacy must require the inclusion of international people with disabilities. We must begin to think widely, not narrowly and not according to hidden agendas or grant outcomes. I know I have been calling on US disability advocates to step up and expand their thinking and horizons, especially considering much of our tax dollars have been funding wars, unjust military operations and poverty and hunger around the world. For a very long time, it seems that the US disability community are only allowed to stay in one lane and not cross the other lane because, if we do, we will lose funding and status. This has been happening and our US government continues to impede our disability rights movement, not just globally, but locally. We must first learn more, and then act, with digillence, humility and courage. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gSCQWMJr

A Message from the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities on how we can help! Help our friends at @txadapt / Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas (PACT) get a meeting with the Governor! This week, ADAPT of TEXAS / PACT held a 48-hour vigil outside Gov. Greg Abbott's residence. They are asking to meet with him to discuss several critical issues in the Texas disability community. You can help! Email the Gov.'s Director Budget and Policy, Tabatha Vasquez, at Tabatha [dot] Vasquez [at] gov [dot] Texas [dot] gov. Tell her: "Please meet with ADAPT of Texas and the Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas to discuss the following issues: Increasing Community Attendants wages; Ending the waiting lists; Putting a time limit on Durable Medical Equipment (DME) repair; Increasing the # of Affordable Accessible Integrated housing; and Medicaid Expansion." Need more support in your advocacy for the Gov? Let us know!

Learn about the history of Disability Pride Month in today's blog.

Belonging is such an important concept, taking inclusion one step further. Our new name is a statement of our core belief: that we belong in all aspects of society. Learn more about why we are making this change to Disability Belongs™: https://lnkd.in/ekDRbt_N. Image Description: Disability Belongs™ new logo with blue and teal overlapping droplet shapes