Picture of Gov Abbott in Where’s Waldo hat & shirt. This is for our campaign to get Gov Abbott to live up to his promise of meeting with ADAPT. You can call his office and tell them he should meet with ADAPT (512) 463-2000
The third Thursday of every month ADAPT of Texas holds our big meeting from 3:00 to 5:00 pm at our office at 1100 South IH 35 (access road). This location is served by the #7 and #20 buses. Come on down and join us and find out what happening and how you can be involved.
For literally decades many people with disabilities have faced unacknowleged discrimination from two bizzare sources: health care and human services. But this spring new Section 504 Rules take a big bite out of that problem.
Key Provisions of 504 Rules https://acl.gov/504rule
These new rules are a huge step forward for people with disabilities just trying to get some help, live their lives, etc. At a recent ADAPT meeting we asked who had access problems and/or been discriminated against by their doctor. Every disabled person in the room raised their hands.
The rules will only cover places that get federal funding, but that’s a lot more places than you might imagine. And, there are efforts to bring ADA, 504, Fair Housing and the Architectural Barriers Act into alignment so requirements will not be in conflict any more.
To find out more about these rules and related information click on this link.
A big crowd gathered at ADAPT this year on July 26 to celebrate the anniversary of the ADA! Old friends and colleagues were there as well as up and coming young advocates. It was a great mix. Music, food, and an ADA jeopardy game were among the attractions. Jim Harrington remembered the ADA Campaigns Texas Civil Rights Project and ADAPT collaborated on the make hundreds of Austin venues accessible. Kaye Beneke brought her memorabilia and photos from the day of the signing. The E4 gang and their fearless leader Mr Tate joined us as well as dozens of others.
in mid July the gang at E4, UT Austin’s program for youth with disabilities to prepare for work, came to visit ADAPT of Texas. It was a great and energized group and we spoke to them about our history and issues and they showed us that our giant wheelchair had made the big time and was part of the PokemanGo game!!!
You are cordially invited to join a celebration of the 34th anniversary of the signing of the ADA!
We will be celebrating at the ADAPT office:
This landmark civil rights bill deserves a grand celebration and we would be honored if you could join us, and bring a friend if you like.
We will have refreshments, music and entertainment:
Come enjoy this special day!
The July picture on their calendar is the poster in the center. You can order these and other disability items from www.SyracuseCulturalWorkers.com
They have lots of other cool stuff too!
| A PROMISE UNFULFILLED The North Carolina Housing Crisis Casts a dark shadow over the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead Decision June 25, 2024 Contact: Nicky Boyte Email: bellbusters@gmail.com The Olmstead Decision established the constitutional right of all people to live in the least restrictive setting of their choosing and recognized that forcing people to live in nursing homes, institutions, and congregate living is a form of discriminatory segregation. Currently, there are 427 Nursing Facilities in North Carolina, with 36,148 residents waiting to transition into the community. This is unacceptable and unconstitutional. NATIONAL ADAPT demands immediate action to reconcile and resolve this ongoing violation of constitutional rights for people living in institutional settings. Individuals not living in institutions regularly encounter monumental barriers to obtaining and maintaining affordable and accessible housing. In North Carolina, there are over 7,000 people on the waiting list to receive home and community-based services, and the wait list for rental assistance and Section 8 housing is 4-7 years. This is unacceptable. National ADAPT demands: 1. Immediate investment in more permanent, affordable, accessible integrated housing! 2. Expansion of the availability of housing Vouchers for Disabled people transitioning from institutions to realize the promise of Olmstead and more accessible and visible information on how to access programs for housing vouchers and community-based services in all public human health service programs and materials. 3. Immediate investment from the State to allocate more money to fund housing and increased assistance for Disabled people applying for federal programs. ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom. *** National ADAPT Calls on North Carolina HHS Secretary Kody Kinsley to Uphold the Olmstead Decision. June 24, 2024 CONTACT: ADAPT Nicky Boyte bellbusters@gmail.com PRESS RELEASE National ADAPT demands a meeting with Kody Kinsley, HHS Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services, to discuss issues with Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), in order to improve and provide HCBS to all NC citizens with disabilities to live independently in the community. This demand falls just after the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead Decision, a landmark ruling in which individuals with disabilities are guaranteed the right to live in the most integrated setting possible. WHAT: On Monday, June 24th, National ADAPT will be protesting to demand a meeting with Kody Kinsley, HHS Secretary of the NC Department of Health and Human Services, to discuss issues with Home and Community-Based Services (HCBS), in order to improve and provide HCBS to all NC citizens with disabilities to live independently in the community. The demand to meet will address a multitude of issues and ensure ongoing accountability of North Carolina’s HHS office by implementing an equitable HCBS system for individuals with disabilities. People with disabilities cannot rely on churches, family, or other unpaid networks alone any longer. Additional state funding must be appropriated for people with disabilities to live integrated lives in the community. This includes a strong, well-paid community attendant workforce. In addition, the policy for evaluating community attendant hours must be amended, to be based on an individual’s functional need, rather than their diagnosis. North Carolinians with disabilities have many barriers which prevent them from living independently in the community. They include, but are not limited to, a lack of durable medical equipment, a lack of home modifications, and HCBS funding being inequitably distributed between disability groups. Media are encouraged to attend the protest and hear from constituents about the HCBS crisis in North Carolina. WHERE: NC Department of Health and Human Services, 101 Blair Dr, Raleigh, NC 27603 WHEN: Wednesday, June 24th, 2024 Learn more about National ADAPT by visiting www.nationaladapt.org and by following us on social media at https://linktr.ee/adaptnational National ADAPT rallies in North Carolina to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Olmsted Decision For Immediate Release June 23, 2024 Contact: Nicky Boyte & Jay Staggs – northcarolinaadapt@gmail.com Raleigh NC – Today June 23, 2024, ADAPT is rallying at the Halifax Mall located at Halifax Mall, 300 N Salisbury St, Raleigh, NC 27603, from 2pm-4 pm. National ADAPT is rallying to honor the 25th anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision. The Olmstead decision has given many people with disabilities access to independence and community life. National ADAPT is a grassroots disability rights organization working to make sure disabled people of all ages can live outside of nursing homes and other restrictive facilities and in the community. Volunteer activists have traveled from across the country to North Carolina because too many disabled people are living in institutions, which is a blatant violation of the ADA as was decided by the Supreme Court’s Olmstead Decision in 1999 . This rally will kick off a week- long ADAPT style advocacy demonstration as North Carolina ADAPT advocates to improve services and supports for people with disabilities in our state. Advocates look to improve services for people with disabilities that include affordable, accessible integrated housing, more equity in services across the board for all people with disabilities regardless of labels, and using Money Follows the Person to free our people from institutions and into the community. This Rally will bring together activists, organizational leaders, disability community members, along with lawmakers to recognize and honor our movement. Join us today, to celebrate with others committed to ending institutional bias, by building a system for people with disabilities to live independent lives, outside of nursing homes and other restrictive and unnecessary facilities. To find out what National ADAPT will be working on throughout the week, and how you can support, follow us on social media. https://linktr.ee/adaptnational |
person in s chair holding a poster of Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson.
Tues, June 18th at 11:30am an ADAPT/PACT delegation will gather in front of the Governor’s Mansion 1010 Colorado for a press conference to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the Olmstead v LC and EW case.
“Gov Abbott has not led our state in FREEING OUR PEOPLE from Nursing Facilities and other institutions” said Nancy Crowther.
Lois Curtis, L.C., and Elaine Wilson, E.W., the heroines of this story, were two women with disabilities living in institutions in Georgia. Like Texas, Georgia would not let them move into community living situations despite the fact the state had deemed them eligible for community services. The funds allocated for community services were used up, so they had been waitlisted – for years and years. Their attorney, Sue Jamison, argued the state could use the funds that were paying for them to be institutionalized (at much greater expense than their community services would cost) to pay for them to get services in their own homes. The case went to the Supreme Court which ruled that people with disabilities have the right to live in “the most integrated setting possible” and that “unnecessary institutionalization is discrimination.”
Though specific numbers are hard to come by, conservatively, hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities of all ages have transitioned from institutions to community since the “Curtis/Wilson” Decision was handed down.
Odd as it may seem, despite its taking a position against people with disabilities in this legal battle, Texas took a lead in implementing change. Programs, like Money Follows the Person, enabled thousands of Texans to be freed from nursing homes and other institutions and receive services in the community.
But Texas has been back sliding, and ADAPT/PACT wants Governor Abbott to meet with us to discuss ways to improve the lot of those needing community supports and services because of their disabilities. So far Abbott has reneged on his promise to meet. We are hoping this silver anniversary will bring Abbott to the table to create solutions.
The decision was released on June 22, 1999. ADAPT is celebrating this anniversary a little early because our members will head to North Carolina June 22 – 27 to join a national protest to help ADAPT in that state free people with disabilities there.
“I have always been bothered by how we refer/celebrate this case as the Olmstead Decision (Olmstead v. L.C., 527 U.S. 581 (1999). We should call our celebrations of this historic case the Curtis/Wison Decision,” said ADAPT organizer Bob Kafka. “The thousands of liberations that have come from this case have changed the lives of those freed from institutions to live in the community, fulfilling the words of community integration written in the ADA and the Supreme Court Decision.”
Transit Forward held its monthly meeting at the ADAPT office in May. Their speaker panel, which included representatives from ADAPT, Capital Metro, a Project Connect architect, the City’s Housing Dept., and the Lighthouse for the Blind spoke on ways the upcoming plans for public transit intersected with their specific areas of expertise. Over 50 people attended and asked lots of questions.
A large group of people sit and listen to speakers in the large room at the ADAPT office.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
For More Information Contact:
Josue Rodriguez, 915.449.3834, Josue.adapt@yahoo.com
Cathy Cranston, 512.650.6543, flacacata@aol.com
Kristi Lai, (915) 781-4961, Kristilai@gmail.com
WHO: Texas ADAPT/ PACT Community
WHAT: Press Conference
WHEN: Thursday, May 16, 2024, 9am
WHERE: North side of Texas State Capitol
WHY: End of two day Vigil and Press Conference
After more then a full week worth of work within the space of two days ADAPT of Texas, Desert ADAPT and PACT obtained nothing more than a failed response from Governor Abbott.
The crisis for disabled people in Texas remains. Governor Abbott of all people should understand the urgency and necessity of home and community based attendant services, the need for a livable wage, $20/hr., and the need to have a reliable, well maintained wheelchair and other durable medical equipment.
His lack of willingness to meet with ADAPT/ PACT and address these issues is affecting more than 3.5 million disabled Texans and 320,000 attendants working in the community.
Despite Governor Abbott’s lack of willingness, to meet with ADAPT/ PACT to address these issues, we remain resolved to continue the fight.
“No puedo creer que después de vernos aquí durante días, nuestro gobernador se niegue a reunirse con ADAPT y PACT y continúe, escondiéndonos debajo de la alfombra”. – Socorro Escárcega, miembro de ADAPT/PACT del Desierto de El Paso.
[Translated into English]
“I cannot believe that after seeing us out here for days on end, our governor refuses to meet with ADAPT and PACT and continues, sweeping us under the rug.”- Socorro Escarcega, El Paso Desert ADAPT/PACT member.
The squeaky wheels on our broken chairs will not go away. Repairs are needed through the governor’s policy. Governor Abbott, we are ADAPT, we will be back and so you just need to meet with us”, said Lucy Torres.
Click here to read the story in the Austin American Statesman
ADAPT of Texas, Desert ADAPT and PACT members resting after the long vigil. They are sitting in a white room in front of a large sign that reads “Fighting for Texas Workers”.
ADAPTers gather at night and stand by the banner with a row of tea candles in front of their vigil.
the beautiful warriors remained through the night. Come visit and call the Governor and tell him it’s time to meet.
1010 LAVACA ACROSS FROM THE GOV’S MANSION ADAPT/PACT DOING A PEACEFUL VIGIL. WHY:
SUPPORT FOR AN HCBS SYSTEM THAT WORKS;
INCREASE WAGES FOR Community ATTENDANTS;
TIMELY REPAIR DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT;
SUPPORT MEDICAID EXPANSION;
MEET WITH ADAPT OF TEXAS/PACT
Call Governor Abbot now! 512/463-2000 or 512/463-1828 and tell him to meet with ADAPT of Texas & Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas (PACT).
FOR INFORMATION: CATHY 512 650 6543 or JOSUE 915-449-3834