We are entering the season of disability rights. One of them anyway. June 22nd marks the 23rd anniversary of the Olmstead decision where the supreme court said people with disabilities have the right to services in the most integrated setting. Thank you Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson (the plaintiffs). And just one month later, July 26th, is the 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. We haven’t made it all the way but we need to celebrate how far we have come.
A short video and discussion designed to outreach and
build the Power of the Disability Vote.
Sat June 11th 3pm – 5pm 1300 Lavaca Austin, Texas
Family Life Center of the United Methodist Church
ASL Interpreter provided Snacks and Beverages
Bus lines #7 #20 #803
Y’all Come
REGISTER TODAY FOR THE DISABILITY VOTE SUMMIT
June 29 – 30, 2022, 1:00-4:00pm ET | Virtual | ASL, CART, Spanish
Click here to Register Today https://aapd.us13.list-manage.com/track/click?u=08dab5cd58ad9250c3f56519f&id=e64bd2abe7&e=8258983e50
| WHEN AND WHERE IS IT? The summit takes place Wednesday and Thursday June 29-30, 2022 from1:00pm – 4:00pm ET. All the sessions will be virtual, streamed through Zoom, and free to all. We hope you’ll register to join us! WHAT IS IT? Join disability and voting advocates for a 2-day virtual summit focused on getting out the disability vote in 2022. Summit speakers will come from disability, voting, and civil rights advocacy communities across the country. This summit will include breakout sessions on: Why We Vote: Centering the Issues Making Elections More Accessible Partnering for Success Protecting Voting Rights and Access Making Voting Outreach More Accessible Motivating Disabled Voters in 2022 WHAT IS THE ACCESS INFORMATION? This event is free to all and will include ASL interpretation, English and Spanish captions, and Spanish audio translation. If you require any other accommodations, please email Jack Rosen at jack.rosen@ndrn.org with “Vote Summit — Accommodations Request” in the subject line. WHO IS ORGANIZING THIS SUMMIT? The 2022 Disability Vote Summit is co-hosted by the REV UP Voting Campaign at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD), the National Disability Rights Network (NDRN), and the National Association of Councils on Developmental Disabilities (NAACD). |
Travis County Housing Authority (different from Austin’s HACA, yes we have 2 housing authorities here, City of Austin and Travis County) has announced that they are opening their Housing Choice Voucher (also known as Section 8 voucher) list:
Pre-applications for placement on the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher (HCV) waiting list program will be accepted starting Friday July 1, 2022 @ 8:00 AM, through Friday July 8, 2022 @ 5:00 PM. If interested in applying for the HCV waiting list, visit https://www.waitlistcheck.com/TX1128-3917.
If you need affordable housing DO NOT LET THIS OPPORTUNITY PASS. This happens once in a blue moon and if you don’t jump on it you will be waiting for YEARS for another chance. It’s a lottery so you never know who will get lucky – so go for it!
At our last ADAPT meeting we were discussing the problems of late getting your wheelchair or other DME fixed. The local go-to spots have been bought out by mega-corporations which seem to care little to none about our waiting weeks or months with broken equipment waiting on the world to change and these behemoths to get off their you-know-whats, get the parts, make an appointment, and fix the equipment. And van repair is much the same these days.
Well it seems this is not just an Austin issue. Mother Jones has an article on this problem (click here to read more). The article talks about National Seating and Numotion but here in Austin, the another part of the problem is Rehab Medical. First you must weave your way through a labyrinth of telephone answering messages and options. Then you must convince them you need help, Then you must wait for an appointment – and I do mean wait, like for a month or more. Then you must get your service request approved – again waiting and waiting. Then you wait and wait for parts. Then wait, wait, wait for another appointment and hope the parts they got are the right ones. I haven’t made it any farther than this so far, and don’t know anyone else who has either, so I’m not sure what happens after that.
Check out this e-magazine BorderLore. As I understand it, the e-magazine is about border culture and this issue is about disability culture. It’s called Cripping BorderLore. The editor Alisha Vasquez contacted me about using a picture from the ADAPT Online Museum and that’s how I learned about it. Click on this link to see the e-magazine! (Alisha will be a guest on Barrier Free Futures Radioshow this Saturday June 11 and as will all BFF shows it becomes a postcast afterwards.
The Health and Human Services Commission (HHSC), Independent Living Services (ILS) Program is seeking your input about the independent living services available to Texans with significant disabilities. Your thoughts and experiences regarding the ILS program, the Centers for Independent Living (CIL) contracted to carry out the ILS program and the work of the State Independent Living Council (SILC) are vital.
Using an internet browser, please log on to http://www.PRCsurvey.com/begin/HHSC
If you have any questions for the HHSC ILS Program regarding the study or its implementation, please contact HHSC at BlindandGeneralIndependentLiving@hhsc.state.tx.us
Sample Runoff Ballot:
https://apps.texastribune.org/features/2022/texas-runoff-2022-ballot-may-24/
If you have registered to vote by April 25th, you can vote in the Texas Runoff election EVEN IF YOU DID NOT VOTE IN THE PRIMARIES. If you did vote in the primaries, you can only vote in the runoff of the party you originally voted in.
Am I Registered? https://www.texas.gov/living-in-texas/texas-voter-registration/
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Important Dates
Texas Runoff Tues May 24th
Early Voting May 16th – 20th
Last day to request Ballot By Mail Friday May 13th (Return Mail-in ballots on election day, which is May 24. If they’re postmarked before 7 p.m. May 24th, they’ll be counted if they’re received by the county by 5 p.m. May 25.
Important Resources
League of Women Voters www.vote411.org
Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) https://www.disabilityrightstx.org/en/category/voting/
DRTx Voting Hotline 1-888-796-VOTE (8683) for free assistance.
Secretary of State https://www.votetexas.gov/mobile/index.htm
Texas AARP https://states.aarp.org/texas/election-voting-guide
Register2Vote https://register2vote.org/?Org=RevUpTX
Join the Texas REV UP Community:
Sign up for ongoing Texas REV UP Community Information by going to our website.
Scroll down and fill out your information:
www.revuptexas.org revuptx@gmail.com (512) 431-4085
Don’t Mourn Organize and REV UP
R EGISTER
E DUCATE
V OTE
U SE
P OWER
cool video on voting (on a California TV station!) :
| Who: National ADAPT What: Rally When: Wednesday, May 11th starting at 10AM. Where: U.S. Capitol Grounds area 12 (Between Constitution Ave N.W., Pennsylvania Ave N.W., 1st St. N.W. and 3rd St N.W.) For More information: Nina Bakoyiannis ninabakoyiannis@gmail.com Misty Dion misty.m.dion@gmail.com www.nationaladapt.org |
Washington, D.C.- National ADAPT, the nation’s largest grassroots disability rights activist organization, closes out their action week by hosting a rally on U.S. Capitol grounds to demand the Senate immediately prioritize the needs of the disability community. While the House and Senate are busy supporting the legalization of medical-assisted suicide for disabled individuals, activists across the country remind the government that they are DISABLED not DISPOSABLE, and that they have lives worthy of living. National ADAPT is fighting for the right for disabled individuals to live in the community with the services and supports needed, NOT be forced into an untimely death because of an underfunded long-term system that leaves disabled individuals with few options. National ADAPT demands the Senate:
ADAPT organizer Nina Bakoyiannis from the Downstate New York chapter says, “It is the greatest act of violence to attempt to legalize our deaths while restricting access to basic services that keep us alive. All we have been asking for is the right to personal attendant services, an accessible place to live, and a livable wage for our workers. The Senate has made their prioritizes abundantly clear. It’s time for them to do the right thing and invest in our lives and our services, not our deaths.”
Who: National ADAPT
What: Demonstration to demand HUD prioritize the needs of the disability community
When: Tuesday, May 10th starting at 9:30AM
Where: HUD, 451 7th Street, S.W., Washington D.C., 20410
For More information:
Nina Bakoyiannis inabakoyiannis@gmail.com
Rhoda Gibson rhodagibson2@gmail.comwww.nationaladapt.org
Washington, D.C.- National ADAPT, the nation’s largest grassroots disability rights activist organization, is advocating for affordable, accessible, and integrated housing. This is integral to ending the institutional bias and ensuring people with disabilities have real choices for where they want to live. National ADAPT demands that HUD:
Expand affordable, accessible, integrated housing development and rent subsidy programs targeting low- and moderate-income people with disabilities, especially people who receive HCBS services.
Expand access to accessible home modifications programs to enable people to leave or avoid institutional settings thus saving millions of health care dollars.
Ensure that 811 Project Rental Assistance (PRA) funding is reserved for those transitioning out of congregate living settings to independent living.
Release the 2022-2023 811 PRA funding for people with disabilities.
SUPPORT visitability; it means freedom for all and the ability to visit and enter ALL homes with a basic standard of accessibility.
“Those of us working at Centers for Independent Living are not able to truly help people get out of institutions if there is no proper access to accessible housing. Access isn’t only about a building having an elevator … it’s about affordability, ease of access to home modifications, and a housing system that allows disabled individuals to access these services without bureaucracy,” says Misty, an ADAPT activist.
Without these priorities, people with disabilities will not have sufficient resources to leave institutions and/or live independently in the community.
