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: 

1. * The expansion of Home and Community Based Services to increase access, quality, and uniformity nationwide so people with disabilities can live independently in the community.
2. * Increased wages for community attendant workers to ensure a livable wage. 
3. * An expansion of affordable, accessible, integrated housing development and rent subsidy programs targeting low- and moderate-income people with disabilities, especially people who receive HCBS services.
4. * Stop the unnecessary and dangerous overuse of guardianships and assure the least restrictive mandates of Olmstead are enforced. Guardians must allow access to federal community services under ADA.
5. * Support H. Con. Res. 68, a resolution that highlights the terrible consequences of legalizing assisted suicide.  

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 10^th 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. 

National ADAPT folks are visiting the Senate today to call for more community attendants, better pay for attendants and accessible, affordable, integrated housing. The circled an intersection by the Russell and Dirksen Senate Office Buildings. Police are giving arrest warnings. If you want to watch the action you can go to the ADAPT of Texas Facebook page and people are often posting the action via live stream. Nicky was making some excellent commentary recently, and Danny before her. Go ADAPT warriors, go!

Who:  National ADAPT

What:  Mother’s Day Recognition of Community Attendants and HCBS recipients 

When: Sunday, May 8, 2022

Where: Spirit of Justice Park starting at 2PM 

For More information: 

Nina Bakoyiannis   646-709-2510   ninabakoyiannis@gmail.com Cathy Cranston       512-650-6543   flacacata@aol.comwww.nationaladapt.org

Washington, D.C. –  National ADAPT will hold a rally south of the US Capitol to celebrate mothers that are Community Attendants and mothers with disabilities.  

Mother’s Day is a day to honor and show appreciation to our mothers. The Senate has abandoned our mothers who are attendants to their child or family member, mothers with disabilities who receive attendant services, moms assisting moms, and all mothers who are attendants receiving the inadequate wages that make it difficult for them to support themselves and their families.  This is how Congressional leadership “honors thy mother”.

National ADAPT and numerous attendant and disability rights advocacy groups have worked furiously to advocate for the $15 base wage, for funding for HCBS and affordable accessible integrated housing. The Congressional leadership has received hours of personal testimony, hearings, voluminous fliers, petitions, reports and countless Congressional visits, all coming together to stress the urgency of the necessary funding for HCBS and housing for people with disabilities and the community attendants that assist them.  Thus far, the Senate has refused to make these issues a priority.  “Such a lack of support by the Senate on the importance of the jobs we do,” said Carrie Warner, 30-year attendant in the community “such disrespect.” The Senate must make these issues a priority. Our lives depend on it.

It’s an Unhappy Mother’s Day for Community Attendants that do not get benefits; days off, not even on the day we “celebrate” them.

The Senate has also abandoned our mothers who are stuck in nursing homes, and who do not want to be in nursing homes but rather their own homes but cannot get the services they need to support them there. The bias toward institutionalization remains in Medicaid, despite decades of calls for change. States must provide institutional (including nursing homes) services while community services remain optional. With the growing shortage of attendants due to low wages and no benefits, this bias will grow even stronger. And the attendants who remain faithful to this noble profession despite the lack of pay and benefits grow older and needing supports themselves.

With the help of Austin Public Health, APH, ADAPT held another round of COVID boosters and vaccines at our office the week of April 18th! APH, who have most helpful in ensuring people with disabilities and community attendants have access to vaccines and boosters, generously came out and jabbed us all. (Amerigroup and VaxAustin helped the time before as well.) Together we have made multiple vaccines and boosters available to hundreds of Austin folks with disabilities and community attendants, and this time APH gave away $100 gift certificates to boot! Below are some shots of us getting shots.

This election has one state disability issue, namely a constitutional amendment to increase the property tax exemption for people with disabilities and older Texans. To see the details visit the League of Women Voters Vote 411 They share pros and cons to each issue on the ballot.

Austin also has a proposition officially decriminalizing possession of small amounts of marijuana which many people with disabilities use to help with pain, seizures, spasms and other side effects of their disabilities. This same proposition oddly also addresses ending no knock warrants, which could effect people with psychiatric disabilities, among others.

Early voting has already started and ends Tuesday May 3rd. Election day is May 7. Don’t let voter suppression stop you from using your right to vote. If your vote doesn’t matter why are they trying to limit you using it? Rev Up Texas is fighting for your voting rights in the court room, you need to fight in the voting booth!

Disability Rights Texas Voting Rights Hotline 888-796-8683 will take your calls about any problems you may have. Hopefully you won’t need them.

Having received no replies to our letter to Governor Abbot regarding attendant wages and the HHSC Commissioner’s total lack of a plan to deal with the problem of no attendants, PACT/ADAPT took action. We brought a copy of the letter over to the Governor’s Capitol Office. They did not know how to get ahold of him and bizarrely they were unable to call his scheduler. (That office really needs to upgrade it’s interoffice communications.) We said we’d wait and wait we did. Julie looked very official sitting at the Governor’s signing desk, maybe if she runs and wins the Governorship someone will do something about this crisis! But at the end of the day Capitol police were dispatched to escort us out. Those that still waited were given a paper banning them from the unreceptive Reception room for a year. What a blow! But of course we are still strong in our resolve to get this problem dealt with.

Meanwhile Desert ADAPT & PACT brought the message to the local Health and Human Services Commission, HHSC, office, (the Governor doesn’t even have an office in El Paso) and had them fax our request for a meeting so the Governor’s people would know the request was not just from pointy headed Austin folks.

Of course we will continue to demand the Governor stop ignoring this issue. If you want to help call Cathy or Nancy 512-442-0252, and call or email the Governor’s scheduler 512-463-7210 invite@gov.texas.gov and tell them to meet with PACT& ADAPT!

The UTA Disability Studies Minor, the Pre-Law Center, the Student Access & Resource Center, and the College of Liberal Arts’s Festival of Ideas are proud to present:

ADAPT of Texas and Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas 
Disability Rights & Community Attendants Roundtable

Please join us for this online conversation with national disability rights activists about community attendants’ experiences and the fight for better wages! 

Date: April 6, 12-1 pm via Teams: https://tinyurl.com/ADAPT-PACT-of-Texas (click here to go to the talk)

Presenters: Cathy Cranston, Nancy Crowther, Josue Rodriguez, and Francisca “Kika” Grajeda from Austin and El Paso ADAPT and Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas

Accessibility: ASL and AI CART will be available. Free and open to the public!

For more information about the roundtable or UTA’s Minor in Disability Studies, contact Dr. Sarah Rose at srose@uta.edu or visit http://disabilitystudies.uta.edu or http://facebook.com/UTADisabilityStudiesMinor. If you require a disability-related accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact Mikila Salazar at mikila.salazar@uta.edu.