Latest / Stuff Mom Never Told You / Disability Organizations (Part 1)

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Disability Organizations (Part 1) · Stuff Mom Never Told You

• 0:05
  Speaker 1: Hey, this is Sanny and Samantha and welcome to stuff.
• 0:08
  Speaker 2: Never told your prediction of iHeartRadio.
• 0:18
  Speaker 3: And we are back with my very long probably the
• 0:22
  Speaker 3: rest of the year type of pending episodes of organizations
• 0:26
  Speaker 3: that you should follow or you should know. But we're
• 0:29
  Speaker 3: gonna make it Disability Pride, except I'm a little outside
• 0:34
  Speaker 3: of Disability Pride Month, which was in July. But you know,
• 0:38
  Speaker 3: we're all about the fact that you should not forget
• 0:41
  Speaker 3: to be an advocate for disability rights all year long.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Yes, it's true. I just did a really big hind
• 0:49
  Speaker 1: gesture which reminds me of like a rainbow.
• 0:51
  Speaker 3: Yeah.
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: The more you know kind of the more you know
• 0:53
  Speaker 1: was how welcome. Yeah, you know.
• 0:55
  Speaker 3: So anyway, so with that, let's jump in and I
• 0:59
  Speaker 3: will tell you trying to pinpoint organizations that are that
• 1:02
  Speaker 3: serve specific areas was a little bit tougher, uh with this.
• 1:07
  Speaker 3: I think that's due to the fact that many of
• 1:08
  Speaker 3: these organizations are multi states and our state wide, meaning
• 1:14
  Speaker 3: like they're state funded organizations. And not to say that
• 1:17
  Speaker 3: they're not great. You know, that's not always the ones
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: that you want to support all the time, because sometimes
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: you know, they're still ablest because government agencies oftentimes do
• 1:28
  Speaker 3: it out of necessity or out of I guess checking
• 1:32
  Speaker 3: that box rather than with love, and they're typically not
• 1:37
  Speaker 3: let by disabled people in it self, and we've talked
• 1:39
  Speaker 3: about how they need to be at the table to
• 1:42
  Speaker 3: know what they need.
• 1:42
  Speaker 1: Hello.
• 1:44
  Speaker 3: But with that also, there are a lot of national
• 1:47
  Speaker 3: organizations that have different chapters throughout the state, and we've
• 1:51
  Speaker 3: talked about a few of them before. I've definitely done
• 1:54
  Speaker 3: organizations you should know previously with our Activists around the
• 1:58
  Speaker 3: World segment. But with that, we're going to try to
• 2:00
  Speaker 3: focus a little more on local areas and highlight a
• 2:05
  Speaker 3: few of the national ones because there's also states that
• 2:08
  Speaker 3: don't have many organizations inside there, but they do have chapters,
• 2:13
  Speaker 3: So I think that's important that we would remember that,
• 2:17
  Speaker 3: although you know, we do love independent individual organizations as well.
• 2:21
  Speaker 1: That's why we focus on that. So we are starting.
• 2:23
  Speaker 3: Off on the East coast because you know, I'm just
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: going to follow my little pattern that we did last
• 2:28
  Speaker 3: time for many of the different places geography. Anyway, if
• 2:33
  Speaker 3: you have a localized organization that you know about, you know,
• 2:37
  Speaker 3: we love suggestions. You've already sensed a lot for our
• 2:39
  Speaker 3: last part of the segment with the LGBTQIA plus community.
• 2:43
  Speaker 3: So if you have some for the disabled community as well,
• 2:48
  Speaker 3: let me know. Disability community, come challigan. If you have
• 2:51
  Speaker 3: it for the disability community, let me know. We love those,
• 2:56
  Speaker 3: we need them, right. So first we are going to
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: are with a nationwide organization, the ARC. They have chapters
• 3:03
  Speaker 3: all over the United States. So this is from their site,
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: THEARC dot org. The ARC of the United States is
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: the nation's leading nonprofit advocating for and supporting people with
• 3:13
  Speaker 3: intellectual and developmental disabilities IDD and their families. Since nineteen
• 3:18
  Speaker 3: fifty they have worked to promote and protect human and
• 3:21
  Speaker 3: civil rights to support full inclusion in community life. So
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: the ARC kept popping up on every different state that
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: I would look into. Obviously they had like different chapters,
• 3:32
  Speaker 3: but they were also getting partnership with local organizations a
• 3:36
  Speaker 3: lot to help them and to raise them up and
• 3:39
  Speaker 3: use their platform to lift them up to let people
• 3:42
  Speaker 3: know about their services. So I think that's the really
• 3:44
  Speaker 3: great marketer of a national organizations.
• 3:47
  Speaker 1: So going with that.
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  Speaker 3: According to their site, they have over five hundred and
• 3:51
  Speaker 3: forty nine chapters around the country and have been around
• 3:54
  Speaker 3: since the nineteen fifties. Here's what they said on their
• 3:56
  Speaker 3: site about their history. There were virtually no per or
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: activities to support people with idd or their families, and
• 4:03
  Speaker 3: no laws to protect them against discrimination or exclusion. It
• 4:07
  Speaker 3: was common for doctors to tell parents that the best
• 4:09
  Speaker 3: place for their children where a disability was in an institution,
• 4:12
  Speaker 3: where they were often hidden away from society and denied
• 4:14
  Speaker 3: an education or proper care. But some families refused to
• 4:18
  Speaker 3: accept that. They wanted their loved ones to lead fulfilling
• 4:20
  Speaker 3: lives in the community, not be locked away in institutions. Though,
• 4:24
  Speaker 3: ARC was born from their determination to keep their children
• 4:27
  Speaker 3: at home and change what society believed was possible for
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  Speaker 3: people with disabilities. So they do a lot of different
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  Speaker 3: works that include advocacy work in policies and legislations, including
• 4:36
  Speaker 3: working for the civil rights for the disabled community, including
• 4:39
  Speaker 3: issues on legislation, funding, and access. And again, back to
• 4:43
  Speaker 3: their site, they say, for over seventy five years, the
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  Speaker 3: ARC has been at the forefront of the fight for
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  Speaker 3: the civil rights and inclusion of people with disabilities and
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  Speaker 3: their families. We fought to close institutions and make life
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  Speaker 3: in the community possible. We opened school doors for students
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  Speaker 3: with disabilities, to be included in the classrooms.
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  Speaker 1: Along side peers.
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  Speaker 3: We advocated for affordable healthcare, access, employment, financial security, and more.
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  Speaker 3: We are at the table for every major public policy
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  Speaker 3: fight and advancement impacting the lives of people with disabilities.
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  Speaker 3: We still have work to do, but we know we
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  Speaker 3: can succeed with our federal policy experts working with activists
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  Speaker 3: like you. So obviously, like I said, as a national organization,
• 5:20
  Speaker 3: they do work with local organizations in order to make
• 5:23
  Speaker 3: sure different policies and legislations within the state are being
• 5:28
  Speaker 3: passed or being blocked as they see our discriminatory, which
• 5:33
  Speaker 3: a lot of them are. And unfortunately, I think we're
• 5:35
  Speaker 3: taking a lot of steps back with the current administration,
• 5:38
  Speaker 3: so I'm sure they're working a lot harder at this point.
• 5:43
  Speaker 2: Yeah, and I will say about the ARC, we have
• 5:46
  Speaker 2: referenced them several times on the show and recently when
• 5:51
  Speaker 2: we did kind of our check in Disability Pride Month episode.
• 5:58
  Speaker 2: They're a really good source for or if you want
• 6:02
  Speaker 2: more information for what is going on. They're like a
• 6:04
  Speaker 2: really informative place you can go and see what's happening.
• 6:09
  Speaker 2: And we're and also history, so right, shout out to
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: them for that as well, because I have readen them
• 6:15
  Speaker 2: as a.
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  Speaker 3: Source love that also as a reminder, five hundred and
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  Speaker 3: forty six chapters, so you probably can probably can find
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: a local chapter that you can be a part of.
• 6:24
  Speaker 3: If you feel like that's what you want to do,
• 6:26
  Speaker 3: you should. You can check them out again at the
• 6:29
  Speaker 3: art dot org.
• 6:31
  Speaker 1: Yes.
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  Speaker 3: Next, we have the Disabled in Action, an organization based
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  Speaker 3: out of New York City. So from their site Disabled
• 6:39
  Speaker 3: in action dot org, we are a grassroots civil rights
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  Speaker 3: organization committed to ending discrimination against people with disabilities, all disabilities.
• 6:47
  Speaker 3: We fight to eliminate the barriers that prevent us from
• 6:49
  Speaker 3: enjoying full equality in American society. So this is based
• 6:53
  Speaker 3: out of New York City and on their site they
• 6:55
  Speaker 3: write very plainly that they are a group about action
• 6:59
  Speaker 3: and they are one fears group who pushes to advocate
• 7:02
  Speaker 3: for equal and equitable rights for the disabled community. Like
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: I hope y'all can go check out their site because
• 7:07
  Speaker 3: it is like, this is what we did, this is
• 7:09
  Speaker 3: how we're doing it, and we're to keep doing it.
• 7:11
  Speaker 3: Like I loved everything about it, and when you hear
• 7:13
  Speaker 3: about their history, it's not hard to see why. So
• 7:16
  Speaker 3: back to their site, Disabled Inaction dot org. Disabled in
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  Speaker 3: Action was organized in nineteen seventy by Judy Human, a
• 7:24
  Speaker 3: militant disabled woman, and other disabled activists at Long Island University,
• 7:28
  Speaker 3: Brooklyn campus. Misshuman sued the New York City Board of
• 7:31
  Speaker 3: Education when her application to obtain a teaching license was
• 7:35
  Speaker 3: rejected because of her disability. Although the suit was settled
• 7:38
  Speaker 3: out of court, the publicity it received served as the
• 7:41
  Speaker 3: impetus for founding DIA, which.
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  Speaker 1: Is the obviously acronym THEA. And I love that.
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  Speaker 3: I was like, yeah, yeah, when you see the pictures,
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  Speaker 3: when you see their call of action, like it's very
• 7:52
  Speaker 3: obvious who they are and how they have come about. Obviously,
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  Speaker 3: Judy Human became a teacher in so many ways and
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  Speaker 3: she is an I being at the organization from the beginning,
• 8:02
  Speaker 3: so obviously this organization is amazing. And throughout the years
• 8:06
  Speaker 3: they've been fighting in course, through demonstrations and even in
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  Speaker 3: song to seek out equitability. I love that they have
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  Speaker 3: a whole thing called Disabled in Action in song, and
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  Speaker 3: that's what they do is like they sing about any
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  Speaker 3: of the discriminations or any of the hardships, or any
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  Speaker 3: of the policies that are very discriminatory or that need
• 8:26
  Speaker 3: to be passed.
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  Speaker 1: In order to get equality. So it's very interesting. I
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  Speaker 1: love that.
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  Speaker 3: Once more from their site, they write, we educate government officials,
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  Speaker 3: community leaders, and administrators of established institutions, as well as
• 8:37
  Speaker 3: the general public. Among the methods employed are obtaining radio, TV,
• 8:42
  Speaker 3: press coverage and video coverage of our activities and issues.
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  Speaker 3: Testifying at in person and video public hearings, Participating in
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  Speaker 3: in person and video public forums, conferences, and advisory committees
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  Speaker 3: to legislators, community groups, and governmental agency. We also write letters,
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  Speaker 3: send emails, and we have a Facebook page. We work
• 9:00
  Speaker 3: closely with our disability rights groups too. If all else fails,
• 9:03
  Speaker 3: we have a rally or demonstration complete with signs. If
• 9:06
  Speaker 3: it does not work, we may do a lawsuit. Contrary
• 9:09
  Speaker 3: to public opinion, lawsuits usually take years to resolve, so
• 9:12
  Speaker 3: generally we try many other things first. And you're all, yeah,
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  Speaker 3: they do. You have seen them. Whether or not you
• 9:19
  Speaker 3: have realized you've seen them, you have seen them because
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  Speaker 3: they've made history in so many of these rallies and
• 9:24
  Speaker 3: demonstrations as well as their lawsuits. Today, they're still pushing
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  Speaker 3: to see justice and equitability for the disabled community, including
• 9:30
  Speaker 3: accessibility issues with voting, transit, long term care, and more.
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  Speaker 3: They have monthly meetings which you can find on their
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  Speaker 3: website if you're in New York obviously, but I loved
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  Speaker 3: reading about what they're doing and how they're doing it
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  Speaker 3: and how they're living up to the name of what
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  Speaker 3: Judy Human did in her life and how she taught
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  Speaker 3: others and advocated for others.
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  Speaker 1: So ah, it's a beautiful thing.
• 10:04
  Speaker 3: Next, we are talking about the Consortium for Constituents with
• 10:06
  Speaker 3: Disabilities or the CCD. The CCD has been around since
• 10:10
  Speaker 3: nineteen seventy three and is located in Washington, d C
• 10:14
  Speaker 3: so from their sitecd dot org. The Consortium for Constituents
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  Speaker 3: with Disabilities, headquartered in Washington, DC, is the largest coalition
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  Speaker 3: of national organizations working together to advocate for federal public
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  Speaker 3: policy that ensures the self determination, independence, empowerment, integration, and
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  Speaker 3: inclusion of children adults with disabilities in all aspects of society.
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  Speaker 3: Since nineteen seventy three, CCD has advocated on behalf of
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  Speaker 3: people of all ages with physical and mental disabilities and
• 10:43
  Speaker 3: their families. CCD has worked to achieve a federal legislations
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  Speaker 3: and regulations that ensure that the millions of children adults
• 10:50
  Speaker 3: with disabilities are fully integrated into the mainstream of society.
• 10:54
  Speaker 3: So I really like what they do. They bring a
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  Speaker 3: lot of organizations together. I will say their site was
• 11:01
  Speaker 3: a little harder for me to navigate because I couldn't
• 11:04
  Speaker 3: quite get all of the services as they do. They
• 11:07
  Speaker 3: have a lot which include that you can be a
• 11:09
  Speaker 3: part of them, so you could apply for membership, you
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: could work for them, you go ahead internships with them.
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  Speaker 3: So if this is something that you think it would
• 11:15
  Speaker 3: be up your alley doing a disability justice within policies
• 11:18
  Speaker 3: and regulations, this might be the place for you to go.
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  Speaker 3: So they go on to lists how they advocate for
• 11:23
  Speaker 3: disabled communities, saying quote, identifying and researching public policy issues,
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: developing testimony and policy recommendations, and encouraging innovative solutions to
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: public policy concerns. Educating members of Congress and effort to
• 11:36
  Speaker 3: improve public policies and programs that foster independence, productivity, integration,
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  Speaker 3: and inclusion of people with disabilities, Encouraging people with disabilities
• 11:44
  Speaker 3: and their families to advocate for themselves, and coordinating grassroots
• 11:47
  Speaker 3: efforts to support these advocacy efforts. So it sounds like
• 11:51
  Speaker 3: essentially they are the boots on the ground at DC,
• 11:54
  Speaker 3: like they are getting all of the stuff that they
• 11:56
  Speaker 3: need out there. They're working with other organizations throughout the
• 11:59
  Speaker 3: country in order to get those needs out there to
• 12:02
  Speaker 3: talk about what is the needs. So they are doing
• 12:04
  Speaker 3: a lot of work for us at DC and for
• 12:08
  Speaker 3: the disabled community. So it's amazing to see obviously really
• 12:11
  Speaker 3: important things to do because without people like them and
• 12:14
  Speaker 3: organizations like them, we can't have change, and we have
• 12:18
  Speaker 3: to have policy and legislation change for something to actually happen.
• 12:22
  Speaker 3: Unfortunately or fortunately unfortunately, yeah, because the administration is not great.
• 12:29
  Speaker 3: So I'm not mumbling, moving on, grumbling when I'm trying
• 12:38
  Speaker 3: to control this frustration. Moving on, we jump to Maryland
• 12:45
  Speaker 3: to the Disability Belongs to organization. So from their site
• 12:48
  Speaker 3: Disability Belongs dot org, Disability Belongs drives cultural and policy
• 12:52
  Speaker 3: change to ensure our full representation and influence creating a
• 12:55
  Speaker 3: more accessible, equitable, and inclusive society. So Disability Belongs to
• 13:00
  Speaker 3: a disabled led organization that has been around since twenty thirteen.
• 13:03
  Speaker 3: So a little bit more about their history. So, founded
• 13:06
  Speaker 3: in twenty thirteen in Rockville, Maryland, Disability Belongs which was
• 13:10
  Speaker 3: formally Respectability, which I think there's another organization name that,
• 13:15
  Speaker 3: or maybe I just went to their old site, because
• 13:16
  Speaker 3: there's still a site that has that name. Specifically, it's
• 13:20
  Speaker 3: a good name, but anyway. Began as a disability led
• 13:24
  Speaker 3: organization dedicated to driving positive change for the disability community
• 13:27
  Speaker 3: through policy, advocacy, and inclusion efforts in the Jewish community.
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  Speaker 3: As we grow, our focus shifted to systemic change into
• 13:34
  Speaker 3: investing in professional development and workforce opportunities for disabled individuals.
• 13:39
  Speaker 3: As our programs expand, we became a one stop shop
• 13:42
  Speaker 3: for training and consulting with corporate and government entities on
• 13:45
  Speaker 3: accessibility in both physical and virtual spaces, as well as
• 13:48
  Speaker 3: improving access to opportunity. In twenty twenty, we became a
• 13:51
  Speaker 3: fully remote organizations with employees across the United States, creating
• 13:55
  Speaker 3: a more accessible workforce for a predominantly disabled staff. In
• 13:58
  Speaker 3: twenty twenty four, after a thought full rebranding process, we
• 14:01
  Speaker 3: proudly adopted the name Disability Belongs, further embracing disability as
• 14:05
  Speaker 3: part of our identity.
• 14:07
  Speaker 1: So they did trademark Disability Belong so just in case.
• 14:10
  Speaker 3: Some of the services they offer include training to educate
• 14:13
  Speaker 3: and provide practical ways to be inclusive and in more
• 14:15
  Speaker 3: of accessible space for companies. They do consultations for organizations
• 14:19
  Speaker 3: who are seeking to have inclusion and accessibility for their
• 14:22
  Speaker 3: buildings and layouts as well as within the structure. They
• 14:27
  Speaker 3: also help to advocate for policy change and offer leadership
• 14:30
  Speaker 3: development programs which give quote comprehensive training, networking events, and
• 14:34
  Speaker 3: ongoing support for emerging and established disabled leaders across sectors.
• 14:38
  Speaker 3: And I don't think we talked about that enough. I
• 14:39
  Speaker 3: know several of these programs do offer leadership programs, and
• 14:42
  Speaker 3: I love that because we absolutely have to have these
• 14:45
  Speaker 3: types of programs in everything.
• 14:47
  Speaker 1: We have it offered everywhere else.
• 14:48
  Speaker 3: So this obviously is needed, especially if they want to
• 14:51
  Speaker 3: be at the forefront and making these changes, especially in
• 14:55
  Speaker 3: corporate worlds and organizations. We got to have more people
• 14:58
  Speaker 3: leading those who know what this is is about at
• 15:01
  Speaker 3: the table. Yep, that's the thing, you know, you know,
• 15:06
  Speaker 3: I feel like that's going to be one of our
• 15:08
  Speaker 3: big catchphrases that we have if we already have like
• 15:11
  Speaker 3: a big board of common sight sayings that we have.
• 15:16
  Speaker 1: At the table. Yeah, you know what I'm talking about?
• 15:18
  Speaker 1: Uh huh?
• 15:19
  Speaker 3: Any does I have a feeling of listeners like what
• 15:22
  Speaker 3: anyway an he knows what I'm talking about.
• 15:24
  Speaker 1: That's right.
• 15:24
  Speaker 3: Anyway, Moving on, then we have able SC, which is
• 15:29
  Speaker 3: coming from the state of South Carolina. They are a
• 15:32
  Speaker 3: disabled led organization trying to make transformative change. So here's
• 15:36
  Speaker 3: some information from their site able sc dot org. Since
• 15:40
  Speaker 3: nineteen ninety four, we've remained a consumer controlled, community based
• 15:44
  Speaker 3: cross disability nonprofit that seeks to make sure South Carolina
• 15:48
  Speaker 3: a national model of equity and inclusion for all people
• 15:51
  Speaker 3: with disabilities. We are the state's oldest and largest federally
• 15:54
  Speaker 3: recognized disability led organization. More than three fourths of our
• 15:58
  Speaker 3: staff are people with disability, as are over half of
• 16:02
  Speaker 3: our board of directors. We practice equity, disability, justice and representation,
• 16:07
  Speaker 3: and true inclusion through consumer driven independence and disability pride.
• 16:11
  Speaker 1: So again, I love that.
• 16:13
  Speaker 3: I love seeing South Carolina really trying to push forward,
• 16:15
  Speaker 3: being like we're going to be the most like forward
• 16:19
  Speaker 3: equitable organization in South Carolina, leading South Carolina to be
• 16:24
  Speaker 3: one of the most accessible areas.
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: I would love to see that.
• 16:27
  Speaker 3: They offer different services including advocacy, peer support, and mentoring.
• 16:31
  Speaker 3: They offer youth services as well as leadership programs, and
• 16:35
  Speaker 3: they also have independent living assistance so they help provide
• 16:38
  Speaker 3: and seek assistance and financial assistance in independent living programs,
• 16:42
  Speaker 3: which I think we've talked about how important that is
• 16:45
  Speaker 3: and making sure that people are given independence, how important
• 16:48
  Speaker 3: independence really is, and the growth to just our self
• 16:52
  Speaker 3: esteem and humanity, and so they are able to provide
• 16:55
  Speaker 3: access and assistance with that. So next is the Disability
• 16:59
  Speaker 3: Resource that is located in both Tennessee and Kentucky. So
• 17:03
  Speaker 3: from their site DRCTN dot org, Disability Resource Center is
• 17:08
  Speaker 3: a center for Independent Living cil with branches in Knoxville, Tennessee,
• 17:12
  Speaker 3: and Hazard, Kentucky. Our mission and services are grounded in
• 17:15
  Speaker 3: the independent living philosophy, which states that every person, regardless
• 17:19
  Speaker 3: of disability, has the potential and the right to exercise
• 17:22
  Speaker 3: individual self determination. I love that statement, and it's true,
• 17:25
  Speaker 3: like this is something that we have always talked about,
• 17:28
  Speaker 3: whether we're teenagers going into our adulthood or just trying
• 17:31
  Speaker 3: to find our own having that independence and self determination
• 17:33
  Speaker 3: is really, really, really important. So they seek to help
• 17:36
  Speaker 3: disabled individuals get true independence and have different services to
• 17:39
  Speaker 3: help garner this. They have services for employment, housing assistance,
• 17:43
  Speaker 3: independent living skills, and they provide social support as well
• 17:45
  Speaker 3: as advocacy work. For their clients so that you have
• 17:48
  Speaker 3: mentors as well to help you in this situation. And
• 17:51
  Speaker 3: I think that's also really important in anything and everything.
• 17:54
  Speaker 3: Mentorship is huge. And they have different events for their
• 17:57
  Speaker 3: clients as well, including how parties. I saw this spring
• 18:02
  Speaker 3: fleeen picnics and I was like, ah, different holiday parties
• 18:05
  Speaker 3: and even the tailgate party to kick off football season.
• 18:08
  Speaker 1: You know, not big to me, but you know it's important.
• 18:12
  Speaker 2: I think I don't watch football, but I like a
• 18:15
  Speaker 2: good tailgate.
• 18:16
  Speaker 1: You like a good tail yate or you know, get
• 18:18
  Speaker 1: them wings.
• 18:20
  Speaker 3: And they offer a thing called a Spirit of Ada
• 18:22
  Speaker 3: Awards Celebration, which I would assume is to celebrate the
• 18:25
  Speaker 3: passing and the signing of Ada, which happened in July
• 18:27
  Speaker 3: of nineteen ninety. So they have this in July, and
• 18:30
  Speaker 3: I'd love to see that. It doesn't give information exactly
• 18:32
  Speaker 3: what they do, but Award celebration seems pretty self explanatory.
• 18:36
  Speaker 3: I just love that they have these events ready to
• 18:38
  Speaker 3: go though. And last, but not least, for this segment,
• 18:41
  Speaker 3: we are talking about Louisiana and the organization is People
• 18:45
  Speaker 3: First of Louisiana. So from their site people FIRSTLA dot org,
• 18:49
  Speaker 3: People First of Louisiana is part of a national coalition
• 18:53
  Speaker 3: of organizations for people with disabilities. As a statewide organization,
• 18:57
  Speaker 3: it supports people with disabilities and empowering themselves to become
• 19:00
  Speaker 3: effective decision makers, gain independence, enjoy life as equal citizens,
• 19:04
  Speaker 3: and actively empower each other to participate in and contribute
• 19:07
  Speaker 3: to their local communities. And I really did love that
• 19:10
  Speaker 3: they have a lot of information and I need to
• 19:13
  Speaker 3: have more updated information on their Facebook which is People
• 19:16
  Speaker 3: First of Louisiana Foundation, So if you want to go
• 19:19
  Speaker 3: look and see their stuff, and they post this as
• 19:22
  Speaker 3: to who they are and what they do, they write
• 19:25
  Speaker 3: People First of Louisiana is a self advocacy group run
• 19:29
  Speaker 3: by people with disabilities for people with disabilities, where people
• 19:32
  Speaker 3: learn to speak up for themselves about decisions they make.
• 19:35
  Speaker 3: Members can connect with others in their community, across the
• 19:38
  Speaker 3: nation and around the world, and members learn about their
• 19:40
  Speaker 3: rights and responsibilities as citizens of the United States of America.
• 19:45
  Speaker 3: So again, they offer different events and resources, including having
• 19:48
  Speaker 3: a disability disaster preparedness workshops, and I think that's huge.
• 19:51
  Speaker 3: I like something about it I didn't even think about.
• 19:53
  Speaker 3: And obviously them being based in the Laton Rouge Louisiana.
• 19:56
  Speaker 3: It makes a lot of sense, but that is a
• 19:58
  Speaker 3: workshop they offer often, and I think it's so important
• 20:01
  Speaker 3: because we need prepare to scorce shops anyway, and then
• 20:04
  Speaker 3: we know that how Louisiana in the country handled Hurricane
• 20:09
  Speaker 3: Katrina really showed how ugly and how ablests a lot
• 20:13
  Speaker 3: of these agencies were, So it's very important that they
• 20:16
  Speaker 3: are able to do that, and I think that's such
• 20:18
  Speaker 3: an important work. They have group meetings and conferences to
• 20:22
  Speaker 3: bring awareness of current issues or policies they might want
• 20:25
  Speaker 3: to discuss or they want to have a forum on.
• 20:27
  Speaker 3: They have celebrations and they bring in keynote speakers to
• 20:30
  Speaker 3: talk about the next steps or celebrating who they are.
• 20:34
  Speaker 3: I love that They also collaborate with a lot of
• 20:37
  Speaker 3: local groups to advocate for the disabled community as well,
• 20:40
  Speaker 3: so other groups that's not necessarily disabled focus, but they
• 20:44
  Speaker 3: do work a lot with them.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: They also work with the ARC, as we mentioned before.
• 20:47
  Speaker 3: I think most of these organizations do that I mentioned
• 20:50
  Speaker 3: that I had to search for.
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: But yeah, these are just a few.
• 20:54
  Speaker 3: Of course, I've been saying since our previous episodes about organizations.
• 20:58
  Speaker 3: These are just a few of theations that are out
• 21:00
  Speaker 3: there again, if you know of any please let us know,
• 21:03
  Speaker 3: because unfortunately they're not popping up as readily as the
• 21:07
  Speaker 3: national organizations are or any of the government organizations, and
• 21:12
  Speaker 3: we want to kind of highlight the nonprofits first. So
• 21:15
  Speaker 3: if you have any suggestions, or if you have any
• 21:18
  Speaker 3: places that you think are doing great work, please please
• 21:20
  Speaker 3: let us know.
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: Yes, absolutely, and if you are involved, let us know
• 21:26
  Speaker 2: about that too. You can email us at Hello at
• 21:29
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• 21:32
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• 21:34
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• 21:37
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• 21:39
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• 21:42
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• 21:44
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• 21:48
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