Happy Disability Pride Month! This celebration was established in commemoration of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which was passed in 1990. The landmark bill expanded the civil rights of people with disabilities, ensuring comprehensive protection against discrimination. The bill also reshaped the country by mandating accessibility in public spaces for the first time. Thanks to the ADA, accessibility measures such as entry ramps, automatic doors, Braille signs, and curb cuts make it easier for many of the 61 million Americans living with disabilities to participate fully in society.
The first Disability Pride Day was held in Boston in 1990. Although celebrations soon spread to other cities, it wasn’t until 2015 that the full month of July was designated as Disability Pride Month, in New York City in celebration of the ADA’s 25th anniversary. Today, we observe Disability Pride Month to bring spread awareness about the lives of those living with a disability, while advocating for inclusion and accessibility in our world. During this month, people living with disabilities and allies celebrate disability culture and fight to end the stigma surrounding people with disabilities. In this blog, we’re highlighting some of the organizations advancing awareness of people living with a disability and sharing resources and tools.
Organizations Supporting People with disabilities
Abilities Dance
Ellice Patterson founded Abilities Dance to use dance as a tool for intersectional disability rights. The group uses dance to create a place of inclusion for all experiences and to honor the intersectional identities of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) people with disability. We are proud to work with her organization as part of the Barr Foundation’s Powering Cultural Futures initiative, a six-year grant to build the capacity of BIPOC arts and communities in Massachusetts. Ellice and her organization have also been active in supporting local laws expanding access along with organizations like the Disability Policy Consortium below. Visit Abilities Dance.
American Council of the Blind
The American Council of the Blind (ACB) is one of the nation’s oldest disability organizations. Founded in 1961, many of its state affiliates and local chapters have a history that can be traced back to the 1880s. Its mission is to increase the independence, security, equality of opportunity, and quality of life for all blind and visually impaired people. Visit The American Council of the Blind.
Community Access to the Arts
Community Access to the Arts (CATA) nurtures and celebrates the creativity of people with disabilities. Through arts workshops in painting, dance, theater, singing, creative writing, and more, CATA helps their artists tap into their potential. CATA also holds public events including an annual performance and year-round arts exhibits. Visit Community Access to the Arts.
Disability Inclusion Fund
The Disability Inclusion Fund (DIF) at Borealis supports U.S. groups run by and for people with disabilities leading transformational change. Its principles and practices draw from the disability justice movement and aim to build power and a society that is free of ableism and other discriminatory barriers. The DIF is committed to disability justice movement-aligned funding including a participatory grantmaking process that involves members of the disability community to guide funding decisions. Visit the Disability Inclusion Fund.
Disability Policy Consortium
The Disability Policy Consortium’s (DPC) credo is “About Us, By Us”: the belief that when decisions are made about people with disabilities, people with disabilities must play a lead role in making them. Their mission is to ensure the voice of people with disabilities is heard on key issues, to support the health of our community through participatory research and expert policy analysis, and to empower grassroots disability leaders to transform their communities.
The top policy priorities of the DPC in 2023 include an act to expand wheelchair warranty protections, an act to protect the homes of seniors and disabled people on MassHealth, calls for increased funding for alternative housing programs, and more. Read their full list of legislative and budget priorities for Massachusetts and visit the Disability Policy Consortium.
Disability Rights Fund
The Disability Rights Fund (DRF) is a grantmaking collaborative between donors and the global disability rights community that provides financial and technical resources to organizations of persons with disabilities to advocate for equal rights and full participation in society. Since 2008, DRF and its sister organization, the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund (DRAF), have funded organizations of persons with disabilities (OPDs) across the developing world – primarily in Africa, Asia, the Pacific Islands, and the Caribbean – to participate in ratification, implementation, and monitoring of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). Visit Disability Rights Fund.
National Disability Institute
Did you know that one in four people with disabilities live in poverty? National Disability Institute influences thinking and behavior through pioneering research, advocacy, policy development, training, and technical assistance. They collaborate with hundreds of organizations throughout the country — from financial institutions and employers to government and community organizations — to empower people with disabilities and their families to build a better financial future. Visit National Disability Institute.
Partners for Youth with Disabilities
Partners for Youth with Disabilities strives to create a world where young people with disabilities will be able to live with dignity and pride in who they are, and to lead self-determined lives filled with purpose. To make this happen, they build the skills and abilities of young people with disabilities, and increase the inclusivity of workplaces, organizations, and communities. Visit Partners for Youth with Disabilities.
Think Outside the Vox
Think Outside the Vox closes the gap between Deaf/Disabled Patrons, BIPOC/marginalized/disabled access providers and arts organizations, who are largely inaccessible. They provide arts access consulting and training that centers anti-ableist/antiracist disability culture to arts institutions. Their work focuses on expanding the breadth and scope of accessible programming by facilitating hiring of disabled and marginalized artists and experts. Visit Think Outside the Vox.
Resources and Tools
ADA.gov
ADA.gov is the U.S. government’s official hub on ADA law and disability-related best practices. From answers to common questions to official legal documents, ADA.gov has the information necessary to understand rights and responsibilities under the ADA. Visit ADA.gov.
Disability Justice: An Audit Tool
Have you ever wondered how your organization is doing at practicing disability justice? “Disability Justice: An Audit Tool” is aimed at helping Black, Indigenous and POC-led organizations (that are not primarily focused around disability) examine where they’re at in practicing disability justice, and where they want to learn and grow. It includes questions for self-assessment, links to access tools, organizational stories and more. Learn about Disability Justice: An Audit Tool.
Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN)
The Employer Assistance and Resource Network on Disability Inclusion (EARN) offers information and resources to help organizations of all sizes recruit, hire, retain, and advance people with disabilities; build inclusive workplace cultures; and meet diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) goals. EARN offers a range of employer-focused resources on topics including recruiting and hiring people with disabilities, creating inclusive workplaces, reasonable accommodations, and encouraging employees with disabilities to self-identify. Learn more about EARN.
National Center for Accessible Media
For over two decades, the National Center for Accessible Media (NCAM) has been a national leader in making digital media accessible for people with disabilities. The team in NCAM—with over 150 years of combined experience in accessibility—are pioneers, inventors, and problem-solvers, frequently anticipating and creating solutions for tomorrow’s technology challenges. Some of the center’s most popular tools include free software to filmmakers and videographers to include captions and audio-descriptive tracks. Visit the National Center for Accessible Media.
Partnering Across the Sector
We are honored to be a partner to organizations throughout the region that advocate for and support the ability for people living with disabilities to fully participate in society, during Disability Pride Month and beyond. Increasing accessibility and ending the stigma around disabilities is key to achieving equity, one of the values which drives everything we do at TSNE. Whether it is capacity building, property management, consulting, or training, we are focused on embedding fairness and equal access in all that we do.
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