Important to Understand Significance that Gray’s Disability had in Leading to his Death

Washington, May 23 – As the verdict comes down on the death of Freddie Gray in police custody in Baltimore, the first trial of his accused killers has come to an end. One of six officers charged in connection with the arrest and subsequent death of Gray last April was acquitted. However, more attention needs to be paid to the fact that Gray was an individual with a disability and the role disability played in his involvement with the justice system.

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New members include principal authors of the ADA Steve Bartlett and Tony Coelho, as well as inventor of reality television, Jonathan Murray

Rockville, Md., May 10 – RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization working to empower Americans with disabilities to achieve the American Dream, is proud to announce that we have added major leaders to our boards of directors and advisors. Our diverse board of directors now includes the Congressional co-authors of the Americans with Disabilities Act, the inventor of reality television, and major leaders in philanthropy, communications, management and business. Our board of advisors includes experts who are steeped in disability issues and nonprofit management.

Founded in 2013, RespectAbility works to educate, sensitize and engage Americans to focus on what people with disabilities can do, rather than on what they cannot. RespectAbility seeks to increase the number and percentage of Americans with disabilities who engage in competitive, integrated employment, start and sustain their own businesses, lift themselves into the middle class and participate in their communities. In its first two-and-a-half years, RespectAbility met one-on-one with 43 of the nation’s governors and all of the presidential candidates, including those who have since suspended their campaigns, to discuss issues of concern to people with disabilities – especially employment and stigma. Collaborating with Jonathan Murray and A&E, RespectAbility promoted Born This Way through an event on Capitol Hill and social media, helping to get the show renewed for a second season. RespectAbility’s social media channels continue to grow, with more than 57,000 fans on Facebook and nearly 5,000 followers on Twitter.

“We are thrilled to add a wonderful group of leaders to our boards,” RespectAbility Co-Founder and Chair Donn Weinberg said. “For decades, approximately 70 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities have been outside the workforce. We are building a strong, coordinated and bipartisan voice for the 1-in-5 Americans who have a disability.”

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Washington, D.C., March 21 – Some Rabbis and other Jewish Americans are protesting Republican front-runner Donald Trump’s lack of inclusion for minorities including people with disabilities ahead of his scheduled speech to the AIPAC Policy Conference this evening.

While many of AIPAC’s delegates who oppose Trump speaking tonight are upset with the businessman’s violent rhetoric on groups like Muslims and Mexicans, the Republican front-runner also has verbally attacked individuals with disabilities, expanding stigmas that have been undermining people with disabilities for ages.

Rabbi Rick Jacobs, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, has expressed his concern about Trump’s level of intolerance for several groups including individuals with disabilities.

“We will hold him accountable to all of the groups that he is not just disrespecting but denigrating in his speeches and his policy commitments,” Jacobs said Monday morning. “It is unacceptable in America and it is unacceptable according to our Jewish tradition.”

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IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF
THE WORKFORCE INNOVATION AND OPPORTUNITY ACT (WIOA)

To: The White House Administration, U.S. House, U.S. Senate, Governors, Workforce Boards & Agencies, VR, Disability Leaders, Presidential Candidates and others who care deeply about poverty reduction and jobs for people with obstacles to work
Re: Urgent update on WIOA implementation, reviewing state plans and jobs for people disabilities: problems that must be addressed
From: Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, Philip Pauli and Lauren Appelbaum, RespectAbility

The Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA), which was overwhelmingly passed by Congress and signed into law by the President, holds huge promise for our nation’s workforce system, employers and people with barriers to work. This law provides states with the opportunity to dramatically reduce poverty and economic injustice. However, we are deeply concerned that too many of the state plans required by WIOA are missing key factors needed to empower people to overcome barriers to employment such as a disability.

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New Data Shows People with Disabilities In Some States Twice as Likely to be Working as in Other States

Washington, D.C., March 11 – New data from the Disability Compendium’s 2015 Disability Statistics Annual Report shows that nationally only 34.4 percent of U.S. civilians with disabilities ages 18-64 living in the community were employed in 2014, compared to 75.4 percent for people without disabilities – a massive gap of 41 percentage points in the labor force participation rates. This leads to poverty, prison and poor health outcomes.

The new report shows a huge variation in the rates of employment for persons with disabilities between the states.

“The 2016 presidential campaign is largely a reflection of how much the American people are hurting economically. No group is hurting more than people with disabilities, whose gap in labor force participation rates from people without disabilities has increased dramatically,” said Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility.

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Washington, Feb. 27 – With the #OscarsSoWhite campaign, a spotlight has been put on the lack of racial diversity in the Oscars. Article after article focuses on the absence of Black, Hispanic, Latino and Asian Americans being nominated by the Academy. That is needed. However, it’s not enough.

“Diversity must really mean diversity – and that includes the one-in-five Americans who has a disability,” Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi, president of RespectAbility, said. “Disability needs to be part of every conversation on diversity. We support the #OscarsSoWhite response, but we are fighting for including for everyone.”

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Washington, Feb. 26 – RespectAbility is releasing its Super Tuesday Disability Vote Guide. The #PwDsVote 2016 Campaign Questionnaire was designed for people with disabilities (PwDs) and those who love them to know where candidates stand on the issues. The questionnaire asked all of the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle to comment on 16 disability questions. Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders responded by addressing all of the questions, and have significantly different views on the issues. Dr. Ben Carson and Gov. John Kasich filled out parts of the questionnaire, and also have significantly different views. Despite numerous requests in person and by phone and email, the campaigns of Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio and Republican frontrunner Donald Trump have not yet filled out the questionnaire.

Fully one-out-of-five voters have a disability, and 52 percent of likely voters have a loved one with a disability. Only 34 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities have jobs, despite the fact that the vast majority want to work. More than 11 million working age people with disabilities are now living on government benefits in our country.

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Washington, Jan. 30 – RespectAbility has released its first #PwDsVote 2016 Campaign Questionnaire for people with disabilities (PwDs).

“Fully one-out-of-five voters have a disability, and 52 percent of likely voters have a loved one with a disability. There are 56 million Americans with disabilities, and we have the ability to determine who wins or loses elections,” RespectAbility President Jennifer Laszlo Mizrahi said. “In the early voting states there are 357,730 people with a disability in Iowa, 166,258 PwDs in New Hampshire, 680,038 PwDs in South Carolina and 357,035 PwDs in Nevada. Our community will play a major role in the outcome of this election, and it is vital for us to know where the candidates stand on our issues.”

The questionnaire asked all of the presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle to comment on 16 disability questions. Former Sec. of State Hillary Clinton and Sen. Bernie Sanders filled out all of the questions and former Gov. Jeb Bush filled out almost all of the questions. While there are three candidates who answered the questions very thoroughly, they have dramatically different ideas about how to deal with the issues. It’s extremely important to read their full answers so that you can understand their important differences. Issues in the detailed questionnaire include employment, stigma, education, safety, transportation, housing, healthcare, foreign affairs and other issues. Several of the candidates did not yet take the time to fill out the questionnaire, but Dr. Ben Carson and Gov. Chris Christie filled out parts of the questionnaire.

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#RespectTheAbility Campaign: Spotlight on Iowa

Em’s Coffee Company: Bringing Independence To Independence, Iowa

Emilea Hillman, owner of Em’s Coffee Co.

Independence, Iowa, Jan. 22 – “I like to be the boss.”

That’s one thing Em’s Coffee Co. owner Emilea Hillman likes most about being self-employed.

In a town that has seen several coffee shops go out of business after only two years, Em’s Coffee Co. continues to be a strong, vibrant business since its opening six years ago.  Hillman, who arrives at 6 a.m. to make the coffee and open her business, is seriously committed to her work, her employees, and her customers.

Hillman is well known in Iowa for leaving a segregated workshop and becoming a business owner with the support of her family, the Iowa Vocational Rehabilitation Services’ Self-Employment Program and other agencies. Born with a congenital condition causing a lack of nerve tissue connecting the left and right side of her brain, her parents were given little hope that she would learn to walk or talk, much less that she would ever be gainfully employed.

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