NEWS

America at Risk- Job Crisis for People With Disabilities — Views on Solutions From 3839 People on the Front…

Yesterday, in a horrible hate crime, a man yelled “Heil Hitler” at the Jewish Community Center in Kansas City and then murdered three innocent people because he saw them as “the other”. My prayers are with the victims and their families.

Hitler didn’t “just” kill Jews — he was a mass murderer who also killed people with disabilities and others right along side Jews. It was Hitler’s way of creating a master Aryan race. So when someone yells “Heil Hitler” and then kills innocent people – the hater has embraced a philosophy that sees Jews, people with disabilities and others as worthy of elimination.

Fortunately, in America today people don’t go hunting people with disabilities dead like what happened in KC. But according to the FBI, last year the number of hate crimes reported against people with disabilities doubled.
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Washington, D.C. – RespectAbilityUSA, a non-profit organization working to empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream, is proud to release a toolkit for job seekers with disabilities.

Unlike employment outcomes for women, African Americans and Hispanics, which have been improving over time, the gap between employment rates of those with and without disabilities has expanded significantly. [continue reading…]

Washington, D.C. – RespectAbilityUSA, a non-profit organization working to empower people with disabilities to achieve the American dream, is proud to release a toolkit for policy leaders on employment for people with disabilities. The toolkit is important because:

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ABILITY Awareness, in conjunction with the United Nations’ Department of Public Information hosted a panel discussion: The Art of Engagement.

The event will take place on Friday July 19th as part of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The panel is described as, an entertaining approach to building awareness through music, theater, humor and various visual arts stimulates attention to an otherwise resistant society: http://www.abilitymagazine.com/UN-ABILITY.html.

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Action Sports Star/Host of The Challenge TJ Lavin Stars in New PSA on disability: “We all should have the same opportunity to achieve the American dream.”

Washington, D.C. – With fully 70 percent of working-age Americans with disabilities outside the workforce, BMX bike legend and host of MTV’s The Challenge, T.J. Lavin, is starring in a new public service ad where he says, “whether it is me, you, or someone who just wants to work — we all should have the same opportunity to achieve the American dream.”

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Governors Making Dramatic Changes to Expand Employment for People with Disabilities (PwDs)

Disability Leaders to Meet With Governors To Discuss Employment For People With Disabilities

Washington, D.C. – As the National Governor’s Association (NGA) begins its meeting in Washington, many of the nation’s governors are making dramatic, positive changes to expand job opportunities and avenues for success for people with disabilities.  The changes are an outgrowth of the NGA Chairs’ Initiative, “A Better Bottom Line: Employing People with Disabilities” led by previous NGA Chairman, Gov. Jack Markell (DE). The initiative created a blueprint that identified best practices and outlined steps that can be put in place by businesses and states to increase employment of people with disabilities.

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MTV’s TJ Lavin, Gov. Jack Markell, Rep. Pete Sessions, Rep. Brad Sherman and Gold Medalist Matt Cowdrey Join RespectAbilityUSA to Stand Up for Jobs for People with Disabilities (PwDs) 

Washington, DC. With fully 70% of working age Americans with disabilities outside the workforce, BMX bike legend and host of MTV’s The Challenge, T.J. Lavin, Governor Jack Markell (DE), Rep. Pete Sessions (TX), Rep. Brad Sherman (CA) and Paralympian Matt Cowdrey joined together to meet with dozens of Capitol Hill professionals. The group could not be farther apart geographically or ideologically, but share a commitment to improving opportunities for people with disabilities.  At the well-attended hill event on Wednesday, they voiced their experience and discussed policies and attitudes that are necessary to empower PwDs to achieve the American Dream.

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New poll on faith in disability community shows:

• 80% of Evangelicals, 59% of Protestants, 41% of Catholics and 25% of Jews say religion “very important” to their lives
• Half of Jews surveyed say religion “not very important” in their lives; Jews in disability community much less likely to attend religious services than other faiths

(Washington, D.C.) Faith questions from a groundbreaking new poll of 3839 members of the disability community were released today by RespectAbilityUSA, a non-profit organization working to enable people with disabilities to have the opportunity to achieve the American dream.  [continue reading…]