Watch videos, download transcripts, and read speaker biographies from our 2019 Capitol Hill Summit! [continue reading…]
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This week’s Shabbat Smile was written by Allison Kleinman, Founding Director of The Jack and Shirley Silver Center for Special Needs + Adaptations at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan.
As another program year comes to an end at The Jack and Shirley Silver Center for Special Needs (CSN) at the Marlene Meyerson JCC Manhattan, we are incredibly proud of the transformative work of our team of staff, as well as the achievements of our participants and families. Through our programs and events this past year, we have enriched the lives of over 1,200 individuals and their families, connecting them to friends, employment, and community. [continue reading…]
Shelly Christensen
For my house shall be a house of prayer for all peoples. Isaiah 56:7
The great disability rights advocate, Rabbi Lynne Landsberg, z’l’ said, “We don’t welcome people with disabilities because they have disabilities. We welcome them because they are people.”
Becoming a house of prayer for all peoples involves much more than an open door. As I was writing my new book, From Longing to Belonging—A Practical Guide to Including People with Disabilities and Mental Health Conditions in Your Faith Community, I wondered if there was more to this verse that might help people understand how important belonging is to people.
Synagogues often turn to Isaiah 56:7 which reads, in part, “my house shall be called a House of Prayer for all peoples.” I noticed that in all of the conversations and planning, synagogues and community organizations were focused on the process of HOW to be inclusive, but rarely considered asking people with disabilities how they want to feel – the critical sense of belonging—where their hopes, dreams, needs, and talents become central to “inclusion.” [continue reading…]
Sponsors and Partners include Bunim/Murray Productions, Comcast NBCUniversal, The Walt Disney Company, Sundance Institute and more
Top Row (L-R): Stephanie Thomas, Delbert Whetter. Melissa Yingst and Lauren Appelbaum
Bottom Row: Angela Rockwood and Andrea Jennings
Los Angeles, California, May 20 – Great entertainment requires authentic stories and genuine representation of all people. This includes diverse people with physical, cognitive, sensory, mental health and other disabilities. Hence, RespectAbility, the nonprofit that produced The Hollywood Disability Inclusion Toolkit, is thrilled to offer an innovative lab series for emerging entertainment talent, as well as a track for mid-level career professionals. This 5-week, nine-session summer lab program is for people with disabilities and/or strong disability connections interested in development, production and post-production, including careers as writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, animators and other production roles.
“What we see on screen influences how we act in real life, but that is dependent on filmmakers choosing to include individuals with disabilities in diverse and accurate portrayals, which then helps remove the stigmas that currently exist about interacting with individuals with disabilities,” said Program Director Lauren Appelbaum, who leads RespectAbility’s Hollywood Inclusion efforts as the organization’s vice president, communications. “One purpose of this program is to continue building the talent pipeline of young professionals with disabilities looking to work behind the scenes. We do not want anyone to have an excuse that they could not find a writer, editor or any other position with a disability.”
Several sessions will meet at various studios where program participants will have the opportunity to learn about possible career paths and have networking opportunities. Furthermore, entertainment professionals in positions of power to hire will meet a group of qualified individuals and potentially shift their mindsets in equity goals for hiring. After all, opening the inclusion umbrella is the right thing to do as well as economically smart given that the disability market is valued at more than $1 trillion. According to Nielsen Research, Americans with disabilities represent the third largest market behind Baby Boomers and the mature market. [continue reading…]
- Watch the webinar on YouTube with live embedded captions
- Read the webinar transcript
- Download the slide deck as a PDF or as an accessible PowerPoint (Note: formatting for PowerPoint presentations vary when opened, and may compromise their aesthetic integrity)
Below, you can find resources for veterans with disabilities, including nonprofits and organizations, Military Branch Associations, and places to find statistics. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles, CA, May 7 – RespectAbility, a nonprofit organization fighting stigmas and advancing opportunities for people with disabilities, submitted the following public comments last week to the City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board. The Board is in the process of finalizing their new Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Year 20/2019-2020 Annual Plan. This plan will guide how the City of Los Angeles invests critical federal resources, builds new collaborations and works to empower people with barriers to employment in the year ahead.
RespectAbility’s public comments, which were jointly written by the organization’s D.C. and L.A. based staff, focused on several critical issues. First, the comments outline key data points about the size and scope of the disability community in Los Angeles. Second, the comments outlined in extensive detail about critical best practices and proven models of empowering job seekers with disabilities to successfully enter the workforce. Third, the comments cover a range of other issues including adopting disability best practices into existing programs to support the reentry population, expanding entrepreneurship opportunities, and supporting the local community through parent engagement as well as community resource fairs. Lastly, the public comments go into detail about how to leverage the incredible power of media and Hollywood to empower people with disabilities by fighting stigmas.
The working draft of the City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board’s 2020 plan can be found on their website here. Read RespectAbility’s comments in full below. [continue reading…]
In light of all of these findings, you are probably asking, “How do I make this better?” Others have asked that too and there are several peer organizations in the social sector making monumental strides to include people with disabilities. The Ford Foundation, Jewish Federation of Greater Washington, MacArthur Foundation and others have made great strides on journey to fully include people with disabilities. Each of these organizations is stronger and more successful in their work because of these efforts, and in working with them and others, RespectAbility has developed a proven roadmap. [continue reading…]
See all of the responses to our new study on Disability in Philanthropy & Nonprofits as well as responses from New York and California. [continue reading…]
In 2018, RespectAbility, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization dedicated to fighting stigmas and advancing opportunity for people with disabilities, fielded a national survey of people who work in the social sector. Using lists from the Chronicle of Philanthropy and the NonProfit Times, as well as our own extended network, we surveyed 969 respondents, primarily from nonprofits (76 percent) and foundations (18 percent), from 46 states, Washington, D.C., and other U.S. territories. We also spoke one-on-one to leaders in groups who advise and support philanthropy. Our goal was to begin a process of understanding and advancing how funders and nonprofits view and do or do not include people with disabilities. Here’s what we found: [continue reading…]
