Advocates Summit 2011

Great Advocates Summit:

An Agenda for Action!

Over fifty advocates attended BCIL’s annual Advocates Summit on June 3, 2011, and the productive discussions produced a major agenda for action for the coming months. Key issues and action items include the following:

Advocacy on MBTA services
Concerns about service on The Ride and potential alterations were paramount. While some indicated that they “love” the service—it’s an essential means to get around— the common problem of late arrivals and too-long trips were voiced, as was concern about potential service curtailments and new eligibility processes (which could have deep impact on people with intellectual and mental health disabilities). Related issues voiced include the need to expand and improve accessible taxi service in Boston, and have vouchered alternatives; improve bus protocol including assurance that buses pull up to the curb; the lack of assistance in subway stations; inaccessible sidewalks around stations; and the need for reinstating travel training. Immediate next steps:

Attend the June 20, 1:00 public meeting on the MBTA lawsuit settlement hosted by the Independent Monitor, Judge Patrick King, at the T, 2nd floor; you will have the chance to speak on both the good and your concerns around MBTA access.

Attend a BCIL meeting with General Manager Rich Davey on Ride issues being set for July; contact Karen Schneiderman at BCIL for details on a chance to speak about your issues.

ADA compliance and public access
The following access issues were raised: the failure of the state Department of Transportation to complete an ADA self-evaluation; the disproportionate problem of inaccessible sidewalks in minority neighborhoods; the major access problem raised by brick sidewalks; the need to work with neighborhood businesses to become accessible, including with the city’s Main Streets initiative; the need to file complaints with the state Architectural Access Board; and access to cultural sites. Immediate next steps:

Attend a City Hall meeting on policies for reconstructing sidewalks: Wednesday, June 22, 6:00-7:30, Piemonte Room, City Hall, 5th floor. Note that a group letter was sent to Mayor Menino strongly advocating for “elimination to the highest degree possible, the use of bricks for sidewalks” because they “essentially make many sidewalks – and neighborhoods— impassable to people with disabilities” and “are, in essence, a segregating mechanism.”

Neighborhood survey: BCIL and Sergio Goncalves will organize an assessment of sidewalk access in parts of Dorchester; contact Karen Schneiderman for more information.

John Kelly and others are working to try to get the Emerald Necklace, controlled by the CDR, to make pathways that are currently only made of gravel redesigned to make the environment accessible to people who use wheelchairs and others with mobility issues. He is looking to partner with organizations such as BCIL and other groups as well. Call him at 617-536-5140 if you would like to get involved.

Healthcare access
Access to hospital and physician services was a hot topic, and fits into BCIL’s work to make Massachusetts General, Brigham and Women’s, and Boston Medical Center accessible. Many barriers exist in healthcare, including unreachable exam tables and scales, and diagnostic equipment that cannot accommodate people who use wheelchairs and others. There is disparate care that affects people’s overall wellbeing. People also expressed their desire for clinics and other medical facilities as well as hospitals to provide sensitivity training on the subject of disability with an emphasis on people with anxiety and depression as a primary or secondary disability. There’s also huge concern—and it’s no overstatement—about cuts to Medicaid and Medicare at the federal level that will reduce care and services in the future. Immediate next steps:

BCIL will hold a meeting on hospital access issues in July—contact Bill Henning or Karen Schneiderman if you wish to attend or have a pressing concern. Date to be determined.

Contact your Congressperson to convey the importance of Medicaid; the group letters we sent to Senators Scott Brown and John Kerry aren’t enough. The debate to reduce the deficit and cut Medicaid may be front and center in Washington in the coming days; balancing the budget on the backs of people with disabilities is not acceptable. Call or email our Congressional delegation now! Find your representative: www.house.gov/representatives; toll-free number to Congress: 866-922-4970.
Keep federal and state officials reminded of the concept of least restrictive environments so that no one has to end up in a nursing home unless it is the only way to survive.

For those who are looking for PCAs and have had no success, you can go online to www.rewardingwork.org for listings of people willing to do a variety of personal care and homemaking services.

Contact Information:
Karen Schneiderman 617-338-6665 xt.204 kschneiderman@bostoncil.org
Bill Henning 617-338-6665 xt.213 bhenning@bostoncil.org

Equal access is a civil right!

Thanks!
Karen Schneiderman for BCIL
Senior Advocacy Specialist
617-338-6665 x204
kschneiderman@bostoncil.org

Comments of Byron Rushing to BCIL

Byron Rushing speaking at the Advocates Summit

State Representative Byron Rushing, a member of the House Leadership Team, a person of history, and an unflinching civil rights advocate, spoke at a previous BCIL Advocates Summit. Below are excerpts from his comments:

What you demand is so reasonable and it makes so much sense. What you are doing is absolutely necessary. You defend the rights of everybody in this city and in this state, when you defend the rights of people with disabilities.

You deserve to be treated with the dignity that we all deserve -- because we all deserve to be treated with dignity. You have been effective in saying how the majority of people have to change.

People speak easily about freedom and democracy in this country, but it is important to understand how few years this idea has been on the scene. These were radical ideas 230 years ago, too radical even for those who invented them then. However, once these words were written they no longer belonged to the people who wrote them, they belonged to those who heard them. And women heard them, black people heard them, people of every religion and ethnicity heard them, gays and lesbians heard them -- and you are making sure that people with disabilities are hearing them.

When I was involved in the civil rights movement in the 60s, white people used to ask us "What do you people want?" And a friend came up with a reply, after hearing this so much: "What do you want for your family? You want a good home, a good job, good healthcare, to be treated with respect and dignity. Is that what you want? OK. Write it all down and sign my name! That's what we want."

We must continue to denounce barriers to opportunity put before any people by others. People with disabilities should be treated as everyone should be treated. You are in the forefront of the movement for justice in this country. Never, ever, let anyone say what you are doing is self serving. It is serving the community. It is serving the whole Commonwealth. It is serving all of us.