As we reflect on the year coming to an end, we are so thrilled to be able to highlight a few triumphs that have marked 2012 as a year of incredible success:

- We provided nearly 20 people from the disability community with free professional advice on starting their own business. Our Small Business Development Panel was a rich mix of financing experts, business developers, and successful business people with disabilities that showed the audience what can be achieved when you advocate for yourself and use your resources.

- We celebrated the 22^nd anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act by hosting a community celebration. Guests reflected on America before the ADA, what they see now, and what they as future standards of inclusion and accessibility.

- We reinvigorated our ADA Subcommittee by recruiting new members that bring in new perspectives. This newly reformed group is set to tackle the growth of the BluePath program in the Portland Metro area, uniting the business and disability communities to promote accessibility and educate business owners about the spending power of the disability community.

- We collaborated with the U.S. Business Leadership Network to create a checklist for employers to use. The purpose of the checklist is to help business owners and leaders ensure that they are taking all possible measures to recruit, retain, and develop talent with disabilities.

- We announced the creation of the Connecting Communities Leadership Academy, a team effort across the business, academic, and nonprofit spheres that aims to create an accessible opportunity for budding leaders with disabilities to develop leadership skills to be used as advocates, on nonprofit boards, or in the workplace.

Though we are proud of how far we’ve come in 2012, we know that there is still much work to be done in 2013. The disability community is still experiencing disturbingly high unemployment, there are many opportunities still inaccessible, and there are still many goals we haven’t reached.

We need your help.

We are asking for your support. We need your time, your energy, and your voice. Please consider joining the Connecting Communities Coalition today and adding your name to the list of volunteers who are willing to help with the various projects that are taking top priority in 2013. We hope you will come grow alongside us as we do our part to strengthen the cross-disability community.

“Winter Holidays”, by Lavaun Heaster, 2012.

Those people who know me well know that I usually have some strategic thinking going on when I make a decision. When I made the decision to put my time into the Connecting Communities Coalition I was thinking about ROI – return on investment. As many people with disabilities know, it is easy to get caught up in volunteer work when you are out of work. I believe the key is to choose your volunteer commitments wisely. I chose the CC Coalition because I thought it would help me expand my community contacts. What I did not know was all the other things it would provide when I decided to start my own business.

I wanted to begin a facilitation consulting business but was finding getting clients for this very challenging. Through Portland Commission on Disability work (which was in its own way born out of my CC Coalition work) I met Polo who is very well connected in the multicultural and advocacy community. I call Polo mi tío (uncle) because he offers me solace, wisdom and encouragement, which I need sometimes. Polo encouraged me to share my voice as a member of the disability community at a Colored Pencils event. We eventually partnered the Connecting Communities Coalition, Portland Commission on Disability and the Disability Art and Culture Project to co-host a Colored Pencils celebration in June 2012. I asked if I could be one of the artists for this event and started creating large versions of the paper craft cut outs I had been doing to make calendars. I discovered that I did not have a clear message about my art and I really started thinking about what my art is about.

I have come up with the tag line of “Inclusive Accessible Art from Personal Inspiration” and my quote is “Images are powerful and create as well as reflect reality, so Lavaun uses her images to plant seeds for new expansive realities.” Now that I have started making my art public people are asking about certain pieces and I share the stories when people ask.

I went to the CC Coalition General Membership Meeting in November to see a presentation by Kylie Foster giving us Social Media 101 for people with disabilities. I went in thinking, “It will be nice to learn about all this new fangled craziness for the youngsters.” Low and behold there was a real ROI for me in attending this meeting! I walked away still not wanting to have anything to do with Twitter but thinking about how a blog could help my art business. I could start writing about the stories behind my art which are all about making visible the under represented images. I have not blogged yet about disability because my focus at the moment is about finding an identity through art. I know the post on disability is coming because I just completed a Kwanzaa piece with a man holding a white cane and I already have a piece with a youngster using a wheelchair. In both pieces the disability is not the subject just part of a larger story. When Kylie said blogs can be an opportunity to tell a story, I knew this could be part of my path to being the artist I want to be.

The CC Coalition has figured into so much of how I ended up on my current path and I am thankful I invested wisely with my time and energy.

–

Interested in becoming a part of the Connecting Communities Coalition? The Membership tab allows you to fill out an online form and join our community of advocates, activists, business people, nonprofit organizations, and other members. Membership is free and will connect you with projects that benefit the cross-disability community.

If we can’t be allies then we can’t be friends.

by Caitlin Wood

“The weight of inaccessibility is not logistical. It is not just about ramps, ASL interpreters, straws and elevators. It is a shifting, changing wall—an ocean—between you and I. It is just as much feeling and trauma as it is material and concrete. It is something felt, not just talked about. It is made up of isolation from another night at home while everyone else goes to the party. The fear of being left by the people you love and who are supposed to love you. The pain of staring or passing, the sting of disappointment, the exhaustion of having the same conversations over and over again. The throbbing foolishness of getting your hopes up and the shrinking of yourself in order to maintain. ” -Mia Mingus, Feeling the Weight: Some Beginning Notes on Disability, Access and Love.

I have been rereading Mia’s beautiful piece today, trying unsuccessfully to ignore the lump in my throat and keep the tears at bay. Newsflash! I’m a crier. It’s kind of my specialty, and something I’ve gotten very, very good at. It’s how I process and purge essentially all of my emotions and/or keep from engaging in drastic behaviors like assault and battery. At one point in my life, say my volatile early twenties, I likely would’ve thrown a shit-fit if provoked. Now I’m 30. Instead I just go home, drink too much club soda and torture my boyfriend with my endless, unmitigated emotions. I just have all these feeeeeeeeeeellllings, you know?

But I’m not writing this to beat myself up for my sensitive nature. I have many reasons for being the way I am. And my emotional responses are perfectly valid, legitimate and well-suited to the circumstances and situations I regularly encounter as a disabled woman in an ableist world. Like Mia mentioned, I’m doing what I can ‘in order to maintain.’ And it’s hard out there for a gimp.

Recently I had two separate instances where I experienced ableism at the hands of friends. Not acquaintances, but people who have known me for years and whom I have great affection for. The circumstances and persons involved on each occasion were different, but essentially both situations boiled down to me being the ONE PERSON left out of a group outing because of my disability. In each context, my friend(s) had planned an event that was inaccessible, made zero effort to ask me about potential accommodations and then talked about the event in front of me afterwards like it was no big deal. There seemed to be an implicit understanding on their part that I’d be okay with this.

I was not okay with this.

It was deeply upsetting. Instantly I felt isolated, alienated and disrespected. Why was I being excluded? Why didn’t they think to talk to me about it? That was by far the most distressing part for me. Had there been an acknowledgement of ‘hey this sucks, sorry you can’t come,’ I actually would’ve felt fine about it. I recognize there will be things I simply cannot take part in and despite being a diva I know it’s not always about me, yadda yadda yadda. But there was no such acknowledgement and so I just felt dissed. I expect this kind of carelessness from people who are new to the crip-friend world, but both of these cases were people who have known me for a LONG TIME.

After crying yet again to my boyfriend (annoying I know) out of frustration and confusion, I wondered: what exactly are my roles and responsibilities in these delicate situations? How do I respectfully confront a loved one about their hurtful behavior without risking ruining the friendship? Also: what is it about ableism that makes kind, usually-thoughtful people still engage in these overtly oppressive social-dynamics they don’t even realize they’re perpetrating? Even when you are literally staring them in the face?

I know that whether I like it or not (I don’t like it), the onus of educating nondisabled people about ableism is on me. It’s unfair and a lot of additional stress and pressure I don’t need. And I also have to do it with a smile on my face lest I get dismissed as the stereotypical ‘angry cripple.’ In a perfect world nondisabled people would take it upon themselves to read about the disability rights movement or analyze their own unchecked ableism. But it’s just not on the radar, and (in my skeptical opinion) unfortunately unrealistic to hope for that. All I have to do is read nasty comments from nondisabled people on this s.e. smith article to remind me how far disabled people have to go for equality. Cause those TABs are NOT getting it. I would like to believe there’s a possibility of progress for the disability community in my lifetime and I need to speak up- particularly when it’s affecting my personal relationships. It took these recent events to illuminate how truly difficult it is for me to address these issues with loved ones, because it is and probably will always be an incredibly sensitive spot for me.

I realize that by staying quiet out of fear of creating an awkward situation I’m not only adding to the problem, but also (very weirdly) extending a courtesy to people who aren’t extending the same courtesy back to me. They’ve already made me feel terrible by excluding me and by not confronting them out of a desire to avoid making them uncomfortable, I’m actually getting punished twice over. Because I’m not only nursing my own pain, but expending energy worrying about how THEY will feel once I tell them they’ve upset me. It’s nonsensical, but lucky for me I found a new Gemini therapist (who does Skype sessions with me cause her office is inaccessible! Ha ha?) who can hopefully help me get better at this.

I’m lucky to have several people in my life I consider true allies (shoutout to my bff Toshio and mi hermana amongst others). They’re nondisabled but they’re ‘down.’ I make huge distinctions between Friends and Allies. Friends can be allies but not always or even often. I thank the few, the proud, the allies in my life profusely!

Here are some tips to being a good ally. If our dear readers have any tips on how to navigate these tricky, gimpy waters of personal relationships and ableism, lay ‘em on me! I still have a lot to learn.

–

About the Author Caitlin, a.k.a Lulu, a dirty South transplant and current Portland, OR resident, is a disabled woman, a disability advocate, a foodie, and a drinkie. Caitlin sees Where’s Lulu as an opportunity to raise the standards of accessibility in everyday mainstream culture. She’s propelled by the fact that, despite being the world’s largest minority group, the disabled community continues to face marginalization and barriers at many levels.

Home Forward will open its Section-8 rent assistance waiting list Thursday for the first time in six years. Low-income people can apply to be on the waiting list anytime between Nov. 1 and 10.

Section-8 Application Computer Locations:

Home Forward
135 SW Ash Street
M – F: 8 am to 4:30 pm

Home Forward – Humboldt Gardens office
5033 N. Vancouver Ave.
M – F: 8 am to 4:30 pm

Human Solutions – Powell office
12350 SE Powell Blvd.
M – F: 8 am to 4:45 pm

Human Solutions – Rockwood
124 NE 181st Ave.
M – F: 8:15 am to 4:30 pm

Mt. Hood Community College library
26000 SE Stark St.
M – Th: 7:30 am to 9 pm
Friday: 7:30 am to 5 pm
Saturday: 11 am to 5 pm
Sunday: 1 pm to 7 pm

Portland Metro Workforce Training Center
5600 NE 42nd Ave
M – F: 8 am to 5 pm

WorkSource Portland Metro Central
30 N. Webster Street, Suite E
M – F: 8 am to 5 pm

WorkSource Metro East
19421 SE Stark Street
M – F: 8 am to 5 pm

WorkSource New Columbia Express Center
4610 N. Trenton
M – F: 9 am to 5 pm

WorkSource Southeast
7916 SE Foster Rd. Suite 104
M – F: 8 am to 5 pm

This year, Home Forward will accept online applications for the first time. The agency administers the Section-8 voucher program for Multnomah County. Home Forward will not prioritize applications by date. Instead, officials will randomly choose 3,000 households from the applicants. Once a household is on the list, priority selection is provided for seniors, persons with disabilities, and people who are working or engaged in education or training programs.

Applicants must earn less than 50 percent of the area median income for their household size — $25,550 for a single individual and $36,500 for a family of four — to qualify for the program. Applicants must also pass a criminal background check, and at least one member of the household must be a citizen or legal resident of the United States. Multiple applications from people in the same household will be screened out and disqualified.

About 8,700 households receive Section-8 assistance through Home Forward now. When the agency opened the list in 2006, about 10,000 people applied.

Home Forward has partnered with several library branches and other organizations to provide Internet access to applicants. You can not fill out the application on a tablet or cell phone.

You have an opportunity to share your experiences and ideas and help shape new goals and policies for community involvement in Portland’s Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan is Portland’s formal land use plan and guides future growth and development in our city.

Please tell us what you think by filling out a questionnaire. The questionnaire should take about 10 to 15 minutes to complete.

(SEE BELOW FOR ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND INFORMATION.)

Please forward this message to any community members you think care about ensuring a strong community voice in planning and development in Portland.

 Options available for filling out the questionnaire:

• Fill out and submit the questionnaire online:   http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/portlandcommunityinvolvement
• Fill out an electronic (fillable PDF) version, print it, and send it in:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/416445
• Fill out a hard copy and send it in via Fax, U.S. mail, email, or deliver in person to either:

Office of Neighborhood Involvement
Portland City Hall
Attn: Paul Leistner
1221 SW 4th Avenue, Rm 110
Portland, OR 97204
Tel:  503-823-5284
Fax: 503-823-3050
Paul.leistner@portlandoregon.gov

Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
1900 Building
Attn: Marty Stockton
1900 SW 4th Avenue, Suite 7100
Portland, OR 97201
Tel:  503-823-2041
Fax: 503-823-7800
Marty.Stockton@portlandoregon.gov
(Contact Paul or Marty if you’d like them to send you a hard copy of the questionnaire.)

MORE INFORMATION

What’s this about?

The City of Portland is updating its Comprehensive Plan, first adopted in 1980. The Comprehensive Plan is Portland’s formal land use plan and guides future growth and development in our city. The Bureau of Planning and Sustainability has created a number of “policy expert groups” (PEGs) to review and update existing Comprehensive Plan policies and develop new policies where needed.

A committee of community members and city staff is developing new language for the Community Involvement Goal in the City of Portland “Comprehensive Plan.” The Comprehensive Plan is a legally-binding document that guides planning and development in Portland. This effort is part of the current broader process to update the Comp Plan.

The committee—the Community Involvement Policy Expert Group (CI PEG)—is interested in hearing about your experiences specifically with community involvement in land use planning and development processes in Portland.

Why is this is worth your time?

Many community input processes result in guidelines or documents that are only advisory to City leaders and staff. The Comprehensive Plan is a legally binding document. Its goals and objectives must be

followed by city government. Your input can help shape the formal policies that guide how city government involves the community in land use planning and development processes and decisions.

What will happen to your input?

The CI PEG will use your input to develop:

• proposed language for new community involvement goals and policies for Portland’s Comprehensive Plan;
• a report that documents the Ci PEG’s process, the community’s input, and the full range of issues and ideas raised;
• recommendations for additional changes and improvements for consideration by the City of Portland Public Involvement Advisory Council (PIAC).

When do we need your response?

We’d like to hear from you by: Friday, November 30, 2012. The CI PEG committee members will review the survey responses as they come in. The sooner we hear from you, the sooner we will be able to start working with your input.

QUESTIONS/COMMENTS/MORE INFORMATION

For more information, to get a hard copy version of the questionnaire, or to share any other ideas or suggestions, contact:

• Paul Leistner, Neighborhood Program Coordinator
  City of Portland Office of Neighborhood Involvement
  paul.leistner@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-5284
• Marty Stockton, Community Outreach and Information
  City of Portland Bureau of Planning and Sustainability
  marty.stockton@portlandoregon.gov, 503-823-2041

Other links:

• Comp Plan Update:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/57352
• CI PEG:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/59104
• Sign up to get regular updates:  http://www.portlandoregon.gov/bps/article/400191

No matter what kind of disability or limitation you have, this is sure to inspire you to raise only one bar: your own.

Oscar Pistorius: Overcoming the Tyranny of Low Expectations

Photo via www.nod.org.

The Summer Olympics are in our rearview mirror, yet the debate continues over runner Oscar Pistorius and whether he had an unfair competitive advantage running the 400 meters using carbon-fiber prosthetic legs. As this inspirational South African athlete now prepares to compete in the Paralympic Games, one reality is irrefutable. His recent success in London has raised expectations about what people with disabilities can accomplish if given the chance.

Read more on the National Organization on Disability website. ==>

12 severely wounded military members compete in Oregon’s world-renowned relay race

PORTLAND, Ore.—August 15, 2012— For the third straight year, a team of 12 U.S. service members who were severely injured during the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan will compete in Oregon’s iconic 2012 Hood to Coast Relay race. Team Warfighter Sports is the only team of wounded military to participate in Hood to Coast. This year’s team brings 12 all new participants, with a wide range of disabilities including amputation, spinal cord injury, nerve and muscle damage, visual impairment and traumatic brain injury. The team is sponsored by Standard Insurance Company (“The Standard”), in partnership with Disabled Sports USA (DSUSA).

In an inspiring feat of resilience and courage, they’ll take on the world-famous, 199-mile Hood to Coast Relay. Armed with the latest technology and the support of their teammates, Team Warfighter Sports will compete against more than 12,000 other runners in a grueling race that starts at Timberline Lodge on the slopes of Mt. Hood and finishes at the city of Seaside on the Oregon coast.

“These individuals’ ability not only to compete, but to excel in an event as competitive and challenging as Hood to Coast is truly inspiring,” said Greg Ness, chairman, president and CEO of The Standard. “We’re excited to partner again this year with DSUSA, whose mission of providing rehabilitation and opportunity for wounded warriors mirrors The Standard’s values.”

Disabled Sports USA’s Warfighter Sports program is a schedule of events that help military members with permanent disabilities train for and challenge themselves in extreme and endurance sports, as well as other recreational sports and competitions. 

“We’re pleased to partner with The Standard again in 2012 and bring a new team of warriors back to this one-of-a-kind event,” said Kirk Bauer, executive director of Disabled Sports USA and a disabled Vietnam veteran.  “Through rehabilitation sports programs, DSUSA has served thousands of severely injured service members from Iraq and Afghanistan who are now yearning for an opportunity to test their skills to the extreme, as they did in the military. Our Warfighter Sports program provides this — helping them to not just survive their injuries, but to thrive and achieve personal and professional success.”

Yesterday we received this article from the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, celebrating the Supreme Court upholding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act. While this affects all citizens of the United States, we found the article especially interesting because of its great analysis of what the ACA means for people with disabilities.

Among the notable improvements for people with disabilities are:

“States have the option to open Medicaid eligibility to all individuals and families with income up to 133 percent of the federal poverty level. In 2010, as many as 3.5 million adults with disabilities living in the community have household incomes between 100 and 133% of poverty and therefore may qualify for Medicaid under the expansion.”

“Increases opportunities for training of health care providers (including dentists) on the needs of people with developmental and other disabilities.”

“Requires that access standards be established for medical diagnostic equipment such as exam tables and weigh scales and mammography equipment.”

Not only do we join DREDF in celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision, but we also see this as a huge step for the disability community and the support they receive that allows them to live independently.

Here are some other great resources that will further explain the ACA and its benefits for the disability community:

Affordable Care Act on HealthCare.gov

ACA White House Fact Sheet

“Disability Advocates like most of Supreme Court health care ruling” on MinnPost

“Why President Obama’s Health Care Law is a Big Win for the Disabled Community” on Huffington Post

Portland City Council unanimously passes Model Employer of People with Disabilities Resolution

This week, Portland’s City Council unanimously voted to adopt the Portland Commission on Disability’s Model Employer of People with Disabilities Resolution. The Commission’s Employment subcommittee, under the leadership of chair Travis Wall, researched information, analyzed the data and compiled the proposal passed by the City Council. The Resolution is the first action brought to Council by the Office of Equity and Human Rights under the leadership of Director Dante James, who began work eight weeks ago. It illustrates how the new Office will resolve inequities in hiring for government jobs.

An estimated 108,000 Portlanders live with disabilities. They are under-employed and unemployed at far greater rates than people without disabilities, including likely being significantly underrepresented in the City’s workforce. People with disabilities experience high rates of poverty, inadequate health care, and being socially marginalized, in part because of lack of access to good jobs. A disproportionate number of people with disabilities are also people of color. Studies show that people with disabilities tend to be among the most loyal and productive employees, and the cost of accommodations required under the Americans with Disabilities Act is often much less than employers fear.

The Portland Commission on Disability (PCOD), Office of Equity and Human Rights, and Bureau of Human Resources will work in partnership with the Mayor and Commissioners to develop, implement, and evaluate a strategic plan and action items for increasing the City of Portland’s employment of people with disabilities. Through the implementation of this Resolution, the equal opportunity provision of the American with Disabilities Act will be addressed, elements of the Portland Plan will be successful, and the City will diversify with a highly motivated and productive workforce.

This is an important action for the City of Portland. The Resolution is an excellent example of how the Office of Equity and Human Rights is identifying specific actions that will reduce inequities in Portland, in partnership with the community and with all City bureaus.

The plan will include an assessment of the current employment of people with disabilities, and analysis of barriers affecting the City’s capacity to increase opportunities. It will identify actions for recruitment, hiring, on-boarding, advancement and retention, and set measurable outcomes and timelines for evaluating progress. The Bureau of Human Resources will identify a senior manager to coordinate implementing and evaluating the plan, assisting all bureaus in developing effective bureau-specific strategies.

This plan assists the City in complying with the law. It is also simply the right thing to do. Making Portland a model employer of individuals with disabilities will help the City become a place where everyone has access to the opportunities that will satisfy their essential needs and well-being. People with disabilities bring a wide variety of perspectives and skills to the workplace, including experience overcoming challenges every day. People with disabilities are often higher than average performers, have high work attendance and job retention, and because they are working, have reduced social service needs. Making the City of Portland a model employer of people with disabilities will be a win-win for both disabled and non-disabled populations.

(Photo credit: Office of Equity and Human Rights)

The process of creating this brand and this theme encompasses both of these ideas. We are working hard to expand our community partnerships, bringing on board organizations like Mt. Hood Kiwanis Camp and PHAME Academy, who provide new and exciting insights into our community that we hope will help us both grow and expand our community impact in the coming years.

More importantly, we want to use this year’s theme to speak to our vision of leadership development for people with disabilities. We want to encourage our community to branch out, learn new skills, become board members, lead advocacy groups, and take up the banner for causes that are near and dear to their heart.

Our theme doesn’t just apply to you as a community member, it applies to us too. We have big plans for 2013, and the Coalition itself is branching out and taking on a new project that requires new skills, renewed committment, and a lot of creativity. Perhaps the most exciting element of our program will be our big reveal of how this project will play an integral role in reaching our vision for the incredible leadership potential we have in the disability community.

What do you think defines leadership?