August 29, 2008

The road goes on forever and DPC outreach never ends!

Last month we announced plans for two DPC community outreach meetings in September and October. Thanks to DPC member organization REACH, we’ve added three new stops in the DFW area to our ongoing road trip schedule. The details appear in the revised list of events below.

The meetings are intended to give more advocates throughout the state an opportunity to learn about DPC and the benefits of membership. Contact Toni Byrd, DPC coordinator, to find out more. (See the contact info at the end of this newsletter.)

 

• Sept. 17: Fort Worth
  11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  REACH of Ft. Worth
  1205 Lake Street
  817-870-9082
• Sept. 18: Dallas
  1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.
  REACH of Dallas
  8625 King George Dr., Suite 210
  214-630-4796

 

 

Personal attendants organizing for better pay and benefits.

The Personal Attendant Coalition of Texas is working to form a powerful organization to fight for better pay, benefits and working conditions for personal attendants—the people who make independent living a reality for thousands of Texans with disabilities. PACT, working with ADAPT of Texas, is actively recruiting attendants and consumers to join the statewide effort to educate legislators about the important services attendants provide and the low wages and poor working conditions many of them experience. Ultimately, PACT hopes the campaign will convince lawmakers to raise attendant pay by adding funds to the state budget. To find our more, email Danny Saenz or call 512-442-0252.

 

Abilene disability community welcomes first independent living center.

It’s been a long time coming, but people with disabilities in Abilene and the surrounding area finally have a center for independent living to call their very own. The center, aptly named “Not Without Us!,” will serve residents of Callahan, Eastland, Jones Shackelford, Stephens and Taylor counties. It is affiliated with Lubbock’s Life/Run Center for Independent Living.

Not Without Us! is located at 3303 N. 3^rd Street in Abilene. For more information, e-mail to Aaron Mann, check out the website , or call 325-672-5460.

 

BIATX going regional with brain injury seminars. First stop Houston, 9/6/08.

The Brain Injury Association of Texas wants to improve access to important information about brain injury to survivors, family members and professionals throughout the state. Toward that goal, the association will host regional seminars in three Texas cities in the coming weeks.

The first seminar takes place in Houston on Sept. 6. The second event is planned for Lubbock on Sept. 13, with the third slated for Tyler on Oct. 25. Check the BIATX website  for the location, program and registration information for each regional seminar, or call 512-326-1212, or send e-mail to BIATX headquarters.

 

DPC welcomes Life/Run, our newest local member!

Lubbock’s Life/Run Center for Independent Living has joined DPC as a local member. The agency offers an array of independent living services designed to “provide people with disabilities the information and skills necessary to become independent and to achieve full inclusion in every aspect of their communities.”

For more information about Life/Run, send an e-mail to Michelle Crain, visit the website , or call 806-795-5433.

 

CTD celebrates “The Big 3-0” at upcoming state conference.

It’s not too late to make plans to attend the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities’ 30^th Annual Convention, Sept. 5-7, at San Antonio’s Holiday El Tropicano Riverwalk Hotel. CTD promises three days full of information and inspiration with the beautiful (and fun!) downtown river walk providing the back drop.

Convention speakers will include U.S. Senate candidate Representative Rick Noriega; Texas Senator Judith Zaffirini, a strong disability advocate and vice chair of the Senate Finance Committee; and Barbara Ann Radnofsky, friend of the disability community who plans a run for Texas attorney general in 2010. Other convention highlights include the Texas premiere of “Swim,” a documentary about two servicemen who attempt to swim across the Straits of Gibraltar, and an extreme sports panel featuring athletes with disabilities who participate in quad rugby, kayaking, skydiving and shooting sports.

For more information about the conference and how to register, visit CTD’s website , or call 512-478-3366.

 

DPC Member Spotlight: Coalition of Texans with Disabilities

 

Organization's Name: Coalition of Texans with Disabilities (CTD)
Contact Person: Dennis Borel, Executive Director
Address: 316 W. 12^th St. #405, Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: 512/478-3366
E-mail: dborel@cotwd.org

Organization mission/ purpose: CTD is a social and economic impact organization representing people of all disabilities and ages. CTD's mission is to ensure that people with disabilities may live, learn, work, play and participate fully in their community of choice.

Organizational structure: CTD has over 80 member organizations statewide which count some 3 million unduplicated Texans in their service/member populations. We also have about 250 individual members. CTD maintains an office located one block west of the Capitol, where the Brain Injury Association of Texas, the Austin Chapter of the Paralyzed Veterans of America and CTD's Consumer Directed Services Agency are co-located. CTD has a staff of seven and a 10-member geographically-distributed board of directors, 70 percent of whom are people with disabilities.

 

What were your three best achievements in the past year?

1. Likely the most important and the least visible is CTD's work in preparation for the 2009 legislative session. We are working to raise the general public profile of issues like wait lists, state sovereign immunity from the ADA, architectural barriers, etc.; and we work behind the scenes with key legislators.
2. Voting. CTD's testimony and work with the House Elections Committee protects accessible voting and polling places. CTD promotes voting rights statewide and has used its newsletter and annual convention to inform voters with disabilities on candidate positions.
3. The private sector can yield unusual and very good advocacy opportunities, in this case with AT&T. CTD was prominent in a roundtable with key executives of the telecommunications giant, focusing on universal design for cell phones. AT&T is the largest provider of cell telecommunications and a major marketer of the phones. AT&T subsequently announced a national policy requiring that all cell phones marketed would be required to meet universal design standards for users with disabilities.

What are your three greatest challenges currently?

1. The Texas public policy environment for progressive human investment advocacy is among the most difficult, if not the most difficult, in the country. Texas ranks #1 in business environment and #50 in investment in its people. Texas can still be pro-business and improve its human services.
2. Limited public policy change opportunities. The legislative system leans toward killing not passing legislation. Agencies have confusing, commingled responsibilities; difficult enough for Austin insiders and near impossible for average consumers.
3. Limited resources.

If your organization could change one public policy right this minute, what would it be?

Full and adequate funding for community services, defined as no wait lists with enough money to guarantee a reliable, competent direct services workforce.

How long has your organization belonged to the Disability Policy Consortium? How has your organization benefited from being part of the DPC?

We think CTD was an original DPC member organization. We view DPC as a meeting place to exchange information, develop specific partnerships and collaborate on common goals. DPC has been especially useful for new employees as an orientation and introduction to the diverse disability groups.

 

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