The Forward - Fall 2004
______________________________________________
Feature Article
Americans With Disabilities Conference
PCIL in conjunction with the Monday Morning Group
of Mercer County Monday Morning Group attended
the Americans with Disabilities Convention in Atlantic
City on September 18, 2004. Knowing both presidential
candidates had been invited to attend, we arrived
hoping to get a first hand account from both parties
on their disability platforms.
The Democrats were represented by former Attorney
General Janet Reno. The Republicans were to have
Doro Bush Koch, sister of President Bush speak. For
reasons unknown to us, Ms. Koch was unable to attend
so, the Republican Party offered to send alternate
speakers. The alternates were rejected by the organizers
of the conference.
The only voice we heard was that of the Democratic Party.
Although claims were made that the convention was
bipartisan, I could not help but feel that since we only
heard from one side it was indeed very partisan towards
the Democrats. In refusing to give equal voice to the
Republican Party I felt a great disservice was done to
those in attendance. No matter what your political views
were going into this event, I felt it was important to be able
to hear both sides. It is already so hard to get the candidates
to give straight answers on the issues, to not give us the
benefit of hearing from both sides was a great disappointment.
Beth Edwards
_________________________________________________
COMMENT
We Don't Get No Respect
In line with the late Rodney Dangerfield, voters with
disabilities get absolutely no respect or the recognition
they deserve. Why? Is it lack of money, people with
disabilities, “not saying what we mean and meaning what
we say” or just plain ignorance on the part of the politicians
and current candidates? Why do political candidates ignore
the importance of voters with disabilities, which is at least
twenty percent of the population?
The National Disabilities Convention sponsored by the NJ
Council on Developmental Disabilities (NJCDD) held
September 18 may have sent a very hard message to
people with disabilities. After much hard work by the NJCDD
in putting the convention together, candidates and people with
disabilities did not show up. People with disabilities who did not
come may point to reasons such as Ivan or the candidates not
attending. I hope the cause for lack of attendance was not due
to apathetic reasons. On my way to the convention I saw an
accessible van turned over on the parkway, I prayed everyone
was okay and later realized they had a good reason for not
showing up.
We do not and cannot officially lobby, so how do we get the
attention of candidates for public office? We must channel
our full attention and commitment first and then must be
heard on a real and regular basis. If you are not registered,
do not vote and do not participate in our political process,
shame on you.
Scott Elliott
_________________________________________________
Mind/Body
12 Top Foods to Stop a Stroke
Potassium rich foods help to stop strokes, which hit half a
million Americans every year. This mineral also fights high
blood pressure, something 50 million of us suffer from. And
now, foods with at least 350 mgs. of potassium per serving
(10% of the daily value) can remind you of this on their labels.
Caution: If you have kidney disease or take a diuretic
medication, you may need to avoid high-potassium foods;
check with your doctor.
1 baked potato with skin (212 cal) ..............903 mg
1 cup prune juice (182 cal)..............................707 mg
5 dried peach halves (156 cal)........................648 mg
1 baked potato without skin (156 cal).........641 mg
1 cup plain low-fat yogurt (130 cal).............520 mg
1/2 cup cooked Swiss chard (18 cal)............483 mg
10 dried apricot halves (83 cal)......................482 mg
1 cup orange juice from concentrate..........473 mg
1 banana (105 cal)..............................................451 mg
1/2 cup cooked acorn squash, (57 cal)........446 mg
1/2 cup cooked spinach (21 cal)....................419 mg
3/4 cup tomato juice (31 cal)..........................400 mg
Taken from Prevention Magazine
Thumbs Up/ Thumbs Down
thumbsup Opdyke Lumber for donating all the lumber and hardware,
to Phillips Concrete for donating concrete and expertise
and to Dan-Maur Builders who prepared the site and directed
the building an accessible ramp and sidewalk at the Hunterdon
County ARC Adult Training Center in Kingwood, NJ.
thumbsup to the NJ Light Rail system for fast, convenient and
accessible service.
thumbsup to Lalor Market located on 410 Lalor St. , Trenton, NJ
for being very helpful and trainingtheir employees to
assist people with disabilities with their and not
interferring with a working service dog.
thumbsdown to a local group home manager who allegedly stole
over $6,600 from a resident there.
thumbsup to former State co-workers who are raising funds and
setting up a bank account for the group home resident
to replace the money stolen from her.
thumbsdown to employees at the 7-11 on the corner of Lalor
Street and Dutz Avenue in Hamilton, NJ for trying
to keep a person using a guide dog from entering
their store and threatening to call the police.
__________________________________________________________________
LEGISLATIVE/ADVOCACY
LEGISLATIVE NEWS ON SENATE APPROPRIATIONS
On September 22, 2004, the Senate Appropriations Committee
approved a VA/HUD Appropriations bill far superior to the one
adopted by the House VA/HUD Appropriations Committee but one
that still has substantial problems. The $36.4 billion budget for HUD
in the Senate bill, an increase of $1 billion over last year, is a
significant improvement over its House counterpart in that it provides
far more adequate levels of funding for Section 8 and other programs
vital to people with disabilities.
Like the House, the Senate rejected President Bush’s and HUD’s
controversial “Flexible Voucher” block grant proposal. However, the
Senate bill still includes some worrisome provisions such as it
support of budget-based rather than unit-based funding of Public
Housing Authorities (PHA’s). By using a budgetary device known as
a “rescission” to recapture nearly $2.6 billion unobligated or unspent
funds from previous years’ expenditures on the Section 8 program
and by treating some funding for NASA as an emergency, the
Senate Appropriations Committee was able to allocate an extra
$700 million dollars to the Section 8 program than the House version
without taking funding from other HUD programs. This ensures more
adequate funding for existing vouchers, allows the reserve funds
to be replenished, and provides for administrative costs to be
covered more generously than the House bill, making it less likely
that Section 8 tenants will be put at risk of losing their housing.
Instead of the 4% cuts across the board in funding for HOME, CDBG,
Fair Housing and Equal Opportunity (FHEO) and other vital programs
for people with disabilities in the House bill, HOME receives a $44
million funding increase over last year’s level; CDBG gets a $29 million
increase; and FHEO loses only $17,000 in funding under the Senate
bill. If this sounds too good to be true, you may be correct. The one
catch with the Senate’s funding mechanism is that while the funding
for Section 8 is guaranteed, it is not certain that HUD will be able to
recapture $2.6 billion in unexpended funds from previous years.
CLASS ACTION STATUS DENIED IN LANE V. TENNESSEE
In a blow to advocates hoping to make sweeping changes to courthouse
access in Tennessee, federal district court judge Todd Campbell denied
the plaintiffs’ motion to obtain class action status, saying that the 25
Tennessee courthouses in question were not similar enough to be covered.
According to Campbell, the standard for a class action is that there be a
high degree of commonality among the defendant courthouses. Instead,
he found that courthouses were built with different features, at different
times, and were separately maintained and operated, making it such
that "Liability for one courthouse does not necessarily mean liability for
another courthouse.”
Judge Campbell rejected the plaintiffs’ contention that the common thread
tying the case together was the inadequacy of Tennessee’s program for
ensuring ADA compliance in access to the state courts. Unless Tennessee
begins to make its courthouses accessible, this decision makes it more
likely that the campaign for access to Tennessee’s courts may require a
number of lawsuits and have to go courthouse by courthouse.
___________________________________________________________________
DID YOU KNOW
? ? ?
October is Brain Injury Awareness month
Statistics:
Every 21 seconds, one person in the US sustains a traumatic brain injury.
An estimated 5.3 million Americans, a little more than 2% of the population,
currently live with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury.
1.5 million Americans sustain a traumatic brain injury each year
More than 50,000 people die every year as a result of a traumatic
brain injury
For more information visit www.Biausa.Org
_________________________________________________________________________________________
Examples of People First Language
Say Instead of
People with disabilities the handicapped or disabled
he has a cognitive disability he’s mentally retarded
he has a physical disability he’s a quadriplegic or crippled
brain injury brain damaged
accessible parking handicapped parking
she needs...or she uses she has a problem with
congenital disability birth defect
she uses a wheelchair she’s wheelchair bound or
or a mobility chair confined to a wheelchair
he has an emotional disability he’s emotionally disturbed
___________________________________________________________________
PCIL PICKS
Wachovia Center - Philadelphia, Pa.
For their disability awareness. Throughout the complex they have
sections for people with disabilities to sit and enjoy the show. I was
able to see the entire stage from where I sat. I used a manual chair
and was able to easily maneuver my chair in and out of the section.
Someone with a larger chair may have a problem due to a narrow
path at the entrance of the section. If you are interested in attending
an event at the Wachovia Center Complex call the Event Hotline
at (215) 336-3600
Nicole Davis
Clay Aiken, pop singer
To Clay Aiken, pop singer from American Idol fame, after hearing that
a person using a wheelchair could only purchase 2 seats (3 seats
were required to take her daughter to the concert) in the 49th row
he made special arrangements to have accessible seating in front of the
first row. This was after the prospective concert goer was told the front
row was for people without disabilities and no wheelchair seats were in
the front. He then required that management in all the venues where he
would have summer/fall concerts sign compliance statements.
Aiken, who has a degree in special education formed the Bubel/Aiken
Foundation to help include children with developmental disabilities in
community activities. They are currently training YMCA employees
across the country to work with developmental disabled children at
summer camps and before/after school programs.
Thanks to him people with disabilities were able to see and enjoy his
concerts this summer and fall.
For more information about the foundation visit
www.thebubelaikenfoundation.org/
Taken from Families Magazine, Summer 2004
__________________________________________________________________
Feedback/Announcements
Transition from School to Adult Life
The Progressive Center for Independent Living is happy to
announce the receipt of the grant "Promoting Self-Advocacy"
from the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE). The
design of this project is to provide students with disabilities
the opportunity to become self-advocates as they transition
from school to adult life.
Both Mercer and Hunterdon County PCIL's have employed
Transition Specialists to work in collaboration with school
districts in their respective counties. The Transition
Specialists will be supporting students as they focus on
their transition plan for the future. Family members will
also benefit as they discover the variety of resources
available throughout New Jersey.
Training opportunities are being developed to help build
students' self-confidence, self-determination and
leadership skills in order to recognize their strengths
and abilities. These experiences will better prepare
students as they seek employment, as well as applying
for post-secondary\education and becoming members
of their communities.
For further information please do not hesitate to contact:
Renee Pfaff, Transition Specialist for Mercer County at
(609) 530-0006 or
Lucinda Gabri, Transition Specialist for Hunterdon County
at (908)782-1055
| 
