MARY LOU BRESLIN, CO-FOUNDER OF THE DISABILITY RIGHTS EDUCATION AND DEFENSE FUND AND AN ESTEEMED DISABILITY MOVEMENT ADVOCATE, TEACHER AND ARCHIVIST, NAMED HENRY B. BETTS $50,000 AWARD RECIPIENT
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Mariana V. Nork
(202) 955-6114WASHINGTON, DC, January 25, 2002- Mary Lou Breslin, a co-founder of the Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) and a highly passionate, respected and effective advocate on behalf of people with disabilities for more than 25 years, has been selected by a national jury to receive the prestigious Henry B. Betts Award at the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) Leadership Gala on February 27, 2002 at the Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. The presentation of a $50,000 cash award will be jointly made for the first time by AAPD and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, which established the Henry B. Betts Award in 1989 with the Prince Charitable Trusts.
Breslin's pioneering efforts to promote disability civil rights date back to the 1970s, when section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act made it illegal for federal funds recipients to discriminate on the basis of disability. In 1978, she headed the 504 Training Project at the Disability Law Resource Center, which is DREDF's organizational predecessor. In that capacity and later at DREDF, Breslin organized and trained thousands of disability advocates in what the new federal requirements meant and how to advocate for their effective implementation and enforcement.
In 1979, she co-founded DREDF, the nation's first cross-disability civil rights law and policy center, with the goal of significantly changing this country's disability rights landscape. She subsequently served as DREDF's deputy director and executive director, as well as its president and chair of the board of directors. In 1993, Breslin founded the DREDF Development Partnership, a corporation that is dedicated to supporting DREDF programs.
Breslin's tireless efforts throughout her career have led to the passage and enactment of many laws that serve to benefit and improve the quality of life of people living with disabilities, most notably, the passage in 1990 of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).
According to her colleagues, much of Breslin's success on behalf of DREDF and the entire disability rights movement has to do with her ability to rally, organize and inspire other advocates in the disability community and broader civil rights community. "She has all the qualities of the general and all the qualities of the soldier; she blazes the trail and maintains it; and she can persuade through forceful advocacy or quiet diplomacy," explains Arlene B. Mayerson, Directing Attorney for DREDF.
Breslin is an unassuming advocate and visionary whose beliefs and commitment to the disability movement have led her to make personal sacrifices on behalf of DREDF over the past two decades. She did so because of her deep commitment to DREDF's work and purpose-- using the law to fight discrimination-- and because she felt that the organization played a unique and essential role in advancing the goals of the disability rights movement.
Because of what colleagues describe as her quiet, skillful and determined ways, many in the disability and civil rights movements are not aware of Breslin's contributions. When she accepts the Henry B. Betts Award on February 27, her expertise, policy advocacy and extraordinary influence on the disability movement will be made known to all.
"Mary Lou Breslin exemplifies the mission of the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, which is, in part, to improve the quality of life for people with physical disabilities through education and advocacy," comments Wayne M. Lerner, DPH, FACHE, President and CEO of the Institute. "She sets an example for others of what can be achieved through hard work and determination."
The Prince Charitable Trusts and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago established the Henry B. Betts Award in 1989, to annually honor, acknowledge and support the work of one individual who has, during the course of his or her career, made extraordinary contributions to the quality of life of people with disabilities. The award is named in honor of Henry B. Betts, M.D., a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation medicine who started his career with the Institute in 1964, and made it the base for his career as an advocate for people with physical disabilities as well as for his success as a leader in the field of rehabilitation medicine. Dr. Betts has devoted himself entirely to improving the quality of life for people with disabilities.
Previous award recipients include luminaries like Judith E. Heumann, who went on to be Assistant Secretary of the Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services at the U. S. Department of Education; Lex Frieden, who President Bush has nominated to chair the National Council on Disability (NCD); and Marca Bristo, tapped by President Clinton to chair NCD.
Breslin's accomplishments have inspired advocacy and coalition building that have had a significant impact on the disability community in this country. Due to her leadership and advocacy, DREDF was able to lay the groundwork for the 1990 passage of the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), which extended the principles of Section 504 to private employers, state and local governments and public accommodations, and to subsequently be on the forefront of the enactment of the Civil Rights Restoration Act, the Fair Housing Amendments Act and the Handicapped Children's Protection Act. In 1997, DREDF effectively collaborated with other civil rights and disability organizations around the country to secure reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). In 1999, Breslin directed a research project on enforcement of four key disability rights laws, which included IDEA and the ADA.
For the first time this year, the Henry B. Betts Award will be presented jointly by the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago and AAPD, a unique partnership bringing a leading health care provider together with a national membership organization advocating for political and economic empowerment for all people with disabilities in the U.S. "AAPD is honored to collaborate with the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago on the presentation of this distinguished award, to pay significant tribute to Dr. Betts, and to recognize a pioneer who has helped to redefine the disability experience in America. Mary Lou Breslin's work at DREDF accelerated the integration and empowerment of children and adults with disabilities in the U. S. and around the world," says Andrew J. Imparato, President and CEO of AAPD. "Because of the work, advocacy and efforts of the Mary Lou Breslins of our world, barriers to full participation are falling down and people with disabilities have begun to enter the mainstream of American life."
Breslin has taught disability-related courses at the University of San Francisco and presently teaches at the University of California, Berkeley. In 1995, she inspired UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library to launch the Disability Rights and Independent Living Movement Project, a multifaceted documentation effort on the history of the disability movement that has become a renowned and extensive research platform. She serves as its editor, researcher and advisor.
Breslin has also sought out opportunities to share her expertise and the successful strategies of the U.S. disability rights movement with peers abroad, recently organizing an international conference on disability rights laws with participation from around the world.
Breslin has sought out opportunities to share her expertise and the successful strategies of the U. S. disability rights movement with her peers abroad, recently organizing an international conference on disability rights laws with participation from around the world.
Explains Susan O'Hara, Senior Policy Advisory in the Regional Oral History Office of UC Berkeley's Bancroft Library, "At the heart of Mary Lou Breslin's accomplishments is her tenacious belief that change in law and policy will enhance opportunities for people with disabilities. She brings to her work a ferocious will to make things happen- a mighty ability to bring people together, inspire them, and enable them to believe in their own power to effect change. Her career has been grounded in her exceptional ability to conceptualize goals and to communicate this vision to others, and her willingness to work long hours to get the job done well. She rarely takes credit, preferring to credit her team of people, not herself."
Mary Lou Breslin exemplifies the leadership qualities and vision of Dr. Betts and of previous recipients of the Henry B. Betts Award.
The American Association of People with Disabilities is a national membership organization dedicated to promoting the economic and political empowerment of all people with disabilities; educating businesses and the general public about disability issues; and providing membership benefits, such as financial services and product discounts. AAPD was founded in 1995 by a group of cross-disability leaders to help unite the diverse community of people with disabilities -- including their family, friends, and supporters -- and be a national voice for change in implementing the goals of the Americans with Disabilities Act -- equality of opportunity, full participation, independent living, and economic self-sufficiency.
The Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago is dedicated to helping people with all levels and types of physical disabilities regain or improve their physical functions and empowers them to participate more fully in family, social, vocational and leisure time pursuits. It has been rated "The Best Rehabilitation Hospital in America" by U.S. News & World Report for eleven consecutive years.
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