IDAC Letter to Candidates
Dear Candidate:
We, the undersigned, are people of faith from across the nation concerned about the civil rights of the more than 56 million Americans living with a disability. Our faith communities are diverse and include people living with all types of disability: physical, sensory, intellectual, visible and non-apparent. We write to urge you to lay out a comprehensive agenda that addresses the civil rights of Americans with disabilities.
The 56 million Americans with disabilities make remarkable and valuable contributions to our communities. Despite these contributions and despite our numbers, Americans with disabilities continue to face discrimination in many arenas including employment, transportation, and education. Persons with disabilities are more than twice as likely to be impoverished and unemployed as non-disabled individuals; a reflection of devastatingly real discrimination.[1]
Candidates for public office must address these disparities and must set forth a vision to encourage the civil rights of people with disabilities and to promote their full inclusion in society. This is imperative in light of the gifts and talents Americans with disabilities bring to their schools, jobs, and faith communities. If elected, we strongly recommend taking action to:
- Further expand opportunities for people with disabilities to live and work independently in their communities, including expanding access to affordable, accessible, integrated housing and transportation options.
- Increase productivity and innovation in the public and private sector by expanding employment opportunities for people with disabilities.
- Further the progress made in the graduation rate of students with disabilities from high school by addressing remaining barriers to success in public education and transition to employment or post-secondary education.
- Support the continuation of reforms passed into law as part of the Affordable Care Act that help people with disabilities lead healthy lives and increase their access to long term services and supports, as well as support further expansion of mental health and substance use services.
We encourage you to share your positions on these issues and where these concerns fall in your priorities. Furthermore, we urge you to invite persons with disabilities into the conversations concerning the best ways to expand both access and opportunity for all Americans. We do not offer endorsement of specific candidates or parties, but we will share your efforts and actions on behalf of people with disabilities with our community. We encourage everyone to work towards the goal of ensuring that the American experiment of self-government increasingly includes and reflects the voices, concerns, and wisdom of people with disabilities.
Add your name to the letter!
Signatories (as of July 1, 2016):
Organizations
African Methodist Episcopal Church International Health Commission
American Baptist Churches in the USA
American Baptist Home Mission Societies
American Muslim Health Professionals (AMHP)
Catholics in Alliance for the Common Good
Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
Christian Reformed Disability Concerns ministry
Community Relations Council of the Jewish Alliance of Greater Rhode Island
Complete Access Consulting
Disability Concerns, Reformed Church in America
Disabilityactivismofadapt@gmail.com
Disciples Center for Public Witness
Dream for disability foundation
Enabled Muslim
EquallyAble
Faith Inclusion Network of Hampton Roads
Faith4All
Greater MetroWest ABLE
Greater Miami Jewish Federation JCRC
International Association of Jewish Vocational Services (IAJVS)
Islamic Society of North America
Jewish Community Relations Council
Jewish Federation of Greater Seattle
Jewish Federation Association of Connecticut (JFACT)
Lakeshore Avenue Baptist Church
Lincoln Baptist Church
Lutheran Services in America Disability Network
Maryland United for Peace and Justice
Muslims Understanding & Helping Special Education Needs (MUHSEN)
National Council of Churches, USA
National Council of Jewish Women
NJ State Association of Jewish Federations
RespectAbility
Sikh Coalition
The Arc California
The Episcopal Church
The Jewish Federations of North America
The Rabbinical Assembley
The United Methodist Church – General Board of Church and Society
Trinity CHANGE, Inc
Union for Reform Judaism
Unitarian Universalist Association
United Church of Christ, Justice and Witness Ministries Washington Office
Wisconsin Jewish Conference
Individuals
Julie Alexander
Beverly Allegretti
JAMES Amoah
Lauren Appelbaum
Margaret Baird
Leslie Baird
Margaret Baird, Esq.
Zach Baldwin
Pamela Barmash
Annette Beck
Trisha Beltz
Helena Berger
Paulette Berry
Donna Bleiler
Robert Bliss
Howard Blunt
Dr. Timothy Boddie
Sandra Bookman
Cheryl Brackin
Stephen Bried
Ken Brooker Langston
John Burns
Ronald Carlson
Donna Carluccio
Charles Cates
Rachel Chapman
Arif Choudhury
Pamela Christensen
Debra Clark
Karen Claycomb
Brian Colfer
Mariah Corrigan
Dorothy Coughlin
Shirley Crisci
Roxanne Davenport
Edwin de Jong
Kelly DeBardelaben
Anthony DeStefano
Peter Douglas
Donna Dreyling
Rebecca Droste
Joyce Dubensky
Rev. Dr. LL DuBreuil
Aubrey Ducker
Christopher Duncan
Pamela Durso
Sherif Elgindi
Pauline Erera
Fermin Farias
Susy Flaherty
David Flynn
Bill Gaventa
Naba Kumar Ghosh
Daniel Glaze
Jeffrey Grahn
Suki Graves
Tammy S Green
Stacey Gruber
Christine Guth
Diane Plassey Gutierrez
S Hager
Patricia Haines
Ruth Harrigan
John Harrington
Allen V. Harris
Sarah Hemzawi
James Hill
Margaret Holzer
Jo Holzer
Karla Hughes
Emily Hull McGee
Kenneth Jackson
Lisa Jagodzinski
Joshua Janeway
Ginger Jee
Martha Johanson
Rev. Dr. Beth Johnson
Thelma Johnson
Sananda Jones
Linda Jones
Carmen Jones
Janice Kahler
Laura Kandle
Barbara J. Kiernan
Lea Klepees
Jacob Kooyman
Rhonda Kraai
Rabbi Robert Layman
Jonah Layman
Natalie Lee
Tammy Leerhoff
Stephen Listfield
Dorajean Littrell
Jolynn Lowry
Florence Lunde
Alexa Maltby
Pam Mason
Jo Maxwell
James F. McIntire
Shelley McMullen
Rev. Linda McWhorter
Ruth Medellin
Steven Meek
Sarah Meek
Valeria Mejia
Zeenat Merchant
James Michaels
Marvin Miller
Randle Mixon
Janice Mizrahi
Cindy Moit
Adrienne Montgomery
Christopher Moon
Sabrina Moore
David Moore
Michael Murray
Jacqueline Myers
Jeff Ostach
Caridad L. Perez Carballoza
Charles Popky
Linda Prautzsch
Linda Presley
James Price
Susan Prokop
Curtis Ramsey-Lucas
Leicia Raygan
Donna Reese
Angela Rehfuss
Miranda Resnikoff
Kent Retzer
- Michael Revis
Carol Ann Roberson
Karen Robles
Caleb Rollins
Elizabeth Rossow
Deborah Roszkowski
Ralph Rouse
Glennys Sabuco
Maria Sepalveda-Cabrera
Lori Sherry
Wilma Sholer
Tanmaykumar Shrimali
Sara Simon
Patricia Slevin
Brenda Smith
Marie Smith
Shulonda Smith
Kathryn Smith
Jamie Spritzer
Douglas Stanley
Linda Starnes
Mark Stephenson
Beth Stone
Jennifer Strigle
Sarah Strosahl-Kagi
Laird Thomason
Wakaki Thompson
Laura Tollin
Neil Tow
Bobetta Trani
Reid Trulson
Katrina Twyman
Martha Underwood
Lori Van Gorden
Rick and Wendy Von der Heide
Lindsey Waisanen
Roland Walker
Carol Wallace
Rebecca Wanatick
June Ward
Charles Watson
Sydney Webster
Rabbi Simkha Y. Weintraub
Lyman Welch
Terrie Williams
Richard Williamson
Rachel Wise
Kristin Wolf
Liz Yoder
[1] Persons with disabilities experience the highest rates of poverty of any subcategory of Americans charted by the Census Bureau. Of the nearly 30 million individuals with disabilities ages 18–64, 27%, or more than 4 million people, live in poverty. This is more than double the rate of 12.5% for the entire population. Equally troubling and certainly related is the disproportionate labor force participation rate: For people with disabilities, it is 19.5% and for people without disabilities it is 68.7%. Office of Disability Employment Policy, Department of Labor. http://www.dol.gov/odep.