For Immediate Release
September 16, 2008
ADAPT Challenges HUD, Dems, McCain on Disability/Housing Economic Crisis

Washington, D.C.- ADAPT wasted no time challenging multiple policymakers on the housing crisis for persons with disabilities who have low and extremely low incomes. After setting up a tent city at HUD headquarters just after 4 a.m., ADAPT sent 100 activists to the Democratic National Committee (DNC) offices in Washington, D.C., and another hundred to a Sen. John McCain campaign office in Arlington, VA. All three entities were presented with the ADAPT platform for affordable, accessible housing. "The DNC was cordial, and they accepted our housing platform, as well as our invitation to visit 'DUH City,' which is HUD spelled backwards," said Barb Toomer, ADAPT organizer from Utah . The career HUD staff that met with ADAPT told our people they had no authority to make decisions and had to wait for the administration or administrative appointees to make any decisions, so the meeting felt like a waste of time. Sen. John McCain's campaign staff not only refused to even look at our housing platform, they had eleven of us arrested by police who caused injuries to at least one arrestee."
ADAPT's housing platform points to America's longstanding and still growing crisis in the availability of affordable, accessible integrated housing. Many people with disabilities live on benefits that are only 18% of the median income, a full 25% below the poverty level, and an amount that is less than the national average rent for a studio/efficiency apartment.
"The federal government is sending stimulus payments to middle class workers, and is providing economic relief for the mortgage crisis, and maybe even the bank crisis," said Dawn Russell, Denver ADAPT. "What about all of us who live on fixed incomes? If we can't afford the cost of housing, we'll end up on the street or being forced into nursing homes and institutions. What are the federal government, Congress, and the presidential candidates going to do to help us with our housing crisis?"
In its platform, ADAPT is asking for:
     * 5000 new housing vouchers per year for 10 years, targeted to people transitioning out of nursing homes and other institutions;
     * Twice as much funding for the construction of new housing stock that is affordable, accessible and integrated;
     * Policies and procedures to track the new vouchers to assure they remain targeted to people with disabilities when the original user becomes ineligible or no longer needs the voucher;
     * People with disabilities who reside in institutional settings to be recognized as "homeless."
ADAPT's DUH City will remain in operation twenty four hours a day until Thursday, September 18. The DUH City Times will be delivered daily to every member of Congress, and there will be daily DUH TV coverage on You Tube. Background information, real stories of real people and photos can all be accessed at http://www.duhcity.org.
For information Contact:
Randy Alexander (901) 359-4982
Marsha Katz (406) 544-9504
http://www.adapt.org
http://www.duhcity.org
FOR MORE INFORMATION on ADAPT visit our website at http://www.adapt.org/

LOCAL

The Milwaukee County budget is in its final stages. October is the time to let your voice be heard by both the County Executive and your County Supervisor ! Contact IF if you need more information: 414-291-7520 (v/tty).

LEGAL

HUD Charges Complex for Elderly and Disabled with Turning Away Eligible Households with Children. The U.S. Dept. of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) has charged the owners and managers of a 40-unit Kansas apartment complex with violating the Fair Housing Act by discouraging a woman, who is an amputee, from applying for housing because she has a minor child. The complex, built with funding under the USDA Rural Development Section 515 Program, provides housing to the elderly and persons with disabilities, but still must rent to otherwise eligible households with minor children. An agent for the property admitted telling the woman that the property is a senior-citizen complex and that children had never lived there.

Puerto Rico Condo Association Must Pay $17,000 for Denial of Accessible Parking Space. An administrative law judge has ordered a Puerto Rico condominium association to pay $17,000 to a family denied a parking space necessary to accommodate a son’s disability. Under the consent order, all persons active in the management of the condominium association also agree to attend fair housing training and submit to HUD a reasonable-accommodation policy within 30 days.

Sues Designers And Developers Of Manhattan Apartment Complex For Fair Housing Act Violations. The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced that the United States filed a civil rights lawsuit in Manhattan federal court against the developers and architects of Avalon Chrystie Place, a 361-unit residential apartment complex in Manhattan, for unlawfully discriminating against people with disabilities by failing to design and construct Avalon Chrystie Place to be accessible to people with disabilities. The Complaint seeks a court order requiring the defendants to modify.

Avalon Chrystie Place is to bring the complex into compliance with the Fair Housing Act and to enjoin defendants from designing or constructing multi-family housing in the future that does not contain the accessibility features required by federal law. It also seeks monetary damages to compensate victims and a civil penalty to be paid to the Government to vindicate the public interest. 

National Federation of the Blind (NFB) and Target Agree to Class Action Settlement. The NFB and Target announced that they have settled a class action lawsuit regarding access to the Target.com web site by blind people. As part of the settlement, Target will establish a $6 million fund from which members of the California settlement class can make claims. In addition, the National Federation of the Blind will certify the Target Web site through its Nonvisual Accessibility Web Certification program once agreed upon improvements are completed in early 2009. Target and NFB have agreed to a three-year relationship during which NFB will perform accessibility testing of the Target Web site. For more information about the terms of the settlement, please visit www.nfbtargetlawsuit.com.

WEB RESOURCES

https://jobcenterofwisconsin.com/

This website replaces JobNet. This new tool will dramatically improve the ability to help all workers find the best available job and to help employers easily locate the employees they need to grow their businesses. The new system is an all-Wisconsin employment exchange, linking employers in all parts of the state with anyone looking for a job. The Internet-based site is free to both employers and job seekers. It is available 24-hours a day to anyone, anywhere, with access to a computer with an Internet connection.

R-Word Ignites Controversy
More than 22 disability groups, including the Arc of the United States, the National Down Syndrome Congress, the American Association of People With Disabilities, Special Olympics and United Cerebral Palsy called for the boycott of the DreamWorks produced and Paramount Pictures distributed movie "Tropic Thunder," released Wednesday, August 13, 2008, because of the movie's open ridicule of the intellectually disabled and due to the frequent use of the word "retard" (hereafter referred to as the "R" word).
The movie industry satire, directed by Ben Stiller, portrays Stiller's character as a self-absorbed actor, Tugg Speedman, seeking to advance his career by foolishly going to any length, such as playing the role of a person with a disability. His character pursues an Oscar™ by acting in a movie about and the film-within-a-film role of Simple Jack. Simple Jack's character is intellectually disabled and repeatedly referred to as the "R" word in a blatantly inappropriate and excessive portrayal of a person with a disability used for theatrical purposes. The DreamWorks studio has since deactivated its marketing web site dedicated to the Simple Jack character as it was considered to be in bad taste.
Representatives from a number of national disability organizations, including The Arc of the , met with DreamWorks and Paramount studio executives in Los Angeles, California on Wednesday, August 6th. The purpose of the meeting was to express concerns, request a pre-screening of the film, and discuss possible solutions.
The boycott received a great deal of attention from media outlets around the . In fact, Ben Stiller, the movie's director and primary actor, appeared on the American Broadcasting Company (ABC) network television show, Nightline, to discuss the film and 'respond to the controversy' surrounding the film. Please be sure to spread the word about the boycott of "Tropic Thunder." Sign the petition on the American Association of People with Disabilities Web site ttp://www.aapd.com/petition/ 

For more information about the boycott of "Tropic Thunder," please visit the UCPeople blog: http://ucpeople.blogspot.com/

ANNOUNCEMENTS

NCD Releases Roadmap of Critical Policy Changes

The National Council on Disability (NCD) released a report titled The State of 21st Century Financial Incentives for Americans with Disabilities, with recommendations that provide a new frontier for the next generation of Americans with disabilities—allowing them to participate fully in the economy.

The report suggests several strategies for securing meaningful employment, career advancement, and benefits needed for daily living and accommodations. One of the key strategies involves the conversion of federal financial disincentives to incentives, which the report describes as possible. The operation of needs-based program limits across a broad range of federal programs regarding what beneficiaries can receive creates a major disincentive to work, entrepreneurship, or other asset-accumulation activities. This report proposes that, through the development of the Policies Optimizing Workers’ Economic Reach framework, needs-based programs could be converted from disincentives to incentives that help people gain employment and self-sufficiency. The full report with recommendations can be found at http://www.ncd.gov/newsroom/publications/2008/pdf/FinancialIncentives.pdf

Movin' Out Earns Awards
The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank awarded funds to 46 Affordable Housing Projects (AHP) in Wisconsin and Illinois in its latest round of competitive funding. Movin' Out’s statewide AHP down payment assistance program will assist 46 qualified households to purchase their own homes. Movin' Out is partnering with Anchor Bank to target low-income households that include at least one family member with a permanent disability. The down payment assistance comes in the form of a deferred, forgivable loan of $6,500. Movin' Out also received $80,000 to support its AHP Purchase-Rehab program. With this funding, Movin' Out will assist ten households throughout Wisconsin to purchase existing homes and use some of the award to make the home sound, safe, and accessible. The purchase-rehab assistance is available as a deferred, forgivable loan of $8,000. Movin' Out will continue its partnership with Bank Mutual. Rehab Program. Movin' Out’s AHP Rehab program will help 40 qualified home owners fix up their homes and make them more accessible. The Chicago FHLB awarded funds to provide deferred, forgivable loans of up to $5,500 per household. This program is available in an 18-county area in south-central Wisconsin plus the north-eastern counties served by Options for Independent Living and the south-eastern counties served by Society’s Assets. Bank Mutual is our banking partner. For more information, go to www.movin-out.org or call Movin' Out at 608/251-4446 x7 (v/relay).

Advocacy Action News is published by IndependenceFirst on or about the 1st of each month. Submissions of articles are due by the 15th of each month prior to publication. For consideration, send your articles or announcements to the Editor, Karen Avery, via e-mail to kavery@independencefirst.org. Advocacy Action News is available by request in alternative formats such as Braille, large print, on disk or audiotape. It is also made available via our website.  You may also receive Advocacy Action News via email instead of print copy. Contact Karen at 414-291-7520 (V/TTY) or kavery@independencefirst.org.

If you do not have access to the internet, and would like assistance in obtaining any of the internet-based items described in this news bulletin, please contact Karen at 414-291-7520 (V/TTY).

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