Congratulations to all our members of the ACI Choir for their recent holiday concert! Under the direction of Nancy, the Choir sung some of the best loved holiday classics. Thank you Nancy and everyone who came out to see the performance. Interested in becoming a member of our choir? Visit adacil.org/recurring-events/sing-for-fun-lets-bring-music-to-life and sign up. No experience necessary!
On Saturday, December 14th friends of ACI had a fun afternoon at the annual Holiday Luncheon and Shopping Trip at the Woodbridge Olive Garden and Woodbridge Center Mall. While enjoying a good meal, attendees spent time catching up with old friends, learning about newcomers, and talking about past events. Thank you to the Olive Garden staff for making our afternoon fun and worry free!
ACI has been presenting workshops on making general population shelters inclusive and accessible to people with disabilities and access and functional needs. These workshops covered ACI’s Overnight Shelter Simulations, disability etiquette, how a simulated shelter exercise can be used in your community, and more. Funding for these workshops was provided by PSE&G.
On the evening of November 21st, the holiday season came a little early to the ACI family. Holiday Express and ACI brought the holiday cheer by hosting a wonderful holiday dance party at the Minnie B. Veal Recreation Center. There was a live band playing holiday favorites while we danced the night away and were treated to Jersey Mike's subs! Even some familiar holiday characters made an appearance, that's right, Santa, the Grinch, Frosty The Snowman, Rudolph, and even Elmo joined the party! There were presents for everyone! Thank you to Holiday Express and Travelers for our new donated hearing aids, they will help many people at ACI. Thank you to the army of volunteers from Holiday Express and the Staff of The Minnie B. Veal Recreation Center for a wonderful evening.
We represent a coalition of disabled people, our caregivers, our allies, and other stakeholders who stand together in support of our civil right to live freely in the community. We write to demand that Representative Pallone fulfill his promises to the disability community and stand against institutional bias in our healthcare system.
In August 2018, Representative Pallone promised to cosponsor the Disability Integration Act (DIA) at a campaign event. Today, he is the only NJ representative who has yet to do so. The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is a civil rights bill which aims to end the institutionalization bias of insurance companies and support community living. Representative Pallone has been blocking the movement of the DIA, refusing to set a hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee, which he chairs. Representative Pallone claims that he does not wish to bring this legislation to a vote because he believes it will not pass, though we already have the votes in the House to pass this legislation. We demand that Representative Pallone give the DIA a chance by bringing this bill to a hearing.
Are you interested in joining an ADAPT chapter in New Jersey? ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.
The following is a press release from Southpaw Insights and Smartmatic.
NEW NATIONAL POLL: Voters with Disabilities Face Multiple Voting Challenges
Improvements in Privacy, Independence and Election Technology Are Top Priorities
BOCA RATON, FL – More than half of voters with disabilities have experienced challenges casting their votes in person, according to a new national poll prepared for Smartmatic by Southpaw Insights. Of those experiencing challenges, voting machines were cited as problematic by 28 percent, and of those, 45 percent say that problems with voting machines have kept them home on Election Day.
“We found that voters with disabilities place tremendous value on being able to vote independently, privately and in the same way as everyone else,” said Jessica Broome, Ph.D., Southpaw Insights founder and CEO. “Improvements in the accessibility and usability of voting machines would provide a real opportunity to make the election experience better for voters with physical and cognitive disabilities.”
Voters with disabilities make up a significant voting block. Roughly one in six eligible voters in America has a disability. According to recent research from Rutgers University, turnout for voters with disabilities in the 2018 mid-terms was approximately 14.3 million people, surpassing the number of Hispanic/Latino voters (11.7 million) and nearing African-American turnout (15.2 million).
