FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Chris Hilderbrant (585) 267-0343
April 29, 2010

Washington, DC – Rochester area advocates for disability rights have concluded four days of intense activity in the nation’s capitol. The advocates will be boarding a lift-equipped wheelchair accessible bus at approximately 9:00 AM on Thursday, April 29, 2010 to return to Rochester at approximately 6:30 PM. During their brief time in Washington, the advocates worked with a national organization, called ADAPT, to achieve several victories on behalf of people with disabilities everywhere.

Through the protests and marches conducted this week in Washington, advocates secured a number of policy victories. Through negotiations with the Department of Justice (DOJ) during a protest on Monday, ADAPT secured a commitment from DOJ to more actively enforce the right of individuals with disabilities to live in their own homes through litigation and consent decrees initiated by DOJ. A DOJ representative, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Sam Bagenstos, also joined several hundred ADAPT members for a public forum on Wednesday.

Rochester area advocates featured prominently during ADAPT’s press conference on Wednesday. ADAPT members gathered inside the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill Wednesday morning for a press conference to announce recent research bolstering ADAPT’s claims that the Community Choice Act (S 683 / HR 1670) should be passed this year.

Research conducted by Center for Disability Rights staff indicates that the Community Choice Act, at its most expensive estimates, would cost the average middle class taxpayer just over $6 per year. The methodology for determining cost of CCA was analyzed in distinct reviews by Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations’ Employment and Disability Institute, as well as Syracuse University Burton Blatt Institute.

“For two cents a day, no one would ever have to live in a nursing home again,” said CDR’s President/CEO Bruce Darling, speaking at the press conference Wednesday. Darling continued, “Eighty-nine percent of Americans are willing to pay the modest increase in taxes, $6.07,” referring to results of a recent Harris Interactive poll that found tremendous support for the Community Choice Act and a tremendous willingness to pay for it.

In addition to policy victories, Rochester area advocates succeeded in raising over $10,000 to support the ongoing advocacy efforts of low-income individuals with disabilities. The $10,000 goal was attained in part due to the fundraising efforts of Michelle Fridley, who was recently named Ms. Wheelchair New York.

“I am thrilled to have been a contributor in the FUN RUN,” said Ms. Fridley. “This was my first national trip as an advocate; the strength and determination of the other advocates with disabilities I met this week is amazing and inspiring. Freedom is a right that cannot be stopped.”