The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) and Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) in Rochester announce their Artist and Writers in Residence, Summer Fellowships, and summer job opportunities.

Summer Fellowships

These paid fellowships provide post-secondary students, recent college graduates, or early-career professionals with the opportunity to gain some hands-on experience during the summer months. Unless otherwise noted, 37.5 hours a week for up to 10 weeks at $30 per hour.

1. Special Projects Fellowship with the CEO (Rochester):
   This fellowship is intended for individuals seeking to enhance their experience in project management. It includes working on a series of special projects intended to upgrade the organization’s State Street headquarters and implement innovative accessibility strategies. $35 per hour.
2. Human Resources and Administration Fellowship (Rochester):
   This fellowship is intended for individuals who are studying human resources or a related field seeking to enhance their experience in Human Resources and management. Under the supervision of the Director of Administration this fellowship will develop standardized organization-wide orientation/onboarding modules, assist in updating the employee handbooks, prepare written policies/procedures for the department, and oversee summer clerical staff.
3. Assistive and Adaptive Fellowship (Rochester):
   These two fellowships are intended for individuals interested in gaining additional experience with assistive technology, durable medical equipment, and adaptive design. Both fellowships work under the supervision of the Director of Independent Living Services.
   • The TRAID Fellowship will develop training materials for staff and informational materials for consumers on specific types of adaptive technology and equipment that are available through the loan closet. Additionally, the individual will oversee the cleanup and organization of the closet.
   • The Adapted Design Fellowship will assist in setting up a local Adapted Design program including a program manual, content for grant application, and establishing initial contacts for program volunteers.
4. Advocacy and Leadership Training for Disabled Youth (Rochester):
   This fellowship is intended for an individual pursuing a career serving young people with disabilities. Working under the supervision of the Director of Employment and Youth Services, this fellowship will organize and lead two short summer programs empowering Disabled youth and young adults, including a three-day youth leadership program rooted in activism for Disability Justice.
5. Local and Disability History Fellowship (Rochester):
   In September 1966, one of the first protests of the modern Disability Rights Movement happened in Rochester, NY. This protest was the impetus for establishing a disability-led organization that became one of the first Centers for Independent Living in the country, known today as the Regional Center for Independent Living. Working under the supervision of the Chief of Staff, this fellowship is intended for individuals who are studying disability studies, history, sociology, or a related field. The fellowship will document Rochester’s rich history of advocacy and activism advancing disability rights and assist with the Centers’ Disability Art and Artifacts exhibit.
6. Program Development Fellowship (Rochester):
   This fellowship is intended for someone pursuing an advanced degree interested in gaining experience in program development. Under the supervision of the Vice President of Trust Services, this fellowship will research a specific program opportunity and develop the materials needed to implement it, including a program manual and marketing plan.
7. Federal Advocacy Fellowship (Washington DC):
   This is a summer immersion experience where a Disabled individual will work on Capitol Hill alongside other advocates working to pass the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act – legislation that would give Disabled individuals who rely of Long Term Services and Supports and enforceable civil right to live in freedom. The fellowship also pays for travel and provides shared living accommodations in an accessible apartment located in Chinatown.
8. Accessible Communities Project (Geneva):
   Working under the supervision the Vice President of Consumer Directed Services, this fellowship will build on the AARP model of the Eight Domains of Livability to develop a framework for communities to evaluate the current level of accessibility for Disabled individuals, and to organize and prioritize projects to make community resources more accessible to all individuals. The fellowship will field test the established framework to assess the City of Geneva and is intended for someone pursuing a career in public health administration or city planning.

To apply for one of these fellowships, send a resume and letter of interest to HR@cdrnys.org. Please be sure to indicate the fellowship you are interested in applying for.

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Disabled Artists and Writers in Residence

Over a period of up to 20 weeks, we are sponsoring a Disability Artist and Writer in Residence Program. The program provides Disabled Artists and Writers with funding and support in producing works that focus on the need to end Ableism, including ableism impacting individuals with significant disabilities that utilize Long Term Services and Supports, Audism, and other forms of bias and oppression including Racism, Sexism, Xenophobia, Homophobia, and Transphobia. Participants will receive $750 a week and are expected to devote at least 25 hours a week to their project which includes producing a weekly blog post about their project’s progress and participating in a weekly in-person cohort meeting in one of our offices (Rochester, Geneva, and Corning).

Artists and writers must be individuals with disabilities. Applicants are asked to provide:

• background information on the applicant, including work they have already done in this area;
• a clear and concise description of the proposed project, including how it advances Disability Justice;
• a brief implementation plan (up to two pages) describing how the project will be carried out, including any additional resources needed to complete the project; and
• examples of previous work.

Email your application to HR@cdrnys.org.

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Summer Jobs

The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) and Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) announce its Summer Jobs Project. These are great positions for college students or high school graduates to earn money during the summer while gaining valuable work experience in a disability-let nonprofit. Disabled youth strongly encouraged to apply.

1. Office and clerical work:
   In this summer job, individuals will assist with scanning documents, performing data entry, and organizing archived files. This position requires that individuals be able to manage paper documentation and physically lift boxes of documents. $20/hour
2. Graphic art:
   As part of the Disability Art and Artifacts project, the individual working in this summer job will edit photos/images and produce displays of items from our local disability history, including shadow boxes of t-shirts worn by our activists. This position is ideal for a college student who has been pursuing an art degree and has experience editing and manipulating photos and images. Provide examples of your work as part of the application. $25/hour
3. Physical plant:
   In this summer job, individuals will assist with building and facility maintenance responsibilities. $20/hour
4. Researcher/Writer (Rochester and Albany):
   In these summer positions, individuals will research Disability Justice topics, and prepare written content for our websites, draft organizational policy papers, and produce other written content. These positions are ideal for college students who are pursuing a degree in Disability Studies or Public Policy. $25/hour

To apply, send an email describing your experience and interest in the position to HR@cdrnys.org.

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About the Organizations

The Center for Disability Rights (CDR) and Regional Center for Independent Living (RCIL) are Disability-led organizations where a majority of the board members, management staff, and staff are themselves people with disabilities. This critical difference sets the organization apart from other organizations that were established to serve and support people with disabilities but are not governed, managed and staff by people with disabilities themselves.

We strive to be participant-controlled, cross-disability organizations that are reflective of the communities we serve. We do not discriminate on the basis of age, color, cultural or ethnic group membership, disability status, educational level, family status, sex or gender, gender-identity, sexual orientation, income, national origin, race, religion. CDR makes reasonable accommodations for qualified individuals with disabilities.

We value Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and strive to live those values.

RCIL is of the oldest Centers for Independent Living in the country and traces our history to September 1966 when a group of disabled students protested to make the State University of New York system accessible to people with disabilities during the New York State Republican Convention.

CDR began as an all-volunteer advocacy group that – in 1989 – secured a public commitment from the Rochester Transit Authority to put lifts on its buses and a state law that required access to public transit before enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act. CDR remained an all-volunteer advocacy group until 1998 when the organization secured funding for a small handful of staff to provide direct services.

Together, our organizations have programing and administrative offices in Corning, Geneva and Rochester, as well as a policy office in Albany. CDR also supports Disabled advocates working in Washington DC to pass federal legislation ensuring that Disabled individuals have a right to live in freedom.

Some of our accomplishments include:

• Successfully suing the Rochester Genesee Regional Transportation Authority to secure paratransit services that comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act.
• Securing state legislation that created the Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Program, the Nursing Home Transition and Diversion Waiver, the Access to Home Program, and the Olmstead Housing Subsidy.
• Securing federal policy changes that promote community integration, including the creation of the Real Choice Systems Change grants the establishment of the Minimum Data Set community integration referral requirement, and the Community First Choice Option.
• Developing a model for nursing facility and institutional transition and training people from over 40 states, the territory of Guam and the District of Columbia
• Saving Obamacare and Medicaid in 2017 during the Summer of ADAPT – 36 days of Disability Rights protests that spanned the entire country and transformed the Congressional fight over Medicaid into a fight for Disability Freedom.
• Crafting federal legislative language that would give Disabled individuals a statutory and enforceable civil right to live in freedom.

Candidates with disabilities – particularly Disabled individuals from diverse backgrounds – are strongly encouraged to apply.

Changes in New York State have impacted the organizations, but as Disabled people, we understand how to move forward in the face of adversity. Join us as we start our next chapter.