Disability Rights North Carolina

This Saturday July 27, 2024, at 5PM! Disability Rights North Carolina is excited to join the Disability Pride parade again this year! We hope to see YOU there too! Join us for: ADA Celebration Parade Powerful speakers Resource tables Triangle Disability Community Dinner and more! The event will be held at: Reality Ministries Center 916 Lamond Ave Durham, NC 27701 The parade will start in the parking lot of the Reality Ministries Center at 916 Lamond Ave, Durham NC (near Brightleaf Square) just like last year. Much like last year, there will be informational tables set up in the parking lot and sensory friendly spaces as well as bathrooms in the Reality Center building. The parade will be the same route - make a circle, go through Main St, and then return to the Reality parking lot. Once we return, in addition to the informational tables, there will be food set up to purchase for dinner and there will be a group of amazing speakers to share about what makes them proud to be Disabled. The event will be fully outside (except a sensory room and cool down space inside). There will be room for social distancing, and masks are encouraged. The whole event and parade route are completely wheelchair accessible. There is also a detour in the parade route for people who need to only walk 1/2 of it. An ASL interpreter will be present for all of the speakers. A huge thank you to Tatum Tricarico and McRae Scott for organizing and leading this exciting event! #DisabilityPride #Parade ID: Image of parade participants walking and rolling in the Disability Pride Parade in 2023.Text reads upcoming event. 7/27 Disability Pride Parade.

Earlier this year, Disability Rights North Carolina released a statement condemning the criminalization of people with disabilities for exercising their right to enjoy movies, shop at the mall, wait for the bus, and stand up for their desire to live in their own home in the community. (https://lnkd.in/eqMFczhq) Today, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case known as Grants Pass that allows the criminalization of unhoused people sleeping outside even when no safe or accessible shelters are available to them. The Supreme Court’s ruling is yet another legally-administered blow to our nation’s most vulnerable populations. People with disabilities are disproportionally harmed by the widespread lack of affordable and accessible housing and services. Criminalizing and incarcerating unhoused people does not fix the problem, it simply diverts our tax dollars from programs and services that help North Carolinians thrive toward expensive jails and prisons. Disability Rights NC will continue to call out injustice and will never relent in the fight for the rights of people with disabilities. Join us in this work and support us any way you can. https://lnkd.in/eBrhX_DK

Work with us! DRNC has an immediate opening for a full-time staff attorney on the HOME Team to work on Housing issues. HOME team work centers around ensuring people with disabilities have equal opportunities to live, work, and participate in their communities. In our Fair Housing work, DRNC helps disabled people who have been discriminated against related to their housing needs. The housing attorney will advocate on behalf of and/or represent North Carolinians with disabilities who have experienced illegal housing discrimination. For example, we are often able to help people gain and maintain housing opportunities by educating tenants and landlords about the Fair Housing Amendments Act (FHAA) and landlords’ responsibilities to grant reasonable accommodations and modifications. The housing attorney’s work will include research and analysis of disability-related civil rights laws as well as individual and systemic representation to uphold the rights of persons with disabilities who have been denied equal access to housing, programs, and public places. The candidate must be licensed in North Carolina and have Fair Housing and landlord-tenant law experience. Find out more and apply today! https://lnkd.in/gsFpMhZJ

A message from DRNC CEO Virginia Knowlton Marcus: Twenty-five years ago today, the U.S. Supreme Court handed down the most consequential disability rights case in history, Olmstead vs. L.C. The defendant in the litigation was Tommy Olmstead, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Human Resources. The plaintiffs, Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, were disabled women who brought the lawsuit to vindicate their right to live in the community with supports, rather than being segregated in institutions. The Supreme Court’s decision in this case affirmed the right of people with disabilities to receive community-based services instead of being stuck in unwanted institutionalization.  I will always remember the immense joy we in the disability community and our allies felt on June 22, 1999 after receiving news of the decision. It felt like the whole world had shifted. I’m glad we didn’t know then what we do now, that shifting public investment from institutions to community-based services would be incredibly hard with slow progress. It makes no sense. Community living is what the vast majority of we disabled people want; it is significantly more cost-effective than facility-based care; and it results in far better outcomes. It is a stain on our society that we continue to stick people in congregate settings just because they happen to have a disability, rather than welcoming and including all people in our communities. People with disabilities have the right to participate fully in society and receive the support necessary to lead independent lives. Warehousing people in institutions when they want to be included in their community is unlawful discrimination. Full stop. North Carolina’s Olmstead plan lacks ambition, imagination, and investment. People with disabilities in our state should not have to plead, or take “someday” for an answer. If we want to exercise our legal right to live in the community with services to learn, work, and play alongside non-disabled people, we must fight for it.  We have to actively pursue our vision of strong community infrastructure that consists of good jobs for direct support professionals and ample supports and housing choices for people with disabilities. North Carolina has both the need and the resources to create a robust community infrastructure. As Frederick Douglass once advised:  If there is no struggle there is no progress.  Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.  Who would be free, themselves must strike the blow. Our siblings from national ADAPT are coming to North Carolina to join us in bringing attention to the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead decision and calling for its full and prompt implementation in North Carolina and beyond!  This Sunday, June 23rd, 2-4 p.m. at Halifax Mall, 300 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gmeWmwhF

Important Upcoming Event! Date: Sunday, June 23, 2024 Time: 2 pm – 4 pm Location: Halifax Mall 300 N Salisbury Street Raleigh NC Join National ADAPT for the 25th Anniversary Rally of the Olmstead Decision in North Carolina. This event aims to raise awareness about the importance of the Olmstead Decision and its implementation in North Carolina. The Olmstead Decision, a landmark decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999, has been a beacon of hope for many, asserting the right of people with disabilities to live and receive services in the most integrated setting. However, there is a growing concern that Olmstead is not being fully implemented in North Carolina. This rally will shed light on these issues and advocate for compliance with the Olmstead Decision. We believe that every citizen should be aware of their rights and the protections available to them. This event will provide an opportunity to learn more about the Olmstead decision, its mandate, and how it can be implemented in our state. Participants will hear from speakers who are experts in the field, as well as individuals who have benefited from the Olmstead Decision. Join us for a day of education and community! Water will be provided. Attendees are encouraged to bring their own chairs. No restrooms onsite. Please contact Nicky Boyte at [email protected] or call 910-357-1292 with questions!

DRNC has an immediate opening for a full-time Investigator/Advocate on its Investigations and Monitoring (I&M) Team. Investigators/Advocates monitor and investigate allegations of abuse, neglect, and rights violations occurring in public and private facilities and group homes across the state.

Save the Date! Join us on September 14, 2024, for the annual "Caminemos y Rodemos Juntos Gaston / Walk and Roll Together Gaston" event from 9 am to 1 pm in Downtown Gastonia! We invite organizations to join us as exhibitors to provide valuable information to our community. There’s no charge to participate, and we welcome resources in both Spanish and English. Let’s enrich our community together! Find more details and register here: https://lnkd.in/e-2zzw6K Let’s walk and roll towards a healthier, more connected community! ¡Reserva la Fecha! Únase a nosotros el 14 de septiembre de 2024 para el evento anual "Caminemos y Rodemos Juntos Gaston / Walk and Roll Together Gaston" de 9 am a 1 pm en Downtown Gastonia. Invitamos a las organizaciones a unirse como expositores para ofrecer información valiosa a nuestra comunidad. No hay costo para participar y damos la bienvenida a recursos tanto en español como en inglés. ¡Enriquezcamos nuestra comunidad juntos! Para más detalles y para registrarse, haga clic aquí: https://lnkd.in/e-2zzw6K ¡Caminemos y rodemos juntos hacia una comunidad más saludable y conectada! ID: Image of Walk and Roll participants marching and rolling and holding flags in last year's event.

"Not only are most doctors undereducated about patients’ disabilities, but they also know little about the Americans with Disabilities Act and how to accommodate patients with disabilities. Bias and negative attitudes toward disability can also be factors. Some doctors are so reticent or fearful to offer treatment that they find ways to discharge disabled patients from their care or avoid accepting them altogether. " https://lnkd.in/emYCACrT #Inclusion #DisabilityRights ID: Cartoon image of doctor asking wheelchair user "So how would you like to get yourself on the exam table?"

On April 16, Dr. Craig Waleed of DRNC was on Duke's campus with a replica of a solitary confinement cell to raise awareness of the horrors of solitary confinement. Learn more by watching this short video! #EndSolitaryNC #DisabilityRights

Jubilee Healing Farm is a small farm located on 10 acres in Orange County, NC. Their vision is a world where healing farms support human and ecological thriving. To that end, their farm supports volunteer and community-building activities and workshops for people seeking healing. Jubilee Healing Farm fosters mental health through a land-based approach, dedicated to cultivating an intergenerational movement that nurtures human well-being and flourishing. Don't miss their open house and plant sale this Saturday, April 20 from 1-5pm! #MentalHealth #Healing #Farm #PlantSale #DisabilityRights #Inclusive