FREED’s monthly radio show on KVMR 89.5 FM Nevada City.
Listen live on the first Monday of each month from 6:30 to 7 p.m.
On today’s show, we look back at the November election, and how easily, or not, people with disabilities were able to cast our ballots here in California. We also look forward and hear some of the voting advocacy work in the pipeline for the coming year.
This Monday, November 2, on Disability Rap, an Election Eve Special! Rebecca Cokley of the Center for American Progress Action Fund talks to us about the disabled community’s increasing political power in the United States. She also tells us about her own journey growing up in a multigenerational disabled family. We then hear both Presidential campaigns’ speeches to the Disability & Election Virtual Summit, where they present their disability platforms. We end the show with an announcement about Medicare’s Open Enrollment period, which continues through December 7.
On today’s show, we bring you extended excerpts of Nevada County’s Education Workshop for Voters with Disabilities. This workshop took place via Zoom this past Friday, October 16, and was open to the public. The workshop was hosted by Jaime Melugin from the Nevada County Elections Department. She was joined by our co-host, Carl Sigmond, who is FREED’s Disability Community Advocate, Mark Fenicle, Chair of the FREED Board of Directors, and Paul Spencer and Jason Connor from Disability Rights California.
Last week, we brought you part one of our conversation on the disproportional effects the coronavirus pandemic is having on people with disabilities and older adults. This week, we are bringing you part two. We spoke with Monet Clark, a healer and eco-feminist performance based video and photographic artist right here in Nevada City, Meg O’Connell, Founder and CEO of Global Disability Inclusion, Dr. Leonard Abbeduto, Director of the MIND Institute at UC Davis, and Denny Chan, a Senior Staff Attorney at Justice in Aging. We recorded this conversation on September 21, right as we reached the grim milestone of 200,000 deaths from Covid-19 here in the United States. We started part two of the conversation by asking Denny to talk about the crisis standard of care guidelines here in California.
This is Part II of this conversation. Click here to listen to Part I.
As the number of coronavirus cases in the US tops 6.8 million and the number of deaths from Covid-19 tops 200,000, we spend today’s show looking at the disproportionate effects the pandemic is having on older adults and people with disabilities. We’ve all heard the harrowing stories in the media about some of the early coronavirus hotspots being nursing homes and other long-term care facilities, but we wanted to go deeper. According to the CDC, 94% of people who died from Covid-19 in the US had at least one other health condition or contributing cause of death. What does that mean for the disability community and for older adults?
This is Part I of this conversation. Part II will be released next Monday.
Last month was the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA was a landmark civil rights law that affirmed the inherent dignity of every person, regardless of disability. On this episode of Disability Rap, we’re spending the hour celebrating the ADA, its effects on people with disabilities and all Americans, and its impact right here in Nevada County.
On this special episode of Disability Rap, Amee Medeiros (Neighborhood Center of the Arts) and Brian Snyder (FREED) interview Susan Iverson (FREED) and Robert Edmondson (TBI Survivor) about Brain Injury Awareness Month and Robert’s experience as a traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivor. Later in the show, Vanessa Cuellar (California Foundation for Independent Living Centers) and Lawrence Carter Long (Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund) join to discuss the importance of the 2020 Census for older adults, people with disabilities, and all Americans.
On this episode of Disability Rap, Ana Acton and Brian Snyder have a discussion with Paul Spencer, a staff attorney with Disability Rights California about the Voter’s Choice Act, accessible voting options for people with disabilities, the 2020 Primary Election, and much more!
The January 3rd, 2020 episode of Disability Rap features Christina Mills (California Foundation for Independent Living Centers), Elena Rodriguez (Community Member), Peter Mendoza (Marin Center for Independent Living), and Renee Renoir (FREED). Ana Acton and the aforementioned guests discussed CalFresh, 2020 Census, and Governor Newsom’s Master Plan on Aging & Disability.
The December 6th, 2019 episode of Disability Rap features guest host Amee Medeiros (Neighborhood Center of the Arts) and special guests Erin Noel (Sierra Foothills Village), Michelle (local artist), and Spencer (local artist). The discussion is focused on Listos California, a program initiated by Governor Newsom and state lawmakers whom “invested $50 million through urgency legislation (AB 72) to establish the California for All Emergency Preparedness Campaign. The campaign aims to boost disaster preparedness among our diverse and vulnerable Californians by connecting them to culturally and linguistically competent support through a grass-roots, people-centered approach. To ensure success, the campaign empowers and engages local communities on emergency preparedness to support California’s diverse and vulnerable populations, which can be described by social vulnerability factors including social isolation, poverty, language barriers, and other access and functional needs challenges.
