On Tuesday, March 17th FREED Board members, along with Executive Director Ana Acton, will be thrown in jail! KNCO Jail that is! You can bail them out and support FREED!
2020 Yuba-Sutter Agency Cross Training Program
The emerging Yuba-Sutter Aging and Disability Resource Connection (ADRC) is launching the 2020 agency cross training program.
Purpose and Goals
The Yuba-Sutter ADRC and ADRC Advisory Committee is a network of organizations that work together to make access to services easier for older adults, people with disabilities, caregivers and family care providers. To accomplish this goal it is critical that all partners understand the resources and services being provided by all partners and community organizations that serve this population.
Target Audience
Audiences for the training will include leadership and line-staff of organizations and agencies that serve people with disabilities and older adults.
2020 Training Schedule
4/21/2020 – FREED
6/23/202 – Agency on Aging Area 4
Disability Rap – January 2, 2023
Social Security Increases and Medi-Cal Expansion
In October, the Social Security Administration announced that it would institute an 8.7 percent increase in all Social Security cash benefits and Supplemental Security Income. This cost-of-living adjustment, or COLA, which takes effect this month, is meant to counter the soaring cost of everyday expenses due to inflation. For people on fixed income, as many people who receive Social Security or SSI are, this increase will help them continue to put food on their table and pay their bills. This is Social Security’s largest COLA increase since 1981 and it will impact over 72 million Americans.
This got us thinking about other government benefit programs here in California that are either increasing benefits and services for people with disabilities and older adults or expanding eligibility criteria to enable more people to qualify.
Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.
Disability Rap – December 5, 2022
Celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the First Center for Independent Living
On today’s show, we celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first Independent Living Center in the world, founded in 1972 by UC Berkeley students. Joe Xavier, Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation, tells us how California is leading the way in creating a more accessible, equitable workforce, and why that matters to people with disabilities across the state. Former US Congressmember Tony Coelho talks about how growing up with a disability led him to sponsor the ADA. And we hear voices from the Independent Living Street Festival in Berkeley on October 22.
Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.
Disability Rap – November 7, 2022
Samuel Habib’s ‘My Disability Roadmap’
Transitioning from high school to adulthood is a big deal – even more so for young people with disabilities. Not content with merely trailblazing an accessible future, Samuel Habib decided to create a documentary film about his journey. On today’s show, we hear from Samuel and his co-director, Dan Habib, about their film, My Disability Roadmap, and their hopes for the future.
Click here to listen to the show and/or read the transcript.
Disability Rap – October 3, 2022
Voting Access Across the Country
With the midterm elections five weeks away, we spend today’s show looking at voting access for people with disabilities across the country. People with disabilities make up one fifth of the US population, or roughly 66 million people, and yet only 17.7 million people with disabilities voted in this country in 2020. While that was a significant increase over 2016, we wanted to find out what some of the main barriers are that people with disabilities face when trying to exercise our right to vote. We’ll look right here in California and also look at Texas and Wisconsin, where recent laws and court orders have restricted access to the ballot box for voters with disabilities.
Disability Rap – September 5, 2022
CalOES’s Vance Taylor on Emergency Preparedness
As we enter fire season here in the Sierra Nevada foothills, we spend today’s show with L. Vance Taylor, who leads the Office of Access and Functional Needs in the California Governor’s Office of Emergency Services. We invited Vance on the show to talk about how the increasing risk of wildfire and other natural disasters here in California is impacting people with disabilities and others with access and functional needs. We’ll also hear what CalOES is doing to support our community before, during, and after emergencies.
Disability Rap – August 1, 2022
Celebrating Disability Pride
July was Disability Pride Month, and to celebrate, we bring you a conversation between two women executives with significant disabilities at the California Department of Rehabilitation (DOR). Ana Acton, the former Executive Director of FREED and former Disability Rap host, is now DOR’s Deputy Director of Independent Living and Community Access Division. Last month, she sat down with Kim Rutledge, the Deputy Director of Legislation and Communications at DOR, for a wide-ranging conversation about disability, disability pride, and self-acceptance. This month on Disability Rap, we air an extended version of their conversation.
Disability Rap – July 4, 2022
Inclusivity in the California Court System
On today’s show, we’re joined by Sacramento County Superior Court Judge Andi Mudryk, the first openly transgender person in California history to be appointed by a governor to a seat on the California bench. Disability Rap listeners may remember that Andi joined us on the show last year when she was Chief Deputy Director of the California Department of Rehabilitation. In that interview, we talked with Andi about her career in civil rights law, primarily focusing on advocacy for people with disabilities, as well as her personal experiences as someone with a physical disability. On this episode of Disability Rap, Judge Andi Mudryk speaks to us about the intersection of LGBTQIA+ Pride and Disability Pride and about how representation in the courts builds trust with communities and helps create a more just and equitable future.
Disability Rap – June 6, 2022
California’s Voice Options Program
On today’s show, we focus on resources here in California for people who are unable to speak or whose speech may be difficult to understand. Through the Voice Options program, eligible Californians who are unable to speak or who have difficulty speaking can receive a free speech-generating device. They can also test out various speech-generating apps in order to know which app is best for them.
Disability Rap – May 2, 2022
The Future of Transportation for People With Disabilities
Today, a follow-up on our January show looking at transportation challenges and opportunities for people with disabilities. We’re joined by Prashanth Venkataram. Prashanth is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute of Transportation Studies at the University of California, Davis. In that role, he focuses on the state of current and future transportation systems for people with disabilities and what policies may lead to better outcomes for our community. He is currently co-facilitating a study looking at the needs, desires, and challenges that people with disabilities in California face with transportation and housing. Prashanth received a BS in physics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and an MA and PhD in electrical engineering from Princeton University.
Having Trouble with Transportation in Your Area?
UC Davis is looking for adults in California with different abilities to weigh in on the transportation needs of our community.
Read More “Having Trouble with Transportation in Your Area?”