December 11, 2018

Woman Slams Mom Of Girl Needing Around-The-Clock Care

by Craig Sailor and Sean Robinson, The News Tribune/TNS | December 11, 2018

A Tacoma, Wash. woman has caused a social media firestorm after telling the mother of a child with a disability to put her girl “out of her misery.”

The controversy has drawn the attention of a celebrity, exposed women who share the same name to harassment and gotten the poster fired from one job.

The events unfolded Wednesday last week when Natalie Weaver of Cornelius, N.C., posted a Christmas photo of her family on Facebook. It included her 10-year-old daughter Sophia, who has facial, hand and feet deformities.

“We are grateful for another beautiful holiday season with Sophia,” Weaver wrote. “She continues to overcome & fight every daily challenge & difficulty she faces. She does it with so much sweetness, laughter and positivity. She is the definition of strength. I’m so proud of my girl.”

Weaver is a well-known advocate for children with disabilities. CNN profiled her in February. She is the founder of Sophia’s Voice, a nonprofit that helps people with chronic illnesses and disabilities get their medical needs met.

Sophia has Rett syndrome, a neurological disorder that affects one in 10,000 female births. It can affect brain function and other systems.

Kelsey Monahan Saum responded shortly after.

“If you TRULY loved her, you’d go the selfless & empathetic route by putting her out of her misery,” Saum wrote on Facebook.

In her message, Saum called Weaver a “Sick & twisted self righteous Christian.”

She ended it with: “I hope you got sterilized so you can’t produce anymore defective offspring.”

In an interview with The News Tribune, Weaver said, “I was shocked at how vile and hateful these remarks were. Once I got home from picking my kids up from school, I went to the bathroom so my kids wouldn’t see me cry.”

Saum was contacted by The News Tribune and confirmed she had written the post but declined an interview.

She said she runs a property management business that uses the address of a Tacoma locksmith shop. An employee at the shop told a News Tribune reporter he wasn’t familiar with Saum or her business.

Saum was listed on her LinkedIn page as a seller of Young Living Essential Oils, an aromatic plant extracts company. The company’s president, Jared Turner, tweeted that he had terminated her account.

“This is unacceptable and not representative of our values,” Turner said. “It’s so painful to see these vile messages.”

After Saum’s Facebook response, Weaver went to Twitter to bring it to her followers’ attention.

“I don’t have the influence to expose and change this on my own,” Weaver wrote. “These people need to be held accountable for their hate!”

Actress Alyssa Milano, who said she is a friend of Weaver’s and who has more than 3 million followers on Twitter, retweeted Saum’s post with her own response.

“If it’s in your nature to lash out at Natalie because her child looks different, you are part of the problem,” said Milano.

The outrage over Saum’s post was voluminous, resulting in thousands of Facebook and Twitter comments and retweets.

“It breaks my heart that this woman’s soul is so ugly, so tainted with cruelty and cynicism,” Deborah Cadabra wrote on Facebook. “And it makes me angry. How dare anyone who doesn’t know the love and sacrifices and struggles it takes to raise a child be so darn judgmental?”

“She should hide,” wrote Joshua Anthony on Facebook. “The dumbass in me wants to track her down and make her defective.”

As the backlash grew, Saum deleted her social media accounts.

The backlash affected people who shared Saum’s name.

“From some woman who has the same name as me said something rude about a child I am getting bashed, hate messages, etc. STOP saying it’s me when it’s NOT,” tweeted a different Kelsey Saum from Ohio.

This is not the first time Weaver has had to deal with hateful comments about her daughter, who requires around-the-clock care. Last year, a Twitter user used a photo of Sophia in a tweet advocating for coerced abortion.

“Next to the death threats, this was in the top five of the most offensive comments I’ve received,” Weaver told The News Tribune.

Court records from Washington and Oregon referring to Saum reveal a series of domestic-violence incidents involving Saum, who is identified as Kelsey L. Monahan, 27. At times she is identified as the instigator. In other examples, she claims to be the victim of harassment.

Weaver said she makes public messages like the one Saum posted on Facebook so that change can occur in society.

“I would like for the public to see the kind of hate that profoundly disabled children and children with facial deformities receive,” Weaver said. “I want everyone to see the beauty and value in every soul no matter what their abilities are.

“Every single human being deserves love, dignity and respect.”

October 30, 2018

Act Now to Prevent Discrimination Against People with Disabilities

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) recently proposed a change to the “public charge” rule which would discriminate against people with disabilities – and we need your help to stop it!

Background

The public charge rule is used to prevent people from coming into the United States for work, to live, or to visit if the government thinks they might depend on government services like Medicaid, the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, the Children’s Health Insurance Program, etc., to meet their needs. In other words, the government believes that because of the use of these services and benefits, the individual has become a public charge. This proposed change expands existing policy and rules. It would allow the U.S. to discriminate against more people by expanding the services and programs that are counted when deciding whether a person is or will be a “public charge,” that stop them from entering the U.S. (getting a visa) or getting a green card (becoming a permanent resident).

The proposed rule would exclude people from this country simply because they have a disability and may need supports. You can learn more about the rule here.

Take Action Now

There is still time to stop this rule. Until December 10, DHS is taking public comments that the government must read and respond to before it makes the rule final. It is critical that the disability community sends in as many comments as possible explaining why this rule is dangerous and discriminatory to stop it from being implement

October 23, 2018

More Regulation Is Not the Way to Enhance Services for People with IDD

Valerie Sellers | October 23, 2018

Partnership is the only way to ensure that people with intellectual and developmental disabilities can safely lead rich, fulfilling lives

Valerie Sellers

During my tenure at the New Jersey Association of Community Providers, I have observed with great concern that there is this perception among a few parents that providers of community services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) cannot be trusted and only more regulation will keep them in check. There are hundreds of agencies in the state with more than 28,000 served under the auspices of the DHS’s Division of Developmental Disabilities. Stories touting families that truly love their providers and believe their loved ones are receiving outstanding care and are leading rich and fulfilling lives do not make the headlines. Without these providers, the question is where these individuals would be receiving services; we certainly don’t want to return to institutional care.

The need for a collaborative relationship between providers and parents is necessary. Without that dynamic, the result is layers of regulation and oversight with no discussion or resolution. One would be led to believe that providers of services to those with intellectual and developmental disabilities have almost no oversight and there are not already comprehensive protections for this community. I beg to differ.

Extensive oversights already in place

There are a number of local, state, and federal agencies with oversight of the delivery of supports and services to individuals with IDD. Oversight includes Danielle’s law, which requires providers to call 911 for life-threatening emergencies. Further, New Jersey’s Department of Human Services Office of Program Integrity & Accountability (OPIA), provides oversight of any and all adverse incidents, including abuse, neglect, and exploitation. This division investigates every reported incident and, in cases that have been deemed egregious or unlawful, a central registry has been established to record and report information that is used when hiring determinations are made.

Those who favor additional bureaucratic oversight support additional measures, including requiring cameras in group homes, community programs, and public transportation. It is true that some providers with group homes have elected to utilize cameras; however, this is not a quick fix and is not without controversy, as is in the case of New York and South Carolina, where state officials have decided not to move forward with this policy. One of the many questions that must be addressed, for example, recognizes that group homes typically comprise four individuals. How does one respect the rights of family members/guardians that find the cameras to be intrusive? This is someone’s home and should be viewed as such. At what point do group homes become “mini-institutions?”

There is no excuse for a tragedy such as that experienced by the Komninos family, prompting the Stephen Komninos’ law and additional oversight of the IDD community. It is a devastation that none of us, including providers, ever want to experience.

Perhaps before layering yet more regulations and mandates that stifle an individual’s right to community inclusion, we should explore why uncommon events such as abuse, neglect, and exploitation occur and work collaboratively to determine how best to address the root cause. Over $20 million has been spent implementing the Stephen Komninos’ legislation; perhaps it is time to dedicate funds to improving the wages of direct-support professionals and develop intensive training regarding abuse, neglect, and exploitation.

More regulation, a quick fix?

More regulation and more cost to the system are not necessarily the answer, and yet it appears to be the quick reaction to a highly publicized incident. How does one know what works in the community without ever having consulted the providers of services to those with IDD? To my knowledge, such a discussion with regard to cameras or other ideas has not occurred with a representative group of providers serving adults with IDD.

In reality, community services overwhelmingly occur in positive and safe environments, making a balanced narrative necessary when reporting events as well as when developing policy.

Instead of passing law after law that may make everyone feel better that action was taken, it makes more sense to pause and foster a collaborative approach that includes families and providers. We should work to create and/or strengthen the relationships families have with providers, working together to create a safe environment for all served. We should all agree that this relationship should not be adversarial but rather a partnership — isn’t this worth the investment of time?

Valerie Sellers is the CEO of the New Jersey Association of Community Providers, an organization that represents over 55 provider agencies that serve individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) in the community throughout the state of New Jersey.

October 10, 2018

After Kavanaugh, #MeToo Should Launch a New Temperance Movement

The suffragettes of the 19th century were right: To fight sexual assault, we have to reduce alcohol consumption

ith Brett Kavanaugh, and the dark cloud permanently fixed above his head, on the Supreme Court, fury on the left is palpable. Yet even if the battle for his seat is lost, the battle against sexual assault continues. For inspiration on how to move forward, the focus on the role of alcohol in Kavanaugh’s life should compel us to look to the origins of the women’s movement. It was the temperance movement of the 19th and early 20th century, after all, that served as a catalyst for the women’s suffrage movement. It could do the same today for the #MeToo movement.

The allegation that a heavily inebriated 17-year old Kavanaugh attempted to rape neighboring high school student Christine Blasey Ford has reminded us about the strong link between alcohol and sexual assault. In approximately half of all sexual assaults, either the perpetrator or the victim has consumed alcohol. Usually in those cases, both people have been drinking, but the likelihood is higher with perpetrators than victims.

Like Ford, 19th-century women abused by drunken men often kept quiet. In 1873, a Springfield, Ohio, newspaper published the view of a woman who was hesitant to go public with the story of a husband who was once “tender and loving” but due to alcohol had become “moody, morose [and] abusive”:

“We are told that the law is now on our side, and are exhorted to go into the courts. … But how little do people know of the difficulties that surround the drunkard’s wife. The shame and mortification of a public exposure … the difficulty of getting such witnesses as will testify to the facts necessary to a successful prosecution; the shrinking from appearing in a court-room alone … where even respectable lawyers can be bought for a price to plead against her, using low, personal attacks, when the facts fail them.”

The author of that plea was Eliza Daniel “Mother” Stewart, one of the founders of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, which grew to become the largest women’s organization in the world at that point in history. The WCTU was interested not only in banning the sale of alcohol to end abusive behavior by men; it also linked the temperance cause to the suffragist cause. When in 1879 Frances Willard, the president of the WCTU, argued that women needed both temperance and suffrage for “home protection,” she broadened the appeal of suffrage beyond radicals like Susan B. Anthony and reached the larger constituency of traditionalist homemakers.

The #MeToo movement has made enormous strides in a short time. But the Kavanaugh episode reminded us that the movement has limited reach on the conservative side of the cultural divide.

Moreover, binge drinking — all too often a factor in sexual assaults — remains a plague among the young. In a research study released last year, about 40 percent of people between 18 and 24 reported recently consuming four (for women) or five (for men) drinks in a two-hour period. In light of those facts, why don’t we do more to combat excessive alcohol use?

One big reason is that the original temperance movement went overboard. What began as a campaign of moral suasion evolved into an intimidating political lobby determined to criminalize the production and sale of alcohol, whatever it took. (What it took was whipping up anti-immigrant sentiment, especially toward Germans, during World War I.) And once Prohibition was achieved, it was a policy disaster, driving alcohol use underground and fueling organized crime.

A second reason we hesitate to focus on alcohol is we correctly do not want to treat alcohol as the primary driver of sexual assault when, in cases of male perpetrators and female victims, misogyny is the root cause. FiveThirtyEight science reporter Maggie Koerth-Baker recently called attention to a 2015 study of sexual assaults that tracked several hundred men through four years college. Those that committed more assaults over the time of the study “reported a growing sense of peer support for forced sex, peer pressure, pornography use, and hostility toward women.”

Even so, alcohol is an impediment to tackling misogyny. To break misogynistic norms among men, Koerth-Baker says that “the big focus in sexual violence prevention right now is [encouraging] bystander intervention.” But she also notes that many sexual assaults happen in drunken environments. When even the bystanders are intoxicated, there is much less of a chance for effective intervention.

So we need a more modern, a more temperate, temperance movement, one that learns from both the successes and mistakes of the past. Bigotry and moral absolutism shouldn’t be replicated. But the WCTU and the even more powerful Anti-Saloon League are amazing examples of broad grass-roots coalition-building. And decades later, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers (later changed to Mothers Against Drunk Driving) showed how a powerful narrative combined with a tightly focused legislative agenda could rapidly move political mountains.

It took MADD a lot less time than the WCTU and ASL to achieve its political goals, just four years between its formation and its capstone legislative achievement. The group had leaders with gripping personal stories—children killed or severely injured by drunk drivers—which it leveraged into an Emmy-nominated made-for-TV movie.

The group successfully galvanized Americans to support new laws lowering the legal limit of blood-alcohol content when driving, and cutting off federal highway funds to states that didn’t raise the legal drinking age to 21. President Ronald Reagan was initially opposed to withholding highway funds but eventually flipped and signed the plan into law. There was some conservative grumbling over the deployment of Big Government—one New York state legislator called the law “Little Prohibition”—but 10 years after the law passed, nearly every state had raised the drinking age to 21 and the rate of drunk driving fatalities dropped 43 percent.

A modern temperance movement should complement, not supplant, other critical efforts to eliminate toxic masculinity, such as requiring sexual education classes to teach the principles of consent. But the battle against sexual assault should be waged on all fronts, especially because many promising ideas are bound to get snagged in our politically polarized culture war.

For example, the quality of high school sex education is widely uneven. Only 13 states require sex education to be medically accurate, while 10 states require the use of abstinence education, which is notoriously inaccurate and ineffective. Local cultural mores tend to dictate what is taught in local schools. And where local sensibilities concur with Donald Trump—that the big problem today with sexual assault is men being falsely accused of sexual assault—you may not find consent education catching on.

A modern temperance movement, however, has the potential to transcend the red-blue divide. While feminists may see reduced alcohol use as a means to combating sexual assaults, many devout Christians consider drunkenness to be a sin. Habakkuk 2:15 reads, “Woe to him who gives drink to his neighbor, pressing him to your bottle, even to make him drunk.” And Romans 14:20 has been interpreted as admonition against encouraging addiction,: “It is wrong for a man to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble.”

A 21st-century temperance push need not look as gendered as the 19th-century version. We don’t need women, held up as paragons of virtue, traveling the saloon circuit and saving men from the demon rum. It’s not the job of women to fix men. In fact, one recent study found that white men are more likely than women and non-white men to binge drink on college campuses. One of the study’s authors concluded that changing the accepted norms among white men is “the biggest challenge at this point.” As peer-to-peer communication is often the most effective approach, men will need to step up.

What exactly should a modern temperance movement fight to achieve? Legislatively, it could pursue stiffer penalties for adults who provide alcohol to minors, which today is often just a misdemeanor. And while parents can be held criminally responsible for underage drinking in their homes, why aren’t college administrators and fraternal organizations held accountable for underage drinking on their watches?

Beyond legislative remedies, a modern temperance movement could also apply cultural pressure. It wasn’t long ago when much of Hollywood was shamed into keeping cigarettes off-screen so it wouldn’t look cool to children. Yet excessive alcohol consumption remains a plot-point staple. With the entertainment industry reeling after its long history of tolerating sexual misconduct has been exposed, what better time to pressure it into making amends?

Of course, a modern temperance movement would have to guard against moral excess to avoid being cast into irrelevance. MADD’s founders walked away from the group in the mid-1980s once it became, in the words of one, “neo-prohibitionist.” While MADD’s current agenda isn’t that extreme, it never regained its early influence.

But the need to protect ourselves and our loved ones from sexual assault knows no party or ideology. Alcohol may not be the sole culprit, but it’s a culprit. It’s long past time our policies and our culture treat it so.

Attack on one is an Attack on All

October 7, 2018

Vulgar, Racist and Anti-Semitic Graffiti Spray-Painted onto Scotch Plains Fanwood High School

SCOTCH PLAINS/FANWOOD, NJ — Members of the local community are expressing their outrage over racist, anti-Semitic and vulgar graffiti that was spray-painted on the outside of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School sometime before the weekend began.

Pictures of the offensive messages spread rapidly over social media, and members of the Jewish community were quick to condemn the perpetrators.

“Many in our community have been deeply saddened and angered by the vandalism and hate that was displayed at the high school. While the police and administration are doing what needs to be done to catch the perpetrators, we want to send a strong message,” Debbie Gabbai Kanterman wrote on Facebook’s Scotch Plains/Fanwood Community Page. “We can overpower the few that express hate with a unified message that HATE HAS NO PLACE HERE.”

Dov Ben-Shimon, CEO of The Jewish Federation of Greater MetroWest, said that his organization has also contacted Homeland Security and the Union County Prosecutor’s Office.

“We’re deeply shocked and offended by the vile racist and hate-filled graffiti that was found on the wall of Scotch Plains-Fanwood High School,” Ben-Shimon said. “We have reached out to the Scotch Plains police, who are investigating. We’re grateful for their service in protecting the community.”

“We understand that this is being treated for now as a bias crime,” Ben-Shimon added. “Words and symbols of this kind are evil, shameful and stand in opposition to all that we value.”

The group SPF Parents United, which invited Dianne Grossman to speak about anti-bullying this week, is organizing a rally to show we are a community of inclusion, compassion and resiliency. The event will likely take place on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Anthony Fiore, an organizer of SPF Parents United, a volunteer group of parents who collaborate with schools and the community to create a physically and mentally safe environment for children.

Disturbingly, this is the second incident in the local area involving swastikas. During the week, the anti-Jewish symbol was scrawled inside a bathroom at Franklin Elementary School in Westfield. In addition, anti-Semitic flyers have been found around Watchung and according to an unverified Facebook post, anti-Semitic flyers were found on a resident’s property in Berkeley Heights.

2018-VOTE

Obama says Trump has pushed America to a ‘pivotal’ moment

Barack Obama launched his midterm campaigning Friday at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, arguing that President Donald Trump poses such a threat to America that it forced him to speak out in an unprecedented way for a former president.

“I’m here today because this is one of those pivotal moments when every one of us as citizens of the United States need to determine just who we are, what it is that we stand for,” Obama said. “As a fellow citizen, not as an ex-president, I’m here to deliver a simple message, which is that you need to vote, because our democracy depends on it.”

ADAPT-Free Our People

COUNTY OF UNION

PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE

The County of Union Department of Human Services Paratransit System will be holding a Public Hearing on Tuesday August 15, 2017 at 7:00 p.m. at the Union County, Administration Building, 10 Elizabethtown Plaza, 6th Floor Freeholders Meeting Room, Elizabeth NJ. this hearing is held every year in order to gather information and comments from interested parties concerning funding received by the County of Union from New Jersey transit. SCDRTAP (Senior Citizen and Disabled Resident transportation assistance Program) funding comes from Casino Revenue and is used to transport seniors (60+), persons with disabilities and /or economically disadvantaged county residents to medical, education, employment, nutrition, shopping and recreational facilities.

The public is invited to attend and participate. For those residents unable to attend the Hearing, please know that written comments and/or testimony will be accepted through July 30th. Please send correspondence to Kathleen E. Carmello, Director, Union county Paratransit System 79 W. Grand Street, Elizabeth NJ 07202.

2017 Legislative Update: State Bills Protect Safety Net

Major Moves Happening in NJ Legislature to Help the State’s Safety Net

In crazy political times, it is important to remember that there are major legislative moves happening everywhere that protect or shred the safety net.

The state level there was a lot of activity last week with the second ever New Jersey State government shut down, but there are other important bills in the legislature that could make a major impact on the safety net in New Jersey.

All of this is great and if passed and signed will provide a great service to the safety net, but there are many legislative delays. Two are waiting on the Governor and one must still be approved by the Assembly.

From that point, the bills would become law with the endorsement of the Governor’s signature. It is still unclear at this moment if Governor Christie will sign the bill into law.

If all of that happens then there will be an expected implementation lag, meaning that it will take a little bit of time to set out the way that these new regulations are enforced.

All of this action is expected to take some time but something that can be done in the near future to help ensure that everyone has access to safe living conditions, is attending the 2017 Congressional Reception on Wednesday July 26 in Washington DC.

The theme for the event is “No Housing Cuts”.

This three new bills in New Jersey include:

Allows individual to receive additional lifetime emergency assistance under certain circumstances:(S2853/A4296) sponsored by Sen. Sweeney and Asw. Muoio. This bill would require that the Commissioner of Human Services nullify any months of emergency assistance that were received by an individual more than 84 months (seven years) prior to an application for emergency assistance. Passed the Senate (36-0). Still needs to be passed by the Assembly Appropriations Committee and the full Senate.

Increases amount of benefits under Work First New Jersey program by 30 percent over three years and according to Social Security cost of living increases thereafter. (S3315/ A31) sponsored by Asm. Prieto/Muoio and Sen. Vitale/Cruz-Perez. Passed both houses and goes to the Governor for action

Repeals family cap in Work First New Jersey program (S3316/A33) sponsored by Asw.Muoio/Vaineri Huttle and Sen. Vitale/Rice. Passed both houses and goes to the Governor for action.

Constitutional Rights and Disability Rights

In the United States, freedom is a concept that is not only seen as a fundamental value of the American people, but is frequently cited by our government, both its documents and our officials, as one of the most important concepts to keep in mind when drafting legislation. The Declaration of Independence included the iconic phrase “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness,” unalienable rights endowed to us by the Creator. The preamble of the Constitution mentions “[securing] the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves” as one of the reasons for the creation of the document and the government that it establishes. Today, lawmakers from all over the political spectrum cite freedom as a motivation for putting forward various pieces of legislation, although they often disagree on how freedom should be interpreted and to whom it should belong.One thing that we should all agree on, however, is that the protections of the Constitution don’t have a cut-off point, limited to some Americans while other Americans are determined to be “too disabled” to be entitled to their freedoms. Recently, conservative political and social commentator Ann Coulter pointed out that “there are no asterisks on the First Amendment,” meaning that First Amendment protections apply regardless of whether those on the other side of the political spectrum disagree with them. Similarly, there is no asterisk on the Constitution that says that our freedoms only apply to those who are deemed to be “non-disabled enough.” This is particularly important because many disabled people in the United States are being forced into nursing facilities and institutions where they are stripped of their personal liberties. They have essentially been deemed “too disabled” to live in their communities, go to school, work, marry, establish a home and bring up children. The only reason that’s the case is because they have been denied the supports that would allow them to live in freedom.Why is this the case, and why can’t they receive care in their own home?Right now, people with disabilities may be denied community-based long term services and supports by their states and insurance providers. These services include things such as attendant care. For example, a person who needs assistance with things such as dressing, eating, and toileting could have assistance from an attendant to complete these tasks in their home. However, securing attendant services in the United States can be difficult or sometimes impossible. You may be denied services because you have the wrong disability diagnosis or require too many hours of assistance. The state may also have a waiting list for services and you can’t get them until someone else goes into an institution or dies.The Disability Integration Act (DIA), legislation introduced by Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) and soon to be introduced in the House by Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-WI), would change that. DIA would require public entities and insurance companies to provide long-term services and supports (LTSS) in the community as an alternative to institutionalization, and offer those already in institutions the ability to transition home and receive LTSS.Disabled Americans shouldn’t be put on a waiting list for the freedom and liberty promised by the Declaration of Independence and guaranteed by the Constitution. If you say you care about freedom and value liberty, you should believe in liberating people who have been institutionalized due to the failure to provide adequate services and support in the community. Republicans, Democrats and Independents should all support the Disability Integration Act.– The ADAPT Community

Paul and Phyllis Fireman Foundation is set to take off.

Due to significant level of gaming revenue which has left our state because of the development of gaming in surrounding states. This loss of revenue has depleted. A briefing with Paul Fireman’s senior advisors, Nevins McCann of Connell Foley and Maggie Moran of M Public Affairs is taking place on Wednesday, December 10th at 10am at Liberty National Golf Course, 100 Caven Point Road, Jersey City, NJ 07305. He is proposing a world class resort destination casino around the Liberty National Golf Course.

Are you trying to find a way to get involved and make a change?

Here are some ways to share your voice!

Don’t forget to register to vote for the upcoming 2014 general election on November 4th. Deadline to register is October 14th! Your Choice, Your Vote!

The Anti-Poverty Network, the Housing & Community Development Network, and other anti-poverty partners are collecting signatures to take the step the state needs to address affordable housing. There is a large pot of money designated for affordable housing at the municipal level. The money has already been collected in municipal Affordable Housing Trust Funds, but it cannot be used until COAH releases it. Commissioner Constable is being asked to regularly convene COAH to approve more plans and ensure that this resource can be used.

To read the letter click here and to sign on please email

info@antipovertynetwork.org

Protest the Raiding of the 2014 COC increase! Demand a 3% increase in 2015!

Take action here

Don’t Hang up on New Jersey

After Hurricane Sandy, Verizon announced it would not repair copper wire telephone lines that provide traditional service, which in turn has affected many families that have and have not been affected by Sandy directly.

Recently, in the state of New Jersey, Verizon is forcing customers onto poor quality, unregulated wireless products instead of fixing the problems with current land line cables. As a result, Verizon has been forcing customers to accept VoiceLink instead of traditional telephone service, in which monitored home services and medical alert services do not work, putting senior citizens and individuals with disabilities at great risk.

The New American Movement for People with Disabilities and Don’t Hang up on NJ Coalition are committed to protecting services for New Jersey families, especially our senior citizens and individuals with disabilities. We urge you to sign the following petition on behalf of Don’t Hang up on New Jersey Coalition, to urge the Board of Utilities and demand that they investigate Verizon’s refusal to repair landline service, forcing consumers to pay for a low-quality service called Voice Link which does not support monitored home and medical alert services.

A link to the petition can be found here.

Interested in sharing your experiences with NJTRANSIT regarding Bus, Rail, Light Rail, or Access Link services? Click here

The “Combating Autism Act” is up for re-authorization this year. This act was passed in 2005 to set priorities for federal autism research and surveillance activities and is opposed by the New American Movement for People with Disabilities, the self-advocacy movement, and our allies. Rather than supporting individuals with Autism in having a fulfilling life, the CAA’s primary mission is to eliminate people with autism. Reforms needed include:

Take Action Now!