August 2020 Advocacy Update
If you're interested in receiving email updates, action items, and more updates about our advocacy efforts sign up here!
COVID-19 Update
By Chris Hoeh
The Covid 19 pandemic has forced the disability rights community to respond to the many ways people with disabilities face life-threatening discrimination and have unique needs that require government action. The Greater Boston Chapter of the United Spinal Association is collaborating with a multitude of disability rights organizations to address the immediate issues while continuing to work on pre-existing problems.
We don’t know when we will need to take action, so please sign up with the following organizations who will provide urgent action alerts:
Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL) https://bostoncil.org/email-signup/
United Spinal Association (USA) https://unitedspinal.org/grassroots-advocacy-network/
Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) https://visitor.r20.constantcontact.com/manage/optin?v=001qgI9GeY_mqT-rCp1EnEL4kioQr0vCKwrmPZr7qEuRjLvOaSsKRmO50-ZHBuL8CtbDxWAVpqX-ZLl2HX-wbhq4FFIpHjQSlNvH5-ODAewczA%3D
Let’s Raise Our Disability Voice
By Ellen Leigh
REV UP! stands for Register, Educate, Vote, and Use your Power! This is a nonpartisan initiative, launched by the American Association of People with Disabilities in 2016 that increases voter registration & engagement by working to eliminate barriers to the polls & voter suppression. Its network is composed of state and national coalitions that work to advance the Disability Vote. Their mission is to foster civic engagement & protect the voting rights of Americans with disabilities. www.aapd.com/REVUP
There are so many ways to get involved and make your voice heard! Volunteer for a voting rights organization, discover an issue you would like to advocate for by writing a letter to the editor or Op-Ed, help out with a campaign & learn about how to run for an office in the future! From your local school board to the Senate, it is important to vote in every election. Make sure you are registered & ready to vote by using the registration portal https://www.whenweallvote.org/aapdrevup/
Many states offer online voter registration (including MA). This portal allows one to see what states allow this and provides links to register online where possible. I was also able to quickly check that my registration is active. This is very important to ensure you don’t have any unfortunate surprises when you try to cast your ballot.
Find out more about the local MA REV UP chapter www.revupma.org (go to their SIGN UP page for updates, including status of Vote By Mail, a new law just passed in MA that allows all registered voters to vote by mail in all 2020 elections.
The deadline to register for September 1 primary election is August 22; the deadline for the November 3 general election is October 24. If you haven’t received a vote-by-mail application, you can call 1-800-462-VOTE to get a copy mailed to you). Also check out video, “Why is the Disability Vote So Important?”
In the words of Justin Dart,Co-Founder of the ADA and the AAPD, “Vote as if your life depends on it because it does!”. Let’s raise our disability voice, tap into our power as a community, and advance our fight for equal rights!
Hello current and future grassroots advocates!
Do you find that you’re itching to get involved in disability civil rights and helpful legislation but you don’t know where to turn?
Sign up for United Spinal’s District Mobilization Initiative by filling out the brief survey to become a disability rights grassroots advocate.
We now have 83 out of 435 Congressional districts that have at least one United Spinal advocate signed up. 29 out of 50 states have at least one advocate signed up. Our message carries more weight with every person who sends in the survey. So please sign up.
In signing up you will be helping to accomplish two very important things:
1. Make sure we have consistent grassroots engagement on our action alerts from every Congressional district in the country. The most important factor as to whether or not a Congressional office decides to support the issues that we care about is whether or not they have heard about the issues from their constituents back home. They will respond to us because we are the people who vote to keep them in office!
2. Ensure that we have SCI/D ambassadors that can connect with every member of Congress and their staff. If a Representative, Senator, or a member of their staff is looking to talk to a member or our community about a particular issue or bill, whether it’s CRT (money allocated for our wheelchairs, shower chairs, etc.), or ride-hailing apps, or the importance of PCAs, it’s important that they know they have a constituent who is impacted by these issues and can share their story with them.
Map: The orange indicates where we have ambassadors and blue/grey indicates where we still need them.
If anyone has any questions about this initiative or would like to see a map of their state or a particular part of their state, please email
Pam Daly at pd33@comcast.net.
Thank you all!
