Coming to Maine in 2007

Keeping the Promise of the Americans with Disabilities Act
(from ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights)

Freedom, Inclusion and Opportunity. These are the core concepts grounding a disability coalition-led national campaign and RV road tour that have been years in the making.

Launching on October 25, 2006, the Road To Freedom is an awareness campaign and yearlong, cross-country RV journey to expose mainstream audiences across the United States to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the history of the disability rights movement — all while bringing needed attention to the ongoing struggle for equal access to healthcare, transportation, education, employment and more.

Tour riders will include Yoshiko Dart, Janine Bertram Kemp, Bobby Coward, Russ Holt, Jim Ward, Debbie Fletter Ward and Tom Olin, whose work will be the centerpiece of our traveling exhibit. Additionally, we have partnered with Family Diversity Projects ( http://www.familydiv.org) in the production of a joint exhibit. FDP produces award-winning traveling exhibits that tour communities nationally and internationally and they are producing their first disability exhibit in partnership with ADA Watch/NCDR.

Why are we doing this? Because so many Americans remain unaware that — despite passage of the ADA in 1990 and the advance of accessibility and mobility technologies — people with disabilities still face an uphill battle...

Children with disabilities are routinely denied admission into childcare, voucher programs and charter schools.

Archaic healthcare regulations still force people of disabilities of all ages out of their communities and into isolated nursing homes and institutions.

Only 32% of Americans with disabilities aged 18 to 64 are working, but two–thirds of those unemployed are able and want to work.

Poverty rates for Americans with at least one disability are more than twice as high as for those with no disabilities.

Despite these startling realities, we still believe in equal access to the American Dream.

We are a 501c3 nonprofit, national coalition of hundreds of disability, civil rights and social justice organizations united to advance educational and economic opportunity for children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities.

We are joining together to launch this ambitious mobile awareness campaign to increase public awareness and strengthen coalition at the state and local levels. Along with a photojournalist and a media specialist, we anticipate driving more than 35,000 miles over the course of our yearlong, cross–country journey in two brightly branded RVs and an exhibition tent.

We will travel to every state in the nation and blend candid testimonials of the obstacles facing people with disabilities with upbeat, highly–visible events featuring music, art, accessible technology and more. The centerpiece of our exhibition will be the work of social documentarian, Tom Olin, whose photographic history of the disability rights movement has previously been on display at the Smithsonian.

The Tour will include:

Promotional Vehicles: The Tour vehicles will include one 40’ accessible coach and a second accessible RV, both with colorful graphic vehicle wraps and one multimedia exhibit trailer.

Yearlong Presence with More than 70 Stops: The Tour will be a visible presence at pre-existing “mainstream” locations and events including shopping malls, sports events, fairs, schools, college and corporate campuses, parades, etc. Stops in major media markets will include radio/TV shows, Editorial Board meetings and Press Conferences. Additional organized stops will be produced in partnership with local nonprofits, sponsoring corporations and businesses and public leaders. The stops will include music, technology demonstrations and other events to attract mainstream audiences and the media.

Educational and Historical Exhibits: The Tour will feature photojournalist Tom Olin's images and other artifacts of the history of the disability movement for physical, educational and economic access. (Olin's work has been featured at the Smithsonian Institution.)

Focus on Youth Leadership: Particular attention will be paid to implementing youth components into the Tour. To this end, we are working with the National Council on Disability's Youth Advisory Committee to design and implement youth curriculum and activities and will visit the campuses of elementary schools, secondary schools and colleges.

Accessible Technology Kiosks: Central to the Tour will be a colorful presentation of the accessible technology that is advancing educational and economic opportunity for children and adults with disabilities.

Distribution of Disability Resources: A library of national, state and local disability resources will be made available to participants and the Media. The Tour will distribute resources for children and adults to obtain services, training and more to enhance their participation in society.

Highly Experienced Traveling Staff: The mobile Tour staff will include a senior nonprofit disability executive and advocate, a media and communications specialist, a former Fortune 500 corporate vice president of online marketing, an Air Force veteran with quadriplegia, as well as a photojournalist and social documentarian whose work has been exhibited at the Smithsonian Institution. DC-based staff and interns will support this crew.

Coalition of Disability Partners: The Tour is being launched in alliance with our coalition partners. Our Co-Chairs, Curt Decker of the National Disability Rights Network and Nancy Starnes of the National Organization on Disability, lead a Board of Directors with representatives from Paralyzed Veterans of America, AARP, National Spinal Cord Injury Association, ADAPT, Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, National Association of Rights Protection and Advocacy, Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, as well as a National Advisory Council with representatives from the Christopher Reeve Paralysis Foundation, Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, National Council on Independent Living, American Diabetes Association, Consortium of Citizens with Disabilities, and more.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT US AT
info@adawatch.org
ADA Watch is a project of the National Coalition for Disability Rights, an alliance of hundreds of disability, civil rights, and social justice organizations united to defend and promote the American with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the human rights of children and adults with physical, mental, cognitive and developmental disabilities. We are a 501(c)(3) tax exempt organization and we operate in partnership with the Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law.

Contact Us:
ADA Watch/National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR)
1201 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 300
Washington, DC 20004
http://www.adawatch.org/AmericanDream.htm

Who We Are:

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