 I just want to make sure everybody is settled and all the accommodations are working right now. We good? I'm just getting thumbs up from anybody with accommodation needs. I see our captioning is working. Interpreters are here. Good? Okay. Well that was such a wonderful program. I really, I can't think Peter Hirschfield and all of the candidates for coming out and doing that today. So another round of applause for all of them who are here with us today. So today we celebrate happy 32nd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. BCIL is so honored to be with you today as we take a moment to celebrate the landmark law that gave a promise of inclusion, access to life, and opportunity. I am humbled as I look into the audience and reflect on the accomplishments of our community. I pause as we remember those who we've lost. And I am truly excited to celebrate the young people in our movement who will continue to push us to fully realize disability justice. We celebrate that promise of a law that brought many of us out of the back rooms, out of institutions, and back into the community. And as we rejoice, we know that there's so much more to do and our fight is uneven. Someday I'm going to write a song called Much More To Do because it seems like that's the lyrics of speeches across the country each 26th of July. Not everyone sees the issues we face as social issues, but rather private problems for us to deal with. We continue to fight daily discrimination, stigma, being seen as special or inspirational. From BCIL's beginnings over 40 years ago, our work has been to envision a world in which people with disabilities and the deaf are able to live their full human potential. We should always be reimagining and focusing on solutions and keeping in the forefront the social impact of a world in which people are oppressed from realizing their full human potential. We have an attendance service program that's been frozen for years. A program in which people with disabilities had access to supports and were able to keep their assets. When realizing full human potential, we need to ensure that it's not under the guise of saving money or fitting Medicaid demands, but actually supporting people. We know that people with mental health diagnoses supported by peers through mutual support help solve systematic issues that affect people with psychiatric disabilities. But we continue to pump money into systems that create additional harm and not realizing full human potential. We know that restaurants and other businesses continue to deny entrance to our friends who use service animals, not embracing full human potential. And we know that students and parents need to fight for basic classroom accommodations and are blocked from full human potential. And we know that doctors still don't pay for American Sign Language interpreters. Full human potential. We know that the social security laws and the benefit cliff when employed as a disabled or deaf individual is outdated and create systems in which people aren't able to return or continue to work. Full human potential. And we know that parents with disabilities worry about losing their child to a system simply because we have disabilities. Full human potential. When George Bush signed the ADA, he famously said, quote, let the shameful wall of exclusion finally come tumbling down. And in that moment, there was celebration. 32 years later, and brick by brick, we are still slamming at that wall with a sledgehammer. 32 years later, we are expected to be the ones to tear it down. 32 years later, we are not able to embrace our full human potential because the bricks keep coming up like some awful game in Minecraft swiftly building around us. But there is a law and a law that invites full human potential. A law that people come out to celebrate and embrace. So let's see what that law can do for us. We will rejoice and claim our stake in this world. We are proud to be living with disabilities. We are proud to be living in a world that we are creating. I have such gratitude for people who bring the promise of full inclusion and equity into the light every day. Thank you for your passion. In our program today, we're going to highlight people ensuring that that promise of the wall come tumbling down is achieved. And that we will live life to our full human potential and beyond. Thank you. So now I'd like to introduce to you two trailblazers in our movement, Ed Paquin and Jenny Melke. Ed and Jenny have worked for years in advocacy and for disability rights and older Vermonters. And they are, as they describe, a couple of recovering politicians who have entertained themselves as living room musicians all along the way. It's my great pleasure to introduce my friends, Ed Paquin and Jenny Melke, with a song that you can find in your program. Hi folks and thank you. I hope people left their tomatoes and their eggs at home. My country seems to me good so let's open our hearts wide to disability pride. We're walking all side by side, let free as work to toot for crushing attitudes. Old toot won't suffice for us. I thought we were going to have other songs. Ready to jump up. Thank you so much, Ed and Jenny. That was great. I have a couple of brief words before I get the honor of introducing our commissioner of disabilities, aging and independent living. What a big day, really. I got to be at two ceremonial signings of the ADA. One at my law school and when I worked for the American side of law medicine and one at Perkins School for the Blind. I remember Attorney General and President George Herbert Walker Bush bringing so much excitement with them when those ceremonial signings happened. I made myself watch this morning on this day, 32 years ago, on the White House steps. There are a couple of quotes that really stood out to me. I'm not going to talk very long, but this was a civil rights act. It is a civil rights act. And our civil rights are, in my lifetime, I've never been under such attack. And because of some sort of renewed scrutiny that is somehow permissible, it's not permissible. I think that we all need to continue to question the recent Supreme Court decisions and we need to build on this very, very important law. He started his remarks, and I'm no president, but it swayed me. He talked about looking out and seeing a splendid scene of hope. And I want there to be a splendid scene of hope. We were talking a lot about how much work there is yet to go in the fundamental areas of public accommodation, employment, transportation and state and local government services and telecommunications. Those are the five principal areas of the ADA. So much more work to do. But that piece, that hope piece just really resonates in it. The other thing he said was, and this is a quote because it's not quite as up there as woke as it should be, but he said, Every man and woman with a dream has to have the ability to realize it. And I think that hope and that desire to make sure we keep working at that realization, which is not yet fully achieved, it's really important. I would be failing not to mention the Olmsted decision in 99, which really helped us get to out of institutionalization and to community-based care. We have a strong state with person-centered, person-directed care and striving to have the most integrated services possible. So with all that in mind, this is a day of celebration. We are going to have a celebration here together with you and those principles of equality and independence and freedom. We're going to hear. I'm very happy that from Adam, he's going to go a bit more into depth. Right now, I want to turn the focus on one of our special guests here today, and we've had many, Commissioner Monica White. She, yeah, applause is definitely true. I was delighted when I worked in government to have a chance to meet Monica when she came out of the agency of human services in the finance capacity. And this is in your program, but I'm going to read it because, God forbid, I forget even the details. So Monica White was appointed as interim commissioner for the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, Dale in March 2021, and formally appointed by Governor Phil Scott as Dale Commissioner in July 2021. She previously spent six years as Dale's director of operation, most recently leading the department's COVID-19 response. Monica first joined the agency of human services in 2007, first as financial director and then as director of health care, operations, compliance and improvement. She previously worked at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont for eight years, focusing on provider contracting and quality improvement initiatives. Monica has also served on numerous boards and organizations as a volunteer throughout her career, including prior service of 13 years as a volunteer firefighter and EMT. An overnight shift volunteer at the Good Samaritan Haven, vice chair of the Twin Field Union School Board, and currently Monica is a trustee of the Barry Fish and Game Club. Monica holds a bachelor of science and health care administration from St. Joseph's College of Maine, a master of business administration from Norwich University, and is a 2014 graduate of the Snelling Center Vermont Leadership Institute. Monica is passionate about Dale's mission to make Vermont the best state in which to grow old or to live with a disability with dignity, respect and independence. She's honored to lead the incredible staff of Team Dale and the important work alongside many valued community partners to achieve the same. Monica resides in Plainfield where their husband, Jeremy, their three daughters, two dogs, one cat, and if you know, a lot of chickens. So, Monica, please come up and address us. Thank you so much. Thank you, Theo. I just realized how really overly long that bio is, so I need to dial that back for future. I'm sorry about that. So, as noted, my name is Monica White, and I am the commissioner of the Department of Disabilities, Aging and Independent Living, also known as Dale. I am delighted to join you here today on this beautiful Vermont summer day in celebrating the 32nd anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Thank you to the Vermont Center for Independent Living and the Statewide Independent Living Council for hosting this event and for the congressional candidates who spoke earlier and to you all for being here today. As noted in my overly long bio, Dale's mission is to make Vermont the best state in which to grow old or to live with a disability with dignity, respect, and independence. So many people in this room and beyond work incredibly hard together toward achieving this common goal. On July 26, 1990, our nation moved closer to the fulfillment of its foundational promise when the Americans with Disabilities Act became law. Some of the key tenets of the ADA include the rights to equal opportunity, independent living, and equitable participation in every aspect of life. Here in Vermont that takes many forms, examples across Dale, working closely with community partners and advocates, include the work of higher ability Vermont, the divisions for the blind and visually impaired, developmental services, adult services, and licensing and protection. For 32 years now, the ADA has made our nation stronger and more inclusive, truly a landmark achievement for American civil rights. The ADA has helped to uphold the dignity of thousands of Vermonters who have a disability. There is still work to be done, as Sarah was saying, and I am grateful to work in this field alongside the countless advocates for disability rights in assuring that we will see the full promise that the ADA offers. I was nine when the ADA was enacted. I had little understanding then of the monumental importance of this legislation, but as I reflect back to 1990, my Pap Touche died in January of that year. He was an amputee due to complications of diabetes, and he used a wheelchair. I remember the rustic modifications that my family made to his modest home in Stowe, and I also recall eavesdropping on conversations between my grandparents about how challenging it was to bring Pap anywhere, which I now know was because there were no curb cuts, hallways were too narrow, et cetera, et cetera, problems that the ADA directly addressed among many other important provisions. Recent data indicates that one in five Vermont adults have at least one disability. I am one of that 20%. As everyone here knows, some disabilities are invisible. In 2019, I was diagnosed with a rare aggressive cancer, endometrial stromal sarcoma, stage 4b. Looking at me here today, you'd likely not know that I underwent multiple life-altering surgeries and that my torso and psyche bear significant scars from my cancer. I have been extraordinarily fortunate that my periodic CT scans in the past three years have not yet shown signs of recurrence, and I'm reassured and comforted in knowing that the provisions of the ADA will directly make my life easier and better if slash when my cancer returns. So that's my personal disability story, my most personal disability story, but I think it's fair to say that we all owe a debt of gratitude to the countless disability advocates whose years of tireless efforts in fighting for this critically important legislation brought the ADA into existence back 32 years ago. I have the deepest respect and appreciation for all who fought then, and for those who continue to strive toward a better future for all Vermonters who have a disability. So thank you again for the opportunity to join on this great day, and I'll turn it back over to Theo. So we have a keynote address today from Adam Westler. He is the chair of the Silks Housing Committee, and I have a bio I'm going to read about Adam, and then he's going to come up and talk to you with you. Adam Westler has lifelong experience with disability, having been diagnosed with Duchaine Muscular Dystrophy at a young age. He is a passionate disability advocate, serving as the chair of the Vermont Statewide Independent Living Council's Housing Committee, as a member of Parent Project Muscular Dystrophy's Adult Advisory Committee, and as a member of the Chittenden County Regional Planning Commission's Transportation Advisory Committee. Adam works as a technical support specialist for ReSource, a non-profit community enterprise where he manages a workforce development website for people with disabilities and other barriers. Lastly, Adam is a graduate of the University of Vermont's Environmental Program, having cultivated his love for nature in his hometown of Jericho, Vermont. Please welcome Adam Westler. I'm definitely not the tech guy, so maybe this one if we moved it down toward you, would that be... depending on what you say? Okay, here it comes, here it comes. I'm totally not. Here we have someone who's going to help us out. I was hoping there was someone behind me. Does that be all right? Sure. Yeah, that's fine. Okay. No. But I just wanted to make sure I'm not too much in your face. What do you think? Can I move it a little closer? Hello? Does that work? It's a little awkward, but it'll be good. All right. Thank you Theo and Commissioner White. Thank you to the congressional candidates, and Peter Hirschfeld for a great forum discussion. Is that not working? It's not really working. Straight up and down. Okay, here we go. I'm going to move it a little bit. I guess Mike Stanzer isn't very accessible. This is part of your presentation. Yep. All right. Thank you Theo and Commissioner White. And thank you to the congressional candidates. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Thank you to the congressional candidates, and Peter Hirschfeld for a great forum discussion. Finally, thank you all for being here today. Whether online or in person, as we gather to celebrate the 32nd anniversary, the Signing of the Americans Disabilities Act, or ADA. The ADA is rooted in a history of advocacy and activism. From Ed Roberts, a quadriplegic polio survivor, and quote, father of the independent living movement. Advocating for himself to stay on University of Berkeley campus, University of California at Berkeley campus in the 1960s. To the 504 sit-in of 1977 which disabled activists including Roberts occupied federal buildings for 28 days and forced the Department of Health Education and Welfare to implement the long-awaited anti-discrimination regulations of section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act. Into the capital crawl of 1990 were protesters many of whom relied on mobility aids, crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol building demanding the passage of the ADA. Many of the successes the disability rights movement can be traced back to grassroots efforts like these. As well as a strong leadership of people like Roberts, Deborah Leasy Baker and Vermont and Vermont Senator Jim Jeffords in Congress among many many others. But the fight is not over. As Justin Durr quote father the ADA said after signing on this day in 1990 the ADA quote is only the beginning it is not a solution rather in his essential foundation on which solutions will be constructed. Indeed the ADA was transformative but it did not remove all the inequities people disabilities faced on day one nor would anyone expected to. To that end the ADA has four purposes. Quote one to provide a clear and comprehensive national mandate for the elimination of discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Two to provide clear strong consistent enforceable standards addressing discrimination against individuals with disabilities. Three to ensure that the federal government plays a central role in enforcing the standards established in this chapter on behalf of individuals with disabilities. And four to invoke the sweep of congressional authority including the power to enforce the 14th Amendment and to regulate commerce in order to address the major areas of discrimination faced day-to-day by people with disabilities. These words perhaps most noticeably led to the transformation of the built environment in the United States. All public buildings are now accessible to those with disabilities. Most if not all street corners now bear curb cuts. Buses now have lifts and ramps that adapt protested for in 1978. Public accommodations became accessible too. Beyond the built environment though the ADA also gave protections to people with disabilities many other areas of society in education and employment and in telecommunications enabling those with hearing or speech impairments use telephones and in health care too. I'm glad I was born six years after the signing of the significant legislation. I'm lucky that I've only ever known a post ADA world world in which I can make my own decisions and lucky to have had many courageous act advocates and advocates and activists come before me. I cannot even begin to thank them all for their sacrifice in the fight to ensure my rights and the rights of 61 million other Americans with disabilities. Taken another way we are the country's largest minority spanning all other protected classes and yet we were the last to receive our civil liberties. Before the ADA in the implementation of important disability rights laws people with disabilities were routinely discriminated against in all areas of society. Those considered to be quote feeble minded or whisked away from their families to live in quote horrible subhuman institutions on the fringes of society where forced sterilization was common. If you're lucky enough to avoid institutionalization the world was not designed for you. Buildings were not accessible. Housing was poor. In curb cuts and ramps were exceptions not the rule. There were few if any interpreters many were denied access to public education because of their disability. I'm glad to have never known these realities. I was only ever raised in a world transformed. I was able to attend public education public school with accommodations where I excelled later attending University of Vermont. Every bus I've been on has been accessible and rarely does a restaurant not have an accessible entrance and bathroom. I can access every government building I've been to many of which are the best models of accessibility including the most accessible bathroom I've ever used located in the U.S. Capitol building. Though there have been difficulties too. Now that I'm adult I continue to live at home with my parents. Not that I have anything against them by the way. Because there are few places I can live even now. There is accessible housing but not nearly enough in the places that people want to live. I could eventually find an apartment but the harder part is finding attendance to help me with activities of daily living. I currently work a part-time job of finding more substantial work to jeopardize those attentive benefits I need. Although great strides have been made in many of these areas. Housing, transportation, education, employment and telecommunications. Many of us with disabilities continue to face challenges in living up to our full potential. Our generation must now build even more solutions on the foundation of the ADA. As we heard today. There are many issues still facing the disability community. From the dearth of affordable and accessible housing. To lack of attendant services. To gaps in special education. Social security benefits cliffs and lapses in mental health services. Beyond these issues enforcement of the ADA remains challenging. And as more and more of our world is taken online we must ensure that websites are accessible to all. Especially those who are blind and visually impaired. We must also ensure disabled voters are not disenfranchised. And what's work to make transportation systems. Including airplanes, trains and cars. Better accommodate people with disabilities. In employment the National Council on Independent Living or NICL finds that only 90% of people with disabilities are employed compared to 66% of non-disabled people. As these issues show and there are many more we have our work cut out for us. My hope for the future of the ADA and disability rights in the United States is that we continue to fight for community inclusion. As mandated by the 1999 Supreme Court own set decision. And the institutional bias still present in the Medicaid system. And that people with disabilities have the choice to access fully funded home and community-based services. To support these goals we must address the issues we heard about today. We must think about implementing new and creative legislation. Such as the 2021 Eleanor Smith Inclusive Home Design Act. Which would have ensured that all new single family homes or townhouses receiving federal funding would include visitability standards. Including zero step entrances, 32 inch hallways and doorways. And an accessible bathroom on the first floor. The next frontier would be to eventually include private housing. And legislation to support the millions of unpaid and informal caregivers. You take care of their disabled children and parents. And the work of organizations like All Wheels Up. Is looking to implement wheelchair restrainment systems for commercial airliners. My greatest hope is that one day making society accessible and inclusive to all. Is not seen as something extra. Something that requires accommodations. But just something that we do because it benefits all people. That is the goal of the universal design. Making the world usable to quote the greatest extent possible by everyone. Regardless of their age, ability or status in life. And that we are able to achieve the full integration of people with disabilities into society. Eventually transcending the delineation between disabled and non-disabled. Recognizing that we are all just people. Thank you. Please enjoy the rest of your afternoon. About another round of applause for Adam. That was amazing. Thank you. Thank you. Now I have two mics I guess. So next it's my honor to introduce Marty Roberts. To many Marty needs no introduction. A mentor and a leader in disability rights and the psychiatric survivor movement. I've had the pleasure of knowing Marty for over 25 years. And she's here today to present VCIL's Debra Lise Baker Youth Leader Awards. So please help me welcome Marty. Thank you. I'm so pleased to see you all here today to celebrate the 32nd anniversary of the signing of the ADA. And all the changes that's meant for us in our lives in our community. And so I'm going to be presenting the Debra Lise Baker Youth Leader Award. This award was created in 2006 by the VCIL Board of Directors in honor of Debra, who was the previous executive director at VCIL. Debra had a special interest in youth leadership and she saw the youth as the future of our disability movement. The award recognizes youth with disabilities aged 22 and under in our communities who exemplify leadership skills in their organizing efforts and advocacy skills while paroding the civil rights of people with disabilities. Debra passed away suddenly last March. She had spent a large portion of her life advocating for disability rights. So the first person to whom this award is being presented is Isabel Estrin. And is Isabel here? Yeah. Isabel was born a double congenital amputee and has had no choice really but to be an activist because her disability is so visible. She cares deeply about working to create a more just and inclusive world. She graduated from NYU Tisch in 2022 with a major in acting and a minor in disability studies. Throughout her four years, Isabel acted as an advocate and activist within the university against ableist practices in acting careers, acting classes, I'm sorry, she worked with performers and administration to change the curriculum, encouraging the university to shift away from the outdated practice of training actors to perform disabilities and instead encouraging professors and casting directors to employ disabled actors. She is currently working as a consultant for educators in Vermont who are creating a designing for disability engineering course. Isabel is an influencer on TikTok where she shares her own experiences and educates others about issues related to living and creating as a disabled artist. She has over 130,000 followers from around the world and has created a community for other disabled artists and activists. Last summer she worked as an advisor in residence, supporting students with disabilities at Landmark College. Isabel mentors younger children with limb differences as a youth leader through Helping Hands Foundation, a group she has belonged to and worked with since she was two. So here's Isabel. Congratulations. Our second award recipient is Sean Plummer. Sean is always seeking to learn more information about himself. He always wants to develop and learn new things. One of the challenges in working with Sean is that he always says yes and he is always busy. Is Sean here? When he first learned about his visual impairment, Sean became invested in understanding as much as he could about his vision loss and how to improve his self-advocacy and confidence skills. The learn, earn and prosper or LEAP program in Burlington hired Sean as a virtual facilitator this past year. Sean facilitated online meetings with groups of young people to develop connection, a feeling of psychological safety, to build self-advocacy and confidence skills and relationships. Sean also works for resource in Burlington and he has a great work ethic. He's always curious and he's a team player who is nominated, who is committed to support for others. This year Sean facilitated breakout rooms during the division meetings that led to updates within DBVI state plan. One new participant on the DBVI SRC noted Sean's ability to bring a sense of ease into the meeting and his ability to make people feel comfortable and to draw people into conversations. Sean is an Eagle Scout and is currently a counselor in training for a summer camp. He participates in braille competitions as a cross-country runner and is active in music and theater. Present the award to Sean. And there's a third recipient of an award. She is right now in Washington D.C. at the National Council on Independent Living Conference and her name is Hannah Galavan. Thanks so much Marty. So this ends our, our, mostly ends our program. I'm going to invite our friends Ed and Ginny back up to give us a couple more closeout songs. I can't thank you enough for joining us today and staying with us. Congratulations to our award recipients and we can't wait to see what you're about to continue to do in the future. Thanks again to everybody for coming and take it away Ed and Ginny. Okay this, what we're going to play next is, I think it's the last one in your book and it's, it's not really a song about disability except that it's a song from a people who face oppression and so I guess in that sense it is a song about disability. And it's by a couple of pretty wild Scotsman that used to record a long time ago called The Proclaimers. I could tell the meaning of a word like serene. I got some old grades when I was 16. I can tell the difference between margarine and butter. I can say Saskatchewan without starting to stutter but I can't understand why we let someone else rule our land. Cappin hand, getting close to the mic, Ginny. I could get a broken jaw from being in a fight. I know it's evening when day turns tonight. I could understand why strun rare lies so lowly. They could save a lot of points by signing hips golly but I can understand why we let someone else rule our land. Cappin hand, they ask us, we boast, then we cower, we vey sub. What's already ready, what's already ready, what's already ready, oh what's already ready, what's already ready, what's already once I thought I could make God up right so I said I was in his last try. Frustrating, getting line sun, there's five men. Understand why you let someone Cappin hand. I can't understand why we let someone else, Cappin hand. I guess my apologies to the proclaimers too. This is another one that maybe wasn't written specifically as a disability song but I think you know I think about on a day like this I think about the disability community and community is something you know writ large we think all the people around have disabilities but it's also I think meaningful in the way that we with disabilities are there for each other and help pull each other through it's our own advocacy that got the ADA passed it's our advocacy that makes the difference as time goes on and so we'll think about that a little bit. And please join in. The light is gone you've been trying but the fire doesn't go the sun will shine again all you got to do is look my way if you got a problem reach out for you if you need someone to lean on baby I can be strong if you got a problem something to believe if you want you can always put your faith in me I don't know at all but I know how it feels to fall you can find your feet if you're standing at the bottom I'll reach out for you if you need some underline on baby I can be strong and i will carry if you got a problem if you're lonely if you're down if you're standing at the bottom I'll reach out for you if you need some underline on baby I can be strong and I will hear yes if you got a problem if you need some underline on baby I can be strong I will carry if you got a reach out for thank you all very much. Thanks everybody for coming. Thanks for those of you who have stuck it out on Zoom all day with us. I really appreciate it. Have a good night.