In the past five years, over 600 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives or caregivers, and in the year since our last vigil, our community has lost over 70 more people to filicide.
ACI has held this vigil for the last six years to honor and remember the lives of those lost. We read the victims names and send a message that disability is not justification for violence. We hope for the day when it will no longer be necessary. Thank you to those who attended.
We represent a coalition of disabled people, our caregivers, our allies, and other stakeholders who stand together in support of our civil right to live freely in the community. We write to demand that Representative Pallone fulfill his promises to the disability community and stand against institutional bias in our healthcare system.
In August 2018, Representative Pallone promised to cosponsor the Disability Integration Act (DIA) at a campaign event. Today, he is the only NJ representative who has yet to do so. The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is a civil rights bill which aims to end the institutionalization bias of insurance companies and support community living. Representative Pallone has been blocking the movement of the DIA, refusing to set a hearing in the Energy and Commerce Committee, which he chairs. Representative Pallone claims that he does not wish to bring this legislation to a vote because he believes it will not pass, though we already have the votes in the House to pass this legislation. We demand that Representative Pallone give the DIA a chance by bringing this bill to a hearing.
Are you interested in joining an ADAPT chapter in New Jersey? ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.
Thank you, everyone, for honoring the life and work of Ethan Ellis at the memorial service on May 17th. Rest in power and peace 1933-2019.
On April 26th, ACI, NJ ADAPT, Atlantic County Center for Independent Living, SILC, NJ YELL and other disability organizations visited Congressman Pallone office in New Brunswick to hold him to his promise of co-sponsoring the Disability Integration Act. A meeting with the Congressman and our group is set for May 6th.
(UPDATE: 5/6/19): Advocates from several disability organizations in NJ met with Congressman Pallone at his district office in Long Branch on May 6th. The topic was the Disability Integration Act. Stay tuned...
April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month. People with disabilities are sexually assaulted at nearly three times the rate of people without disabilities. ACI is committed to bringing awareness to this growing situation. Denim Day and the Clothesline Project are international movements to raise awareness of the pervasiveness of sexual assault.
