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Wheelchair army got attention CLEVELAND www.cleveland.com [Headline] Wheelchair army got attention Monday, November 08, 1999 By T.C. BROWN PLAIN DEALER BUREAU COLUMBUS - A small but determined wheelchair army descended on the state capital last week, primed for confrontation and eager to draw attention to the plight of the disabled who need long-term care. The national group known as ADAPT, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, wants to see community-based care for the disabled expanded. ADAPT claims Ohio spends 89 percent of its long-term Medicaid dollars to house the disabled in nursing homes and institutions for the mentally retarded or developmentally disabled. Only 11 percent of the funds are spent for home and community services, the group said, making Ohio one of the 10 worst states in the nation. "Our long-term care system has a heavy institutional bias," said Mike Auberger, of Colorado, ADAPT's co-founder. "This state has been unwilling to shift spending from institutional care to the community." ADAPT's numbers are correct to a point, but the group includes the aged in its figures for institutional care, skewing the results, said Mel Borkan, an assistant deputy director for the Ohio Department of Human Services. About 250,000 younger Ohioans with disabilities qualify for Medicaid coverage, and up to 19,000 of those are in institutions, she said. Ohio spends about $1 billion of the $2.6 billion in Medicaid funds on such younger disabled people in institutional care, Borkan said. ADAPT representatives did meet with officials from Ohio's human services department, although no issues were resolved. However, ADAPT's militant tactics attracted attention. For three days, more than 300 activists - most in wheelchairs - blocked access to the Verne Riffe Center and Rhodes State Office Tower. The group Wheelchair army stages similar actions twice a year across the country. In 1990, ADAPT shut down the U.S. Capitol for seven hours in an effort to jump-start stalled legislation that eventually created the Americans with Disabilities Act. "Unless they have a direct connection to a disability, the average person has no clue this is an issue," Auberger said "Our job is to create an opinion. If we put out enough of this stuff, I believe the public opinion will be extremely supportive of what we are doing." Not in all circles. State Rep. George E. Terwilleger, a Lebanon-area Republican, is sponsoring legislation pending in an Ohio House committee to establish a uniform community-based personal assistant program for the disabled, a proposal favored by ADAPT. But several lawmakers suggested last week that Terwilleger withdraw the bill. "This has had a bad backlash," Terwilleger said. "They've said, "Why have hearings? We don't need this kind of disruptive process.' I don't blame them." Nonetheless, Terwilleger said he hoped to carry the bill to the floor for a full House vote. ADAPT caused more than $9,300 in damage to carpets, revolving-door locks and elevator walls, but because the group is actually a loose network of activists, it may be difficult to bill it, said Scott Milburn, Gov. Bob Taft's spokesman. Milburn said Taft wanted to meet with the group's leaders, but not until ADAPT agreed to withdraw from Taft's reception area and the 14th and first floors of the Riffe Center. "One of the conditions of the meeting was that they cease their illegal activity," Milburn said. "Once they did that, we could work out details." But the activists refused to leave the building because Greg Moody, Taft's executive assistant for health and human services, would commit only to a "discussion" about setting up a meeting, not to an actual meeting. A 14-hour standoff ensued. No one was jailed over the three days, but the State Highway Patrol arrested or cited 215 people for criminal trespassing, a fourth-degree misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of up to 30 days in jail and a $250 fine. The patrol, which tallied more than $53,000 in overtime, got good marks for handling a potentially dicey and politically sensitive situation. "With people in wheelchairs this way, logistically it is most challenging, because you do not want to hurt the people or their equipment," said the patrol's Lt. John Born. "But you have to use some level of force." Besides drawing attention to the issue, the action aided the disabled in another way, said ADAPT's Auberger. "We're breaking all the stereotypes that we're so fragile," Auberger said. "And this empowers people who don't have a whole lot of anything else going on. You may not have control of all of your life; but you have a level of control. And how you see yourself becomes completely different." E-mail: tcbrown@plaind.com Phone: (216) 999-4213 1999 THE PLAIN DEALER. Used with permission. Discuss this topic in Chatter Box Chat live with others Copyright 1999 Cleveland Live. All rights reserved. Please read and understand our Online User Agreement and Privacy Policy. - ADAPT (1247)
4-8 sw THE PLAIN DEALER Ohio TUESDAY NOVEMBER 2, 1999 [Headline] Disability-rights protesters invade state office By SANDY THEIS and T.C. BROWN PLAIN DEALER REPORTERS COLUMBUS State troopers arrested four disability-rights protesters and cited them for disorderly conduct last night, after about 200 protesters, most in wheelchairs, took control of a state office tower and demanded to meet with Gov. Bob Taft. What began as a peaceful sit-in apparently turned violent about 7:30 p.m., when the foursome attempted to break through a glass doorway in the lobby where they had camped out since about 10:30 yesterday morning, said a spokesman for the governor. The protesters are members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, a national group that wants Ohio and other states to earmark a greater percentage of their Medicaid Money for in-home care, rather than for nursing homes. ADAPT is meeting this week in Columbus. [quote]`We didn't come here with just one trick in our bag. At least this governor wants to play.' -MIKE AUBERGER, organizer, American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today [text resumes] In addition to arresting the four, all of whom were released, the state secured a temporary restraining order from a Franklin County Common Pleas judge. The order prevents the group from "continuing to obstruct main elevator access" in the Vern Rife Center for Government and the Arts. State officials said they would allow only five protesters to remain on the 14th and 30th floors today. "At some point this evening, we have to clear the building so people can return to work," Brian Hicks, the governor's chief of staff said about 9:30 p.m. About 70 ADAPT members filled the lobby of the governor's office on the building's 30th floor, and an additional 40 crammed into the 14th floor, where House Speaker JoAnn Davidson's office is located. The arrests occurred outside Davidson's office. Throughout the day, about 100 more picketed the ground floor and perimeter of the Rife Center. ADAPT organizer Mike Auberger said Taft "probably saved face by coming with this TRO," but he hinted at escalating trouble. "We didn't come here with just one trick in our bag.," said Auberger, whose group has blocked public transportation and shut down government buildings in other cities. "At least this governor wants to play." Armed with bullhorns, sirens and signs, group members made their case for increases in home-based services for the disabled. Ohio ranks seventh in the country in per-capita spending on nursing homes, Auberger said. It ranks near the bottom, he said, in the percentage of long-term care dollars spent on home-based services. Ohio already is expanding in-home services, said Scott Milburn, a spokesman for Taft. He cited statistics showing that between 1992 and 1998, the number of people receiving home- and community-based care jumped by 200 percent, while the nursing home population grew by just 6 percent. By midday, chants from the protesters rang through the hall-ways and stairwells of the Riffe Center. "We're ADAPT, and you've been trapped," chanted protesters who used their wheelchairs to jam elevators and block the lobby to Davidson's office. Both Davidson and Taft were out of town and unavailable to meet with ADAPT, although Milburn maintained throughout the day that the governor hoped to arrange a meeting later this week. When the building closed at 6 p.m., ADAPT members refused to leave, despite warnings that they faced possible trespassing charges. "Nursing homes take everything you have," said Gabe Lawson, a 24-year-old protester from Indiana who once spent five days in a nursing home. "It's so depressing," Lawson said. "All you see is people dying." Throughout the day, Auberger attempted to negotiate a meeting with Greg Moody, the governor's executive assistant for human services, acting as the state's liaison. "We will consider it, but I cannot commit to a decision as long as the building is inaccessible," Moody told Auberger, who broadcast the negotiations to the assembled crowd via speaker phone: "As soon as we return to normal functions, we will be flexible either late, Wednesday or Thursday." The protest disrupted state workers and angered dozens of parents who had trouble getting to their children enrolled in the day-care center on the building's seventh floor. "Are you a mother?" one angry woman shouted at a protester. "I don't make the laws. I'm just here to have lunch with my daughter."' E-mall: Esthels@plaind.com Phone: (216) 999-4213 E-mail: thrown@plaind.coni Phone: (216) 9994213 - ADAPT (1248)
- ADAPT (1249)
News Net [Headline] Caught in the headlights [Subheading] Statehouse showdown [Subheading] DISABLED ACTIVISTS STIR UP TROUBLE AND DRAW ATTENTION TO HEALTH FUNDING LEGISLATION by Jamie Pietras If the purpose of political protests is to grab voters' attention and newspaper headlines on the way to affecting change, hundreds of disability rights activists succeeded in dramatic fashion last week Amidst the election frenzy, a mass demonstration from national group American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) managed to stir the air in the normally reserved halls of Statehouse office buildings. Beginning with a day-long protest November 1 at the Riffe Center and continuing with a demonstration the following afternoon at the Rhodes Tower, ADAPT eventually elicited a total of 215 citations for criminal trespassing in a civil disobedience battle that was covered prominently by local and state media. The national collective of activists was in town to draw attention to state and federal legislation designed to funnel resources from nursing homes toward home health care. Condemning Ohio as one of the 10 worst states for attendant services, approximately 500 ADAPT members came to Columbus. And while the group considers its.mission successful in bringing an other-wise invisible issue to the public forefront, state legislators wonder whether the organization's brazen tactics did more to help or hurt its cause. For those with disabilities, the choice of home-based health care over nursing homes is one of personal freedom. "It means you get to choose what time to get out of bed; what you're eating and what time the TV goes off," explains Woody Osburn, director of the State Independent Living Council. ADAPT claims Ohio-spends 93 percent of its Medicaid funds on institutional health care, with the rest going to attendant services. Ohio Department of Human Services spokesperson Jon Allen said those figures include expenditures on the elderly. Speaking strictly in terms of people with disabilities, Allen said the numbers are reverted. Approximately 60 percent of expenditures for people with disabilities go towards home-based care, Allen said. Out of 250,000 people with disabilities, only 19,000 are in institutional or nursing home settings. ADAPT hopes to raise awareness of the federal Medicaid Community Attendant Services and Supports Act, which the group expects to be introduced soon in Congress. The bill would establish a national program of community-based attendant services for people with disabilities and let people choose where they receive services. Anyone entitled to nursing home or other institutional services would be eligible for community-based services. A bit closer to home is the state House Bill 215, introduced• by Representative George Terwilleger, a Warren Republican, last March. The state legislation would create a waiver program to fund home health care for people with disabilities. Terwilleger said in the long run this is the most cost-effective way to provide care for people with disabilities. ADAPT's Riffe. Center demonstration lasted. well after midnight, as Members chanted and crowded the floors that house the offices of Governor Bob Taft, and Speaker of 'the house Jo Ann Davidson. Activist J. "Quinn Brisben said the group had made seven requests to meet with Davidson, to no avail. The group had no luck with Taft either despite a letter the governor had sent a week before. "I am interested in hearing what you have to say and would be pleased to meet with representatives of ADAPT next week during your Columbus visit," the letter read. It further instructed the group to schedule a conference with Taft's aide Greg Moody. Taft Spokesman said the governor went out of his way to try to meet with the group. He said ADAPT made no effort to contact the Taft ahead of time--meetings are typically scheduled at least a month in advance—and the governor sent the letter as a gesture of good will after reading a previous article in the Columbus Dispatch about the upcoming rally. Despite a schedule that was packed early in the week because of the November 2 election, Milburn said Taft had suggested meeting with the group Wednesday evening, under the condition they abandon the Riffe building. Osburn said he tried to facilitate communication between the group and the governor last Monday, but after ADAPT members began to surround Taft's office, communications fell flat. "ADAPT felt that because of the urgency of the issue, he could clear some time Tuesday morning," Osburn said. "If that had occurred, ADAPT would have vacated that building. State Highway Patrol Spokesman Gary Lewis said at both the Riffe Center and Rhodes Tower protests, officers gave activists the option of whether or not to be cited. And while Brisben acknowledges that the State Highway Patrol was "simply following orders" when it made arrests, he had one serious gripe with the way the Riffe Center situation was handled. He said officers were blocking activists' access to public restrooms. Milburn explained that the restrooms being blocked. were in a "secure area" and , that the activists Were supposed to be contained in the lobby. While they had the option of restrooms in a downstairs lobby, ADAPT members were not allowed back up to the 14th and 30th floors to continue protesting if they did so. So the bottles came out. Because they didn't want tom lose their strategic positions for the sake of the restroom, several of the protesters instead urinated in bottles. Police reacted by showing up in gloves, surgical masks and goggles when dealing with the activists. Brisben called it an overreaction. "Of course it was it always is. They were using leather gloves, but in other cities they come in and make mass-arrests in rubber gloves. I always congratulate them for practicing safe search," he said. Lewis said officers acted for their own safety and health. "The use of those types of tools are no different than when we respond to an accident scene or anything," he noted. The next day at the Rhodes Tower, activists banged on windows and blocked entrances to the building. Highway patrol officers took ADAPT members to the Ohio Fairgrounds where citations were processed, and then gave them a ride back to their downtown hotel. All of the ADAPT bases were heard in Franklin County Municipal Court this week by Judge Charles Schneider. All were granted a continuance as attorneys try to work out a plea deal. All in all, last week's events cost about $53, 334 in officer overtime, with about another $1,000 needed to replace the carpet on the 30th floor lobby and another $1,000 to replace and install new plants at the Riffe Center, according to Milburn. Despite their setbacks with Davidson and Taft, five ADAPT activists were able to meet with Medicaid Director Barbara Edwards on November 3, trying to gain her support for the state issue. Spokesperson Allen said the department would first have to study the bill's fiscal impact before it could take a stance. Brisben told Columbus Alive the ADAPT members succeeded in what they came for. "The people-of Ohio are aware of our issue," he said. "The state authorities have been challenged to make good on their rhetoric or they've been exposed as liars if they don't make good on it." But Representative Terwilleger, who sponsored the legislation. ADAPT has championed, is dismayed at the group's behavior last week. "It hurt the cause," Terwilleger said. "I've heard several legislators say, 'George, you don't reward unruly children with favors.'" As Brisben points out, being unruly is often the only option for a community that generally doesn't have a lot of money. "You know we can't make big campaign contributions like the nursing. home chains. The only way we have of getting people's attention is mass action." Osburn agrees. 'They've planted some seeds. I hope the state government allows those seeds to blossom." - ADAPT (1266)
Wednesday, September 27, 2000 The Columbus Dispatch [Headline] SUPREME COURT CASE [Subheading] Disabilities act in danger, advocates say By Malt Ferenchik Dispatch City Hall Reporter Advocates of the Americans with Disabilities Act from Ohio are on their way to Washington, where the U.S. Supreme Court is to hear arguments next month in a case the advocates say could weaken the act. About 100 people chanting "Don't tread on the ADA" rallied at noon yesterday outside the State, house, including a busload of 40 activists traveling to nine cities on their way to Washington Ohio is one of seven states that have filed a "states' rights" brief in support of Alabama in its case against two state employees. In the case, University of Alabama v. Garrett, Alabama is arguing that plaintiffs suing states for money under the 'disabilities act should have to sue in state courts rather than federal courts. The Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council and other groups say the case challenges the constitutionality of the disabilities act. "The Garrett case is a wake-up call that says • the ADA is under attack and could be weakened or, lost," said Kimberly Harper, 30, of Columbus. Harper, who works for Mobile Independent Living, is hearing-impaired and used sign language to deliver her comments. "What's going to come out of this," said Woody Osburn, executive director of the Ohio Statewide Independent Living Council, "is whether the states' rights supersede the ADA." He said advocates worry that if Alabama wins, a private-sector case could come along "that renders the act useless to us." But the Ohio attorney general's office says the [text cut off.] [image] [image caption] Kimberly Harper of Columbus signs her message at a Statehouse rally in support of the Americans with Disabilities Act Activists say a pending Supreme Court case could weaken the law. Neal C. Laurim/Dispatch [text resumes] "This whole case is about proper jurisdiction," said Joe Case, a spokesman for Ohio Attorney General Betty D. Montgomery. "WI not about dismantling or chipping away at the ADA." Montgomery wrote Osburn that the states' brief to the Supreme Court "stresses that the states must still follow every single substantive requirement of the ADA, and it stresses that the. states can still 'be sued by citizens who feel that their state is not doing enough under the law." Osburn said any Supreme Court ruling should not affect the federal consent decree Columbus entered into last year in which it promised to build wheelchair Curb ramps. The cost to the city now stands at $27.8 million, and city attorneys are negotiating with Osburn's group and the Equal Justice Foundation to extend a Jan. 1 deadline to build 10,853 ramps. The question before the Supreme Court is, "Does the 11th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution [text cuts off] [text resumes] under the Americans with Disabilities Act against nonconsenting, states?" Nonconsenting states are states that are not complying with the ac the 11th Amendment limits federal-court jurisdiction. The other states filing, the brief supporting Altanta are Arkansas, Hawaii, Idaho, Nebraska, Nevada and Tennessee. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments Oct. 11 in the case — actually two cases combined in a lower court. Patricia Garrett sued the University of Alabama's Birmingham medical center for demoting her and then transferring her from her job as a supervisory nurse after she was treated for breast cancer. In the other case, Milton Ash, a corrections officer with asthma, sued Alabama's youth corrections agency for not enforcing no-smoking rules and not servicing state cars that emit noxious fumes. Disability advocates. will hold a March for Justice in Washington on Tuesday. The bus tour [text cuts off] - ADAPT (1267)
[Headline] Disabled rights act defended at rally downtown Supreme Court case challenges constitutionality By DARLA CARTER The Courier-Journal Chanting "Don't tread on the ADA!" about 40 people gathered in the pouring rain in downtown Louisville yesterday to show their support for keep-ing the Americans with Disabilities Act intact. Their rally in front of the Mazzoli Federal Building near Sixth and Chestnut streets took place during a brief stop by the Rolling Freedom Express, a caravan of ADA supporters that began in Alabama and is heading to Washington for a march on Oct. 3. The protesters are concerned about a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that challenges the constitutionality of the ADA, a 10-year-old federal law that provides for various public accommodations for disabled -people and prohibits job dis-crimination against them. The case, University of Alabama vs. Patricia Garrett, was brought by a university employee who was demoted after taking time off for breast-cancer treatment. After oral arguments Oct. 11, the Supreme Court will decide whether the 11th Amendment bars such suits against states in federal court. Advocates for the disabled argue that the ADA is about civil rights, not states' rights, and should be left alone. "It seems like it's being chipped away piece by piece, and we just need to let people know that it's an important piece of legislation and that people with disabilities really need it," said Alan Richardson of the Center for Accessible Living in Louisville, which helped publicize yesterday's event. The center's director, Jan Day, agreed. "Any kind of weakening amendments to the ADA would just be devastating," she said. "I can't think of any other civil-rights legislation where we've gone back into it, saying it was too difficult to impose." Sue Davis, an activist for the disabled who led yesterday's rally, said she worries that the case could set off a flurry of changes in the ADA that could set disabled people back by decades. Furthermore, "it shows we can never really let up putting our shoulder to the wheel," said Davis, of the Kentucky chapter of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, known as ADAPT. Yesterday's speakers included disabled residents as well as the city and state ADA coordinators, who voiced the sup-port of Mayor David Arm-strong and Gov. Paul Patton. Sandra Williams, Louisville's ADA coordinator, said the city doesn't want to see any changes in the ADA. And Pamela H. Wallace, the state's ADA coordinator, got the crowd fired up by saying: "There are a lot of efforts afoot to weaken the ADA to do away with it, and we're not going to allow that to happen, are we? We're going to support the ADA and keep our civil rights as American citizens." The crowd remained steady despite weather that Williams joked was lovely for ducks, polar bears, and anything with fur or fins. Rebecca Duncan, an ADAPT member who has cerebral palsy, said that braving such weather is warranted when the topic is "our rights." Duncan, who uses a wheelchair, said that without ADA she'd be institutionalized and left out of society. Instead, she's able to live in an apartment and to get in and out of buildings because of accommodations, such as ramps, that the ADA brought about. "It's very important to keep ADA," she said. Tuesday, September 26, 2000 Neighborhood news B2 Kentucky and the Region B4 Weather B4 Briefs B4 Deaths B6 - ADAPT (1268)
October 5, 2000 Heard on the Hill [Headline] Under Siege. Rep. Tom Davis (Va.) and his fellow House GOP leaders don't just have Democrats storming the gates anymore. By Ed Henry On Tuesday evening, hundreds of protesters with disabilities trapped a rather peeved Davis and scores of his National Republican Congressional Committee staffers in their First Street, SE, headquarters for more than seven hours. Sources tell HOH that House Sergeant-at-Arms Bill Livingood's folks finally had to be called in to help Davis and several others sneak out a back window. The protesters, who are fighting for the constitutionality of the Americans With Disabilities Act, chanted over and over, "You can't get out!" Although the protest threw off some GOP staffers' plans to watch the first presidential debate away from the office, others took it in stride. "I feel like Bernie Shaw," NRCC spokesman Jim Wilkinson cracked to HOH via telephone during the siege. "I'm about to crawl under the bed." Then on Wednesday, GOP vice presidential nominee Dick Cheney was visiting the NRCC when his Secret Service detail freaked out after word spread that the protesters were returning for another round. Cheney escaped before there was trouble. But at press time last night, the protesters were indeed headed back for more. - ADAPT (1269)
A14 YNE Wednesday, October 4, 2000 National Report The New York Times [image] [image caption] Affirming their rights: Demonstrators on Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington supported the Americans with Disabilities Act yesterday. The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments next week on whether states are immune from lawsuits by their public employees for violations of the federal law - ADAPT (1270)
AARP October 4, 2000 Mr. Bob Kafka ADAPT 201 S. Cherokee Denver, CO 80223 Dear Mr. Kafka: AARP agrees to meet with representatives of ADAPT within the next thirty days as per our discussion today to discuss issues related to aging and disability. The meeting will include Horace B. Deets and other staff with appropriate legislative responsibilities. Sincerely, [signed] John Rother [typed] John Rother Director Legislation and Public Policy - ADAPT (1271)
The Washington Times WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2000 /PAGE C3 [Headline] Blockading the GOP Hundreds of disabled people protesting outside the headquarters of the Republican National Committee last night blocked in staffers and prevented partygoers from attending a reception at the adjacent Capitol Hill Club. Some tuxedo-clad partygoers used ladders to climb through second-story windows at the Capitol Hill Club as the protesters chanted, "Don't be stupid." The protest, which started at 4 p.m., eventually forced cancellation of the fund-raiser. The protesters, who used their wheelchairs to block the Capitol Hill building's entrances, said they are angry at Republican presidential nominee George W Bush for his refusal to say whether he would sign a renewal of the 10-year-old Americans With Disabilities Act, signed originally by his father, President George Bush. "We will stay here until he agrees to sign the pledge" to re-new the bill, said Marcie Roth of Maryland. Police blocked off the streets around the RNC headquarters in the 300 block of First Street SE. The protesters began dispersing after police prepared to make arrests by moving buses up to the building. Democratic nominee Al Gore has signed the pledge to renew the ADA, but protesters said they are unhappy with him as well. The Clinton administration has proposed adding money in the budget for nursing homes and institutional care, but not for home-based care, protesters say. Activists would not rule out a future blockade of the Democratic Party headquarters downtown. Sean Scully contributed to this column, which is based in part on wire service reports. - ADAPT (1272)
Chief of Staff to the President The White House October 2, 2000 Dear Ms. Toomer: The Clinton Administration shares your commitment to providing increased choice for home and community based services and supports. We have received your policy recommendations and we are reviewing them with Secretary Shalala. As we discussed in today's meeting, the President will convene a meeting with Administration officials, members of ADAPT, and leaders of other disability groups in October. My office will contact you to arrange the date and time of this meeting. I look forward to a discussion of these issues. Sincerely, [signed] John Podesta [typed] John Podesta - ADAPT (1273)
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THE DENVER POST 8B Wednesday, September 20, 2000 [image] [image caption] Rick James heads for Washington, D.C., for a national protest to call attention to a legal challenge to the Americans with Disabilities Act. The Denver Post / John Leyba [Headline] Disabled group to join D.C. rally By J. Sebastian Sinisi Denver Post Staff Writer About 30 wheelchair users gathered outside the Atlantis Community independent living center in south Denver on Tuesday morning to cheer members of their group who were leaving by van for Birmingham, Ala. There, they'll join a national dis-abled protest over the Garrett vs. University of Alabama case, now being considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, that they fear could undermine disabled rights. About 1,000 are expected in Birmingham on Friday, said wheel-chair user Joe Ehman, who helped organize the privately funded tour from Denver. Ehman is the housing coordinator for the American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, or ADAPT, arm of Atlantis. In Birmingham, the eight-member Denver group will shift to a bus for news conferences and rally stops in eight other cities, including Atlanta, Philadelphia and Baltimore. More demonstrators will join the Denverites along the way. The tour ends with a rally expected to bring at least 3,000 to the U.S. Capitol at noon Oct. 3 to draw attention to the Garrett case, which questions the constitutionality of the Americans with Disabilities Act, passed a decade ago. The Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on Oct. 11. "I'm not looking forward to rid-ing eight hours a day in a van ev-ery day, but everything we've gained under the ADA is now in jeopardy," said Rick Viator, 40, in a wheelchair for five years because of a gunshot wound. "People need to know that our rights are in danger," said Rick James, 50, who was also making the trip. James has used a wheel-chair since childhood. Atlantis-affiliated demonstrators engaged in the first disabled civil disobedience anywhere in the U.S. when they chained their wheelchairs to bus stops at Broadway and Colfax Avenue in 1977 to protest lack of wheelchair access on Denver buses. As a result, Denver was the first city in America to have wheelchair lifts on buses, long before the ADA made such access mandatory nationwide. ADAPT made front-page Denver news last February when members handcuffed themselves to Currigan Hall entryways during a homebuilding industry exposition to protest a dearth of disabled: friendly home construction. That action resulted in 17 arrests. - ADAPT (1275)
THE DENVER POST 10-03-00 [image] [image caption] DISABILITY PROTEST: Dan Ham of Denver, center, joins other members of the disability rights organization ADAPT at a protest Monday outside the White House. The group says Medicaid has an institutional bias favoring nursing-home 'bondage' over community-based care. Associated Press / Kamenko Pajic DENVER ROCKY MOUNTAIN NEWS WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 4, 2000 [Headline] Denver disabled activist among protesters in D.C. Associated Press WASHINGTON--A Denver man was one of dozens of disabled people in wheelchairs who blocked entrances to the Republican Party's headquarters for five hours Tuesday, demanding a meeting with George W. Bush. The protest forced the cancellation of a fundraiser and kept party employees from leaving the build-ing, although some climbed out of first-floor windows. The protesters began dispersing after police prepared to make arrests. "We accomplished as much as we could here," said Michael Auberger of Denver, a spokesman for Adapt, the group that organized the protest. A quadriplegic since age 17, Auberger is executive director of the Atlantis Community in Colorado. He received a Colorado Martin Luther King Jr. Humanitarian Award this year. Protesters want the Texas governor to sign a pledge supporting the 10-year-old Americans With Disabilities Act, a law barring dis-crimination and requiring wheelchair ramps and other accommodations Bush's father signed the legislation into law. "A letter would have been sufficient but we will convey their request" for a meeting with Bush, said GOP spokesman Cliff May. "We asked them to take a look at the governor's record on disabilities issues." - ADAPT (1276)