Category: Blogs on Community Living

Join us Live with Eli Clare

Posted on | by Leah Smith | Leave a Comment on Join us Live with Eli Clare

The 2025 YEA members are thrilled to invite you to join a live discussion with Eli Clare. Eli Clare is well known in the disability community as a writer, speaker, activist, teacher, and poet. You can learn more about Eli at EliClare.com. We warmly invite disabled young people to join us for what promises to be an unforgettable and empowering discussion on 📅 Tuesday, November 18th at 2:30 PM (EST). The conversation and interview questions are curated by and for disabled young people. Register with the QR code below or here.

Eli Clare- Blue background with white text and marooon circles. Join us Live with Eli Clare. Image of Eli Clare- White, disabled, and genderqueer smiles at the camera. Tuesday, November 18th @ 2:30 pm (EST) Register now: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/G9XwiFCBS0iHfERr0IrevQ The National Center for Dignity in Healthcare and Community Living for People with Disabilities

Watching the Chainsaw Come For Me

Posted on | by Guest Author | Leave a Comment on Watching the Chainsaw Come For Me

Cuts to Medicaid and Disability Independence

by Cassandra Brandt

Cuts to Medicaid and Disability Independence- Image of Cassandra - she is sitting in a hot pink wheelchair. She has shoulder length blonde hair with stripes of pink in it, a green shirt, and jeans.

I didn’t have anything to worry about with the threat of cuts to medicaid and my independence, they said. My need is legitimate. My disability is severe.  I’m a C3-4 quadriplegic, paralyzed from the shoulders down. I rely on the social safety nets in place: Social Security Disability checks pay my bills and Medicaid and Medicare pick up my hefty healthcare tabs, frequent cab rides to appointments, and caregiver services that allow me to live independently. If these services are cut, so is my autonomy; I’ll be back in an understaffed institution.

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Community Inclusion- Tradition vs. Accessibility

Posted on | by Leah Smith | Leave a Comment on Community Inclusion- Tradition vs. Accessibility

As we explore Community Inclusion, it only makes sense that we look at it through the lens of religious and faith-based communities. As awareness grows about the barriers faced by individuals with disabilities, some traditions and rituals—often rooted in centuries of sacred practice—have come under scrutiny. These rituals, while deeply meaningful, may inadvertently exclude or alienate members of the community who are unable to fully participate due to physical, intellectual, sensory, or mental health/behavioral  disabilities.
This raises a challenging and deeply sensitive question: Should faith communities change long-standing rituals, traditions, or building structures to accommodate disability, even if it alters sacred practices?

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