CTD achievements

Historical Achievements

Rally in front of the Texas State Capital Working with only limited resources, CTD has consistently accomplished goals that directly benefit persons with disabilities by organizing people within the community and developing win-win partnerships. CTD made history twice by developing and coordinating Team Everest '03, an awareness and consciousness raising project of epic proportion. CTD first made history when the largest cross-disability group of individuals (four in wheelchairs) made it to Mt. Everest Base Camp at an elevation of 19,500'. A few weeks later, Trek Leader Gary Guller became the first person with one arm to summit Mt. Everest. This is not the only historic achievement the CTD can be proud of. Since 1978 we

Expanded the number of facilities that are in compliance with architectural barriers building codes.
Wrote and secured adoption of a state plan for critical personal assistance services.
Secured the adoption of the Telecommunications Relay System (TRS) and Specialized Telecommunications Assistance Program (STAP).
Input incorporated into the new operating rules for the Texas Department on Housing and Community Affairs to promote more accessible units in subsidized housing.
Secured a mandate for the transportation-disadvantaged to have a seat on all Texas transit authorities' boards.
Secured a franchise tax credit that provided an incentive to employers to hire a person with a disability. CTD collaborated with state agencies and advocates to develop a Medicaid Buy-In pilot program, which provided alternatives and removed the disincentive of hiring people with disabilities.
In the spirit of "fair shake", to be free from unreasonable, sometimes ridiculous, practices and regulations, CTD worked to remove motorized wheelchairs from the Motor Vehicle Code; to give personal assistants more latitude; and to eliminate the cumbersome annual reporting requirement for a retired educator with a permanent disability.
Have won the Barbara Jordan Award for Excellence in the Communication of the Reality of Disabled People four times.
During the 78th legislative session (2001), CTD successfully advocated for rededication of hundreds of millions of dollars in funding to community services for Texans with disabilities.

Ongoing Cross Disability Advocacy

CTD advocacy proved instrumental in restoring a 15% cut in home based attendant care for people with disabilities.
CTD has filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the notorious Texas Tech v. King Miller ADA case. The 5th Circuit Court ruled in favor of King Miller and returned the case to local court.
CTD's Executive Director was recently appointed by the Texas Rehabilitation Commission to the Consumer Relocation Stakeholders Task Force.
CTD was actively involved with the Secretary of State's office regarding implementation of the federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA), which increased accessibility of polling sites, among other benefits.
Working in concert with the Hogg Foundation, CTD participates as a member of a select group of community leaders focusing on designing a community forum to better address mental health illness issues in Austin, TX.
Approximately 150 Texans with disabilities, as well as CTD founders convened in Houston in September of 2003 to celebrate CTD's 25th Anniversary. Speakers included
- State Comptroller Carole Keeton Strayhorn,
- Congressperson Sheila Jackson Lee,
- and Lex Frieden, Chair of the National Council on Disability.
In October 2003, CTD project Team Everest '03 received two achievement awards: the first from the Dallas Mayor's Committee on People with Disabilities and the second from the Austin Mayor's Committee on People with Disabilities

Awards

"350 Miles...7 Days...By Hand!" won the 2005 Austin Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities (AMCPD) Media Award.
The 2004 Cinema Touching Disability film festival won the Austin Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities Media Award and the Barbra Jordan special contribution award.
CTD's Team Everest '03 project won three 2003 Barbara Jordan media awards for
- News Article
- Photojournalism
- and Special Contribution.
Team Everest '03 was featured in over 200 newspaper and magazine articles, radio, internet and TV reports, including:
- TIME,
- Newsweek,
- Outside Magazine,
- Sports Illustrated and
- ABC World News Tonight.
This is the third time that CTD has won this award. CTD first won the Barbara Jordan Media award in 1982 and then again in 2002.
CTD project, Team Everest '03, wins the 2002 Barbara Jordan Media Award from the Texas Governor's Office. CTD won this award for "excellence in the communication of the reality of disabled people".
The Texas Governor's Committee on People with Disabilities chose to highlight CTD and Team Everest '03 on the official poster commemorating National Disability Employment Awareness Month. CTD and Team Everest '03 Challenge Trek member Sandra Murgia took the winning photo.
CTD won the 2003 Partnership Award from the Austin Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities.
CTD's Team Everest '03 won the 2003 Media Award from the Dallas Mayor's Committee for People with Disabilities.

2003 Legislative Successes

Protesters in front of Texas State Capital
During this 78th legislative session you'll see that CTD was actively involved in numerous issues. Our role and the organizations with which we partnered are identified. You'll see a number of issues including CTD's effort to recover lost ADA civil rights. We raised issues, won some, and lost others. Committee chairs scheduled hearings at 7 a.m., late into the evening, on weekends and even on ice days when central Texas roads were undrivable. CTD was there for Texans with disabilities, working for you.

CTD legislative efforts in 2003 included:

Testimony at public hearings
Direct contacts to legislative offices
Supplying language for legislation
Written position papers distributed to the Legislature
Media interviews
Collaborative coordination on three statewide teleconferences. Participants received up-to-the minute legislative information and had opportunities to seek specific guidance and disability related expertise from CTD and other conference speakers.
Collaborative organization of two legislative rallies at the state capital, drawing hundreds of individuals from across the state. Forged new partnerships with the state employees, mental health advocates, and senior citizens' organizations. CTD's Collaborative "Capital Day" Rally and press conference in February, and "No Budget Cuts Day" in May received media coverage from local English and Spanish radio, newspaper, and television stations.
CTD instituted a statewide "Action Alert" listserv via Texas independent living centers, disseminating important legislatively-related information, allowing for immediate action from all across the state.