So how did CTD do this past year? What did CTD accomplish? We’re glad you asked! Please review our full 2007 annual report. We summarized our work and it’s still 11 pages long. Yet, the report is a quick read. You can skim it, pick out topics of interest and get a pretty good idea of the broad activities in which CTD engaged.
Let’s face the truth—Texas may very well be the toughest state in the union to conduct disability advocacy. Texas public policy simply does not believe in services to its citizens; in fact, Texas ranks 50th in per capita investment in its citizens! It is into this meat grinder that we ventured in the 2007 legislative session—and came away with real achievements in the state budget, protection of voting rights and diverse disability legislation. (photo: Sen. Zaffirini and Dennis Borel) We didn’t get everything we sought, but we’ll be back to keep fighting the good fight.
CTD expanded its use of technology, installing a web-based communications tool and doubling the reach and frequency of our electronic newsletter. CTD staff and members served on 19 advisory councils and workgroups. CTD continued as the leading disability organization in promotion and outreach of accessible voting, landing an award for the Best Public Affairs Campaign from a public relations group. Our public awareness activities changed attitudes and educated the public with and without disabilities. Plus a whole lot more!
Your support helps CTD continue to advocate and raise awareness on your behalf. The credibility and influence garnered by a strong membership base helps assure that doors are opened and our voices are heard.
We invite you to become a member of CTD for 2008. If you have been a member, please stick with us in these critical times for people with disabilities. If you’ve not been a member, please look over the annual report to learn of our work. If you are not currently a member, but have been in the past, please join with us in these increasingly critical times for Texans with disabilities. Many thanks to those who’ve already renewed their memberships. As we enter the season of giving, please consider CTD. A contribution to CTD can simply be added to your check for dues. Contributions to CTD are deductible to the full extent allowed by law.
Membership is available at individual, family, local advocacy organization, state advocacy organization, & affiliate organization levels.
Advocacy…It’s all year, every year. And you never know where the next attack will come from. Case in point: the recent effort by organizers of segregated congregate settings to access Medicaid funding for Home & Community Services (HCS). HCS is about integration and community, not segregation and institutions. This all seemed clear. But organizers of a rural development planned to house 250 people with disabilities in a segregated setting claimed their place was also a community and their residents should be able to have access to HCS funds. Often relying on the testimony of parents who want their adult children with cognitive disabilities to live in segregation, the group went to the state’s Medical Care Advisory Committee (MCAC) and Department of Disability and Aging Services (DADS) Council. Incredibly, they received encouragement from the MCAC before the DADS Council rejected efforts to divert the community services dollars. Advocates for true community services, including most of the Austin disability organizations, participated in force at the hearings.
We should be moving forward, making progress to more inclusion, independence, and integration. Yet sometimes, we work to protect past gains from being eroded. Sometimes, advocacy means we watch your back.
Thanks to an Excelerator Grant from the AT&T Foundation, CTD has significantly upgraded its computers and supporting equipment, such as software and printers. By improving our office efficiency and ability to communicate to our statewide membership, CTD will be better able to serve you and accomplish your objectives in a more timely and efficient manner. According to the award, CTD was selected as one of the most deserving organizations serving an underrepresented population to apply for this grant.
Select this link if you are having trouble seeing the pictures or reading the articles in this newsletter.
Select this link to unsubscribe from the newsletter.
Become a Member of the Coalition of Texans with Disabilities
Your Membership Counts with CTD!
Click on www.cotwd.org for more information.