On a rainy Thursday in Montpelier, a handful of tents lined the Statehouse lawn with a mission.
鈥淲e really want to make the disability vote visible, and people with disabilities are so often unable to get places and to show up,鈥� said Susan Aranoff, senior planner and policy analyst for the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council.
Local advocacy groups 鈥� including Disability Rights Vermont and the Vermont Center for Independent Living 鈥� were set up near the sidewalk to talk about voting rights and access, as well as an array of issues that affect people with disabilities, not just in Vermont, but nationwide.
Lindsey Owen, executive director of Disability Rights Vermont, said she and other advocates wanted to communicate the importance of folks with disabilities making sure their voices are heard.
鈥淰oting is one of the only processes that really levels the playing field for folks, and everybody's vote counts the same as everyone else's,鈥� she said, 鈥渞egardless of whether or not in Vermont you have a guardian, or you're homeless or if you have a criminal felony conviction. And so it really brings a little bit of equity into an otherwise really imbalanced world.鈥�
This leveled playing field is important when it comes to policy that affects peoples鈥� day-to-day lives, like housing and where they can receive essential services. Owen said the need for better community-based care is one priority issue in Vermont.
鈥淭here needs to be a better focus and investment on community-based services at the earliest possible time, and really providing people with the supports that they need so that we're not responding and reacting to crises, and being more preventative with how we provide people with care,鈥� Owen said.
Mark Leeper had driven a red, white and blue painted van to Montpelier as part of the Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice. The caravan has been collecting mileage across the United States to bring attention to disability voting rights and the Latonya Reeves Freedom Act.
would ensure that people who need long-term support for their disabilities would be able to access services 鈥� which 鈥� in their communities, outside of an institutional setting. It would ensure that more people are able to access the services they need in their own homes, granting them more independence and control over their lives.
鈥淲hat we're saying is that, let us live where we want to live,鈥� said Leeper. 鈥淚t's cheaper, there's more dignity in it, and let's, for gosh sakes, pay our personal assistance folks that we hire to come in and help us in our homes a decent wage.鈥�
Leeper, who is also the executive director of the Disability Action Center Northwest in Moscow, Idaho, said that piece of legislation is particularly relevant to .
Aranoff, with the Vermont Developmental Disabilities Council, said adequate community care also depends on the workforce. Aranoff said people that provide that care in Vermont aren鈥檛 being paid enough, creating a lack of people qualified to fill those needs statewide.
鈥淎nd when you can earn more taking care of people than you can at McDonald's, we will have a workforce of people who are doing meaningful work and can have a career path doing that meaningful work, and people will have their needs met. But right now, you can earn more at McDonald's 鈥� than providing direct care or direct support or community services or communication support or any one of a number of meaningful jobs,鈥� Aranoff said. 鈥淭hat's what's wrong in Vermont. That's what has to change.鈥�
She said her organization is pushing for annualized rate increases for staff that give home and community-based care in Vermont.
Sarah Launderville, of the Vermont Center for Independent Living, echoed that sentiment, saying that the lack of workers has created a 鈥渂ackslide,鈥� where people are having to give up independent living at home to access care.
鈥淭here are lots of people who are having a hard time being able to continue to live independently because there's not enough people to help support them 鈥� so personal care attendants and other sorts of supports,鈥� Launderville said. 鈥淎nd we've seen some backslides where people end up back in nursing homes.鈥�
Launderville said that her organization鈥檚 most pressing issue has to do with housing for people with disabilities. She said people with disabilities may face extra barriers to getting into emergency housing programs, and when those programs end, some of these people are left with nowhere to go.
鈥淪o really pushing to say, 鈥楨nough is enough,鈥欌�� Launderville said. 鈥淟et's try to figure out how we can really just make it so people have places to live and that, you know, we're not talking today, like we're talking about people who depend on oxygen and, you know, use assistive technology are being kicked out on the street again.鈥�
Aranoff, whose organization was involved in a who receive home and community-based care, said it is still one of the most urgent issues for the disability community right now in the state.
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