#GivingTuesdayNow

 

May 5, 2020 | by Amber Smock

You can help build a better world for people with disabilities

Today, organizations around the world are coming together in solidarity to ask for your support in the face of COVID-19. We’d like to share a personal story with you that captures what our team at Access Living is going through and what we are doing to make sure the immediate needs of disabled people in Chicago are met, while doing whatever we can to build a better system for us all tomorrow.

Watch Access Living Community Organizer Michelle Garcia talk to PBS at this link about how COVID-19 is changing her life and work as a Latinx woman with a disability. Michelle discusses what Access Living is doing to support the disability community during this challenging time.

As a disability run and led organization, the entire team at Access Living is determined to be there for our community. Michelle’s story is an example of why our service and advocacy work is needed now more than ever.

That’s because COVID-19 is hitting the disability community especially hard. What most are calling underlying “health conditions,” we know as disability. More than 90% of people who have died from COVID-19 in Chicago thus far had “underlying health conditions,” many of which, like diabetes, are protected under the Americans with Disabilities Act.

You can help us make sure that Access Living is there for our consumers who need us now, and that we have the resources we need to continue to amplify the voices and interests of our disability community in the months and years ahead.

Together we can change the world and make a better, safer and more equitable place for people with disabilities. When you give today as part of #GivingTuesdayNow, your gift will be matched up to $6,000. Here is the link to give.

We deeply appreciate anything you can give. Thank you!