By JILLIAN A. BOGATER, QueerZineLit publisher
It’s not unusual for simple conversation to lead to
greater things at the Michigan Disability Rights Coalition (MDRC). In fact,
that’s how a recent series of retreats took root at the East Lansing-based
non-profit disability rights organization.
While discussing the similarities
between the disability and lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT)
communities, MDRC Project Manager Carolyn LeJuste and Operations Director
Corrie Listenberger Bair wanted to take the dialogue back to the community. After
applying for grants, the two planned for what would be the first of ongoing
Building Bridges retreats at The Leaven Center in Lyons, Mich. Sadly,
Listenberger Bair died at age 32 of colon cancer two months before the first
retreat took place in December 2005.
Still the retreats continue, and
represent the grassroots spirit of how MDRC operates.
“We at MDRC speak out in radical
ways, and yet we are very respected in the traditional circles,” LeJuste said
about the organizations effect.
The MDRC, run by Executive Director
Norman J. Delilse Jr., employs 13 full-time positions and advocates for people
throughout Michigan. The organization does not provide direct services, but
instead works at the grassroots and policy level to change public policies and
laws on behalf of people with disabilities, LeJuste said. We want to see people
with disabilities be more independent, have more insurance and fully
participate in their communities,” she said. “We work at the housing level and
try to promote ideas like self-determination, choice, recovery. We also
organize small groups of people in the local community to be more aware of
disability rights and to identify issues in their own communities that they can
work on.”
MDRC brings that local voice to the
policy table, then brings issues back to the community.
“It can be a flow of information,”
LeJuste said. “We want to promote a consumer voice.”
The non-profit runs on soft money,
operating on grants. They work to encourage assistive technology for people
with disabilities and to expand accessible, affordable housing in Michigan.
“we also want to improve long-term
care,” she said. “We want to find more opportunities for people on public
assistance to receive certain long-term care services in their home, which is
the primary choice for people, as opposed to going into a nursing home,”
The MDRC’s housing initiative aims
to transition appropriate people with disabilities out of nursing facilities
and into homes of their own.
Reaching out to the younger
generation and identifying leaders is key for the vitality of MDRC, LeJuste
said. “We’re looking at all levels to promote leadership in the disability
rights movement,” she said, adding the MDRC has a successful college outreach
program. “The plank of progress we have made in the last 30 to 40 years have
been made by people who are now aging. And people with disabilities tend to die
early, so many of our leaders have died. We’re trying to figure out ways of
raising up a whole new generation of leaders.”
MDRC also recognizes the value of
reaching out to other marginalized groups and forging new alliances, such as the
building Bridges retreat for disability and LGBT communities.
Contact information:
Michigan Disability Rights
Coalition
780 West Lake Lansing Road, Suite
200
East Lansing, MI 48823
(517) 333-2477
mdrc@prosynergy.org