Our townhall style gathering for Californians with disabilities was facilitated by Matan Koch, Tatiana Lee, and Lauren Appelbaum, and featured Jaime Pacheco-Orozco, Assistant Executive Director of the Los Angeles Department on Disability.
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Past Events
COVID-19 Disability Community Gathering: Millennials and Gen Z-ers with Disabilities and their Allies
Our first gathering for millennials with disabilities and their allies was facilitated by Ben Spangenberg, Tatiana Lee and Eric Ascher, and featured Mathew McCollough, Director of the DC Office of Disability Rights.
COVID-19 Disability Community Gathering: Low-Vision and Blind Individuals
This townhall style gathering for low-vision and blind individuals was co-facilitated by Ollie Cantos, Janet LaBreck and Baksha Ali.
Our COVID-19 Disability Community Gatherings are an interactive ZOOM series that feature expert self-advocates as facilitators and provide opportunities to establish: 1) community connectivity during isolation; 2) time to learn from one another and share resources; and 3) a pipeline to action-based solutions during the COVID-19 pandemic. [continue reading…]
Virtual Passover Seder
Date: Monday, April 13
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET / 4:00 p.m. PT
To make Passover accessible to people with disabilities, RespectAbility along with partner organizations is creating a virtual Kehila (Community) specifically geared toward people with intellectual disabilities. This kicked-off with a tailored Passover Seder which was a fun, engaging, and informative time for all involved. The Jewish Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Boston graciously donated a Haggadah, written by Rebecca Redner and Gateways: Access to Jewish Education, specifically for people who have developmental disabilities. This seder, like all of our online events, had live captioning.

Jewish Deaf Community Center Virtual Seders in ASL
Are you a Deaf Jew looking for a Seder in ASL? We are pleased that our partners at the Jewish Deaf Community Center are offering 4 virtual seders in ASL. The following times are offered. Please be sure to register for your preferred time. [continue reading…]
Webinar: Hope for the Best – Prepare for the Worst: Wills and Special Needs Trusts
Read the transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint
Watch the webinar on YouTube with captions
Speakers:
Evan Krame, Rabbi and Lawyer
Michelle Wolf, Founding Executive Director, Jewish Los Angeles Special Trust
Frederick M. Misilo, Jr., President, The Arc and President, Fletcher Tilton, PC
With the COVID-19 crisis, people are writing their wills faster than ever before. However, if you have a loved one with a disability, you need to know how to protect both their access to ongoing disability services and assets. This session gave key information on how special needs trusts can help you avoid having a well-intentioned will cut someone off their life-saving access to healthcare or their housing or job supports. Hear from caring experts who will help you provide for the safety and security of those who you love most! [continue reading…]
Online Convening: Low-Vision / Blind Individuals Invited to Discuss Successful COVID-19 Strategies
Facilitators:
Ollie Cantos, Board of Advisors, RespectAbility
Janet LaBreck, Board of Directors, RespectAbility
Organizers:
Baksha Ali, Community Outreach Fellow, RespectAbility
Debbie Fink, Director of Community Outreach and Impact, RespectAbility
Feeling isolated and looking to gain ideas on how to make it through this time? This webinar, the first in a series, focused on solutions people who are blind or who have low-vision are devising to successfully address related challenges. This virtual convening was facilitated by leaders who are members of the low-vision/blind community: Ollie Cantos and Janet LaBreck. This conversation was in a town hall format, intended as a facilitated open forum for individuals to share ideas about how to tackle issues within a physical, financial, and socio-emotional context. [continue reading…]
NEW POLL DATA: Voters with Disabilities and the 2020 Election
Read the webinar transcript
Download the accessible PowerPoint
Watch the webinar recording on YouTube with captions
Read the press release
Read the memo
Download the cross-tab data
As the country is gripped with issues surrounding the coronavirus, find out what the community who is the most at risk – people with disabilities – cares about and who they are supporting in the upcoming 2020 election cycle.
Stan Greenberg PhD from the polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research (GQRR) and the disability inclusion organization RespectAbility discussed new findings from a recently completed phone poll of 1,000 registered voters in a 16-state Presidential and Senate battleground, conducted by Democracy Corps and Greenberg Research. [continue reading…]
Los Angeles: How Disability Inclusion & Equity Can Add to Your Success
A FREE lunch session for philanthropists, nonprofits, social justice activists, faith leaders and diversity professionals in Los Angeles on Thursday, March 12, 2020
With Matan Koch, Director of RespectAbility California and Jewish Leadership, Lauren Appelbaum, Vice President of RespectAbility and Tatiana Lee, Hollywood Inclusionist at RespectAbility. [continue reading…]