CHICAGO: Several local Desi leaders urged Illinois Governor Bruce Rauner and community organizations to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities during a June 5 Townhall event in Chicago.
Over 50 people attended the Townhall which was led by Dr Rooshey Hasnain, director of Asians with Disabilities Outreach Project Think Tank (ADOPT), an initiative of University of Illinois at Chicago and Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services.
ADOPT and many other community-based initiatives face the risk of being eliminated completely due to Governor Rauner’s proposed budget cuts.
As explained by numerous experts at the Townhall – including White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, Illinois Division of Rehabilitation Services, Americans with Disabilities Act 25 Chicago, Heartland Human Care Services, Access Living and Rogers Park Chamber of Commerce – mainstream disability service providers rarely reach Desi and Asian American community members, and removing state funding for ADOPT will have a devastating social and economic impact in Illinois.
Many Desi organizations such as South Asian American Policy & Research Institute (SAAPRI), Indo-American Center, and Apna Ghar have served as partners to ADOPT. These organizations have worked together efficiently in coalitions to implement disability access initiatives in the Desi community but see the need to do even more in the days ahead.
“SAAPRI applauds the important work of organizations like ADOPT in voicing the concerns of persons with disabilities and extending critical assistance including vocational rehabilitation. Organizations representing persons of color and persons with disabilities should continue to engage in nuance dialogue regarding how each of us can partner together to provide meaningful service to all members of our community,” said Reema Kapur, incoming executive director of SAAPRI (www.saapri.org).
SAAPRI is a non-profit, non-partisan organization established in 2001 to improve the lives of South Asian Americans in the Chicago area, by using research to formulate equitable and socially responsible public policy recommendations.
Ami Gandhi
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