On Friday, I’m heading to Duluth for the DFL State Convention. This will be the 3^rd time I’m a state delegate and here’s why I’m going:

1. I went to my local caucus in February and raised my hand.
2. I went to my Senate District Convention and raised my hand.

Showing up and raising my hand is how I connect with others and raise awareness and support for issues impacting people with disabilities. This is really important to me!

 I know that I’m privileged to be able to even attend this convention. My parents can come along and be my staff. I have enough in my savings to help me pay for the expensive hotel (the hotel blocks set aside by the convention didn’t have rooms with roll-in showers that worked for me when I searched in early March). It’s important for me to be able to show up and raise my voice for a lot of folks who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford to be there.

What are the issues, you may ask?

Here are some of the issues that directly affect my ability to live independently and impact others with disabilities. What I’ve experienced over the past 6 years shouldn’t have been as hard as it was. As I’ve written before, I had to have 3 main things in place to live independently in my community:

1. Source of income and services which for me are SSI, MN Support Grant, and SNAP food benefits to help me pay for my expenses
2. An affordable AND accessible place to live which for me means not only an accessible apartment with roll-in shower but also a Section 8 Housing Voucher
3. Direct support staff to provide the care I need

I have the first two of these figured out and you know if you’ve been reading my blog, just how difficult and how long it took to get these services in place. Remember how it took me several years, an appeal, and reaching out to my US Representative to help me get SSI. Navigating these services is incredibly complex.

As far as housing, even now, if I decide that I want to move from my current apartment to another one, that would start off another year-long or more search for finding a wheelchair accessible apartment with a roll-in shower that accepts a Section 8 Housing Voucher. There are very few of these that even exist. That’s why I testified in support of legislation that would require more accessible apartments. There’s still a lot of work to be done on not just affordable housing, but affordable housing that is also accessible!

Finally, and the one I’m most frustrated about, is that I’m in the process of leaving the most self-directed program for covering my direct support staff because the Consumer Directed Community Supports (CDCS) budget did not cover the amount of staffing I needed. This will cost the state probably $100,000 MORE than what I had been asking for all along for a CDCS budget.  Watch my testimony about this program because I state the issues pretty clearly in just two minutes! (Time for Change blog post with YouTube testimony) As I said during my testimony:

Funding CDCS budgets, so they’re a viable, equitable alternative for those of us who choose this self-directed option, might sound like too much money. If I switch away from CDCS, like many adults with disabilities are forced to do, I will have less flexibility, fewer choices, and it will cost the state far more.

We may not agree on politics or parties, but hopefully some of the issues I’ve experienced in living my life are issues that have some common ground no matter what your political beliefs may be. And, if you don’t agree with my political views, keep reading my blogs about disability rights, accessibility, travel, music, writing, books, and all of the things I love to do.

The pics below are from testifying at the MN House with Representative Howard and the MN Senate, meeting with my US Senator Tina Smith in Washington DC, moving into my apartment, and with my mom at the 2018 DFL State Convention.