Joe – Lakewood, Colorado – “There is a special place in my heart for Wade Blank. I’m thankful for his work getting people out of nursing prisons and into their own homes and organizing those individuals into an army of volunteers who blocked Denver buses, demanding access to public transportation.”
No kidding! The ADA has been the best civil rights law for people with disabilities. It didn’t pass out of the goodness of Congress and the President, however. The ADA became law because of the efforts and pressure put forth by people with disabilities. My thanks go out to those tireless pioneers – too many to name. There is a special place in my heart for Wade Blank. I’m thankful for his work getting people out of nursing prisons and into their own homes and organizing those individuals into an army of volunteers who blocked Denver buses, demanding access to public transportation. I could write a book on his accomplishments alone, but it took the army of activists to make the change we had been asking for. Wade’s work was only the beginning. There are those who would like to gut the ADA law and turn the clock back to the discriminatory policies in the past. We are fortunate to have Colorado Cross-Disability Coalition and Atlantis/ADAPT in Denver to keep the pressure on and keep our rights as individuals. We must continue to be involved and support these organizations or we could lose many of our hard fought accomplishments.