Epsd #3 of Season 2: 2 SheHeros in disability housing

      For Women's history month, this episode will talk about 2 SheHeros who made an impact on accessible housing and beyond for the disability community; Judy Heumann and Eleanor Smith.  Mrs. Heumann was considered the godmother of the disability rights movement and recently passed away. She along with Ed Roberts, helped initiated the Independent Living Movement; providing the foundation for an accessible environment and housing. I talk about the privilege I had in meeting her during the last six months of her life.
        Mrs. Eleanor Smith created the retired organization, Concrete Change which focuses on incorporating three elements into new home construction for accessibility. Her organization and efforts helped create the Visibility Movement; the idea that homes owned and homes visited, should be accessible for the disabled community.
There is much more to be done in private sector housing to increase accessibility, affordability, and homeownership for the disabled community. Listen for five things that you can do to be the next SheHero or SheHero alley!

Transcript, click here

Transcript

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When was the last time you were walking around the neighborhood and you found yourself using a sidewalk ramp, and when you got to your final destination, like a restaurant or some other commercial building, did you ever pass by a fire exit? Why am I talking about sidewalk ramps and a fire exist? It is because, believe it or not, both impacted and caused systemic changes in disability housing by our first she hero, the great Judy Huemann. It is with a very heavy heart that I announced that Judy Huemann recently just passed away in early March. Like about three weeks ago For many, including myself, she was considered the godmother of the disability rights movement. In fact, she passed just a few days before I, a full-time wheelchair user, traveled to the West coast to be in the Las Vegas sin City for the podcast evolution conference. I knew that because of Judy Huemann, I had the right to travel by air, use a taxi, and had access to an accessible hotel room while I was there. I am personally shocked that she is no longer with us. Mrs. Heuman or as she liked to be called Judy was born in 1947 in New York City. She got polio as a child, it could have been like so many disabled children of that time destined to be in an institution instead of an elementary classroom. Her principal, in fact, fought against her integration into the classroom because according to him, the principal, he was concerned that the wheelchair would be a fire hazard. Remember, this was before the time when there were electric wheelchairs, at least in the mainstream.Wheelchairs at that time were manual. I don't think when Judy's principal was referring to the wheelchair as combusting as being a fire hazard because it wasn't an electric wheelchair. Instead he was referring to the idea that the other children would trip over the wheelchair into the emergency or the wheelchair would block the hallway somehow, like the other chairs in the room is not a factor really. Luckily for her parents did not follow the conventional wisdom of that time and saw the fire hazard as what it truly was. A dog whistle for segregating the disabled child. Plain and simple. Judy continued her education beyond the elementary years and eventually received a master's at the UCLA in Berkeley, California and never forgot the impact of children education. In fact, she became a school teacher in New York. Unfortunately, history repeats itself, and she had to sue the New York Board of Education to become teacher and guess why? Two words. Fire hazard. It was a fire hazard excuse, but only this time the Board of Education added concerns that she could not assist getting the children out in the emergency. I don't think teachers are carrying children out one by one. Let's call the fire department.Again it was merely a dog whistle excuse and did not win, and she became the first disabled teach in New York. Judy's fire hazard dilemma was not unique to her or the students at ucla, which she attended, but this time she was not alone. While Judy is considered the godmother of Disability rights movement as a whole, the godfather of the Independent Living Movement was Ed Roberts. The independent living movement should not be confused with what the disability community calls our independent. The independent day for the disability community is the anniversary of the passing of the Americas with Disabilities Act in 1990 July. The Independent Living Movement was decades before the ADA and fought the idea that individuals with disabilities could not live outside institutions because that's what traditionally they lived. As Judy discussed in her August 28th, 2011 speech at the Independent Living Institute, I'm a proud member. Ed Roberts and her and other students believed they could do anything if the failures were just removed. Simple concept. UCLA however, the university initially did not agree with that. And stated that the students housing could not accommodate wheelchairs. Ed Roberts, Judy, and others found an abandoned nearby hospital wing to call them as their own dormitory. It's popularity among wheelchair students soon grew, and guess what? The fire hazard has an excuse of having so many wheelchairs on one reared its ugly head up. The students successfully overcame this hurdle and many more, claiming the first sidewalk ramps on the university and in the city, and create the first independent living center on campus that is now a national standard. If you want to hear more specifically about Ed Roberts and the Independent Living Movement, please listen to my other episodes. I talk a lot about him. Judy's impact was more than on educational system or even the Independent living movement. She also helped with the passing of the Rehabilitation Act, the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, which my mother's study when she was in college and the Americans with Disabilities Act. For me, I got to meet Judy this past summer and in December, in relationship to the 2Together international organization. 2Together International organization provides training and resources to help disability entrepreneurship, not employment, just entrepreneurship. Isn't that cool? I participate in the DC cohort, summer accelerated program where I helped establish my startup company, horizontal Houses, where we lowered the kitchen sinks, but raised the bars for disability home ownership. At one of the sessions that we had, Judy graced the class with her presence virtually through Zoom. I am so glad I took the opportunity to ask her questions then. I later got to see her in person when together 2Together International was helping 10th anniversary in dc, my hometown. I will never forget meeting Judy. If you want to read more or contribute to her advocacy that will live beyond her, please visit www.judithheumann.com. Please check out the documentary Crip Camp on Netflix. The other she hero is Eleanor Smith. Ms. Smith is the founder of Visibility movement. Visibility movement is the idea that you can make more change for accessible housing by focusing on new housing development. According to the Ragged Edge Magazine article on visibility.org, Eleanor Smith started focusing on accessible design more than 30 years ago in 1986 in Atlanta, Georgia. She was concerned that private residential homes were not accessible for wheelchair users. In fact, they're still not. She knew change had to be from the construction up. She was no novice to disability advocacy. No. Saying that she was involved with a successful campaign run by the organization adapt Adapt campaign to have every city bus have accessible lifts. As a side note, I highly recommend everyone get involved with adapt. They were actually created by Ed Roberts, Judy, and the other students at U C L A Small world, huh? Nope. I love the Disability Community. Eleanor Smith used her network, and created Concrete Change. Concrete Change is a way to emphasize accessible housing that comes from the construction up. Since Eleanor Smith knew the impact of providing a bus with a lift that no longer required to use steps she decided that was gonna be one of the things that she included in concrete change, that there will be zero steps into the home. Concrete change was just. A way to make change. It became a movement when Eleanor Smith learned from a Japanese architect of all the people, a Japanese architect that had said, Hey, did you know that disabled European activists were using the word visibility. In the US at that time, the focus was what we call basic access or barriers, because barriers is language within the Fair Housing Act Amendment. With visibility strategy, it shifted the idea strictly from the perspective of a disabled person merely living in accessible home, but also now focusing on the idea that disabled people might visit other people. Imagine that. I myself grew up having to host all my friends' parties at my house because I knew I could not visit their homes. I couldn't get into them. Visibility also creates the undertone of value by emphasizing being visible, rather than focusing on the construction concept of a barrier. Visibility.org states that there are three things that must be included to have a home that endorses visibility. One is having at least one zero step entrance, two, doors with 32 inches of clearance, and three, at least one bathroom on the main floor that you could get into if you're a wheelchair user. Because imagine that we might wanna have to pee. For more information, please visability.org.Eleanor Smith impacts still continues even though she has retired Concrete Change Organization. Congresswoman Tammy Duckworth in 2022 introduce the Eleanor Smith Inclusive Home Design Act. Like so many bills in Congress right now, it has been introduced but not vetted through the committees for a vote. But you can still help. How? How can you be the next she hero? Five simple things. One, you can sign the petition for the passing, the Eleanor Smith Inclusive Home Design Act on change.org, if a certain amount of signatures for a petition is met on change.org, it will be forwarded to the President's office for consideration so it does have an impact. Two, you could call or always email your congresswoman or congressman and asking for support for accessible housing. Whatever that may look like to you. Three, you can reach out to new building developments. Literally you can just be driving around your city and ask them to include accessible floor plans. There are plenty right off the shelf that you can even buy and give to them, and they don't have to hire an architect. Four you can reach out to Habitat for Humanity and other organizations, so you know that help build homes and ask them to include visibility requirements. And five, many counties have committees and many of these committees require a resident of that county. So volunteer your time on, on these committees. Does housing committees, does veterans or any other committee likely to I impact your local disability community, even if it doesn't have anything to do with housing? Why many of these committees cross pollinate and representation is so crucial. So those are five things, but if you could think of something, the final call to action I have, because I always like to end with that, is, let me know other ways that you have campaigned and be that she hero or she hero ally, in accessible housing. Thank you. After listening today, disability home ownership is that much closer. Whether you are a wheelchair user or a worker in the housing industry. But there's so much more I could provide you through horizontal houses.com. Horizontal houses.com is hub for all things related to disability home ownership. You will find my blog, this podcast, my book, and how my consulting services can help real estate agents or healthy developers market and tap into the largest minority group the disability. All of which come from real world experience as a working class lifetime paraplegic who bought her first home during the Great Recession and successfully modified it. Please help me continue this exploration of disability home ownership by connecting through my Facebook page, Twitter, Instagram pinster accounts by either searching or auto houses on these. Or visit directly the horizontal houses.com website. Most importantly though, please subscribe to the email distribution list located on the website so you don't miss out on any updates I may have. Remember sharing our collective experiences will allow us each to lower the kitchen sink, but raise the bars for disability home ownership. Thank you.