The Disability Caravan for Freedom and Justice, a national campaign promoting voting rights and accessibility for the disability community, came to the Athens-Clarke County Library on June 14 from 1 to 5 p.m.
The Georgia Council on Developmental Disabilities, the Georgia Office of Advocacy and several other local disability-related organizations organized the event in partnership with the Caravan for Disability Freedom and Justice.
Disability advocate Sandy Hanebrink travels around the country in a caravan with her service dog, Sasha.
“The Caravan is not a business,” Hanebrink said, “It is a coalition of disability rights activists, disability-led organizations, service organizations, and allies celebrating the history of the disability rights movement, sharing the stories and resources available today, and working toward its future.”
Tables in the library’s main entrance hall displayed materials from organizations such as the Athens-Clarke County Transit System, the University of Georgia Special Collections Library, R & R Mobility, Multiple Choices for Independent Living and ACC Libraries, providing information about services available to Athens residents with disabilities.
Attendees enjoyed coffee provided by Java Joy, a program of Extra Special People that employs people with disabilities, participated in a raffle, played Braille Bingo and heard speakers talk about issues and resources relevant to the local disability community.
Speakers included Nancy Peoples of the Disability Resource Centre, Garrick Scott of MultipleChoices for Independent Living and Richard Burnham of R & R Mobility, and each speaker was accompanied by an ASL interpreter.
“Their goal is to make people more aware of what legislation is needed to achieve full inclusion and what things need to be done to make accessibility available to more people,” said Theresa Rice, adult programs coordinator for the ACC Library.
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections was also on hand to inform people about voter registration and voting rights and available accommodations. A mock voting room was set up to demonstrate how the voting process works, allowing attendees to get a hands-on experience of the voting process and experience first-hand the accommodations available.
“Our disability community has the privilege of voting and applying for an absentee ballot. They simply write on the back of their absentee ballot application that they want to opt in, and they apply once and receive all of their ballots throughout the year. This is state law,” said ACC Elections Director Charlotte Sosebee.
The caravan is currently on its way to South Carolina, with stops in Mauldin, Anderson, Columbia, Spartanburg, McCormick, North Augusta and Aiken, before traveling to Birmingham, Alabama for the National Disability Policy Summit, returning to South Carolina and then to Augusta, Georgia to celebrate the anniversary of the Olmstead Decision.