RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Protesters demonstrated in Raleigh for a third consecutive day on Tuesday, demanding more comfortable and accessible housing, greater access to basic health care and increased state funding to support North Carolina’s disability community. ADDRESS, a national grassroots disability rights group, organized protests at several locations this week, including the state Capitol and the Department of Health and Human Services.
“I want to see more people with disabilities get out into the community and live independent lives,” said Chris Botero, who has been using a wheelchair for the past 10 years.
Botero came to Raleigh from Austin, Texas, to raise awareness of issues facing people with disabilities here and across the country.
“If you don’t have a chaperone, how do you get out of bed, get dressed and take a shower?” he said.
Botero was one of countless activists who came to town with Adapt to call on North Carolina to help integrate people with disabilities into their communities, including fighting for better pay for aides who help people with disabilities perform essential activities during the day, ensuring greater access to essential services and accessible housing, and lobbying for increased state funding.
“We can advocate for our needs, we can advocate in the community for what we need,” said Chris Murphy, an activist who is blind from birth and traveled from Minnesota for the protest.
Chris said these everyday support services play a vital role in his daily life and helped him on his journey to North Carolina.
“Mobility training to enable people to move through their communities and through the world. Without the skills training, they wouldn’t be able to learn things like how to use a computer, they wouldn’t be able to live independently. Without the Olmstead decision, I wouldn’t be here talking to you,” he said.
The Olmstead decision, handed down by the Supreme Court 25 years ago this week, protects the right of people with disabilities to live in the most integrated environment possible, essentially giving people the right to choose where they want to live.
People like Nikki Voight, who runs Adapt’s North Carolina chapter, say a big goal is to change attitudes around adult day care and to stop people with disabilities being forced into nursing homes or other institutions.
“Where are my people in North Carolina? If they’re in an adult day care facility in the community, that’s not in the community,” Voight said.
Further protests are planned for Wednesday.
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