The Jewish Disability Empowerment Center (Yad HaChazakah-JDEC)

Find out what we're about! Watch the Yad HaChazakah-The Jewish Disability Empowerment Center video! Join Us; Support Us; Donate to Us: Yad HaChazakah-The Jewish Disability Empowerment Center. http://bit.ly/donate2yad-via-razoo; [email protected]; www.yadempowers.org; http://bit.ly/stay-connected-fs; 646-723-3955

For many of us, straws are no more than a convenience, so it makes sense to reduce our use, to substitute alternative materials or go entirely straw-free to help stem the problem. But for some disabled individuals, like Sharon, straws made from paper, metal or bamboo often don’t work. And expecting people to carry their own straws which has its own challenges just doesn’t make sense. We don’t expect other customers to bring their own utensils with them. The original versi...on of this bill didn’t account for the needs of disabled people. So Sharon and other disability organizations worked with the Council, the Wildlife Conservation Society and other groups, and hospitality industry representatives to craft a bill that both protects the environment and preserves the rights of disabled New Yorkers. https://www.nydailynews.com//ny-oped-the-big-straw-law-202

As a result of the advocacy of the executive director of Yad HaChazakah and other NYC disability organizations, disabled folks can request and receive plastic straws from food vendors. https://council.nyc.gov/press/2021/05/12/2089/

Please Read and Share -Special Terminology- We must STOP IT in the Jewish Community. The advertisement below opens with large font like this: "We Provide Special Care for a Special Community." People with disabilities are not Special. We don't have Special needs, We are NOT a Special community. We don't want Special services. We don't want Special care. We are people with disabilities who merely want accommodations and acceptance so that we can access everything that everyone else has and can do. Special and Special Needs terminology infantilizes us!

Chava is doing a birthday fundraiser--