Advocacy and Activities

Advocacy

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) were landmark legislation aimed at ensuring persons with disabilities full access to and participation in American education, work and society.

Enactment of the laws does not equal their enforcement, however. Over the years various courts have challenged the ADA, in particular, and the breadth and depth to which its provisions can be enforced. These negative forces have had at least one positive effect, though, in that they have galvanized persons with disabilities — as disparate a group as any on the planet — to work together toward the common goals of opportunity and inclusion.

As a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, the Blanche Fischer Foundation is prohibited from engaging in lobbying activity. Consonant with this, it does not author or sponsor legislation. As private individuals, however, its staff, board members and grantees are free to to express their personal opinions on any issue as guaranteed by the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

• November 2003: Blanche Fischer Foundation files amicus curiae ("friend of the court") brief with U.S. Supreme Court in support of respondent in Tennessee v. Lane.
  • BFF amicus curiae brief by Sherril Nell Babcock (.pdf format)
• October 2000: National organizers call upon disability advocates to rally and march in Washington, D.C., as the U.S. Supreme Court prepares to hear arguments in Garrett v. Univ. Alabama. The Blanche Fischer Foundation made it possible for a group of Oregonians to make their voices heard.
  • Article by Arie Farnam
  • Photo album

Activities

Blanche Fischer Foundation board members are required to attend at least one disability-oriented conference during their two-year tenure. Board members with disabilities enhance their cross-disability awareness and those (temporarily) without expand their knowledge of the vast array of issues confronting the disabled. The meetings may be local, regional or national; the sole purpose is education toward increasing board members' effectiveness. The foundation also often makes it possible for other Oregonians to attend special conferences.

• October 2003: The National Organization of Women Foundation (NOW) and the American Association of People with Disabilities (AAPD) co-host a conference in Bethesda, Md., Women with Disabilities & Allies Forum: Linking Arms for Equality & Justice for All.
  • Press release and links from the AAPD Web site
  • Speakers and biographies
  • NOW Foundation Web site links to forum
  • Read Ulee Yanok's and Lynnae Ruttledge's accounts of their experiences at the forum.
  • Photos