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2010 Through The Looking Glass Scholarship

2010 THROUGH THE LOOKING GLASS SCHOLARSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

Through the Looking Glass and its National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families are pleased to announce new scholarships specifically for high school seniors and college students who have parents with disabilities. A total of ten $1000 scholarships will be given out Fall 2010. These scholarships are part of Through the Looking Glass’ National Center for Parents with Disabilities and their Families. Please note that the 2010 awards have different application procedures than previous years. There are separate scholarship awards for high school seniors and for college students, and each has separate eligibility requirements:

1. High School Seniors. To be eligible, a student must be a high school graduate (or graduating senior) by Summer 2010, planning to attend a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2010 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, and have at least one parent with a disability.

2. College Students. To be eligible, a student must be currently enrolled in a two-year or four-year college in Fall 2010 in pursuit of an AA, BA or BS degree, be 21 years of age or younger as of March 1, 2010, and have at least one parent with a disability.

All application materials must be postmarked by March 1, 2010. Individuals may submit only one application per award period.

Selection criteria for all scholarships include academic performance, community activities and service, letter of recommendation and an essay describing the experience of growing up with a parent with a disability.

Please go to our website: http://www.lookingglass.org for more information, including the application form, complete application directions and an FAQ page that answers many common questions as well as offers helpful suggestions.

Through the Looking Glass
2198 Sixth Street, Suite 100
Berkeley, CA 94710
(800) 644-2666
(800) 804-1616 (TTY)
www.lookingglass.org
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Institutional Bias

From Adapt (7/7/09): For Immediate release:

Obama Administration Continues Institutional Bias in Healthcare ReformWashington, D.C.--- The nation’s largest grassroots disability rights organization, ADAPT, expressed outrage today at the Obama administration’s selective endorsement of one piece of proposed long term care legislation while refusing to support a companion measure aimed at=0 Aeliminating the institutional bias in Medicaid for aging or disabled lower income people that Obama, with strong support from over 80 national disability and aging organizations, co-sponsored as a Senator.July 6, Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services, sent a letter to Sen. Edward Kennedy, Chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, expressing President Obama’s support for Kennedy’s “CLASS Act,” which would allow middle class Americans to set aside money from their paychecks in anticipation of the expenses they will likely face for long-term services and supports as they age, or acquire a disability. After paying into the fund for at least 5 years, workers or their non-working spouses could draw on the fund for long-term services and assistance, either in a nursing home or in the community. Workers who wish could opt out of the program, an outcome more likely in tough economic times or in cases where low worker-wages barely cover individual or family survival expenses.

The Year of Community Living

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary
______________________________________________________________________
For Immediate Release June 22, 2009
President Obama Commemorates Anniversary of Olmstead and Announces New Initiatives to Assist Americans with Disabilities.

On the 10th anniversary of the landmark Supreme Court decision in the case of Olmstead v. L.C., President Barack Obama today celebrated that anniversary and launched "The Year of Community Living," a new effort to assist Americans with disabilities.

Specifically, the President has directed Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Housing and Urban Development Secretary Shaun Donovan to work together to identify ways to improve access to housing, community supports, and independent living arrangements. As part of this effort, later today, Secretaries Sebelius and Donovan will announce several new initiatives including details about increased numbers of Section 8 vouchers and enhanced interagency coordination to address this critical civil rights issue. The initiative also will include listening sessions conducted by HHS across the country to hear the voices and stories of Americans and to keep the President's pledge to be as open and transparent as possible.

NCIL Urges Members to Oppose Judge Andre Davis

judge-andre-davis NCIL is going on the record in opposition the nomination of Judge Andre Davis to Maryland’s Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals. While NCIL does recognize and appreciate Judge Davis’ efforts on civil rights for other marginalized groups of people, NCIL cannot and will not support a nominee to the bench with as bad a record on Disability Employment decisions as Judge Davis.

Your Help is Needed! Look at the table below to see if your U.S. Senator is on the Judiciary Committee. The voice of the disability community needs to be heard loud and clear that we need judges who respect the laws of the land, including the ADA and the ADA Amendments Act. By calling your US Senator who is on the Judiciary Committee, you will make that voice heard.

OBAMA’S SPECIAL OLYMPICS JOKE

Source: Opinion Editorial by Eleanor Canter, Weekly Advocacy Monitor (WhAM!), Volume 7, Issue 7

Obama joke

The media is currently running wild with the rare opportunity to confront President Obama on his poor choice of words during last week’s appearance on Jay Leno. But is this a typical case of wording that demonstrates underlying bias? We often report on stories of discriminatory language in the WhAM! because language is important to our community and the advancement of our civil rights.

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