When disaster strikes, people with disabilities face overwhelming barriers and disproportionate rates of death and serious injury. These are often the direct result of discrimination and exclusion from disaster planning, response, and recovery efforts.
The Real Emergency Access for Aging and Disability Inclusion (REAADI) for Disasters Act and the Disaster Relief Medicaid Act (DRMA) are two critical bills that will help address the disaster-related barriers disabled people face.
The town hall will be co-hosted by Vermont Center for Independent Living (VCIL), Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights (VCDR) and VT SILC (Vermont State Independent Living Council). Outreach representatives from the offices of Sen. Patrick Leahy, Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Peter Welch, many of whom support these bills, will be in attendance. The list of panelists is growing daily; be sure to check out our Facebook page for updates! Sign Language Interpreters will be provided via Vancro Integrated Interpreting Services (VIIS) and there will be closed captioning provided by White Coat Captioning.
We are looking for stories from people with disabilities and older adults who experienced a disruption in their Medicaid or other services during a federal emergency. Please contact nicole@vcil.org directly to share your story or come to the town hall with your story to share.
Go to https://tinyurl.com/REAADI to register for the town hall. We hope to see you there!

Jan 5, 2025, 1 to 3 PM

Jan 7, 2025, 7 to 8 PM

Jan 10, 2025, 6 to 7 PM