News

People with disabilities are invited to gather to tell stories, to connect and to make a short theater piece exploring our experiences during the pandemic, lockdown, uprising and beyond. People who live in or are connected to the Powderhorn Park neighborhood are particularly invited to participate. During the gatherings in February and March we will explore our stories and the connections between different experiences, adding in movement, musicality, play, rhythm, props and other technical elements as the community desires.

With the passing of Senator David Durenberger on January 31, our state and our nation have lost a true civil rights champion. Senator Durenberger represented Minnesota from 1978 to 1995. His role as a principal co-sponsor of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990, is perhaps his greatest legacy. His deeply held commitment to ensuring equal rights for all Americans, coupled with perseverance, persuasion, bi-partisan collaboration, and encouraging an engaged citizenry, brought the landmark legislation that changed the lives of millions of Americans with disabilities.

MCD encourages you to attend the Fall/Winter Let’s Connect Event hosted by the Minnesota Department of Health, Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities, and The Arc Minnesota. Did you know there’s a new COVID-19 booster for children and adults? It can help protect against serious illness from the omicron variant. Learn from MDH experts about the bivalent booster and how it works. Get answers to your questions, and gain resources to share in your community.

The Minnesota Council on Disability recognizes the passing of Lois Curtis, lead plaintiff in Olmstead v. LC. Lois was an integral part of one of the most important civil rights cases for people with disabilities. With the decision, the Supreme Court held that people with disabilities have a qualified right to choose the community they live in. The Court also held states must end the unnecessary segregation of people with disabilities.

Over the past two months the Minnesota Council on Disability surveyed members of the disability community to learn more about the issues that are important to them. Many responses had a common theme: a lack of community inclusion. Participants told us they continued to feel excluded from their communities. And they told us about how it remains difficult for people with disabilities to share many areas of this communal life.

Over the past two months the Minnesota Council on Disability surveyed members of the disability community to learn more about the issues that are important to them. Their responses will shape MCD’s 2023 public policy agenda, and they will inform our discussions with legislators about what matters to Minnesotans with disabilities.