KWRU joins ADAPT to Demand Equal Access to Housing Services

Today members of the Kensington Welfare Rights Union and members of ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today), a grassroots advocacy group for people with disabilities took over the lobby of Philadelphia's Municipal Servcies Building to demand equal access to housing services for persons with disabilities.

Currently, the city does not allow disabled persons who are homeless into shelters with a personal assistant. Instead, they are warehoused in nursing homes where they are no longer a priority to get housing assistance so they can live on their own. To drive the point home, one member of ADAPT at the rally, who is currently homeless, is facing that exact situation - languishing in the nursing home system, rather than moving toward her own home. By federal law, the city is required to provide equal services for persons with disabilities; ADAPT and KWRU took action to hold the city accountable to this law.

After several minutes of chaos, the city's "homeless czar," Michael Nardone came down to meet with us. He agreed to remind the shelter providers of their legal obligation to provide equal access, and after further demonstrating agreed to meet with us and the director of emergency housing services to discuss the problem the following day, and drafted a letter

KWRU and ADAPT pledged to continue struggling together. ADAPT was boldy in the front of the March for Economic Human Rights during the Republican Convention.