Please take a peek at all of the cool stuff happening via DEC and through our community partners. Hope to see you around soon!
Community Events and Updates
Check out some incredible artwork by our very own DEC Wellness Ambassador Zina Allen. It is in the Footwise Corvallis storefront window until the end of February. The address is 301 SW Madison Ave #100, Corvallis, OR 97333. Z’s work is amazing! Thanks for sharing your beauty and talent with all of us, Zina!
Please save the date now for Keys for the People: A BIPOC-Centered Housing Festival
(formerly ‘Keys for the Culture’)
DATE: Saturday, April 29th, 2023
TIME: 1:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
LOCATION: Corvallis Community Center (C3) 2601 NW Tyler Ave, Corvallis, OR 97330
This event is the second annual BIPOC-centered housing festival, and our awesome community partners are delighted to build on the success of their prior event and make an even bigger impact. Please spread the word!
FYI that DEC’s Wednesday Wellness support group that happens each week from 5-6pm is currently full.
Stay tuned for other online opportunities for art and mindfulness. If you need some community and support to feel more connected, grounded, and loved, you can still connect with DEC.
Please email corvallisdisabilityjustice@gmail.com
or text 404-825-4524.
We are here for you!
The weather has been brutally cold. Please see this link for information about local places to stay warm: Cold Weather Resources | Benton County Oregon
Disability Culture and Pride Building
Come listen to “Black Disability Politics Now” on March 6, 2023 at 6:30 EST/3:30 PST. Join Sami Schalk and Vilissa Thompson for a conversation about their lives and work as Black disabled women writers in the disability justice movement. They will talk about themselves, their work, and the key issues they see for disability justice work in the future.
Register here: Webinar Registration – Zoom
You can seriously jam out with DEC’s Magic Luscious Spirit Sounds Music Collective!
Every first and third Monday
DATE: March 6 and 20
TIME: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
LOCATION: In-person at Turn! Turn! Turn!
8 NE Killingsworth St, Portland, OR 97211
AND Virtually over Zoom (click here for link)
Meeting ID: 814 6878 7797
Passcode: 053972
For more info, email Scott at music@disabilityequitycenter.org
Come get creative with DEC’s Moth Dreams Collaborative Art & Zine, an art meet-up and zine collective!
Every first and third Wednesday
DATE: March 1 and 15
TIME: 2:00 – 4:00 pm
LOCATION: In-person at the Kennedy School in Portland, 5736 NE 33rd Ave, Portland, OR 97211
AND Virtually over Zoom (click here for link)
Meeting ID: 974 9088 2507
For more info, email Kate at kate@disabilityequitycenter.org
Health, Wellness, and Navigation Support
This is an important webinar on Supplemental Security Income (SSI). SSI is a critical program which provides financial assistance for people who are aged, blind, or disabled and have limited income and limited resources. The ABLE Act offers the opportunity for millions of ABLE eligible people who have a disability to save without affecting SSI or other means tested benefits such as Medicaid. The ABLE Act builds on the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), recognizing the extra, significant costs for those living with a disability. ABLE accounts empower people to save and invest to pay for qualified disability expenses that can provide for a better future and enhanced quality of life.
This webinar, Topics in SSI—ABLE Accounts and Supplemental Security Income, will provide information and training on:
- SSI and ABLE account basics
- How ABLE accounts can increase financial independence for those receiving SSI payments
- How ABLE accounts interact with SSI and Medicaid
- Resources and tools
Advocates working with older adults and people with disabilities, including SSI beneficiaries, should participate.
Webinar information:
DATE: Wednesday, March 8
TIME: 11:00am – 12:15pm PT
You can register here: Webinar Registration – Zoom
Here is some information on SNAP benefits and food security: More than 720,000 Oregonians rely on the federal food Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program to eat. In April 2020, after the pandemic hit and many people lost wages and jobs, federal authorities increased monthly SNAP benefits by nearly 70% to an average of nearly $450 per household a month. But in March, those monthly emergency funds will go away, reducing the average benefit to nearly $270 a month for about 410,000 households.
To sign up for SNAP, go to benefits.oregon.gov or call 800-699-9075 or TTY 71, Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.
To find food resources go to or call:
· Foodfinder.oregonfoodbank.org
· www.caporegon.org/find-services
· www.211info.org (211)
· www.adrcoforegon.org (855-673-2372)
Opportunities for Learning and Social Justice
The Oregon Statewide Independent Living Council Quarterly Meeting
DATE: Friday, March 3
TIME: 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. (PST).
LOCATION: in person in Meeting in Room 160 – Salem Human Services Building (500 Summer St NE, Salem, OR)
VIRTUAL: Click here to join on Zoom
PHONE: Public Dial-In Number for the meeting: 1-669-900-6833; Meeting ID: 812 7159 9988; Passcode: 353600
This announcement is to increase public awareness of independent living philosophy and activities. All Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) meetings are open to the public. Do you have thoughts about needed services? Are there Independent Living services that are working especially well in your community? Do you know of new partnerships Oregon’s Independent Living program should consider? If so, the SILC wants to hear from you.
Time is scheduled at the beginning of each meeting for those wishing to give public testimony. If you plan to attend in person or would like to give testimony or wish to receive meeting materials via e-mail, notify the SILC by Tuesday, February 28 and provide your contact information (see SILC contact information below). Testimony is limited to three minutes per speaker or 500 words if written.
Here is the Oregon SILC contact information:
500 Summer Street NE, E-87 – Salem, OR 97301-1120
Phone: 503-945-6204 FAX: 503-945-8991
E-mail: oregon.silc@odhsoha.oregon.gov
SILC website: http://www.orsilc.org
Speak out in solidarity and support! Please call your friends, your reps, and your moms and encourage them to mobilize against the hateful and cruel anti-trans legislation that has entered our state legislature. There are currently at least 109 bills attempting to limit or ban gender-affirming care across 27 states. See more info here: Anti-Gender Affirming Care Bills & Map Update [02.08.23] (substack.com)
Check out this opportunity to work towards disability justice at the Paul Longmore Institute in California! (click here for the link)
В Disability Health & Employment Equity Coalition of Oregon is a group of stakeholders personally invested in the health and prosperity of the disability community. They need your help championing Senate Bill 576 during the 2023 legislative session by spreading the word and sharing your story.
As many of you know, Medicaid and the Americans with Disabilities Act help people with disabilities but also create a cycle of poverty and exclusion that contributes to poor health. Through state-level system and policy changes, Disability Health & Employment Equity Coalition strives to create equity in health and employment so the disability community can thrive and prosper in health and wealth.
Please join by supporting this legislation!
Share their work with your networks and request their support of this legislation.
Share your story of how systemic barriers have prevented you from health and prosperity.
Schedule a visit with your legislators and attend hearings to provide your testimony during the 2023 Legislature Regular Session.
If you have questions, please email info@disabilityequitycoalition.org. And join the monthly coalition meeting on the 2nd/4th Tuesdays of the month from 4pm-5:30pm.