On August 11, 2020, Hurricane Isaias made landfall in New Jersey, causing about 3.7 million power outages across the state. Freedom Village West Windsor was one of those communities affected by this massive outage.
With tenants without power or air conditioning, the Project Freeeedom staff at West Windsor and Lawrenceville swung into action together to provide breakfast and hot coffee for the tenants.
Then the tenants of West Windsor also jumped into action to help each other. They donated thawing food to be grilled by other tenants to provide hot lunch and dinner for everyone.
Project Freedom staff was also able to set up a generator to allow tenants to charge electronics and medical equipment throughout the day.
Project Freedom extends immense gratitude to the staff and tenants who helped their community during this time.
With their help Freedom Village at West Windsor was able to turn a disaster into a community enrichment day.
Blackout Breakfast
A charging Statrion for phones was set up powered by a generator.
For the thirteenth time in my life, I will vote again this year to elect the President of the United States of America. I remember in in 1972 being forced to vote two weeks ahead of time by absentee ballot because my polling place was in accessible. I remember in 1992 being challenged at the poll because of my disability, and I remember the empowerment I felt by calling a state hotline while at the poll to “fix” the situation to my satisfaction.
Times have changed for people with disabilities in terms of voting ease. Now most polling places and polling booths are accessible, but this year COVID-19 is forcing many states to encourage voting by mail for everyone in many states. Yes, there are still barriers to voting—especially this year in other states, but there is no excuse for any person with a disability not to vote. Nothing about us without us, right?
But I want to talk again about something besides voting. I want to talk about people with disabilities getting involved with political campaigns. Of course, COVID-19 is preventing this kind of activity this year, but it is important to see how you can become involved through technology and Social Media.
I became involved with campaigns twice when I first starting out as a disability advocate. I worked on a statewide Republican campaign for governor and a county campaign for a Democrat. They both lost, and that may be a commentary of the type of person I support.
Nevertheless, these campaigns opened doors for me, and, more importantly, these candidates, their staffers and supporters gained a greater understanding of my needs as a person with a disability. This was a great asset in advocating on disability issues through these same people over the years.
The disability community has a saying: “Nothing about us without us!” It means that people, programs, agencies, and governments shouldn’t make decisions about people with disabilities without our involvement in the decision process. Well, the decision process for the 2020 elections is moving ahead on all levels of government. We need to be involved!
Many of you know that our daughter, Jen is disabled and lives at our Hopewell Project Freedom community. Jen started her adult life in 2003 when she moved into our Lawrence site, and lived there until moving to Hopewell in 2015. So, since that time, she has been for the most part, on her own, with Mom and Dan providing emergency support when needed. Having that personal care support has been critical to her living successfully on her own, out in the community, as well as for many of our tenant consumers.
I have often been asked why Project Freedom didn’t provide that service along with our housing. This is usually the case with agencies that provide and run, Group Homes. The Group Home model works very well for many disabled consumers, and it consists of three or four unrelated individuals who live at the home with a care giver. These homes usually provide 24/7 care by a live in aide or aides, and for many families, this model works very well. The only problem comes when a consumer is not happy with the care provider, and wants to change that provider. To do that may require moving to another location or to another different service provider, something that most consumers do not wish to do.
When Project Freedom set out to create our housing, we sought the ability for the consumer to have the most independence possible. In essence to be “Master of his/her own universe” and to choose how one would live life with as much independence as possible. If the person needed personal assistance, then it was up to them to choose and decide who they would work with and with what agency.
At Project Freedom housing, the individual is not tied to one particular living situation but can change service providers at any time. The only thing we require is that they pay their rent and their utilities, and obey our housing rules, which is what is required at any apartment complex. This promotes independence and choice for our consumers without the risk of losing their present housing or apartment if they choose a different personal care provider.
Finally, those of us who are part of the disability community and those families served, need to recognize the tremendous service that these personal care workers provide to our loved ones. Because of their efforts, they contribute to the independence and freedom that our families and consumers enjoy. Furthermore, these workers are not paid a rate of pay that reflects their worth, and often have to work two jobs today to make ends meet. These folks are also our “ Front Line workers “ who have had to meet the demands of today’s COVID -19 days, with their service in our hospitals and other vital service areas.
So, hats off to all those who serve in this line of work—you need to know that because you are out the
Judy Heumann remembers the day she went to register for kindergarten in 1952. She’d gotten dressed up and her mother had pulled her wheelchair up a flight of stairs before the principal intervened. Her disability, he said, meant she was not allowed to attend the school. Heumann had polio as a child, and it left her legs paralyzed and limited her use of her hands and arms. Throughout her time in the educational system, and after she graduated and became a teacher and activist, she had to fight for access at every turn.
“It’s totally different today,” she says. That’s thanks in large part to the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the civil rights legislation that was signed 30 years ago this month, on July 26, 1990. Under that transformative law, schools and workplaces are now required to have ramps, elevators, designated parking spots and curb cuts, and to provide accommodations for people with a range of disabilities, including those who are blind or deaf.
Taking inspiration and legal concepts from the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the ADA was designed to protect people with disabilities against discrimination and to ensure that they can participate fully in employment, state and local government services, public accommodations, transportation and telecommunications. The results today are powerful: most public buses have lifts for wheelchairs; disabled children attend school alongside their nondisabled peers; and employers are generally aware that people with disabilities have civil rights they cannot violate.
But if the 61 million Americans with disabilities are now less likely to confront the same problems that Heumann did decades ago, their fight for true equality is far from over. “The ADA is ultimately a promise that has been tremendously impactful in some areas and has yet to be fulfilled in other areas,” says Ari Ne’eman, a senior research associate at the Harvard Law School Project on Disability and the co-founder of the Autistic Self Advocacy Network. Read More Here
A pedophilic circus performer. A comedic womanizer. A killer.
These were just a few of the roles that Danny Woodburn was offered when he began auditioning for film and TV roles in the early 1990s. Woodburn, a self-described little person, quickly found that nearly every character he portrayed was “miserable,” broken or evil.
“The go-to, I think, for little people is to make them creepy or animalistic,” the actor and producer told HuffPost.
Even after landing a recurring role on “Seinfeld” and scoring gigs on shows including “Watchmen,” “Jane the Virgin” and “CSI,” Woodburn said he still came across casting opportunities that recycled tiresome tropes invoking pathos for “the sad little man.” Just a couple of years ago, casting agents tried to pitch him on a role in a Christmas special by saying he’d get the chance to kiss a famous performer. Read More Here
During this time of the pandemic, many functions and events have been forced to cancel or re-schedule for maybe another time. One of the most heartbreaking is the cancelling of graduation for all our students, robbing them of the chance to relish their achievements. And as sad as that is, every generation has been forced to endure some kind of interruption from events out of their control. This happened to my father in law when he was called up for WWII.
My son recently wrote about his own graduation which he had coupled with his grandfather, 50 years later.
Graduation Moments Deferred
Written by Tim Doherty Jr.
Graduates in the class of 2020 are missing out on one of the great rites of passage. Never in the past would we have thought the ability to stand on a stage in a gymnasium or on a football field filled with our peers and families would seem like such a privilege, but alas only in loss do we sometimes see the value of what we had. While the ceremony itself adds little to the educational accomplishments of the class, that ‘graduation moment’ somehow acknowledges, celebrates and completes the work of the student, allowing them to begin their next chapter.
While the pandemic is itself without precedent, its disruption to our important life events isn’t. I offer a story of a graduate who also didn’t cross that stage with his peers, but instead got a more personal opportunity to celebrate his accomplishments.
My grandfather, James Wilson, completed his engineering degree at Lehigh University in 1944. His Lehigh experience was one of a poor kid, commuting from a nearby town, during the tumultuous war years. Everything was focused on the war, even the academic year was altered to a trimester schedule to speed the process of minting graduates for the war effort.
In his last semester, he was selected for an assignment in the Merchant Marine, took his finals a few weeks early and shipped out before commencement ceremonies were held. Like so many who sacrificed greatly for the defense of our country, he never dwelled on missing graduation, but it was none-the-less a part of his story. His degree arrived in the mail in a cardboard tube.
Fifty plus years later, I began my own Lehigh education and grandpa got to observe a different version of ‘the college experience’. I lived in a dorm and enjoyed campus life, and grandpa was a frequent visitor and supporter. We enjoyed sharing Lehigh and although already close, were brought closer by this shared bond.
When it came time for me to graduate, I contacted the university president who agreed to the idea– grandpa should walk in commencement ceremonies with me. It took a little prodding from my grandmother to get him to agree because he didn’t want to take away from my graduation. But I can honestly say it was a far more special day because he participated. After my name was called and I walked across the stage, shook the hand of the University president and received my degree, I turned around just as the announcer read “James Francis Wilson.” Immediately, the whole arena roared with applause and the crowd gave the 75 year old graduate a standing ovation as grandpa finally had his ‘graduation moment’.
While it’s impossible to know what either my or my grandfathers graduations would have been like otherwise, the circumstances of his commencement deferred gave us a special opportunity to personalize our experience. I offer this story because it might be the case for the class of 2020 that your ‘graduation moment’, although deferred, is now yours to choose. Perhaps instead of video commencement or drive thru graduation, the best idea is to offer the class of 2020 the opportunity to participate in a future ceremony (hopefully not 50 years later), maybe with a sibling or at a particular reunion anniversary– whatever might make it even more meaningful to the individual. I hope the administration of schools and universities will give this some consideration, so that instead of the class of 2020 being the class who didn’t have a graduation, they’ll be the class who got to have their ‘graduation moment’ on their own terms.
These past months have been some very difficult ones, having to deal with this Covid-19 virus. Many of us have had to schedule work hours so that we would reduce the likelihood of personal interactions with others. We have reduced our general freedom to travel or visit, opting for staying home, or at least limiting the places that we go to. My day out seems to be our weekly visit to the grocery store, then back home. So, for me, work, home or grocery store, and that has been it.
For those who have been laid off, or who have had their work hours reduced, that has also reduced the amount of income they are now getting. For some of our tenants this is true. Yet we are constantly approached by outside agencies and groups who perceive the need, and then try to answer the call.
At Project Freedom we have been fortunate to have some local agencies provide food and other household goods for our tenants. The local organization called “Arm in Arm” has, on a regular basis, dropped off bags of groceries for our tenants. They have delivered to all of our Mercer County sites several times during this pandemic.
Another local agency, the Jewish Family & Children‘s Service (JFCS) has also brought food supplies to our Mercer County sites with their mobile Food Truck. They were referred to us by Board member, Bob Buda Jr. who helped us with their connection. We received a check for $1,500 from the local Princeton Corridor Rotary for tenant supplies and our local pizzeria, in conjunction with Nottingham Insurance Agency, Varsity Pizza also brought 42 pizzas, last Thursday, for our tenants at Lawrenceville.
These good works continue to happen as we make our way through this pandemic. Americans have always risen to the occasion when necessary, and we are seeing that today. That is why, through this column, I want to publicly thank Beth Englezos of the JFCS, David R. Fox of Arm in Arm and members of the Princeton Corridor Rotary for their support in these challenging times. And to small business owners, such as Kevin Murphy of Varsity Pizza and Jack and Greg Blair from Nottingham Insurance for their community support and their work for Project Freedom. We will survive this virus and come back stronger as a community and nation. So, for now, let’s just take care of one another.
Our nation celebrates its Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4th. We celebrate the idea that this nation wanted to be free from rules, regulations, and laws created without input from the Colonies. This year the celebration will be different for me.
We will try celebrate the concept that each person has equality in the eyes of the law even though we know that it is not reality for many. People are treated differently because of skin color, race, gender, gender identity, age, and, yes, disability.
I live with a disability, so I focus on those inequities in my writing. Nevertheless, the struggle for racial equality has never been far from my life. I lived in Philadelphia in 1962 at a school for kids with disabilities. The direct care staff was made of African-Americans, and I remember watching the Civil Rights struggle on the TV news with them. I remember their tears and their quiet anger. I remember trying to make sense of why black people were being beaten. It didn’t make sense to me.
The turbulent 60’s went by with all the racial, social, and political strife, and in the mid-70s I found myself at Long Island University riding an elevator with a schoolmate. The schoolmate was black, male, and in NYPD handcuffs. I knew him well since we served on the Dorm’s Council together. He was arrested by a white police officer for (I later learned) a minor charge. My schoolmate said something to me in greeting and was promptly shoved violently against the elevator wall by the officer.
I was shocked and angered. My schoolmate later returned to warn me not to say anything about the shoving. He said it would make his case more difficult. I agreed, but this incident opened my eyes to what “equality under the law” actually means.
As we celebrate Independence Day, we need to remember equality is not universally applied. We need to remember the sacrifices of those who have died for the concepts of independence, liberty, and freedom.
Sometimes they died without enjoying those lofty concepts. Sometimes they didn’t die but moved into my world to endure additional inequalities of a disability.
We must also remember that the fight is not over for many people. Expecting the promise of freedom to be obtained or kept without struggle and sacrifice is foolhardy. Our history teaches that participatory governance over oneself or one’s country means stepping up to participate and sacrifice. Individuals must take up the cause of freedom, work together, and battle for the promise to be kept. This is true now for many people with and without disabilities.
So, while we celebrate what happened 244 years ago, let us remember for many of us the struggle for freedom continues!
In times of disasters and national emergencies, individuals and organizations have always stepped in to fill the gaps in the response. The COVID-19 response has been no different with individuals making masks or going shopping for people who cannot get to the stores safely.
Community organizations serving Mercer County have stepped up to support the tenants of Project Freedom’s three legacy complexes, Robbinsville, Hamilton,, and Lawrence.
This support was exemplified by the Princeton Corridor Rotary Club. This long-time supporter of Project Freedom sponsored $1,500 of groceries for the tenants. In the past, this socially-minded club supported the acquisition of a generator for Robbinsville.
Meanwhile, Project Freedom tenants in Robbinsville, Hamilton, and Lawrence were lent a helping hand by the Jewish Family and Children’s Services (JFCS) of Greater Mercer County.
JFCS is a nonprofit community service agency with a mission to strengthens individuals and families by empowering people to care for themselves and others. Family Resources are available including an on-site health food pantry and a wide network of community partnerships.
The JFCS Mobile Food Pantry Truck began bringing the resources of the JFCS brick-and-mortar pantry to distribution sites in Mercer County since January. The 16-foot truck is a healthy-choice food pantry that for people with food security issues in Mercer County.
The pantry-on-wheels delivered bags of fresh food in Wegmans’ reusable shopping bags to tenants in Robbinsville and Hamilton. In the following weeks, the truck visited the Lawrence complexe as well.
Another community organization, Arm In Arm, also delivered food to Lawrence, Hamilton, and Robbinsville tenants on a regular basis. Formerly known as The Crisis Ministry, the organization founded in 1980 by leaders of Nassau Presbyterian Church and Trinity Church in Princeton to help community members who were struggling financially.
Today as Arm In Arm, 20 staff members and hundreds of volunteers welcome more than 4,000 families to its food pantries and other support services.
Norman A. Smith, Co-Founder Associate Executive Director
It is May! It is time for my annual rant as we near Hurricane Season.
It is time to focus on the looming hurricanes season and the predictions by the Colorado State University tropical study program. This year is no different—especially because we are in the tail end of the first wave of a pandemic.
Yes, I wrote “the first wave.” Historically, pandemics come in three waves, and the severity of those waves vary. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, has already stated that the next wave of COVID19 will hit this Fall and will be more severe.
Fall is also the peak of hurricane season, and the idea of a major hurricane crashing into to the US during another severe wave of COVID19 is frightening. But it needs to be anticipated and planned for with the lessons we have learned the past three months. We have already seen tornado rip through states this past month complicating the fight against COVID19.
As I write this, the American Red Cross is sheltering nearly 900 people in four states hit by tornados. Luckily, hotel rooms were available for a better sheltering option than public schools during this outbreak. Imagine Super Storm Sandy happening now or a major extended power outage.
So now is the time to prepare for both the second wave and foreseeable disasters as we look to opening back up again. If you realized that you should have done a specific task or tasks before the COVID19 shutdown, use that knowledge to prepare yourself better for the next wave and other potential disasters.
That prediction came true over five years ago with Hurricane/Super-Storm Sandy slamming into New Jersey. This year’s predictions by Colorado State University’s team, now his for a “slightly below” average season for 2019.
This is the 37th year that the hurricane research team at the Department of Atmospheric Science, Colorado State University has issued the Atlantic basin seasonal hurricane forecast. Dr. William Gray, Ph., launched the report in 1984 and continued to be an author on them until his death in 2016. He team is now headed by Dr. Philip J. Klotzbach.
Dr. Klotzbach’s team’s initial prediction is:
A total of 16 named storms with eight hurricanes and four of them becoming major hurricanes.
Last year’s prediction was 13 named storms, five becoming hurricanes, and two reaching the major threshold. Thus, the prediction for this year is for more storms with a greater potential of severity.
The actual number for the 2019 season was 18 named storms; three of these storms turned into hurricanes with two being “major” in power and scale. So they under-estimated the number of storms but overestimated their severity.
The prediction also estimates the probabilities of at least one major hurricane making landfall:
For the Entire U.S. coastline – 69% (Last year it was 48%)
For the U.S. East Coast including Peninsula Florida – 45% (28% last year)
With this year’s prediction in mind and remembering what we have just gone through, it is not too early to start thinking about severe weather and being prepared for it. The first step is being more aware of both the potential threat and the “emergent” or imminent threat. Here is what FEMA recommends that people with disabilities do to address that need.
By Abigail Abrams, 
Our nation celebrates its Declaration of Independence from Great Britain on July 4th. We celebrate the idea that this nation wanted to be free from rules, regulations, and laws created without input from the Colonies. This year the celebration will be different for me.
