FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2024
ADAPT
Contact: Nicky Boyte
Tel: (910) 357-1292
Email: bellbusters@gmail.com
The Olmstead Decision established the constitutional right of all people to live in the least restrictive setting of their choosing and recognized that forcing people to live in nursing homes, institutions, and congregate living is a form of discriminatory segregation. Currently, there are 427 Nursing Facilities in North Carolina, with 36,148 residents waiting to transition into the community. This is unacceptable and unconstitutional. NATIONAL ADAPT demands immediate action to reconcile and resolve this ongoing violation of constitutional rights for people living in institutional settings.
Individuals not living in institutions regularly encounter monumental barriers to obtaining and maintaining affordable and accessible housing. In North Carolina, there are over 7,000 people on the waiting list to receive home and community-based services, and the wait list for rental assistance and Section 8 housing is 4-7 years. This is unacceptable.
National ADAPT demands:
1. Immediate investment in more permanent, affordable, accessible integrated housing!
2. Expansion of the availability of housing Vouchers for Disabled people transitioning from institutions to realize the promise of Olmstead and more accessible and visible information on how to access programs for housing vouchers and community-based services in all public human health service programs and materials.
3. Immediate investment from the State to allocate more money to fund housing and increased assistance for Disabled people applying for federal programs.
ADAPT is a national grass-roots community that organizes disability rights activists to engage in nonviolent direct action, including civil disobedience, to assure the civil and human rights of people with disabilities to live in freedom.
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