19.5%. ~ our work we're not even hitting 20%, folk. that's a real problem. ~ folks that doesn't mean 80% of folks with disabilities aren't able to work. some people are, some people are unable to work. that's absolutely true. but in large part, that number is based on people, in one instance -- think about how we talk about this. when someone is disabled later, like in their career, we don't talk about someone developing a disability. we say, oh, he was out on disability. well, one of the failures in our system is that that sort of has become the expectation. if you are working and you become disabled, you go out on disability. just the language we use leaves the taste in one's mouth that there's no -- there's no expectation that you're going to come back. we know in independent living

that that's not necessarily how it has to be. we know in independent living disability management, reasonable accommodation in the workplace and assistive technology are thing that can be instituted that can keep people employed or back into the work force. so, we do a lot of work around economic empowerment and trying to get folks into jobs who actually, you know, they want to work. we would be lost without the support of people like you. so, as a reminder, if you want to make a $10 donation to the great work we do at independent living, 202 22 and if you text the word "access" that will make a $10 donation. ed roberts, and ed roberts, he's seen in many circles as the fa their of the independent living movement. what was unique about ed, he was student at cal u.c. berkeley. and when he was enrolled and was accepted, he he had the grades and so forth, but they

had no place to put ed. so, while you can live in the hospital room of u.c. berkeley, and ed said, okay. and ed hired other students to help him get through college. he created in his own little sphere of influence his own in-home support service system. he then took that model to the larger berkeley community when you graduated because ed realized the only home for me is a nursing home and that's not cool. ed use this had model while he he was at cal, hiring his own assistants starting the [speaker not understood]. it was largely started because of the thinking and vision of someone like ed. when ed was asked later in his life how -- what is independent

living, how do you define it? he he was very clear. he said, you can define independent living in three ways. are you ready? advocacy, advocacy, advocacy. and ed, ed really -- he had a point. a lot of what we're doing in our work at the independent living resource center is reacting and responding. for example, we're currently in the middle of a campaign regarding new cars on the bay area rapid transit system. bart has purchased a new fleet of cars. they are showing them off to the public. they have not yet been put on the train lines, and a lot of folks with disabilities, including myself and the organization that i work for, are trying to get bart to remove a pole that will be installed between every boarding door on every train on

all of the cars. we see this as a step backwards in the ability of folks who use power chairs, skooters, or who have mobility devices to be able to enter and exit the train easily with dignity without having to apologize for bumping people or hitting knees. it is a whole lot of interest. we protested on wednesday. we'll be at west oakland part again today between 4:00 and 7:00, a press conference at 5:30. and we're asking bart to remove the poles. we know that that's going to cause a lot more havoc in the boarding and disembarking process from bart trains. bart -- bart seems to think that our needs need to be weighed against the needs of everyone and, you know, we're sort of in the middle of this wonderful process. if you agree that bart should

eliminate the pole in the boarding doors, one way that you could help us out is by coming out to the protest today at 4:00 in west oakland. another way is to let the board of directors know by e-mailing board of directors at bart.gov, and remind them that disability rights isn't an interest group. this is about civil rights. for my people, civil rights is being able to move freely in the environment. again, okay, i think this is number 3. again, if you want to help us in our efforts, one way that you can help is by making a $10 donation by texting the word "access" to 2022 2, that will make a $10 donation toward the center and the work we are trying to do. i'm excited because joanne asked me to speak about our upcoming move, and we are slated to move on july 11th. we will be having a grand

opening celebration on july 26th to coincide with the 24th anniversary of the ada. mark your calendar. any of you who donate $10 by texting the word access to 202 22 will get -- will get an invitation to our grand opening ceremony. let me tell you a little bit about the place. so, right now our current center is located on the third floor of an office building. we have an old rick it elevator from the '60s. it used to have carpet on the walls. they've taken the carpet on the walls off, ~ but it's not really a whole lot better. for the community work that we are trying to do, especially our support groups that we run or vets, for youth, for people with traumatic brain injuries, it's not -- we're not rolling out our welcoming mat by asking people to trundle l up in this

rickety old elevator. over the process of 21 months the board and i have explored different options in san francisco, and we are now currently under construction at a space located at 8 25 howard street between fourth and fifth. this space has a lot of promise for the organization. we are under a 20-year lease and we're very excited because the new space not only has plenty of offices for us to conduct the programs that we're so well known for, but it also has a very large 900-square foot conference center which we're going to be using for our community work and we're also making it available to community groups that want to hold meetings there. we have a really wonderful partnership in this, in this building process with shiller elevator company. they have donated a significant amount of our hardware, security systems, and have made

some very nice large cash contributions. again, if you want to make a cash contribution, 202 22, the word access, and that will send $10 to the agency. so, i'm just doing my job. we are really excited that this new location is going to be able to help the center take our game to the next level. we have more requests for peer-based support, especially from veterans, especially from women, folk who are survivors of gun injury. and we just don't have the space. so, the construction is in process. we move out july 11th. we still need as much money as folk are willing to help us out with from private donors. and we're really excited. i am really honored to have been able to share what we're

up to at independent living with you all. we're a community center and i really feel that our new location is going to allow us to -- we're often the first stop for people who become disabled. and we need to be able to open our doors in a way that is welcoming, empowering, and enforces our message, which is not that people with disabilities are brave. which is not that people go out on disability. our message is that people with disabilities have the right to be social and economic partners in our families in a fully accessible community. and i believe together we can get there. i'm happy to answer questions, but that's all i have to say. >> thank you, thank you. councilmember roland wong. >> hi, jessie. >> hi, roland.

>> thank you for coming out to do the presentation. just want to kind of extend some of the points that you brought up about the future of bart trains. yes, it is a big concern about the pole and navigating through the train is i guess pretty challenging. i was with at the preview yesterday and i really had to focus of trying to navigate through the wheelchair securement area. so, we'll have to continue to discuss this issue. and just to kind of extend some more outreach regarding the preview, those who couldn't make it out to the other areas

of the bart system, san francisco civic center, they're going to have another preview on april 25th between the time that is 11 o'clock to 7:00 at the civic center plaza i guess by fulton street. there's another preview on april 29th between 2:00 and 7:00 p.m., and this one is supposed to focus on -- for people with disabilitieses and seniors. so, i would encourage people ~ to try to go out to visit these sites, to visit -- to see the [speaker not understood] and to provide feedback. and the second thing i'd like to talk about, besides all the

services that irlc provides, we also provide a social thing. i'm the community activity coordinator for the agency, and i coordinate free events around the bay area. so, the latest things is baseball games. so, anybody likes to sign up or at least inquire about events, please contact me. my contact information is on the table, [speaker not understood], i can't say my direction. anyway, why don't you give me a call and, you know, and i can certainly add you to the list. thank you very much. >> the bart issue is a really big deal. i'm not sure if that was

something [speaker not understood] can take a position on given there are many bart stations in san francisco. but every person who i've experienced with has come to take a look at it who uses a wheelchair, everyone has walked away saying the same thing. wow, i knew that there was a problem because everyone was upset about it. i had no idea how bad it was until i actually tried to use it using my wheelchair. so, we've got to keep up the fight and we've got to let bart know this is important to us. >> okay. roland, do you mind if i give out your phone number and website address to the audience? >> yeah, [speaker not understood]. thank you. >> so, roland's phone number at work is area code 415-54 3-62 22 ~. you can e-mail him at roland,

r-o-l-a-n-d at ilrc-sf.org. and the organization's website address is www.ilrc-sf.org. and if you want events, you just add back slash events to that address and you'll get to the events page. >> thank you. >> you're welcome. are there any other councilmember questions for ms. lorenz? staff? >> through the chair, carla johnson. jessie, i just wanted to thank you for coming today to speak to the council and for letting us know not only about the good work that you've always been doing, but also about some of the things that are coming up in the future. and certainly the bart action is a very important thing that we want everybody to know about so that they can put in their

comment and hopefully change the direction that train is running. >> um-hm. thanks, carla. >> okay, thank you very much. >> thank you. i appreciate the opportunity. >> you're welcome. i have public comments on this item. jerry grace. thank you, jessie. you did a great job. i know you a long time. but anyway, i think, jessie, you forgot one small thing, about may 21st. it's at the metro rally march coming up. 3:00 or 4 o'clock in the afternoon. if you get in touch with jessie, people want to go, get on the bus and get down to central metro to our rally and

we'll give you lunch and we'll go up there to talk to people up there in the capital and talk to them what they want to know, what's going on in your life and what's going on in your life. and please talk to jessie -- excuse me. [speaker not understood] i will be there and people don't know who i am, i'm jerry grace. another thing. about you left out the www.bart.org. again, www.bart.org. that way you can get in touch

with anna, somebody i know at bart. thank you. >> any other public comment? yes. ♪ how will you make it on your own the city is awfully big and, girl, your city so all alone well, you got the skills to make it you got the chance, go out and take it love is all around no need to waste it and i know that you're gonna wake up you might just make it after all oh, city hall you might just make it after all city hall ♪ (applause)

>> okay. hello, my name is larry juicy edmonds, and i would like to say to lrc i hope that maybe we can advertise in the central city newspaper because this -- i know the work they've done and i love what she talked. i feel there is someone who [speaker not understood]. you felt wonderful with this young lady speaking on our behalf. but i think many of us in s-r-os, we don't know it exists. it would be so great if we could have them put in a community calendar, too, in san francisco. and my other thing is because a lot of us go through a lot of different [speaker not understood] being disabled. we don't have a right that we're victims. i think this would be another great agency to work -- people were talking about how people were taking people with disability's money.

they were getting sign up for people to leave you alone. property managers, sometimes they don't really -- we put a note to our tenants, s-r-o tenants, somebody go to case manager. case manager sometimes has to be able to do their job. i think being a person with disabilities, that we really should have more visibility and make the country better and with the speech from the president. "the road ahead will be long. our climb will be steep. we may not get there in one year or even in one term. but, america, i have never been more hopeful than i have tonight that we will get there. i promise you, we as a people will get there." [speaker not understood] keep it with me because [speaker not understood] at church. he told us about [speaker not understood] that's why they're together. "we cannot have a thriving wall

street while main street suffers." he you'll like all of these. ~ "i may not have won your vote tonight, but i hear your voices." >> thank you very much. thank you very much. so, we want disability council to be like our president. we want the mayor's office of disability to really be for people who have disabilities in the city. like i say, the independent resource center, i understand you're going to be moving soon. we can get closer so i hope to see in the future more access to irlc with the mayor's office of disability supporting us all in this great city of san francisco where we know we can, we found a cure to aids. [speaker not understood]. we can do this for the small amount of people who still resides in san francisco. thank you.

took my three minutes. >> and we are now taking a 10-minute break. >>please stand by; meeting in recess

>> we're on item number 5 on the agenda.