We Cannot Be Silent: Protect Housing, Protect Lives

 

I serve on the Board of the U.S. International Council on Disabilities (USICD), and I have spent my career advancing policies that allow people with disabilities to live in and contribute to their communities.

Those of us in the disability community know this: we must frequently and forcefully oppose cuts to federal programs that promote community inclusion. These programs are not optional. They are the difference between stability and crisis, between independence and institutionalization, between life and death.

One such program now under threat is Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA).

The President’s budget proposes to zero out the $529 million HOPWA program, suggesting that people could instead rely on the Emergency Solutions Grant (ESG) program. That substitution is misguided—and dangerous.

HOPWA is not simply an emergency response. It is a long-term housing stabilization program. It provides not only housing, but also access to essential supports—mental health services, career assistance, and transportation. These are the very services that allow people to regain stability and move forward with their lives.

Because of HOPWA’s success, low-income people living with HIV are able to secure stable housing, manage their health, and live independently. The program has strong bipartisan support and a proven track record. Last year alone, HOPWA helped house 55,000 families across the United States.

Let’s be clear about what is at stake.

HIV, if untreated, remains a communicable, incurable chronic condition that affects the immune system for life. As people age with HIV—most are now over 50—complications increase, and care must be comprehensive and continuous. Housing is foundational to that care.

HOPWA does more than provide shelter. It prevents homelessness, supports families, and ensures that thousands of children have a stable place to live each year.

And the outcomes are measurable.

For people living with HIV, stable housing is associated with a 20% greater likelihood of achieving viral suppression. When individuals are virally suppressed, they cannot transmit HIV to others. That means healthier individuals, stronger communities, and real progress toward ending the epidemic.

This is what effective federal policy looks like: targeted, proven, and humane.

As the Rev. Lauren Banks, Executive Director of the National HIV/AIDS Housing Coalition, put it:

“We call on Congress to continue supporting the HOPWA program and fund it at $600 million in FY27 so we can continue to end homelessness and HIV simultaneously.”

We should listen.

Eliminating HOPWA would not save money in any meaningful way—it would simply shift costs elsewhere, increase homelessness, worsen health outcomes, and undermine decades of bipartisan progress.

We have seen this pattern before. When critical supports are cut, the consequences are immediate and severe—especially for those already at risk.

The disability community understands that community living depends on sustained, thoughtful investment. HOPWA embodies that principle.

Congress must act.

Protect HOPWA.

Strengthen it.

Fund it at $600 million.

Because housing is not just a program line item—it is the foundation for health, dignity, and full participation in society. We should speak now.

Thank you.

Common Grounder

What Happened to the Women’s Museum Legislation in the House Is a Lesson for Us



I sent to the Times, but they did not take it. I hope those who read here will share it. I am chair of the Friends of the National Museum of Disability History and Culture. 

 

The reported move by House Republicans to prohibit the inclusion of transgender history in the American Women’s History Museum is not simply misguided—it is a deliberate act of erasure with far-reaching and dangerous consequences. See HR 1329 reported out of the House Committee on Administration, authorization of the American Women’s History Museum Act.

At its core, this effort asserts that certain people’s stories are unworthy of being told because acknowledging them would affirm their existence. It is an attempt to legislate invisibility—to decide, by political decree, who counts as part of our shared human story and who does not.

This is not about curation. It is about exclusion.

If allowed to stand, this action sets a chilling precedent: that any group can be written out of history if those in power find their existence inconvenient or ideologically uncomfortable. Today it is transgender people. Tomorrow it could be people with disabilities, racial minorities, immigrants, or anyone whose lived experience challenges a preferred narrative.

The consequences are profound:

• Institutionalized erasure: Museums—our nation’s memory keepers—would become tools of political filtering rather than truth-telling.
• Legitimization of discrimination: Denying a group’s history reinforces the false notion that they do not belong, fueling stigma, harassment, and violence.
• Educational distortion: Future generations will inherit an incomplete and manipulated understanding of society, weakening critical thinking and civic integrity.
• Policy spillover: Once exclusion is normalized in cultural institutions, it becomes easier to justify exclusion in law, healthcare, education, and employment.
• Erosion of democratic values: A government that dictates whose history is “acceptable” undermines the very principles of pluralism and freedom it claims to defend.

This proposal also ignores a simple truth: transgender people have always existed, have always contributed, and have always been part of the broader fabric of women’s history and human history. Their stories are intertwined with movements for equality, creativity, resilience, and social progress.

History is not a tool for ideological comfort. It is a record of reality.

We cannot allow public institutions to become instruments of selective memory. Silence, in this moment, is not neutrality—it is complicity.

We must respond with urgency and clarity:

• Flood congressional offices with calls and written objections.
• Demand media scrutiny that exposes the absurdity and danger of this effort.
• Stand in solidarity with those whose histories are being targeted for erasure.

Because once we accept that some people can be written out of history, we accept that some people can be written out of our society.

And that is a line we cannot afford to cross. Being silent makes us complicit.

 

 

USICD Fund Raising Gala

It’s that time of year again—the U.S. International Council on Disabilities Annual Gala, our one essential fundraiser. This year’s event is virtual, making it accessible to all.

December 3, 2025 • 6:30–8:00 PM

Tickets at: 2025USICDGala.eventbrite.com.

Like every nonprofit, USICD is navigating challenging times. But our mission—advancing global disability rights, strengthening international partnerships, and ensuring immigrants with disabilities have a voice—makes our work especially vulnerable to shrinking federal aid and rising political pressure.

This year’s gala is critical to sustaining that work. Disability rights are under siege, and organizations like ours cannot continue without collective support. Your ticket matters. Truly.

Your support helps us:

• Equip local leaders to expand disability rights in their communities.
• Shape inclusive economic development strategies.
• Build practical solutions to reduce poverty among disabled people—especially women and girls.
• Educate policymakers so disability perspectives are represented at every decision-making table.

If you stand with us —

• Hope will be renewed.
• Thoughtful action will replace rhetoric.
• Facts will drive progress, not deepen disparities.
• A new generation of young leaders with disabilities will rise.

Please help us keep this work alive.

One ticket is not just support—it is a statement of belief in a more just, inclusive world.

Visit USICD.org to learn about this year’s great honorees — trailblazers with creativity and passion. Things we need to celebrate this year more than ever.

Thank you, https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/5654100548468406256/2894400594685848680

Common Grounder

Inter-Connectivity

 I am overjoyed that both the House and Senate Appropriations bills are set to continue funding for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs). They are a vital cog in the wheel of collaboration among State DD Councils, State Protection and Advocacy Agencies and Universities  Each has distinct and complementary functions resulting in collaboration-driven products — training, newsletters, projects, webpages and more. 

The degree of this collaboration is high. It is especially high when quality of life, employment, health, early intervention, or cultural diversity are the focus. 

I urge everyone to visit AUCD.org to learn more about UCEDDs. That site can direct you to individual university websites. I was particularly impressed by the Minnesota and Mississippi UCEDD websites where they highlight their within state collaboration. 

In the current political climate we need to identify, celebrate, and promote collaboration. Through collaboration comes renewed strength and power to make every community in America more inclusive of individuals with disabilities. 

Thank you. 

Common Grounder

Can Politicians Afford to Ignore a Voting Bloc of 60 Million

Today is the 35th anniversary of the ADA and I have a question — Can Politicians Afford to Ignore a Voting Bloc of 60 Million? Sixty million Americans live with disabilities -- a nation within a nation. Add in their parents, siblings, friends, and advocates. You’re looking at a voting bloc that touches well over half the country.

So, no — the smart money says you absolutely cannot write them off.

Many in power are acting like this community isn’t paying attention. That’s a mistake. They see what is in that “big beautiful” bill that recently became law. Cuts to Medicaid. The rollback of student loan forgiveness. Shrinking Pell grants. Financial burdens shifted from the federal government to states. The gutting of federal agencies. This gutting affects nonprofits doing work here and abroad in the areas of disability rights and community accessibility. So, yes, this 60+ million bloc of voters cares.

This voting bloc is a true reflection of America: red states and blue. MAGA and not. Immigrant and native-born. Wealthy, working-class, poor. Religious, secular. Straight or something else, every race, every identity. Republicans. Democrats. Independents. As well as military families and disabled veterans.

This voting bloc looks like everybody.

Here’s a warning to those in elected office and those who want to be: Wake up. Wise up. You have a choice. You can support and restore the programs and policies that matter to voters with disabilities — or you can pretend they don’t matter and face the consequences at the ballot box. 

Thank you. 

Common Grounder

Divide and Conquer: A Risky Strategy in Disability Funding

In its proposed FY 2026 budget, the Trump Administration has quietly but significantly shifted funding for University Centers for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities (UCEDDs) to the Independent Living Services program. On paper, this may seem like streamlining — but in practice, it’s a potential recipe for administrative chaos and long-term harm to people with disabilities.

Here’s the issue: UCEDDs are funded under the Developmental Disabilities Act, while the Independent Living Services program and the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program fall under the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. The Trump Administration’s proposal would move funds authorized under one law into a program governed by a completely different statute. Whether that’s even legal is questionable.

More importantly, it’s bad policy.

If this proposal goes through, funds that currently support university-based research and training programs — programs that train professionals, evaluate what works, and build evidence-based practices — would be controlled by state VR agencies. These agencies have no obligation to fund UCEDDs or their work. The money would likely flow directly to Centers for Independent Living (CILs), which provide vital services but are not structured to do research or professional training.

CILs do important work: they help people with disabilities develop the skills to live as independently as possible and connect them with needed services. But they’re not designed to evaluate best practices or train the next generation of disability professionals. Eliminating UCEDD funding could gut this essential infrastructure — and for what? A short-term funding bump for services, at the cost of long-term progress and sustainability.

There’s a better way.

Congress should preserve separate funding for UCEDDs and CILs. But it should also incentivize stronger collaboration between the two. Their missions are distinct but complementary. Universities generate evidence-based strategies and train practitioners. CILs apply those strategies on the ground, helping people put them into practice.

By keeping the two funding streams separate — while fostering partnerships — we can preserve what works and build something even stronger. The Trump proposal, in contrast, would sow confusion, diminish outcomes, and take years to repair.

It’s time to tell Congress: don’t let a misguided budget maneuver undermine the disability infrastructure we’ve spent decades building. Keep UCEDD funding where it belongs — and strengthen collaboration instead of forcing consolidation.

The Big Beautiful Bill — Those Odd Effective Dates? Strategic Moves, Not Accidents

I usually focus on disability issues, but this post goes broader—because everyone should understand what just happened.

The President signed the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” into law on July 4, 2025. It’s massive—many provisions, each with its own effective date. Some start right away, others next year, and a few won’t kick in for several years. Some are permanent; others vanish in a few years. None of this is random.

These dates were chosen with strategy in mind—timed for maximum political impact.

For example:

• Need a car? There’s a juicy tax break on car loans—for first-time buyers or growing families—but only through December 31, 2028. After that? Gone.
• High earners (think $500K/year) get to deduct up to $40K in state and local taxes (SALT)—but only through 2030. After that, the ceiling drops back to $10K.
• Seniors get a special $6,000 deduction for 2026–2028. After that, poof.

See the pattern? Benefits aimed at groups politicians want to impress—especially before the 2026 midterms and the 2028 presidential election.

You don’t pay taxes on tips or overtime if you make under $150K—starting now through 2028. Perfect timing to win over working-class voters.

But it’s not all gain.

• Clean energy incentives? Slashed. The clean vehicle credit and the home energy upgrade credit were supposed to last till 2032. Now they’re axed early. Bad optics if you care about climate.
• College access? Tougher. Limits on student loans, tighter repayment plans, more demands on Pell Grant recipients. A strange move, considering MAGA families seek post secondary education too.
• And those new work requirements for Medicaid and SNAP? The feds have until late 2026 to finalize the rules. Expect a mess—and political fallout. 

This bill has a little something for everyone to love—or hate. But one thing is clear: it’s designed to shape voter behavior in 2026 and 2028.

No matter your political lean, do your homework. Pay attention to what’s really in the law—and don’t let candidates from either party sell you spin over substance

Thank you. 

Common Grounder