NLIHC, in partnership with the Association for the Preservation of Rural Independent Living (APRIL), World Institute on Disability, and Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies, hosted a May 26 webinar titled “Emergency Relocations and Non-Congregate Sheltering: Using Federal Disaster Recovery Resources to Save Lives.” More than 100 advocates attended this discussion on the inequitable stance that FEMA and many state and local governments have taken on the safety needs of congregate care community residents and the disability community during COVID-19.
The webinar began with moderator Dara Baldwin, NLIHC board member and director of national policy at the Center for Disability Rights, who addressed the history of how FEMA and local and state governments have failed to account for the needs of individuals with disabilities during natural disasters. Marcie Roth, executive director of the World Institute on Disability, spoke about the dangers of congregate care facilities during a pandemic and how FEMA requirements for public assistance funding prevent the use of these funds to ensure that individuals with disabilities can relocate.
Priya Penner of the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies described challenges faced by individuals with disabilities in accessing FEMA assistance during past disasters and spoke about the partnership’s work in Puerto Rico to assist local advocates in moving congregate care facility residents to safer housing. Justine “Justice” Shorter, disaster protection advisor at the National Disability Rights Network, spoke about the implications of lack of access to emergency relocation support on efforts to depopulate in jails and prisons. Shorter went on to state that disaster recovery programs must be better connected to community and individual level efforts to help medically vulnerable individuals during disasters.
Jodey Baney, director of programs and services at the Roads to Freedom Center for Independent Living of North Central Pennsylvania, described the center’s efforts to relocate residents of congregate care facilities during COVID-19 and the struggles to find funding for things such as transportation, food, personal assistance, and other services.
Watch a recording of the webinar at: https://youtu.be/23DCy7INaZE
Read a transcript of the webinar at: https://bit.ly/3hZyimy