The City of Portland’s Office of Equity and Human Rights, Portland Commission on Disability, and community partners invite the community to attend a celebration of the 25th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on Sunday, July 26th from 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The ADA 25 event will be held at Immigrant & Refugee Community Organization (IRCO) located at 10301 NE Glisan St. Portland, OR 97220. The ADA is a landmark civil rights law that prohibits discrimination against individuals with disabilities in all areas of public life.
The celebration’s theme is “Sharing Our Histories, Dreaming Our Future” and features storytellers who will share their personal experiences of living with disabilities. The storytelling project is made possible by an expanding cultural access grant from the Regional Arts & Culture Council. The storytelling portion of the celebration will give the audience and those unfamiliar with the disability community an array of voices and disabilities, and an opportunity to hear from individuals from varied cultural backgrounds.
The City of Portland’s Commission on Disability’s mission is to guide the city in ensuring that it is a more universally accessible city for all. Despite advances in the ADA, people with disabilities still face barriers to employment, housing, transportation and other basic needs. Portland Commission on Disability works to bring a cross-disability perspective to City policy development and decision-making.
Other details: City Council members will be present. Community organization-hosted tables will be on display. ASL and audio description will be provided. All video will be captioned. Universally accessible event. For questions on how to participate, volunteer, or sponsor, contact Phillip Hillaire, ADA 25 Event Coordinator, at 503-823-5146.
