Chamberlain/Bazelon: Overcoming Stigma Around Mental Health

Welcome to Disability Matters with your host Joyce Bender. All comments, views, and opinions expressed on the show are solely those of the host, guest, and callers. Now the host of Disability Matters, here's Joyce Bender.

Hi everyone and welcome to the show, to everyone in the United States and around the world. And before I talk about all my friends around the world, hey Yoshiko Dart, Special shout out to you. I never forget about you, Yoshiko, and I never forget about Justin. So about around the world, oh my goodness, we have like now over 17 countries with listeners from China to Australia. And you know what? I just want to thank you. Thank you. Thank you for listening to the show and help to support the show and most importantly, spreading the news about quality of life for people with disabilities, no matter what country they live in. And to my listeners in the United States, I want to thank you. I mean, you are such faithful listeners. Thank you so very much. And don't forget, if you listen to a show that you really like, Let's say you hear it on Spotify or some other social media. Make sure you share it with someone else. That's the way we've got to keep going to get our voices heard. So, Richard Roberts in Brazil, thank you so much for being with me and supporting me, and I look forward to seeing you. Gang-young in South Korea. Oh, Gang-young, you're such a great person. I thank you so much for your support. Cheryl Harris right at the State Department. Thank you, Cheryl, for all you have done to support me and Veniamin in Kazakhstan. I think about you frequently. So see everyone I just mentioned? They're all with the U.S. State Department. So keep in mind, you may not be thinking about this, but they're helping people with disabilities by sending me around the world to talk about employment. So, you know, kudos big time to the U.S. State Department. Well, we have one last person to thank, and that would be Highmark, who is our lead sponsor and has been. David Holmberg, CEO, I think the world of you. Um, thank you so much. So I'm excited about this show today, uh, for many reasons, one of which is that I'm on the board of directors and we have a fantastic organization. We have with us today Kathy Chamberlain, Deputy Director of Development and Special Projects for Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and Jill Bazelon. But that name's familiar. Jill, Jill is on the board and obviously a direct connection to the Bazelon Center. And thank you, welcome to the show, both of you.

Thank you so much for having us.

Okay, before we talk about Baselon, let me tell you, my listeners, I always get notes from them or calls, and they always talk about wanting to know more about my guests, especially, for example, people around the world. So, uh, Jill, it is an incredible honor to have you with us today in your current role. I know you work at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for Business as a senior Senior Associate Director for Student Engagement. I wonder if you would share with everyone, you know, your path, how you ended up doing what you're doing now for our listeners.

Yeah, absolutely. Thank you so much, Joyce Bender, for having me and for all of your work on behalf of mental rights, mental health rights. So yes, I work, I live here in Philadelphia close to my parents, Rick and Eileen. And I work at the University of Pennsylvania. I run student programming across the different finance centers of the Wharton School and actually work with local high school students and community members on innovative projects. And I got started in education. I did Teach for America out of college. And yeah, I would say that our family is really, has always been rooted in the ethic of public service and Yeah, I have been really just lucky to be able to do some of that work myself.

Yeah, and obviously you love finances. That's what you're doing. Is that the area you've always worked in, finance?

So, in terms— I've been working to provide financial literacy education to underserved communities. Yes, I've been working in that area for, yeah, over 10 years now.

Well, you know what? That is so great because it is so needed, especially as you mentioned, all the way to high school students and those marginalized. So kudos to you. That is wonderful that you're doing that. Uh, Judge David Bazelon, your grandfather, was the first appellate judge to work on civility for people with mental health disabilities. But he was also nationally recognized, nationally, as an advocate for people with mental health disabilities. And of course, it is now the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law. So why, why was he such an advocate? What caused him to go down this path?

Well, first of all, I would say it's really an honor that the center is named for him and continues to do such incredible work in his name. So I know he would be pleased. And I think, you know, he just really early on understood the importance of agency and advocating for, you know, for all people to be able to make choices around their treatment rather than mandating treatment. And, you know, I think when he first was writing about it and researching and litigating on the bench, I think, or deciding, looked at, in many cases, mental hospitals were more like prisons than treatment centers. And so really just unpacking what the rights of people are and what people deserve in terms of treatment and how they should be able to have a say in that treatment. So I think he was a real leader, a pioneer in that way. And, you know, really thinking about treatment in the community. So rather than removing people from their communities, how can we provide treatment in the communities where they live? Housing, treatment, you know, thinking about all the things that will make people successful rather than, you know, seeing them as, in a lot of ways, as criminals, or not understanding the behavior enough to err on the side of criminalization.

So in many ways, this mental health was his major advocacy, really. I mean, as a judge.

Yeah, it really turned— yes, it really, yes, became so, I think, a real focus for him.

Well, thank goodness. And I want to also thank you and your family for your ongoing support of the Bazelon Center. Jill, you and your parents, thank you so much. Um, Kathy, now how about you? What brought you to the Baselon Center? And by the way, I know Kathy, she is awesome. Uh, Kathy, what brought you to the Baselon Center? Um, and what, what is your role? What do you do?

Well, thanks for having me on your show, Joyce. Um, I came to the Bazelon Center about 7 years ago because I've spent the majority of my career in the mental health movement, and I just wanted to be part of this really impactful and well-regarded organization. I've learned that change takes a long time and requires patience and persistence, but the Bazelon Center has worked on long-term solutions for people with disabilities for over 50 years. We've made a lot of progress, but we have a long way to go. So, I remain thrilled to be part of this team working on systemic change and long-term solutions for people with mental disabilities. And the Bazelon Center is really special in the wide range of issues that it works on: healthcare and mental healthcare, housing, education, voting rights, access to services, criminal justice reform. The list goes on and on. But right now, I'm especially interested in our growing work in uplifting and advancing peer-led, community-based services. Which are programs led by people with lived experience for people with lived experience. So before I worked at Bazelon, I worked for an organization called the Social Innovation Fund that was at the Corporation for National and Community Service, where we oversaw a portfolio of public and private resources and identified growing and promising community-based solutions in nonprofits across the country. But after working there, I realized that my passion and my commitment was to the mental health movement. Working in social innovation is very abstract, and the mental health movement is so much more concrete and real. Before I worked at the Social Innovation Fund, I had worked at Mental Health America for almost a decade in doing public awareness campaigns and as their Director of Affiliate Services. So with all the knowledge I gained from working at the government and with my new master's degree in organizational development and knowledge management, I decided to bring my whole toolbox of new experiences and skills back to the mental health movement.

And the benefit of having—

yeah, but the benefit of having all these wonderful skills is that I get to be involved in a lot of different projects at the Bazelon Center, which keeps me super busy. Right now, my role is the Deputy Director of Development and Special Projects. I, so I work on a ton of different special projects, like broadly. I work on programs such as the webinar we just did last week with SAMHSA that outlined the need for peer-led alternatives to crisis response, and specifically as an alternative to criminal justice-involved responses. And just as a note, the webinar recording for that webinar is going to be posted on our website shortly. I also work on our gala and fundraising, where I work with board members like you and Jill. And then this summer, the work— projects I'm going to be working on and are excited about include onboarding and supervising our interns, working on the program for our Olmsted event in June, which we'll talk about later in the program. And helping with all of our fundraising events and campaigns. So that's me in a nutshell.

Well, that's a, that's a lot. That's a lot you crammed into a nutshell. Yeah, you really do do a lot for us, and I just want to say you're always so enthusiastic and positive, and we're all lucky to have you at the Baselon Center. I always wondered how You know, you got into mental health, so you really have done this for a long time.

Quite a while, yes. I started at Mental Health America in the early 2000s, so I've been around a bit.

Now, what made you do that? I mean, what caused you to go into mental health?

Um, actually, my husband. So when I met my husband, he was already working at Mental Health America. And when we were dating, um, because we were young and I had nothing else better to do, um, I would come along with him to happy hours and at dinners and conferences for Mental Health America. And I got to know the staff, I got to know the issues, and I really enjoyed being there. So And once a position opened up there, I was more than happy to work on their Campaign for America's Health because I got to work with 60 mental health associations across the country, helping them doing public awareness campaigns, doing— and also doing outreach and education on mental health issues. So, that was pretty exciting. And that's— And that's where I sort of caught the bug of mental health issues being a social justice movement. The CEO at that time was really passionate about parity and equity, and that passion was infectious. And it's all about ensuring that everyone has the opportunity, the services, the supports they need to be in the community to live a full life. And like, how can you not get excited about that?

I know. Well, I, I so glad that you are. That's for sure, that you have this level of excitement and enthusiasm. And she's always like this, by the way. Always, every, every time I see her, she's like this. So we're really lucky. You keep that, keep that in your— keep that, keep that going, Kathy. Keep that going for the Bazelon Center. So, Jill, the Bazelon Center on Mental Health Law, how— why do you feel it's so important?

Well, I would echo, you know, what Kathy said about the, you know, service, community services housing, employment, treatment in the community, and the peer program is obviously an amazing example of that. But I would say, I mean, when I think about the Bazelon Center, I just think about the amazing and laser-focused lawyers and staff who work there tirelessly advocating. I was just at the office last week, and it's just, it's really inspiring to see You know, just, it's a team full of people just like Cathy, same with the board, who are all just focused on parity and equity and living out this very important mission and, you know, just putting together the kind of legal strategy that's going to impact people and deepen their rights, the rights that they have.

Well, oh, and how important that is. And we're going to talk more about all of this when we come back from break. Hey, if you just joined us, we're talking to Jill Bazelon, the granddaughter of Judge David L. Bazelon, Judge David L. Bazelon, and Kathy Chamberlain, the Deputy Director of Development and Special Projects And Jill also is on our board and works with the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School for Business. We're gonna go to break. We'll be right back with Jill and Kathy. Don't go away.

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Ericbarger.com. You're listening to Disability Matters. If you have a question or comment, call in toll-free at 1-866-472-5788. That's 1-866-472-5788. Now, please welcome back the host of Disability Matters. Here's Joyce Bender.

Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the show. If you just joined us, We are talking about the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, and we have with us board member Jill Bazelon and the Deputy Director of Development and Special Projects at Bazelon, Kathy Chamberlain. So, uh, welcome back to the show. I gotta tell you something, I used to— oh, I'd be calling Jennifer about this constantly because it would be so annoying to me. But what do you think about the fact that the media, after a mass shooting, why is it that they constantly say, and the person had, I'm sure, in their words, mental illness, or we're sure that, you know, they had a psychiatric disability. Why is that? Why do you think that is, Kathy?

Well, I just want to reiterate that at the Baselon Center, we believe that people with mental illness are not an appropriate focus for gun violence prevention efforts. Because the evidence shows us that people with mental illness are responsible for a minuscule portion of all violence, like between 3% and 5%. In fact, people with mental illness are are far more likely to be victims rather than perpetrators of violence. A history of mental ill— health diagnosis or treatment isn't a predictor. To the extent that risk factors for violence can be predictive, they're factors such as being young, male, single, or a history of domestic violence or other violent crime. So we have to stop reflexively blaming people with mental illness for gun violence. Because doing so just promotes unfounded fear and prejudice against those with mental illness and does not offer any sort of meaningful solution to gun violence. We think that fixing the broken mental health system is an important priority as well, but it's not gonna stop gun violence and shouldn't be part of any sort of gun violence prevention effort. And rebuilding mental institutions that were closed or downsized decades ago, or building new hospitals and jail settings aren't— the way to fix mental health services. We know how to enable individuals with significant mental illness to succeed. We know that community-based services such as supportive housing, mobile crisis services, supported employment, and peer support services are extremely effective, less costly than emergency rooms, psychiatric hospitals, jails, and shelters on which our service system too often relies. But they're unavailable to thousands of people who need them. So getting people with serious mental illnesses the services they need is a critical goal, but it's not a solution to gun violence. And we emphasize that people with mental illness are the wrong focus for gun safety measures. So we have to do a lot of education in the media and elsewhere. It's just that stigma just sort of sticks. And so we're doing everything we can, and other organizations are doing everything we can to dispel these myths that just sort of stay in people's minds.

I know. And it is all the time. All the time. How about you, Jill? What do you think about that?

Yeah, so I mean, absolutely mass shootings are not a basis, you know, at all to stigmatize mentally ill people, which is what happens too often. And, you know, if you just think about it is really like what is that a distraction from? You know, I just always go back to the issue of guns, right? I mean, you know, there are many countries where, you know, there are populations of people with mental health disabilities where the violence is not the same, or the mass shootings and the carnage. And that is, you know, really an American problem. And I think we have to look at guns. As certainly as the primary issue.

Right. I, I agree with you completely. And, uh, to both of your point, you can be a person, um, that commits domestic violence and kill someone or kills your neighbors. This is a person that's just a bad person that did this. I mean, I love your point Jill, you go to different countries around the world, uh, Canada, different countries where, oh, the amount of people with guns percentage-wise is so low compared to the United States, and so is mass shootings. And yet they have a population of people with mental health disabilities. So what goes there? And you know, I have been working my life employment, trying to find employment for people with disabilities as the founder of Bender Consulting Services. You want to know what all this does? The stigma attached to this is just causing it to be harder for people with a mental health disability to gain employment. It's just setting it back further. It really is. Same thing with post-traumatic stress disorder. It is setting all of this back. The stigma is horrific. Do you know what I mean, Cathy?

Yes. Yes, I do. I also think we have to sort of reckon with there are just so many stressors in America right now. That, you know, we blame mental illness for a lot of the day-to-day stress of just being in America right now. There's the economy, there's family stressors, there's job stress, there's so much. There are other— there are other factors that go into whether someone decides to take a gun and shoot someone. And, but for us to reflexively go to mental illness for that reason just dissuades us from looking at all of the true root causes for this to happen. So focusing on mental illness in terms of gun violence is just a distraction. It is like distracting us from the root causes. Of what's actually going on in our country.

Oh, so true. You know, just add to that inflation, what's going on with politics and the polarization, you know, on both ends and just seeing all of this happen. The banks, what happened with the banks closing, it just adds so much stress to people. And from that stress, things happen. How about you, Jill? What do you think? Yeah, absolutely. About the stigma. I'm sure your father fought against this a lot, stigma. And here we go. It's kind of, you know, we're just throwing fuel to the fire whenever, right away.

I mean, I can't believe it. Right, exactly.

On the news right away.

Yes. And it is always this, yes, the scapegoating of, you know, underrepresented communities or communities who may not be able to fight back in the same way. Yes, it is, I think, evidence of a recurring pattern. And, again, evidence of the importance of places like the Bazelon Center that are, as Kathy did, you know, using data to help people understand and to clear up misinformation.

Yeah. And you know what, Kathy, do we have any information on this on our website, or, you know, anywhere that people could go read more, get more data?

Yes. We have a publication called Ron Foscus: Mental Health in the Gun Safety Debate that is currently on our website. So if you were to go to www.battlone.org and search under gun safety, that publication will pull up and will give you all of the facts and data that you, you can use to sort of refute the misinformation.

Well, that's good. That's great. Well, right now on the half hour, it's time for our news report with Perry Jude Radesik. Perry, are you with us?

Joyce, I am, and what a terrific show today.

Thank you for doing the show.

Oh, I know, isn't it great? Yes, and Perry is the CEO of Disability Rights Pennsylvania, a nationally recognized disability rights leader, and my newscaster. That's what's the most important. So, uh, Perry, what do you have for us today?

Joyce Bender?

Joyce— today we're going to talk about the National Council on Disability. The National Council on Disability is having a meeting. It's their quarterly meeting this Thursday, May 4th from 12:00 to 4:00 PM. Now, the National Council on Disability meetings take place over Zoom so any disability advocate can join the meeting using Zoom or the telephone number and passcode that is associated with the Zoom link. Zoom meeting. Now, registration isn't required to attend the meeting, but the National Council on Disability does like to know who's coming to their meeting, so registration is encouraged. NCD always has American Sign Language and communication access in real time, that's CART. They've both been arranged for the meeting. So, if you need ASL and CART, they'll be there at this meeting. Um, it just as a reminder, the National Council on Disability is an independent federal agency that advises federal agencies, Congress, and the president on issues impacting people with disability. We were so excited last year because President Biden appointed a Pennsylvania right here from Harrisburg, Theo Brady, to the Council. He's been the Executive Director of the Central Pennsylvania Center for Independent Living for over 30 years, and now Theo is the new director, Executive Director, at the National Council for Independent Living. So we're so happy we have a Pennsylvanian on the National Council on Disabilities. If you want to know more about the quarterly meeting, you can get that full agenda by going to disabilityrightsPA.org. That's disabilityrightsPA.org. Click on today's Advocacy Matters segment. I will tell you, I've looked at the agenda. It looks terrific. It's gonna have a staff report, policy briefings, and more importantly, they're gonna talk about a new report they're going to release on the impact of extreme weather events on people with disabilities. I certainly want to hear more about the upcoming report from the National Council on Disability. There's always an opportunity for public comment. And in fact, to do that, you got to do it by tomorrow, Wednesday, May 3rd. You send an email. I've got the email in our Advocacy Matters segment. It's publiccomment@ncd.gov. And you type in public comment in the subject line, and you can tell them anything you want about living with a disability or about a business or provider. Anyone can comment to the National Council on Disability. So advocacy matters. We say that every week, and so does the National Council on Disability. Check out their quarterly meeting this Thursday. To learn more about this very important topic of extreme weather events on people with disabilities, go to disabilityrightspa.org for a link to the meeting this Thursday and for the exact way you can go ahead and submit your public comment.

Thanks, Perry. You know what I always say, if you're going to sit around and talk about what you want to hear, you know, what you think is important. You've got to get involved. So, you know, please go to disabilityrightspa.org, read about this, and make a comment. Did you say tomorrow's the last day, Perry, for public comment?

It is, uh, absolutely. So if you want to make a comment about anything you're experiencing as a person with the disability, please, uh, let the National Council on Disability know about that.

All right. Hey, Perry, thank you so much. We'll look forward to the news next week.

Thanks, Joyce Bender. Take care.

You know, this is our 20th anniversary of the radio show, and do you know we're the only one, uh, Kathy and Jill, that have these weekly news for everyone about disability. I just think that's so awesome.

Yes, it does.

Congratulations. Yeah, thank you. Well, okay, get ready. One of our favorite topics, the upcoming gay law. So important. Hey, and remember everyone, I'm on the board And I am like real involved in the fundraising. So this is very important. Pay attention. Okay, Kathy, take it away.

Yes, and thank you for all of your help with this event, Joyce Bender. We're so thankful for your involvement in it. So this year we're going to continue our celebration of the Battlin Center's 50th anniversary with the launch of our next 50 years. So we're going to be hosting our reception in person this year on Thursday, October 12th at the showroom in Washington, D.C., which is downtown D.C. at 14th and L Street Northwest. So we're really looking forward to reconnecting with all of our friends and supporters who are committed to the Baselon Center's mission. And since our virtual events have been so successful with thousands of people joining from all over the world, we're going to livestream the awards event again this year as well. Because we are a disability rights organization, we want to maintain the value of ensuring that all our events are as accessible to as many people as possible, and we always have ASL captioning and audio description available. So, our yearly event recognizes and celebrates both emerging and experienced leaders in social justice, law, disability rights, mental health, and more. And in recent years, we've had special guests that included Senator Bob Casey, Representative Katie Porter, John Legend, Bryan Stevenson, Judy Woodruff, the Honorable Toni Coelho, Jonathan Capehart, the late Judy Heumann, Lynda Carter, Stacey Abrams. Just amazing, amazing, amazing people. So, we're going to have more details available about this year's event soon, so please save the day on your calendar, the evening of Thursday, October 12th, 2023, and be on the lookout for more information in our monthly newsletters, our social media, and our website at www.bazelon— B-A-Z-E-L-O-N—

.org.

And if you have any questions or interested in sponsorship opportunities, please contact us at the email address communications— communication with an S— at basilone.org.

I'll tell you what, wow, you really went over a lot of things, some of which I'm just going to repeat what you already said. But here's one: make a donation. So how do they do that again, Kathy? They go to the website and what?

Go to the website. There is at the top of the page a button that says donate. Click donate and any amount of support is greatly appreciated. We have an amazing staff of lawyers and our CEO and our Director of Engagement all We're working many hours on lots of different issues, and your support really helps us be able to continue to do the work and have the impact that we have had for the past 50 years and that we want to have for 50 years more. So we really, really would appreciate your support.

Yeah, and you know what else I love? I love that you go in person but it's also a hybrid. It's also virtual. So if you're listening right now, it doesn't matter where you are, including in the world, you can make a contribution. And I think— doesn't this stay on for a while, or it's on demand or something? I mean, it doesn't shut down right at 9:30 or something, am I right? Virtually, I mean.

Correct. We keep a copy of— we keep the stream of it on our website even after the event. So even if you aren't able to join us that particular evening, evening, you can come back and join us whenever you like. But we really do make it a value to make the event as accessible as possible. So anyone from anywhere can join and participate.

All right, make sure you do. Well, Jill and Kathy, both of you have already done so much, accomplished so much in your life, but what would you consider your greatest accomplishment in your career? Jill, we'll start with you.

Absolutely. But before I answer that, I just want to go back to the gala for one second because I just want to quickly say that absolutely we're excited about the hybrid model and we gained so much, but I just want to say how excited I am to be back in person this year. It has been a few years. And these events historically, in addition to raising the needed funds to continue the work of the Center, is a way for people to come together who all share this passion and advocacy. So, it is a great networking event. It is a happy hour event, not a sit-down dinner. So, you could always hop onto another event afterwards. It is not a huge time commitment, but a great way to reconnect and build a community. So, we are absolutely so excited for the event in person or online. So, I just wanted to add that. Oh, please add that. And I have just great memories of this event over time. So, really excited about, you know, reconnecting with all the people who have been involved for so long, and as well as our new advocates. So, yes, sorry. So, I just wanted to quickly interject that because it is exciting for us.

Oh, no, no, no, I apologize. See, we're all so excited. We're all so excited about the gala. We can't stop talking about it. And the in-person is so awesome. It is, you know, it's been a long time. So that's a wonderful thing. But still, if you can't go to D.C., you can be on virtual. I just want to say one other thing. Holly O'Donnell is awesome. She is our CEO, and I want to tell you, she does so much for the Baselon Center. So, and she is, I think, in flight right now. That's why she's not with us. Same thing with Eve Hill. She was going to join us, the chair, but she got called into a meeting that she would not be able to excuse herself from. But I just wanted to mention Holly because Holly does so much. So, back to my question, Kathy, what would you consider your greatest accomplishment in your career?

Huh, well, I've had kind of a longish career, so I think I'll just sort of nail it down to, like, my time at the Baselon Center because for me, after 7 years, I think my greatest accomplishments here are 3 things. I can bring up 3 things. One is that being able to elevate our advocacy through communications. So, I've spent a lot of time working with our lawyers and our engagement to modernize and improve our communications. And just yesterday, I was looking— working with our legal director and one of our lawyers on our newsletter that goes out at the start of each month. And has thousands of subscribers. So, if you want to stay informed about the important accomplishments of the Bazelon Center, go to our website at www.bazelon.org, and at the top of the webpage, just hit "Join" and sign up for our newsletter. Yeah, make sure you—

I'm sorry.

Go ahead. Oh, no, no.

Oh.

No, no.

Go ahead. Well, I just— well, secondly is growing our 2 main public-facing events, of which one is the gala, which we are super excited about this October. But also each year in late June or early July, we celebrate the anniversary of the 1999 landmark Supreme Court decision Olmsted v. Lois Curtis. And at that event, we bring together legal and mental health experts and people with lived experience and advocates for a 2-hour forum on a topic related to Olmstead. So, for people who may not have heard about Olmstead, this decision found that the Americans with Disabilities Act rule requires that people with disabilities be served in the most integrated setting consistent with their needs. So, over the last decade, the Bazelon Center has worked to expand the reach of Olmstead to address not only unnecessary institutionalization in public facilities,, but also to remedy segregation in nursing homes, boarding care homes, schools and classrooms, shelter workshops, and other day services. Our Olmstead agreements have provided thousands of individuals with opportunities to move out of segregated dead-end facilities and to live full lives in the communities. And we're working on the date for this event for this year, and we want you to check our website for updates because we're going to be releasing that also pretty soon. But my biggest accomplishment over my time at the Bazelon Center has to be helping make sure that after 50 years, the Bazelon Center has not just been able to grow, but to thrive and remain a relevant force in the future. And this has been the long, hard work of everybody at the Bazelon Center, from our CEO, Holly O'Donnell, to our amazingly smart, sharp lawyers, to our incredibly motivated and supportive Board of Trustees over the past 7 years. And I am so incredibly proud to be able to say that I am part of that story. So those, those are my main, main accomplishments thus far, and I'm looking forward to seeing what happens in the future.

Wow, that's great. That's wonderful. Well, how about you, Jill?

Yeah, so amazing to hear about all you've done, Cathy. I love my job at the Wharton School of Business. I feel lucky to be able to leverage all the talent and resources and intellect, involve graduate students, undergraduate students, local high school students in really exciting projects. So, and my son is actually attending University of Pennsylvania, will be attending in the fall. So, super excited about that. I consider that a great accomplishment. But I would just also say this is my, I haven't been on the board for too long. My tenure is just starting. I'm replacing actually my sister who was on the board and serving with my mother. But I would say that being part of this organization, learning more about the work, and being able to serve as chair of the fundraising committee to make this event a success and to make our fundraising and our ability to expand our resources successful is a real focus of mine., and just really, um, so happy to be able to be part of this show and to be part of this effort. And yeah, thank you again, Joyce, for having us and, uh, elevating the event and our voices.

Absolutely. It's so important to me and to all people with disabilities. Well, right now, hey, it's time for What's Going On at Bender, and Sherri Lapaya is going to give us an update. Sherri, are you with us?

Yes, hi, thank you, Joyce.

You're welcome, Sherri.

All right, so first, Joyce, I just want to say congratulations on 20 years of Disability Matters. What an amazing achievement.

Thank you so much. Yep, and it's my listeners out there that made all this happen, but thank you, Sherri.

I'd also like to just take a moment to thank the Bazelon Center and our guests today for their work toward creating a more just and equitable world. You know, as a person living with panic attacks, I understand firsthand how important this work is in breaking down stigma and supporting the rights of our community.

Well, I'm sure Kathy and Jill, you're very familiar with the lived experiences making a difference, right?

Yes, absolutely.

Okay, so Sherry, what's going on at Bender?

Well, one of the, the great things that's been happening recently at Bender, you know, besides the great success recently of our career fair that happened for people with disabilities, a wonderful event with, you know, multiple national employers and Over 1,000 candidates with disabilities seeking employment is that, you know, we've really been seeing an increase in companies reaching out to us regarding looking at our packages and products for having a disability inclusion assessment conducted for their organization. Really, this is something that, you know, I credit to Joyce Bender. Leaders like Tom DiNapoli who are asking companies to report on disability inclusion strategy as a part of their ESG, and the work that's being done by AAPD and Disability:IN that's really bringing this conversation, you know, forward in the business community. And we're seeing, you know, organizations like Accenture that our research leaders that are now supplying the data needed to support our assertion that hiring people with disabilities has a positive impact on companies. And these reports are showing that inclusive employers are outperforming their peers and that they're finding that through these studies that people with disabilities are on average more aspirational than their non-disabled peers. You know, this work that they're doing really means that businesses are starting to understand that employees and consumers with disabilities have an impact on the bottom line at their company. And I know, you know, at Bender, we have over 20 years of experience in disability employment equity, and we've been at the forefront of talking about the business case and including people with disabilities in competitive employment opportunities, you know, even prior to the signing of the ADA and the official opening of Bender Consulting Services. So, you know, it's great to talk to all these companies and be able to share our knowledge with them through these assessments to help them to create a plan that's focused on, you know, addressing their needs and moving them towards becoming a disability inclusion at the Grant Center.

And Sherri, our director, is heading this whole special projects area up and is doing a great job. And Sherri, if anyone has any questions, how do they reach—

They can reach me via email at flapaglia@benderconsult.com.

All right. Well, thank you so much, Sherri. Thank you for calling in and let us know what's going on.

All right. Thank you, Joyce Bender, for having me on the show today, and thank you again to Kathy and Jill for all the work that you do at the Baselon Center. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks, Sherri. Okay. I wanted to ask you, Jill, what do you believe your grandfather, what do you think would be some of his biggest issues today as an advocate? Advocate.

Yeah, so I mean, I really believe, I mean, going back to how the Center was started, So my parents, you know, have told us the history of the center, which is that even before it was formed, a group of lawyers, including some of his former law clerks and other activists, came to meet with him, and he consulted on the project even in its really early days, and even— and could not be involved as a judge. But, you know, stayed informed and was always a supporter. And then it was in 1973 that the Center was named for him. And so, I think that when I think back on the history of the Center and how he has been involved since the beginning, I really believe that if you are looking for what will be important to my grandfather, you would find it in the work of the Bazelon Center now. And so, So really just encourage people, if they're interested, to attend the monthly briefings or read about the cases and the work that's— and the initiatives that are being put forward, because I think that it's all really living out the vision that my grandfather had for greater parity and equity for people with mental health disabilities.

Yeah. Awesome. So, Cathy, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Well, we hope that you continue to follow what the Bazelon Center is doing, whether on social media, where we have a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, not yet on TikTok, that's coming, but all the other social media places, or you can sign up for our monthly newsletter and policy alerts at our website, which again, www.bazelon.org under join. And we also welcome any support that you might feel moved to provide, whether donations of any size are always welcome at our big donate button at www.bazelon.org. So however you choose to connect with us, whether you sign up for the gala, sign up for our newsletter, choose to donate, We are always so thankful for your support and participation in our community. And we are also super thankful for Joyce for providing us this platform for the Baseline Center today.

Well, I'm all in. You know that. I'm all in. Jill, did you have anything you wanted to say in closing?

Yeah, I would just say check us out. Go to the website. Website, hopefully get involved, learn more about what we are doing. There's great work going on, and I'm just really proud to be a part of it. And yes, many thanks to all of the lawyers and staff who work— who are so committed to this effort and have done so much to move the issues forward. And to you, Joyce Bender, for having us. This was really very enjoyable. So thank you very much.

Awesome. You're more than welcome. And before we go, Kathy, when is the gala?

The gala is on Thursday, October 12th, 2023. It will be both in person at the showroom in Washington, D.C., and virtual. There you go. And information will be coming out about that shortly.

All right, we'll be looking for that information, and it will also be on the website. So, hey, if you can go, be there. If you can't, attend virtually and tell everyone else about it. And we end every show with a quote. So today the quote is, there are real indignities and real problems when all phases of life are controlled— when to get up, when to eat, when to shower— and chemicals are put inside our bodies against our will, said Judy Chamberlain. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at Voice America and in the words of Mary Brooker, when you go out today, remember, choose joy.

Voice America would like to thank you for tuning in. Please join us next Tuesday at 11 AM Pacific time and 2 PM Eastern time for another installment of Disability Matters right here on the Voice America Variety Channel. We are the The leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.