Impending Crisis for FDR Memorial and the MLK Jr. Memorial

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. Okay, COVID free, COVID free. Had my test. 2 weeks. Now, I know you heard me 2 weeks ago, pretty bad on that one. Even though Ty Herndon also had COVID, that made it better. Last week, still hard to do. And today, COVID-free, over COVID, feel great. However, my voice, as you can tell, is still a little strained. So you just wait till next week. Oh, then I'll be perfect. I'll be back. I'll be back to normal with my voice. And then you won't have to say, "Hey, who is that in Joyce Bender's place?" It's me. It's me. And boy, I bet Richard Roberts is a little nervous. He probably didn't recognize me, Richard. Richard, I'm okay. Richard Roberts, my close friend, very close friend from the US State Department. In Brazil. I just love him. He is so dedicated to the disability community. Hey, I'm not going to say what it was, but I just got to tell you this little story. When we were in Japan together, he's giving— we got to meet this group of people, and he's giving me this advice. Now, no matter what, remember, you're in another country, so, you know, you have to— no matter what they say, you know, Don't get upset. Oh, I said, no, I would never. I understand. So we get there and doesn't one of those people say something really insulting and out there? I did not say one word. Guess who did? Richard. Richard got mad. Afterwards I said, what happened to we weren't supposed to get angry? But see, Richard has turned into a real disability rights advocate. I just love him. And hello, Carla. I look forward to seeing both of you in person. Gangyang Cho in South Korea, Vinya Min in Kazakhstan, Cheryl Harris right here at the U.S. State Department. Oh, she's so awesome. You know, these are all my friends because they enable me to go around the world and tell the news about quality of life for people living with disabilities. And speaking about around the world, yes, we have all these countries with listeners, some of whom I am hearing from, from China to Russia to Australia to the United Kingdom to Finland. I mean, over 17 countries with listeners. Okay, so my words to you, thank you. And I don't care if there's just one of you, which I know some countries it was only one of you, like Saudi Arabia and/or Mongolia. Doesn't matter. You can help me around the world help other people living with disabilities by telling them about this radio show. So kudos to you. And then to my listeners, As you know, this is my 20th anniversary, 20 years on Voice America. How about that? 20 years with my great sponsor, lead sponsor, HiMark. You know who I have to thank for that, right? It's not me. It's you. It's all my listeners. I talked to someone the other day and they said, hey, I listened to your show and I got hooked. And I said, oh, wow. I feel honored that you got hooked on this show. I feel like a TV show or something. So, you know, it's you, it's all you. And please feel free to get in touch with me at jbender@benderconsult.com or voiceamerica.com. Uh, love to hear from you or any ideas you have of what you would like us to talk to about. On the show. And now I will never forget Yoshiko Dart. Special shout out to you, Yoshiko. Never forget you. Love you. And by the way, I have some of your letters you sent me, Yoshiko, up here in the office, uh, where, uh, you're telling me lead on, power on, Power Bender. You know what I'm talking about. And with words from Justin. Oh my goodness, so wonderful. So I've got to tell you something about the show today. So I advertised this, you know, Voice America always advertises it, but I also advertised it, uh, as I often do through my social media. I had more comments back to me I mean, email to me or on our other social media or text, whatever it is, telling me, oh, how excited they were about the show. And then yesterday I talked to two new friends of mine, one in Pittsburgh, one in Augusta, grandmother and mother of Noah, Noah, who has a significant disability. They're going to be on, they're going to be on, you know, in the next month. But they listen to the show all the time. And again, thank you. Thank you, listeners. Remember, if you're not hearing the show live, hear it on demand on Spotify, voiceamerica.com, benderconsult.com, actually all the social media podcasts. The show is on all of them. So I just was so excited. And getting back to a discussion of mine this morning, I told you about, um, my friends that love this show, and when I told them about this today, they were so interested. But this morning I was talking to someone on the board of Disability Rights Pennsylvania, and I told them what I was talking about, and this one board member was horrified. What? I was just at the FDR Memorial. It's so beautiful. What? You mean these things could happen? And Shirley, I know you're listening. Special shout out to you. And sadly, yes, they could happen. And that's what we'll be talking about today. I am so honored to be on the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee as an advisor, and to have Helena Berger— you know, Helena is my bestie, okay— to have Helena Berger on, who is the chair of the board, and a person I've known for so long, Mary Dolan, another great person, uh, who is the executive director of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee. Thank you both for joining us today.

Thank you for having us, Joyce. It's a thrill to be here.

I'm really excited to hear that there's so much interest in the committee and what we're doing. That's, that's really wonderful news.

Yes, there is. I mean, a lot. So that's good. I was excited about that also. And that's why, if you're listening to the show today And just like Shirley, you've been to that beautiful memorial and park, FDR, and you're saying, oh, what? I can't believe this. You have to share the show. Tell other people. Again, they can hear it on demand because this is really important what we're going to be talking about. But first, Helen, Helena, and Mary, let's start with each of you, and I'll start with you, Helena, my bestie, on how you became involved in the disability advocacy community.

Sure.

So basically, I relocated to the southern New Jersey, Philadelphia area, and I was job searching. And this is going to show my age. Way back when in the dark ages when you used to look for a job in the Sunday classifieds, I was looking in the Sunday classifieds, and there was a position a government relations position with an organization called Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association. They're now called United Spinal. And I was a poli sci major. I was very interested in advocacy, government relations work. So long story short, I applied for the position. I got the position to be initially an advocate with the organization. And I guess Joyce Bender, the rest is history. 30-plus years later, I am still a disability rights advocate.

And a great advocate. Helena was also instrumental in building AAPD. She was COO, CEO, but she was there from the beginning. And I'm going to tell you about Helena. She is the real deal. She's authentic. So having her in this prestigious role, can't think of anyone better. Same thing with our executive director, who I like so much, Mary Dolan, who is the Executive Director of the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee. Mary, how about you? How did you become involved?

Oh, thanks, Joyce. And I just have to say that being able to know you, be invited to speak at this— on this radio show is like the one of the best and most meaningful endorsements for me personally and professionally. And so, I really, really appreciate that and this attention to the FDR Memorial and our ongoing issues. Like Halina, you know, when I was a young, youngin' right after school, I was looking for a job to do right in the world. And I happened upon the National Organization on Disability, which launched me into my disability rights role. And then, and then, as, as it occurs for most people in life, I wound up receiving a diagnosis of disability a little bit later on in life. I'm also a parent of a child with disability. And so the involvement in this literally started off as how do I pay off my college loans to I can't see myself doing anything else because this is so personal.

Well, great decision that you made, both places. And, you know, I know how passionate you are about this, and that is what makes all the difference. So, Halina, a little history for our listeners, not just in the United States but around the world. And as you know, We have many people from all countries, Asia, you know, China, Australia, really all around the world come and they come and they see the cherry blossoms and they go to see the monuments. But it is really beautiful. I wonder, would you describe the memorial to everyone where it is in D.C.? You know what it's like? Going through the different parts, and is it accessible to everyone?

Sure, happy to. So the FDR Memorial is in Washington, D.C. It's located in what's called West Potomac Park, and it lies between— halfway between the Lincoln Memorial and the Jefferson Memorial. And I think what— one of the things that I personally think makes the memorial unique is if you go to Jefferson and if you go to Lincoln, you know, they're these very monolithic big white marble statues. And don't misunderstand me, they're beautiful and very impressive, but that's not the FDR Memorial. It is constructed out of granite. So you go through and it's more of a somber gray color. You walk through what I would call 4 open-air rooms, and it's 4 because each one represents his term in office. And, you know, things that he dealt with such as the Great Depression, you know, the New Deal, obviously World War II. And then there's a path that sort of meanders through the memorial where you get to see waterfalls. There are bronze sculptures, and one of the most important things I think are the really powerful words that FDR said throughout his presidency that are carved on the granite walls. And one thing I should mention, which is extremely important, is we have the Prologue Room. And the Prologue Room is where we have FDR sitting in his wheelchair. And that's actually what greets you. So when you come into the memorial, you are actually greeted with FDR sitting in his wheelchair in that Prologue Room. And I know we're gonna talk a little, probably a little more about that. But it is a beautiful, beautiful memorial. I think it's, you know, I'm sure I'm biased, but I think many would agree with me, probably one of the more beautiful memorials in D.C. We'll also talk about, you know, some of the maintenance that needs to be done and some of the things that may be threatening it. But ultimately, I would recommend everybody to visit it. It's powerful and it's beautiful. And I think you would walk away with this real profound feeling when you leave there.

Oh, it's beautiful. It is beautiful. I mean, as Helene is saying, it isn't that you walk in and there's just one thing. You know, you walk in, you see President Roosevelt in his chair, but then you keep walking around these walls And there is something everywhere, she said, including his words and showing, emulating people working through the Depression. I mean, it is so impressive. It really is beautiful. You have to go see it if you have not.

And I didn't mention accessibility. So it is accessible. I will give a major plug for the FDR Committee that in 2021 we commissioned a report to do a review of accessibility. Accessibility. A lot of it was focused on issues that impact blind and low-vision individuals. Last year, the National Park Service made some of those improvements based on the report that we commissioned around braille and audio and some tactile mapping. Like a lot of entities, it's not perfect. There's still room for improvement, and we're working on that. But overall, I would say, you know, it is accessible.

Yeah, yeah, that's wonderful. And as I said, beautiful. So, Mary, I want to talk about that memorial, uh, a little more history. When was it first built? And then when did the disability advocates become involved saying, hey, where is the wheelchair? Who spearheaded that campaign for seeing the wheelchair?

Sure. Thank you. So, the memorial was finally built, completed, and dedicated by President Clinton in May of 1997. But it was in 1995 that folks from the, from the National Organization on Disability where I was working, namely Mike Deland, who was our chairman, And then Alan Reich, who was the founder and president, who took the lead in calling out the fact that FDR was not going to be shown in the plans, planned memorial, as a disabled person. So that campaign started in 1995. They smartly realized that they needed a real organizer to rally the base, the disability base. And they smartly hired Jim Dixon, very well-known, longtime community organizer. And Jim got over 50 disability organizations from around the country, the disability leadership, who all weighed in from— remember letter writing campaigns back in the day, phone calling campaigns, and then also some street protests. That eventually led to the capitulation on the side of the Park Service and the other powers that be that a— some depiction of disability was going to be added. It took 4 more years for that depiction to be added. It had to be decided what the depiction would look like, where it would be placed, who would who would do it. And so finally in 2001, Bill Clinton, just 10 days I think it was, President Clinton, 10 days before he left office, came back to the memorial and dedicated it one more time, including the Prologue Room and the fantastic statue by Robert Graham of FDR in a wheelchair.

Wow. What a great story. And of course, Jim Dixon, I remember well and met him through AAPD. And that is amazing. Sort of reminds me of how Justin went around the country getting everyone to support. I mean, I know this is on a much smaller scale than what Justin and Yoshiko did, but the same part going around and getting all those groups to support this whole thing. Really remarkable. How long did that take, Mary?

It was a— from the initial campaign to the installation of the statue, it was a 6-year campaign. And I'll just add in there that we all know that disability organizations are woefully underfunded, understaffed, multiple priorities. And if anybody had looked at the National Organization on Disability at that time and done an analysis of whether they had the wherewithal to do what we wound up doing, no— every business consultant worth their salt would have said, "Step away." But we knew we were on the right side of history. Alan and Mike 100% were committed. And Jim Dixon, I mean, he organized the heck out of this. And I will say, you know, that work that Justin and so many other advocates, Judy Heumann and everyone that had done, you know, in the '60s, in the '70s, in the '80s, and frankly culminating with the Americans with Disabilities Act being signed All of that was prologue to the fight that launched in 1995, because in 1995, when we found out that Roosevelt was not going to be shown disabled, we, the disabled community, were not going to have it anymore. We were not going to allow one of the greatest presidents who was known to be disabled to not be shown as disabled. And I'll finally add the great, great Hugh Gallagher. Joyce Bender wrote the, the book The Splendid Deception in the '80s, which also was prologue to the fight and informed us knowing that disability was just not some side note of FDR's storied life. It was a fundamental piece of who he was and why he did what he did as president with the care and consideration, not perfect, but much better than anybody had ever expected him to do as someone who grew up with such extreme privilege.

May I ask, when did they make the decision? How did they make the decision, oh, we're not going to have the wheelchair?

You know, it's interesting. It's the year after FDR died, or perhaps even immediately, it was declared, you know, we need to develop a memorial to this great leader. And so designs started in the '50s and '60s. And it wasn't until Larry Halperin came around and was selected in '74 to— for his design. Now, when did they actually decide what exact statues and images would be used? I don't know the exact year, but I know that by 1995, there was a decision not to show him as disabled. Particularly because he himself, as it was said by folks, worked so hard to not be shown as disabled. We now all know that there's a mixed story about that with Roosevelt. Yes, there were many times when he downplayed his disability, and then there were other times when he used it to its full, to its full authority. And certainly we know from Warm Springs how open he was with his disability. So I think the, the great scholarship of, of Hugh Gallagher and others really helped us inform the rest of the world that his disability was not a mere footnote but essential piece of his character.

Yeah, because I mean, you think about this today, it's like What? Why would they do that? I mean, it's so hard for me to understand. I guess, Halina, it's stigma personified.

Yeah, you know, I think like so many times with disabilities, it's just not on the radar screen. And I, you know, I think that the fight showed once again that the disability community can organize, can galvanize, and can be a powerful force for change. And I think that was probably not expected. They probably figured, well, you know, they're just disabled people, no big deal. You know, they'll accept, they'll probably just accept this. 'Cause there is a statue of FDR. I don't know what room it is. Is it like, is it room 2 or 3, Mary? Where they claimed, oh, we have him sitting in his wheelchair. Well, when you look at it, you can barely make out that he's sitting in a wheelchair, and then it's not really a wheelchair. But they claimed that was the representation. But, you know, I think coming out of this story, it just once again shows the power of the disability community that I think now more than ever is getting realized by society in general, you know, by the media, even by people with disabilities. But you think, you know, back in the '90s when we were talking about this, I don't think people really thought that, you know, this community could have the power to make that type of change and have that type of influence.

Yeah, again, that goes back to stigma, thinking of the disability community as weak, you know, as under— underestimating the passion, uh, you know, to fight the fight. And I have seen that other statue, and you absolutely cannot tell that that's a wheelchair. So as I said, it's sort of when you think about it, it just sort of once again brings, brings to the table, we don't want to see this, you know, we don't want to see the disability. But we fought for that, that's for sure. Well, right now, can I just add one thing, Joyce? Yes, yes.

I, I do want to underscore something Mary has said, in terms of how FDR's disability really helped make him the man and leader he is, and there's a great book out by Jonathan Darman, I think it's called Becoming FDR, that talks about this. And there's even a quote from Eleanor, and we should mention that's something else that's unique about the FDR Memorial. I mean, that Eleanor Roosevelt, you know, there's a bronze statue of Eleanor. There's even a statue of his beloved dog, Fala. But you don't see in other memorials, you know, the First Lady. So I definitely want to underscore that. But she, there's even a quote from Eleanor that this is what she, it says, Franklin's illness gave him strength and courage he had not had before. He had to think out the fundamentals of living and learn the greatest of all lessons. Infinite patience and never-ending persistence. And then if you look at Becoming FDR, Jonathan Darman's book, where he talks about the compassion, the empathy, he was a more disciplined person, you know, his power of hope. All of that happened post his polio, post his disability. And I don't think we talk about that enough. How his disability really made, again, made him the man and leader that he became. And I just want to underscore that because I think it's important that people are aware of that. That's just, that's not secondary. It's primary to who he is, was.

Oh, I agree with you. Because talk about developing courage, strength, persistence, Thinking outside the box, all of these things. Fortitude, not being afraid, as we know, his famous quote, you know, about the only thing to fear is fear itself. So I agree with you, Helena. Well, oh, we're right on time on the half hour for our news break with Perry Jude Radesik. My newscaster for over 5 years. How about that? And CEO of Disability Rights Pennsylvania. Just an awesome person that does such a great job. Perry, thank you so much, and let's hear the news for the day.

Joyce Bender, it's always a pleasure to be here. And last week President Biden signed an executive order to address what many families and individuals in the U.S. are experiencing, which is we can't access the critical childcare and health— healthcare, long-term care that we need in this country. So, at its core, this executive order directs nearly every cabinet-level agency to find ways to increase the accessibility and affordability of high-quality childcare and long-term care, and to provide that support that our direct care workforce and family caregivers need. Overall, there are 50 directives to federal agencies in this executive order. So why is the White House doing that? One, Well, Congress hasn't invested enough in childcare and long-term care. We know that. The president does call on Congress to make that critical investment in long-term care and in childcare. But more importantly, the president wants to increase— wants to address the increases in the cost of childcare, which President Biden says is up over 26% in the last decade. And long-term costs, President Biden says, are up over 40% in the last decade. And in fact, the care workforce is 8% smaller than it was prior to COVID-19. Lots of reasons to address this crisis. So, how will this work? Well, the President directs directs federal agencies to identify federal grant programs that can support long-term care or childcare for people who work in these programs. It directs the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to issue regulations and guidance to improve the quality of home care jobs and to do more to increase staffing standards for nursing homes. There's so much more, Joyce. Overall, the order aims to support families and individuals to get the care they need so that we can participate fully in the workforce and also that we get the compassionate care that we need as we age or face disabilities. So where can you get more information about this really important executive order? Well, go to disability.gov. DisabilityrightsPA.org. That's disabilityrightsPA.org. Click on today's advocacy matters segment and you can read more about the executive order, uh, and, uh, there's also a press release from the American Association of Persons with Disabilities.

Wow, okay, thank you so much, Perry, and make sure, make sure you go Disability Rights PA. Make sure you go, and then go to Advocacy Matters. We do this, and we're the only people that do this, the only show every single week keeping you up to date on disability news. So, you know, make sure you spread the word. Thank you, Perry. Thank you so much.

Thank you, Joyce.

Take care.

Well, Helena, we got a lot of things going on, don't we?

We do. Some of it's positive though, you know, some of it's positive for a change.

Yes, yes, which is so great. Um, so Mary, I was talking to someone just today again about the tidal basin and they didn't understand. What do you mean tidal basin? Where is it? I'm not sure where it is. So would you mind explaining first what it is and where it is, how close it is to the memorial, to the monument.

Sure. Absolutely. The tidal basin in Washington, D.C. is a person-made body of water, and as it's described by the Park Service, it was built to— it's 107 acres in size, 10 feet deep, and it was built to harness the power of the tides of the Potomac river to flush silt and sediment from the Washington Channel. So, you know, it has a usefulness. Around it has become the area of prime location for great national memorials. You have the Jefferson Memorial that is around the perimeter of the tidal basin. The Martin Luther King Memorial as well, within eyeshot from the Tidal Basin, not exactly on the Tidal Basin, but definitely easy to view is the Washington Monument. And then, of course, the FDR Memorial is also along the Tidal Basin. It's a loop in theory, as it had been, where one is supposed to be able to walk all around the Tidal Basin on a path. And walk by all these memorials. And then during cherry blossom season, the Tidal Basin area is one of the most gorgeous places on the planet because there are cherry blossom trees all around. There are a few other important pieces of art and assets that are also dotted around the Tidal Basin. Two are gifts from the government of Japan, and I know you were talking about about some of your listeners from Japan, there is a Japanese pagoda and a Japanese lantern that were both gifts from the government of Japan as signs of friendship, and they are also on the banks of the Tidal Basin.

Well, I— so much, so beautiful, those cherry blossoms, as you said, so beautiful. However, we have a— I'm very concerned about what's going to happen. Helena and Mary, what I am very concerned about is the flooding of the tidal basin. And when I was reading about it, we have climate change as an impact and that it's sinking. You know, I never knew that till I started doing research about this. But anyway, the F— April 5th, 2023, the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee submitted a public comment and petition to Jeffrey Reinbold, Superintendent of the National Mall and Memorial Parks, National Park Service, regarding the rehabilitative tidal basin and West Potomac Park seawalls, environmental assessment, geotech, and memorandum of agreement. So that's all a lot of political terms for you went to fight the fight about this. So I'll start first with you, Helena. Could you talk about this, explain what's happening, you know, what we're all so worried about? And what could happen?

So essentially, because of the flooding that persistently is happening around the Tidal Basin that impacts the memorial, it certainly— our memorials— and it certainly impacts the FDR Memorial, the National Park Service has a proposed plan to build a wall. And our concern is, you know, they're claiming that what they're proposing to build to help with the flooding will not impact the FDR Memorial. We have not seen any concrete scientific evidence or proof of that. So for example, you know, if we have some heavy rains, you know, where is that water going to go? We believe, and we do have some consultants, scientists who are, you know, the experts here guiding our concerns about where is this water going to go. And because the National Park Service has not to date given us, again, any scientific data to refute our concerns, you know, we feel that the memorial is obviously, you know, under threat from these proposed plans. I mean, that is the— there's more to this, and we could elaborate, but I would say— and Mary, certainly step in here, you know— that is the biggest is that what they are proposing, as far as we're concerned, could exacerbate the flooding issue at the memorial, where there is already an issue. I mean, you can go— we just had some heavy rains over the weekend, and even when it's not heavy rains, the tidal basin overflows, and like the walking paths that are adjacent to the memorial, you know, it's always flooded, it's always muddy. If it's a heavy flood, it potentially, you know, can seep into the memorial. And what we need to see, again, is, you know, evidence from the National Park Service, like I said, to refute these major concerns about their plans, like I say, you know, exacerbating the flooding. You know, at, at the memorial.

I know, I— if you go, by the way, to— what is the website, uh, Mary, the website for FDR?

It's fdrmemoriallegacy.com.

Okay, one more time.

So, uh, FDR Memorial Legacy.

Okay, well, yeah, I— if you go, listeners, first of all, it's a great website, so informative, so well done. But if you go, you also will see some photographs of what happens when there is flooding at the, uh, tidal basin, you know, showing the mud and how how far up this goes. And then I read this one article where this— I don't know if he was a scientist or he was saying that if they did not take care of this, by I don't know what year it is, that the memorial would be underwater. And MLK is also going to be impacted by this. And the pagoda that, that Helena was talking about But I can see, well, first of all, what's that going to do to those cherry blossom trees?

Oh yeah, yeah, they have been not only from the water, but also, you know, as I mentioned, it's one of the most beautiful places on earth when they're blooming, and so they are inundated by water and people, so the foot traffic is also damaging the cherry blossom trees. And so, you know, so we have memorials being damaged, we have the cherry blossoms being damaged, and we can't escape climate change, but how are we all going to adapt and how are we going to do it in an equitable way that also, you know, preserves spaces such as the FDR Memorial? Yeah, question.

And I guess the other thing I'd add to this, which is sort of you scratch your head, is that, um, there are what's called tidal basin inlet gates. These gates currently don't work. Um, it would be up, um, if they were repaired, if they were repaired, it is believed that that would take care of the concerns that we have. But yet it doesn't seem— and the repair of those inland gates is the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers, which from what we can tell, the National Park Service doesn't appear to be working with them right now on these title-based and, you know, plans as far as the walls. So, you know, you wonder, like, why not? You know, if that seems to be an easy solution here, and probably a cheaper one than what they're planning, you know, why isn't that happening? And we haven't received, you know, any answers to that question either.

Well—

Yeah.

In addition to a donation, which I'm going to talk about in a moment, what can our listeners do to help?

Well, first of all, keep— oh, go ahead, maybe go ahead, Helina.

No, that's all right. I was just saying that stay engaged with our work. I mean, clearly, of course, you know, like any nonprofit, if if you can give a donation of any amount, we'd certainly appreciate that. But we really need folks in the community, both disability community and folks who are just interested allies, to really stay engaged with the work and stay on top of this because we are thinking about what our next strategies look like if we continue to knock our head against the wall with the National Park Service and not get anywhere. That we're going to have to elevate this and escalate this, you know, to different levels. And that means getting the public involved. That means getting, you know, the disability community involved, the general public involved who cares about the memorial and what it represents. You know, talking to Congress, which means, you know, you can be reaching out to your congressional representatives. You know, it may mean for us, you know, eventually getting to the media. So I think it's really important right now that more of our community, meaning the disability community, but the general public is aware of this plan and the threat, not just to the FDR Memorial, as we talked about, to the MLK. And so we need public support, and we're probably going to need more and more of it as we anticipate these issues potentially not getting resolved to our satisfaction. Mary, I'll turn it over to you. Yeah. Yeah.

No, Helene is right. I mean, we have to remember that these are— these are lands that are for the American public to enjoy and use, and the Park Service are— have been the chosen stewards of these lands and these memorials. And in many ways, they do a really good job. But they are a bureaucracy, and we are the people. So, when we have questions, we have every right to ask those questions. And, you know, as a strong-feeling American, you know, I believe that they need to answer us, you know, answer us back. And it's a process. And having lived through this back in the '90s, where the disability community started with just general inquiries into, well, why wasn't disability included and how do we get it included? And it literally took 6 years, okay, now, and, and for that wheelchair statute to be added in 2001, okay. We're in 2023 right now and I'm still working on getting the appropriate language into the Park Service literature, websites, et cetera, about the fight for the wheelchair statue. So, these things are not one and done. So, as Halina said, you know, stay with us on this. You know, sign up for our newsletter. Go to our website. Track this. Join us, join— and so that we can keep you engaged because we might need to activate more attention to this. I hope not, because there's a lot of other things I really would rather be spending my time on, like bringing more school kids, disabled kids, down to the memorial. But there ain't going to be a memorial if we don't spend the time now.

And the other thing I'd add to that is that is obviously our overriding concern, what we've just been talking about regarding the tidal basin. I mean, that's a huge, threat. But what Mary and the committee has been working on, that we also have other issues that the National Park Service has not dealt with. We sort of feel sometimes like we're the stepchild. So there are just general maintenance issues that need to be dealt with. There are still accessibility issues that need to be dealt with. So again, I think if the Park Service and your congressional members are hearing from the public about this, or if you go to visit the park and you are like, well, why isn't the fountains working? Which we haven't talked about. Like, the fountains are not working. That is a huge architectural part of this memorial, and they're not working. And trust me, we've had many conversations with the Park Service, and I think they were fixed, and now they're not working again. So I want to just make people aware that there are other issues that we're dealing with. At this memorial that when you go to other memorials, you don't see the same level, I think it's fair to say, of disrepair. So it really is important, you know, that everybody, you know, help us and weigh in here, because I think the same way the disability community, you know, through NOD organized to get that statue, I think, you know, we may just have to do the same thing. We're going to have to really organize here to protect, protect the FDR Memorial, and we can't do that on our own.

You know what, that's pitiful about the water fountains.

That's terrible.

Yeah. Okay, Mary, one more time, the website and how you make a donation.

Sure. So FDR, just like Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and then the next word is Memorial. And then the next word is legacy. And we chose that word on purpose because we're protecting the disability legacy at the FDR Memorial. So FDRMemorialLegacy.com, C-O-M. It does take a lot of— the amount of staff time that we have had to divert to taking pictures of fountains not working to the flooding concerns that we have. I've taken videos of, of the bathrooms under disrepair, garbage cans, plus everything having to do with this seawall. Right now we are paying out of our general operating supports. We don't have funding for anything that we're doing, and we are right now— and we, we are the only voice that comes from the disability community that is involved in this, in this preservation of the FDR Memorial and this major public works project. $120 million at the least is going to be spent over the next couple of years on seawalls around the, around the Tidal Basin. You know, we're sticking our nose in to say make sure we have access. Make sure the disabled community is 100% part of the stakeholders. They're not the stakeholders unless we make ourselves stakeholders. So, you know, that's why having this opportunity to talk to you, Joyce, and get this message out is of primary importance to us.

Yes, I mean, so important. It really is. Please make a donation. Uh, and with that, it's time for What's Going On at Bender. Scott, are you with us?

I am with you, Joyce. How are you?

I am very good, thank you.

And hello, Helena and Mary.

Hey, Scott.

Hello, great to hear you.

Great to hear from you as well. And, uh, Joyce, thank you so much for, uh, for having me on. And I, I love Helena and Mary. We've been working together because we are trying to come up with a great plan to help our Vendor Leadership Academy students because what a great opportunity it would be for some of our students to travel from Pittsburgh and Delaware to go to Washington, D.C. to get to learn a little bit about the FDR Memorial and, you know, preserve that memorial for future generations to learn about that and, and have the opportunity to review about internship and employment opportunities in Washington, D.C., and maybe meet some people, members of Congress, because a lot of our students don't have the ability or the resources to go to Washington, D.C. They can't afford that. And, you know, if we can come up with some funds, It is just going to be a great partnership to have some of our students attend there. We want our students at Bender Leadership Academy to be well-rounded. And as you know, Joyce, we partnered up with the Pittsburgh CLO for an arts program. And now if we can join up with the FDR Memorial Legacy Committee, that would just be so helpful for our students. And I also, you know, it is, in May it is our graduation month. So we are going to have a all of our Bender student leaders and advanced student leaders. They're going to be graduating in May. We have over 100 students in Bender Leadership Academy that are going to be graduating.

Awesome. And so excited about that. And you know, there's a large amount of money, uh, with the budget, federal budget, that is being set aside for education. And wow, this would be so great to tie all this together. And again, anyone— I know a lot of my listeners are also friends of mine at different foundations. This is so great. You know, this is something a lot of these kids with disabilities have not had any chance to do. So I'm really excited about this and I want to see it take off. And also, I want to thank— thank you, Scott, for calling in.

Absolutely.

Scott is leading the way at the Bender Leadership Academy. Scott Hammerstrom. But anyway, Halina and Mary, thank you for being with me today.

Thank you so much, Joyce, for everything you do.

Thank you so much, Joyce. We really appreciate the opportunity and We hope many of your listeners will join us in this endeavor.

Oh, everyone tells me they want a chance to get involved and make a difference. Here you are. And think about it, a national D.C. memorial and monument. I mean, how exciting to be involved with that. Anyway, thank you so much for being with us. Everyone go to that website, make a donation, follow, follow, follow, follow, and be engaged. And we end every show with a quote. And talking about being positive in the midst of the horrors that FDR went through and the trauma we're going through today, we have always held to the hope, the belief, the conviction that there is a better life. 'A better world beyond the horizon,' said President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week, and in the words of Mary Brooker, 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 leader in live internet talk radio. VoiceAmerica.com.