Marcie Roth: December 3, 2024 - WID Promotes Disability Issues

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.

Okay, you can— I think you recognize my voice this time. Remember the last time I had COVID? Well, hey, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. Remember, when you have epilepsy, you've got all those neurons firing off, so you've got the firepower, which don't we know people with disabilities, we've got the firepower. And I have to have a hello, Richard. Yes, I have COVID. Richard Roberts, how are you in Brazil? Pyongyang in South Korea, all of my friends, including this new country, Brunei. By the way, we have over 27 countries listening to the show now, and Germany has the highest listening audience. They must know my mother was German. That's it. But I'm so thrilled to be with you, but I've got to talk for a minute about Yoshiko Dart. This woman is beyond wonderful. I mean, she is just a jewel, a treasure. And you know what I'm going to do next year? I'm going to have a show. She's hearing this now, and I know what she's saying. No, Joyce, don't do that. I'm not going to have you on the show, Yoshiko, but I'm going to have a show about you and Justin just talking. About you and Justin. So I know that'll be okay. But Yoshiko, I love you. Stay in the house, Yoshiko, because I got COVID. I don't want you to. Uh, lead on. You are one of the best people in my life, Yoshiko. And of course, my sponsor, Highmark. What a great company. They've been the lead sponsor of this show They are just phenomenal. Well, because I have COVID and there's always a chance here that I could lose my voice, which I hope that doesn't happen, but you know me, always prepared. So I have one of my favorite people, the manager of talent programs at Bender Consulting Services, who is also a rock star as my co-anchor today. And I know Perry knows he's a rock star. So let me just say, Gerald, welcome to Disability Matters with Joyce Bender.

Well, thank you, Joyce. It's a pleasure to be here in the co-anchor spot. And no surprise you're still on here on the show with COVID You know, people with disabilities are tough. I can't tell you, listeners, how many times a person with a disability that we've placed into a job during the pandemic since this time has called and said, "You know, I have COVID, but, you know, I'm working from home, so, you know, I don't really think I need to take time off. I feel okay. I'll be fine." And muscled through and didn't even take time off work. So, you know, proving that actual statistic that we have the highest attendance rate of any working group out there, not what people think about us. So no surprise that you are among that group here doing your show with COVID So honored to be alongside you as always, Joyce.

Well, and I love having you, Gerald. I mean, who could we better have for the International Day of Persons with Disabilities? I mean, how lucky am I to be friends with Marci Roth. Like, we scheduled all this out to have Marci, the CEO of the World Institute of Dis— on Disabilities, and in addition, a great international disability rights leader. Not only is she the CEO of the World Institute on Disability, she is my friend. She is someone I look up to for so many reasons. She is the best of the best. Marci Roth, welcome to the show.

Ah, Joyce, thank you, thank you, thank you. I love being with you on the show, off the show, and I can't believe you are on today with COVID But it's great always to be with you, and I love being on your show. So thank you.

Oh, what a day to have you on the show. I mean, I mean, this is such a great day to have you on the show. Um, so Gerald, is that a great plan having Marcy on today?

You're a genius, Joyce. That's all I can say.

So Marcy, what I'd like to start with, um, is I was going to have you start just talking about the World Institute on Disability, but I've changed my mind. I want to talk about you so that our listeners know more about you, like where you grew up and where you went to school, you know, a little bit about your background. And then, and then how did you get involved in the disability community? I know you were an appointee. During the Obama administration. Who knows how many others? I don't. But I want everyone to know about you because right now we have to take time, not only in this country but in the world, to recognize greatness and great leaders. And I'm going to make sure I do that all year. So, Marcy, let's hear about you.

Well, thank you, Joyce Bender. So I have been pulled into disability rights for as long as I can remember, long before I recognized that I had a disability. And when I was in high school, I had the opportunity to do some volunteer work, and all the cute boys were going to this state institution in Connecticut to do their volunteer work, and I wanted to be where the boys were. And so I started volunteering at a horrific state institution, Southbury Training School, and, um, At 13 years old, I was given a classroom of 30 adults who had never had the opportunity to go to school, and they gave me the opportunity to spend time with these wonderful folks every week. And I did that throughout high school. As you can imagine, at 13 years old, they taught me way more than I ever taught them. Many of them fortunately went on to leave the institution and go out into the community, and many have gone on to be great community leaders. Others probably never had that opportunity to leave that god-awful place. But, you know, I've been, working in the space of supporting the leadership of others with disabilities since I was 13 years old. And, you know, over the years, I got more and more involved in making big sweeping systems changes. And got involved in the run-up to the Americans with Disabilities Act passage. In the late '80s, I had the opportunity to attend one of the field hearings that Major Owens was holding around the country. With Justin and Yoshiko, and I had the opportunity to talk about my experience with disability at that hearing. As some people will know, the Americans with Disabilities Act didn't pass that time, but it was reintroduced and then it passed in 1990. I was in Connecticut. Lowell Weicker was at that point our senator. He was key to the original introduction of the ADA. So, yeah, that's a little bit about my history. And then over the years, I came to know came to recognize that all of the health issues I was having were, you know, not coincidental, but were actually part of having rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune stuff going on. And then I don't wanna say I hid my disability, but for a long time, I didn't think my disability was good enough to be, for me to count.

Yeah, I know.

And—

Oh no, we hear that, Marci.

Yep.

All the time when we're, you know, like Gerald will be interviewing someone and they'll say, no, you know, I only have depression or I only have this, I only have that. And then they'll say, and I know that that's not, that doesn't count like it does for other people. I mean, I hear that all that, so it's not unusual. Yeah, it's what I mean, not unusual. Uh, that you— what a story, Marcy! Wow, 13 years old. Yep. Heather, we've got to write that up. I'll put that on the website. By the way, before we go to break, I want to say I am proud to be on the board of the World Institute on Disability. And my goal is to see it really, really take off even more in 2025. And so listen, you can tell what Marcy Roth is like by that story. I didn't even know that story. I didn't know— I mean, at the age of 13, wow.

Yeah. And how incredibly bad and wrong that a 13-year-old was the first opportunity that people had to be in a classroom and to begin to receive any sort of education. Horrifying that they thought that was okay. But I am forever grateful for those folks, because boy, oh boy, did they teach me the most important lessons of my life. No doubt about it.

Yeah. Wow. Wow. Wow. Well, we got a lot more to talk about. We do. So, yes, we do. And so guess what? I'm skipping the commercial break.

Yes, I am.

I just made that decision. Matt, our engineer. I am big— you got it. Yeah, you're— by the way, Matt, I am so thankful for you. You are so great as an engineer, so great to work with. But when I think about all the things I want to talk with about, I don't want to even miss that 2 minutes. So Marcy, instead of commercial break, let's talk about the World Institute on Disability, um, and you know, what it is, what you do, how this ties into the day, and let's hear about it.

Sure. So I will actually go back to my early roots. And in 1985, I went to a women and disabilities conference in Connecticut, and one of the keynote speakers at that conference was Judy Heumann.

Oh, I knew it.

Yep.

Yep.

And Judy was the, you know, Judy and I became friends then in 1985, and at that time She was at the World Institute on Disability. It's, you know, it gives me goosebumps when I think about the fact that here I am these many years later. But, you know, she and Ed Roberts and Joan Leon started the World Institute on Disability in 1983, and they, started it as one of the first global disability rights organizations founded by disabled people and continually led by disabled people ever since, for now 41 years. And WID has over the years been a global leader in disability rights and More recently, we have been embracing the importance of not just focusing on winning the rights of 1.3 billion people globally, but as well driving disability justice, driving the importance of people being in the leadership roles and the people most affected, most left behind, being the people who we center in our work. WID has always focused on the leadership of people with disabilities. But today it is really important that we are centering the people who are most likely to experience the failures of our systems as the people who are who will have the opportunities to be closest to the power as we make change. So, you know, WID is committed to not just disability rights, but as well disability justice. And we work in 130 countries. We are in constant contact with people all over the world. We focus in 3 key areas: accessibility and universal design, community inclusion, and emergency preparedness, disaster risk reduction, and climate resilience. And happy to tell you more about all of that.

Wow, that is— yes, we do do a lot. And if you're listening, and I'm going to say this again, but I want to mention to you, just like at the Bender Leadership Academy, Epilepsy Association, any not-for-profit, you can sit back and say, wow, isn't that great what they're doing? But they should do more to help people with disabilities in Tanzania or, uh, in Egypt, wherever it is. Guess what? They can't do that without money.

Mm-hmm.

I, I have to, you know, if I have to explain it to you, I remember when this, years ago, at one time I was the chair of the board of the National Epilepsy Foundation, and the CEO came in the room and we had just received a woman had passed away that had epilepsy, saved money her whole life for the foundation, never told anyone she had epilepsy and left like $9 million. So he walked in and said, well, here we have all this money. Except it's all restricted. You know what that means? We have all these millions of dollars, but I need money to turn on the lights. Yeah. So when you run a not-for-profit, I don't know what people think or what some of you may think. You can't do this without resources. So I want you to take time today to think about your brothers and sisters not just here but around the world. Marcy, if someone would want to make a donation, what do they do?

I'm so glad you asked, Joyce. They would go to www.wid.org, and you will find an opportunity to make a donation, right? On our homepage. Uh, you go to the donations button, uh, it will also give you all sorts of other opportunities and lots of information about who we are and what we do. And Joyce, I, I really appreciate you making the point about unrestricted funding. It's one of the biggest challenges that, uh, most nonprofit organizations have, and certainly organizations that work on human rights, disability rights, disability justice, inclusion, accessibility, led by people with disabilities. We are, you know, as low on the giving ruler as most disability organizations are. Those organizations that are led by people with disabilities are even further left out in the generosity of many donors. We are super grateful for our donors, super grateful, and this year we have in fact had some donors who have given us unrestricted funds Those have made it possible for us, as you said, to keep the lights on. Um, but our ability to do the work that we do is really enhanced when we have those unrestricted gifts. And today, uh, not only is today the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, it is also Giving Tuesday, and that is a day in which many, many nonprofit organizations seek the generosity and the support of individual and business donors to help the organizations do the work that we do. So thank you for giving me the opportunity to talk about going to www.wid.org.

We welcome—

of course, of course. You know, Marcy, every time someone makes a donation to the Bender Leadership Academy, here's what I say. You never know what that one small contribution can do to help someone gain freedom, save a life. You just don't know. And what I would like all of you also to do, number two, is this show is heard on demand on Spotify and almost every, uh, social venue. So, um, what I would like you to do International Day of Persons with Disabilities is make sure you share this show. This is a great way for people to, you know, tell them tomorrow, go listen to this show, but share the show so that people know this is a way to celebrate the day. And Gerald, one person, one decision. Can change your life, right, Gerald? Absolutely, Joyce. That's why I'm gonna give you the pleasure of talking about how important employment is around the world and right here in the United States, and what it did for someone that you told me the story of today.

Yeah, I mean, what a wonderful way for us today here at Bender to celebrate the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we got to give employment to an individual with a disability today into an incredible technology analyst role. And this is somebody who's been looking for employment for a long time and somebody who had a successful career and had to leave employment and now look for work again, and because of their disability, just interviews a little bit differently than other people and just couldn't get into work. And when he got that offer, he called us afterwards and he said— he called us, he was actually in the parking lot at the food bank. That's where he got the call with his offer for employment. And he said, You know, I just realized this is one of the last times I'm gonna need to be here at this food bank now because I got this job opportunity. And he got a great job, a great career, one that he could use to live the American dream, to really move forward with a competitive salary, real great benefits, to the career path to move up, lots of opportunity. And we sure got, got this right in time for our team huddle, which we do right after lunch every day. This offer, this came in literally right before the call, and, um, John on our team said, this is why we do what we do. And it's just been a real point of celebration on the whole Bender team today, um, for this individual. And it's just in Incredible. So shout out to Kavett if you're listening to the show today. Congratulations on your new opportunity. We're so happy for you in your new role.

And I love him and I've known him for a long time. And my point is one person, one decision changed a life. Remember, if you're looking for employment and you're a person with a disability, you can get in touch with us. Go to benderconsult.com. Uh, Gerald, where do they go once they go to our page?

BenderConsult.com/jobs. Just look at the career section to see our open roles, or just send in your resume for our team to look at to see if we think of any ideas of what we think could be a good fit for you. Um, just get in touch with the team. Um, and if you're one of those people, like many people are, that aren't sure if their disability counts, don't worry about it. Just give us a call, talk to us about it. Lots of things count as disability and just give us a call.

Yes, because you may have a non-apparent disability like I do, as I have epilepsy. But what a way that Gerald and Jill called me and said, what a way to celebrate today, the International Day of Persons with Disabilities, and especially being that I know him. But when they told me that story, oh my goodness. What an inspirational story. And with that, it is time on the half hour for our news break with our newscaster, Perry Jude Radesic. Perry, I bet you loved that story, didn't you?

Oh my gosh, it was just, I think, the best story today for International Day of People with Disabilities. And it's a great story to really showcase the kind of work Bender does to make a difference in people's lives. People's lives, and it's just terrific, Joyce. Really, congratulations.

Congratulations. Yep, work gives us dignity, work gives us freedom, and people with disabilities, as Marcy said, are often at the bottom, but we're going to help people move up to the top. So, Perry, what do you have for us today?

Well, Joyce, members of the House and U.S. Senate are back from their Thanksgiving recess to finish work on the 118th Congress. A new Congress begins at noon on January 3rd, 2025. Remember, we just had national elections. When people are elected to Congress in the U.S. House, they serve a 2-year period, and so Congress tracks that 2-year period. And so the 118th Congress had convened in January of 2023, and now it ends. And so the new Congress, like I said, begins at noon on January 3rd, 2025, for 2 years, uh, and so that'll be called the 119th Congress. I think one important matter that Congress has to finish before they adjourn, uh, uh, this Congress is they got to finish the FY25 appropriations bills, and they're going to really do one of two things. They're gonna finish the FY25 appropriations bills and fund federal agencies. Federal agencies right now are operating under what we call a continuing resolution through December 20th. That's just like two weeks away. So lawmakers, I think now that President-elect Trump has been elected, are waiting to hear from him, um, before he takes office on January 21st. They want to hear from him now so they can decide which path to take: keep funding the Congress through the rest of the fiscal year, through the end of September 2025, or pass another short-term appropriations bill to only fund the government for a short period of time so they can come back and complete work on appropriations based on possibly new priorities. So we're, we're keeping close watch on that, Joyce Bender. Really, other than that, I'm not sure, uh, what other major things are going to happen between now and December 20th because it's still a split Congress with the Democrats controlling the Senate and the Republicans controlling the House. But here in Pennsylvania, it's really a difficult time because we're going to be losing our national legislative champion on disability issues. Senator Bob Casey, Joyce, I know you know, and so does Marcy, has been a steadfast representative, not just for Pennsylvania, but for people with disabilities, really all the way going back to 2007. So his departure is going to leave a big gap. For someone to step up and fill as a leader on issues like healthcare, aging, education, and people with disabilities. Our new Senator-elect David McCormick defeated Bob Casey in November. So, you know, it's time that that changed now in Pennsylvania, and Senator McCormick will be coming in and Senator Casey will be leaving. I think if anyone has been listening to this show or been engaged with disability issues at the federal level, you may wanna reach out to Senator Casey and thank him for his leadership on our issues. And if you're gonna do that, I would do it sooner rather than later. Don't forget, Senator Casey can't stay until January 21st. He's gotta leave and he's gotta leave soon to make space for the new legislators, for new legislative staff, and so really outgoing members probably have to be out of their office by December 20th when this Congress finishes its work. So it's not much time left. So if you, if you want to say something to Senator Casey to thank him for his leadership on disability issues, here's the phone number. You can call the U.S. Senate, his office, at 202-224-6324. That's 202-224-6324. And again, do it sooner rather than later because once that switch happens and new members start to take their offices and fill out those legislative rules— those legislative roles— there won't be any staff for Senator Casey there to answer the phone and take your message.

Oh, I know, it is so sad. I love Senator Casey. And you know, Marcy, uh, when Senator Kennedy died, it was so terrible. Everyone would go to him. That's where everyone went, you know, when something happened. Uh, Pat would go to meet with Senator Kennedy. Of course, we also had, remember, Senator Dole. So we did have bipartisan support, but it's Ted Kennedy that they went to. Then Senator Harkin. Oh, and he still is involved, certainly today, because of his work with International Day of Persons with Disabilities. But when he retired, I thought, oh no, we had Bob Casey. So two things. Number one, You're listening to the show, you better get on it. You better be getting in touch with your senator or congressperson saying, "We need your support." That's number one. But number two, Marci, we need to tell everyone we know with disabilities. Thank you, Perry, for that suggestion to call that 202-224-6324. And Gerald will have to figure out also how to get that out. I'd love to see bombarded calls coming in there. What do you think about that, Marcy?

I think that's a really, really important idea. There are so many people who have had the opportunity to work with Senator Casey and Michael Gammill McCormick, who has been by his side for years. We hope that Senator Casey will continue to find ways to make his very important impact on disability in his next journey.

Well, I hope that next journey is something of great stature or something that has impact because I would campaign for him forever. So we love him and we appreciate everything he did for us. Marci, getting back to today, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, the theme for 2024 is Amplifying the Leadership of Persons with Disabilities for an Inclusive and Sustainable Future. How did that come about, or what do you think everyone's trying to achieve?

Well, you know, I think there are very important opportunities for disability leaders to not only show up and be involved in all of the global work that's being done as humanitarians and in business and in education and in healthcare, et cetera, et cetera. I think it's also we as global disability community leaders are really taking on our place as changemakers, shifting the perception of people with disabilities as being vulnerable or somehow being a liability And instead, giving our communities the opportunity to benefit from our strength and our leadership and our knowledge and our commitment to inclusion and accessibility. And Joyce, there are some really exciting things coming up that I would love to talk a little bit about that will really drive the leadership of—

Please, proceed.

Yeah, I will. So first of all, tomorrow, WID is very excited to be hosting, along with several of our allies, an International Day of Persons with Disabilities event that will focus on the leadership of refugees with disabilities, people who were forcibly displaced. We will be talking with some folks who are new leaders in a global organization Our event is going to be celebrating the leadership of refugees with disabilities. We will be joined by the Global Network of Refugees with Disabilities, the International Refugee Assistance Project, and the United Nations Refugee Agency. We have some great speakers joining us, and The event, of course, will have international sign and captioning, and the launch of the Global Network of Refugees with Disabilities is something that WID is very excited about being a part of. Additionally, there are many exciting events coming up in 2025 that I want to talk about. The Global Disability Summit will be happening in Berlin in the beginning of April, and WID is very excited to be a part of the planning for this event, and we are serving on the regional disability summit event in January. More information will be coming on that. Also in 2025, the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction will hold their Global Gathering, and WID is always very involved in the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction and their leadership at the Global Platform. And Joyce, I think you know, but many people may not know, that I have had the honor of being elected to represent all of global civil society on the United Nations Early Warnings for All initiative. This is a very important initiative, particularly important as we are on the radio together. The Early Warnings for All initiative was launched in 2022 by the UN Secretary-General, and he has called, uh, and I'm going to use his words because they're very powerful, he has called for every person on Earth to have access to early warnings by the end of 2027. That's 3 years from now. He wants every person on Earth to have access to early warnings. And my role as a member of his advisory panel representing all of civil society is an opportunity to be making sure that all means all and that early warnings are not only available in multiple formats, but that they are actionable so that people can take not only personal protective measures, but can as well assist their community in times of emergency. In periods of crisis, conflict, in the ongoing climate-related extreme weather and many other kinds of crises and disasters. So 2025 is a very, very important year. And in December of 2025, the Valuable 500 will be hosting their SYNC 25. And I am actually just today coming from an International Day of Persons with Disabilities event hosted by the Valuable 500 in their one-year run-up to the SYNC 25, which will be in Tokyo. And this is going to be an event where Their members who are 500+ corporations, their members are going to be coming together to focus on their accountability with regard to the employment of people with disabilities. So very exciting things happening in 2025. And the World Institute on Disability, is extremely involved in all of these. And as well, we were really excited to have been given a grant from the U.S. State Department to work with many of their other grantees on disability inclusion, and that work will unfold in 2025 as well.

First of all, yes, I did know this, but Marci, I want to congratulate you. So you all know that's a very prestigious position that she's been named to, and congratulations. I can't think of a better person for that than you, and I'm very proud of you, and I'm happy for all of you with disabilities around the world You have a great advocate on your side. Uh, hey Marcy, I have to change the subject for one minute. I read, I read that email of yours about Out of My Mind, and when, you know, like the very next day, um, I turned on the Disney Channel and I see this movie advertised. Would you mind— uh, Marcy sent an email to everyone telling them why this movie was so important, but I'm going to let you share it with everyone, Marcy.

So I have to be honest with you, Joyce, I don't think I was the one who sent that email to you.

Maybe you were just included.

Maybe that was it. Maybe I was just included because I haven't seen it yet, and so I am as interested as you are. Okay.

Well, it's about— it's based on a novel, but it's about a young girl with a significant disability, really played by a person with a disability, which is, you know, we are so always excited about that. Um, and it shows the, well, how could she do this at school, or how could she get here, how she could she get hit there. Yeah, I mean, so I would just encourage everyone to check it out. Marcy, you and I just, we're on, we're like sisters, so we must have just been, and we must have just been included all of this, but please check it out. It's called Out of My Mind. And, uh, you know, Marcy, isn't it wonderful that finally they're thinking about having people with disabilities portray people with disabilities? Which is why I loved that movie, you know what I mean? Yeah, I mean, thank God they're finally getting to that. Um, but Before we go, a couple things. One, at WID, what about the fellowship programs?

Yes. So another thing that I am super excited to announce today is that our second cohort of the Judy Heumann Global Fellowship, the Global Human Fellowship, uh, will be, um, uh, applications will be open starting on January 1st. But today we put out the first teaser for the fellowship, uh, and if you go to www.wid.org, or if you are getting our newsletter, uh, which our newsletter is chock full of great stuff, and, um, I would encourage everyone to sign up for the newsletter. You will get information about year 2, our second cohort of the Global Human Fellowship. This fellowship was launched last year with support from Wells Fargo, Microsoft, the Ford Foundation, Mitsubishi Electric America. And this is a fellowship not for early career folks, not even for mid career folks. This is a fellowship for folks who are, uh, on the verge of global leadership. Uh, Judy has done so much over her lifetime to support the leadership of people with disabilities, and there is nothing else out there supporting these leaders at this point in their career where they're making that big leap into global leadership. So we will be looking for applicants who would like to be working with us on amplifying their leadership, uh, in our second cohort. So thanks for asking about the fellowship.

Of course. And you know, companies listening, International Day of Persons with Disabilities, we would appreciate you contacting Marci at wid.org and making one life change. Remember what I said? One person, one decision. You have no idea what it means. I have traveled around the world with the State Department. I have no words to tell you. What it means to people around the world to even know they count, that they're valuable. And oh, are they ever valuable. So make a contribution. Be a company that does sponsorship. Share this. If you're listening now, remember what I told you. Share this. A lot of people listen on demand, so share this so it gets to the right ears. Make sure you do that. Hey, Marcy, I want to tell you, uh, that another thing that I love about you is that, well, next year is the 30th anniversary of Bender Consulting.

Yes.

And I know I've known you around since I got the President's Award at the White House from President Clinton. So that takes us back to 1999. Joyce Bender. And here's what I have to say. There are— and don't do this. Make up your mind you won't do this in 2025 if you are a disability rights leader. Right now we need each other, and right now we need to have communication. So here's what I want you to not do. Don't be like you're in a silo. Don't be like you're at this organization. I'm not going to help anyone. I'm not going to help anyone because I have my own not-for-profit. Well, Bender, we have our own nonprofit, the Bender Leadership Academy, but I make contributions to all these other groups, and even $10 counts. Okay, but why I'm telling you this, Marcy Roth never did that in all these years I've known her. It was never like, oh, I'm not going to help Bender because I have to, you know, like, this may offend someone, or because I have this other silo on it. Never. Never ever. And Marcy, I always respected that about you. I just wanted to tell you that. And since I am telling you that, that means someone has really impacted you. So let's hear it. Who is your role model?

Hmm. Well, let me begin by saying that it is critically important that we stick Together, it's critically important that we all look to each other as partners and that we never give up and that we never give in on what's important. And in that spirit, I am actually not gonna tell you any one person that I look up to. I look up to people like you, Joyce Bender, who recognize collaboration. I look up to the collaborators who make space for each other despite the fact that we are all desperately in need of funding and the all that goes with that. For our organizations, those of us who work together, that's who I look up to.

Well, thank you, and the feeling is so mutual. I love you. I love you too. Uh, Marcy, one more time, how does someone donate to WIT?

www.wit.org. Wid, w-i-d, dot org, o-r-g. And you can reach out to me individually if you would like help with that, and that's Marci, M-A-R-C-I-E, at wid, w-i-d, dot org, o-r-g. Or if you feel like you're not being heard or seen as a collaborator. I want to hear that. I want to make sure that we're not just, you know, performative in the words that we're using, but that we really demonstrate that kind of collaboration because 1.3 billion people are counting on us to not leave anybody behind.

That's right. You know what we're going to do? We're going to move forward. We're moving forward. Yes. And listen to the words of Marcy, because you may hear of something and say, oh my goodness, that would be good for WID. Or WID may hear of something and say, hey, Joyce, they're hiring people at this company. But right now, it is imperative that we work together once more wid.org.

Marcy Roth, you are a rock star, as are you, and I hope you feel better. Thank you. As someone who has long COVID, I really hope you avoid the, uh, the long COVID part of COVID Oh, thank God I don't.

I have avoided it. But yes, another disability, uh, that we could talk about. But that's true. Well, well, we end every show with a quote. Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities. So when Senator Harkin was talking, and he has it on Facebook, "Leave no one behind." Boom! Leave no one behind, Senator Tom Harkin. And in the words of Mary Brocker. When you go out today, remember, make it a point to choose joy. This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week.

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.