Peri Jude-Radecic, Chief Executive Officer of Disability Rights Pennsylvania (DRP)

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, welcome to the show. To everyone in the United States and around the world, I get so excited Every time I see the new listeners around the world, um, you know, the new countries with listeners, it's just, it's so wonderful. It really is. And I always tell, uh, I always say on my show, if you're in a country and you're the only person listening to the show, you matter. You matter. And you know what? What you have to do is tell other people about the show so that we have more people listening. And you know, all you have to do is talk to someone and tell them, English-speaking, you know, Disability Matters with Joyce Bender. The show is replayed in 12 hours around the world, but you can hear any of those shows, you know, on demand at any time. So, And with that, hello, Richard Roberts in Brazil, a special shout out to you, my dear friend that I love so much. And my new friend, Carla. You know, Richard Roberts is not just a dignitary diplomat with the US State Department, he is a world disability rights leader and my friend. And I can't wait to see you again. And Gangyang Cho in South Korea, I always like I hear from you, it's just so wonderful. And to all of my friends, Kazakhstan, Indonesia, Japan, Panama, all around, South Korea, which is Gangneung, of course, anywhere that I've worked with people, I work with people now. I met a great person from Hong Kong right here. And let me just tell you, He is making things happen. No matter where you are in the world, no matter where it is, if you are a person with a disability, you are my brother and sister no matter where you are located. So with that, I want to say hi, Yoshiko Dart, a special shout-out to you. Yoshiko, guess what I was looking at today, Yoshiko? I was looking at the memorial service to honor, uh, Justin Dart. A celebration of life, empowerment, solidarity, a celebration of love. And Marco Bristow was there, uh, Secretary Chao was there. President Clinton was there. Richard— Governor Thornburgh and his wife Jenny, Pat Wright, Lex Frieden, Andy Idaire. I'm going to tell you something. It was my honor to be there. Yoshiko. And I'm talking about the great late Justin Dart Jr. 2002 on July 26th, I was at the event and his wife Yoshiko, who is living, is still leading the way as a disability rights leader. Love you, Yoshiko. Love you. Lead on, Yoshiko. And to Highmark, my sponsor. Highmark has been the lead sponsor of this show. And if you go back this month, You will hear Karen Hanlon, who is the number 2 person running all of Highmark with their 40,000 employees, $13 billion company. She is number 2 running the show. And I want to tell you, listen to that show. Karen Hanlon, H-A-N-L-O-N. Karen and David Holmberg, the CEO, Holmberg, H-O-L-M-B-E-R-G, who was on in January. You will not find a company that has been as supportive of hiring people with disabilities than Highmark. They helped me get started, and every single CEO has stood behind me since then. This is the 21st year of this radio show. So hard to believe, but thank you, thank you, thank you. And now, so excited about my guest today. Guess what, everyone? You're going to recognize the voice as soon as she starts talking, because my guest today is none other than the CEO of Disability Rights PA. More importantly though, my newscaster on every single show, just the— I'm so honored that I have had her these past 6 years every week. Phenomenal. Perri-Jude Radesic, welcome to the show.

Joyce, thank you so much for having me. It's great to have a chance to talk with you other than just the, the great segments that we do together on the half an hour. So really, thank you. And I wanted to also thank you for your Disability Pride LGBTQIA breakfast that you do in Pittsburgh. It was a wonderful event. So thank you for that, Joyce.

You are welcome. And what she is talking about is the Bender Leadership Academy, which is the not-for-profit I founded that prepares high school students with disabilities for the world of work, and fighting bullying, the Mary Brocker Mental Health Initiative. And I actually, Perry, spoke at the Representative Dan Miller's Mental Health Summit on the intersectionality of the LGBTQ+ community for youth who also have mental health disabilities. And as you might guess, and I know you know, that youth with— from the LGBTQ community and mental health crisis have a high suicide rate. And that's what we want to fight. I am proud to be part of that. And I was proud to have my friend Brian Bond, the CEO of PFLAG, speak. But Perry, you know about intersectionality. People don't think about this, but if you are a person, a young person from the LGBTQ+ community, You already deal with the minority stress, the stress of, you know, I am in this protected class and people won't treat me the same, and then add mental health to that. And I will continue having that event until it's large because if we can help one person, one life, it's worth it.— but do you know what I'm talking about, Perry?

Absolutely.

You know, do you want to comment on that?

I do. The pressures of being LGBTQIA or the oppression or the pressures of being Black in school or any protected class in school, being a person with a disability, being neurodiverse in school just subjects us to such maltreatment even today, and it's unfair. It's not right. Organizations like my own and the Bender Leadership Academy and AAPD and other great organizations work to counter that harassment and that bullying all of the time. Nonetheless, it persists, and when you host an event like that, Joyce Bender, and are a wonderful ally to both— to the LGBTQIA community. It just helps to take away some of that stigma, even just for a morning. And to be able to breathe during that morning, to be able to rest during that morning among allies and among friends is just a wonderful experience. So thank you.

Well, thank you for being there. So Perry, in addition to being this great newscaster that you are. You have another big role. You're the CEO of Disability Rights PA. Two things. Could you first tell everyone about yourself, like how did you get into this? What led you to this job? And then after that, if you could explain what Disability Rights PA does.

Absolutely, Joyce. Thank you again for having me on and for a great question. And Good afternoon and good morning to all of your listeners out there. Well, Joyce, I've always been an advocate, even from a very early age. I grew up in the South Hills of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I was an advocate for women's sports all the way back in the 1970s. I— after college, I went to the University of Pittsburgh on a track and field scholarship. I was a field eventer, the shot and the discus and javelin. And so that was tough back then. And I was an advocate for women's sports back in the '70s. When I got out of college, I belonged to the National Organization for Women and was an advocate for women's rights. Soon after that, in the mid-'80s, I became a lobbyist for the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and had the opportunity to work with great individuals like Pat Wright on the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Oh, no kidding.

Yeah, no kidding. Yeah.

Wow.

Yeah. And my, my job at the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force to make sure HIV protection stayed in the legislation, but it was such a pleasure to work with so many wonderful people and to help in whatever way the LGBTQ community could push the ADA over the goal and to watch President Bush sign that bill. That was an amazing experience. Joyce, I will just tell all of your listeners and anyone who will listen to me that I'm also a person with a lived experience. I have a mental health disability. So really, disability rights are so important to me personally, and that's why I also really appreciate you so much for all you do for people with mental health disabilities to find to find jobs, to end stigma through the Bender Leadership Academy, and I was a big fan of Mary Brocker and still am today. So, yeah, thank you for that. It's important to me personally, and I appreciate what you do. So, fast forward—

One question I have there. I have a question. Sure. You mean you were at the signing of the ADA?

Yeah, I was.

Wow.

I was. Yeah, I got one of those little American flags too. I remember it. Wow. It was really hot and humid that day too.

Well, what impacted you the most that day?

Oh, wow. Watching President Bush sign an incredibly impactful piece of legislation. That was an amazing experience.

Yeah. Wow. Well, I wasn't there, but I love to talk to people that were there so I can relive that in my mind. But okay, let's hear about Disability Rights PA.

So Joyce, I came back home to Pennsylvania just about 10 years ago today. I was doing the same work. I was the executive director of the Arizona Center for Disability Law. I was in Arizona. I went to law school out in Arizona. I left Washington, D.C., and started working as a healthcare and mental healthcare attorney for— it's now called Disability Rights Arizona. And so that was a long time ago. And probably 1994, I joined the staff of Disability Rights Arizona— oh, 2004. I'm sorry, 2004. And I've been in the protection and advocacy system for all that time, leading Arizona Center for Disability Law and now Disability Disability Rights Pennsylvania, and I have to tell you, disability rights advocacy is the most fulfilling work I have ever done. It always was and it always will be because of my personal experience with disability.

Oh, and Disability Rights PA, does that mean it covers the entire state?

Yes, Joyce. That's, you know, a lot of time people meet us at an outreach event or at a disability pride event and they think we only might cover Harrisburg or Philly or Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. No, no. Disability Rights Pennsylvania provides legal and advocacy services to children and adults with disabilities and our family members throughout the entire state of Pennsylvania.

And when people have something happen to them or they feel they've been discriminated against, I— when is it— people ask me this all the time— when is it that they should go to you versus go to EEOC? What is the difference there?

Yeah, so the EEOC is a federal agency whose job it is to process and investigate complaints of employment discrimination. Now, I think people with disabilities in Pennsylvania or in any state around the country should call their protection and advocacy agency like Disability Rights Pennsylvania the first moment they believe that they have been subjected to, to some discriminatory action. And I don't mean just in employment. It could be housing. It could be trying to access access a restaurant, or the lack of a curb cut, or some other— or in education, or in voting rights, in anything that we do as a community. If you, the first moment you think there has been a discriminatory action, it's worth your while to call Disability Rights Pennsylvania. We might then tell you to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Opportunity Commission, but calling us, we will be able to give you information about your rights and maybe more. So, it's really the first moment you think something's not right.

And they can go to what, ndrn.org? I'm wondering, where do they go? Someone listening right now is saying, well, how do you know? You know, if you're in a state, how do you find the office. Is that what you would do?

Yes, Joyce, that's exactly— we are one of 57 protection and advocacy agencies across the United States and our territories. So if you go to NDRN, that's Nancy David Roberta and Nancy, ndrn.org, you will be able to click on the home page and find one of us in every state and territory, and they will give you the website, the phone number, and other information so that you can look up Disability Rights Pennsylvania or any other disability rights protection and advocacy agency across the country. You call them and they will be able to give you the information you need to check out that feeling that you're having and to send you on the right— set you on the right path.

Well, you know, one of the things I want to talk about today is voting. As I think all of our listeners know, uh, especially those right here in the United States, we have one of probably will be written up in history books as one of the most important elections for years, and that is this November with President Trump and President Biden. You know, isn't that amazing saying it? Two presidents. But it is the most important, and the disability community, we've got to get out there and we've got to vote. And you've got to go and you've got to look at platforms. By that I mean go to Google, put in disability, what has happened in the past with this candidate. But you've got to vote. You know, when people say to me, "Oh, I don't even think I'm going to vote," I'll say, "Well, you know what? How would you like to live in Russia or China where you have zero voice? And often if you do have a voice, you're executed." You are important in this country. But especially we with disabilities, we got to get out there, folks. You got to get out there and vote. If you're listening to me right now, I mean it. This is so important. I think I'm going to set something up where I have my listeners let me know if they're going to vote. But right now, Perry, let's talk first about where people feel they have, uh, been suppressed or where they feel— I remember one time, maybe it was 8 years ago, when someone went to vote and they— there was a truck there just sitting there with a rifle. And some of the people that I know with disabilities were terrified. That may be unusual, but more unusual things probably happen. Plus, going somewhere where you can't get in, uh, you know, before— it really isn't accessible. Let's hear, let's hear you talk a little bit about voting.

Absolutely, Joyce. Uh, so there are barriers to voting that we face as people with disabilities. That is Absolutely. And I will tell you, one of the most common complaints we get on Election Day is that someone with a physical disability here in Pennsylvania will go to their polling place because they want to vote in person, they have a right to vote in person, and the door that is the accessible entrance, which sometimes is not the front entrance, is locked. And no one will open that door. It's amazing to me that we still face that problem. Even in our primary election that just happened not that long ago, got the same call. Someone in a different polling place found the door locked. Nobody would answer it. Nobody would open the door. So they called us. So Joyce, when that happens, please call us.

You're listening. Wait a minute. How did other people— how did other people get in to vote?

The front door, because sometimes the accessible entrance—

I see, the accessible entrance was in the back.

Oh, that's right.

Oh, oh, that is not good at all. Oh, if that happens, yes, you've got to call, uh, Disability Rights PA or whatever office, you know, is in your area. I'll tell you why. They're gonna do something. Oh, I remember in past elections, Perry was on it, man. Her whole team was on it. You know, like by the phone, you know, 24/7 type on the phone, taking calls, making sure, we've gotta make sure people with disabilities can vote. Okay, so what happens if a person goes in and they're blind?— and there's a, you know, how many accessible machines are there?

Yeah, Joyce, the Help America Vote Act that was passed in 2002 guarantees that there is at least one accessible machine, and that means accessible in a variety of ways. It can be raised and lowered. The table can be raised or lowered to to fit different sizes of wheelchairs, and it has a keypad that a person who is blind or low vision can navigate with headphones. And they are able to vote privately and independently with that accessible machine. What we find on a pretty regular basis is that there will be a polling place that failed to set up the accessible machine, or the poll workers didn't know how to set up the accessible machine, so the person who needs to be able to vote privately and independently can't do it. And again, in that situation, if, if people call us immediately, we can fix that. If, if they have don't mind, you know, giving us about 15 to 30 minutes, we will have that addressed. And we, we have relationships with all the county election directors around the state, and we can call the Department of State, the Elections Office, or the county directly, and we will get that resolved so that there is an accessible machine ready to be used for a person to vote privately and independently. But we need to know about it.

So someone went to vote, if someone, let's say, uh, blind or a little person, whatever it is, uh, and they could not get it adjusted for them, or they could not— they didn't have JAWS or Braille, whatever they're using with the headphones. What if they say, sorry, this isn't working? Then what? What if they say the machine isn't working?

Yeah, so each county will have a few extra machines to deploy to polling places on Election Day, but we have to know to be able to call the county to get them to deploy another machine.

You heard it, everyone. Don't let anything deter you from voting. You know, we have this wonderful thing in Pennsylvania and across the United States, actually run by AAPD called Rev Up. And in Pennsylvania, here in Pittsburgh, Bender Consulting Services and Leadership Academy head up Rev Up. Register, educate, vote. Rev Up. And it's to encourage and get people with disabilities registered to vote and encouraged to vote or to get them to vote. Uh, Perry, how, how about how long in advance do people need to send in an absentee ballot?

Yeah, boy, I would do it early. As soon as the deadline comes out to request an absentee ballot, I would ask for the absentee ballot so that you can vote by mail. As soon as you get that ballot I would fill it out and send it back in. Now, there are deadlines that are too close to Election Day. So if you are late in asking for the absentee ballot and you don't get your ballot until the Friday before Election Day, which is a Tuesday, and you don't mail it until the weekend, the post office is not going to be able to guarantee delivery that it will get there to your county by 5:00 PM on Election Day, which is when it needs to be delivered. So you've got to make sure people— you request that absentee ballot early, that you fill it out as soon as it comes in, and you mail it as soon as it comes— as soon as you fill it out. And don't let it sit on your counter. Don't wait until a weekend to, to do it. Fill it out, get it back in, because the The mail is slow. We all know it. We all know how long it takes for some of our bills to get to our electric company or our gas company or the water company or to our landlords. The same holds true with our ballots. They're not rushed. So you have got to fill that out, get it back as soon as you receive it.

Yeah, okay, you gotta be on that. Well, what else is going on? About the vote. What else are you involved with at Disability Rights PA?

Yeah, Joyce, so we are sponsoring Disability Pride this year across Pennsylvania, and we are doing outreach on voting, educating people in Pennsylvania about their rights, listening to what attendees at Disability Pride events have to say about voting and trying to troubleshoot their issues at Pride all across the state of Pennsylvania. The next Disability Pride is in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. That's on August 10th from 10:00 till 3:00. So if you're listening and you're in that area, come to Williamsport on August 10th from 10:00 till 3:00. The next Disability Pride event we'll be at to educate voters about disability rights is in Pittsburgh. Joyce, we'll see you in Pittsburgh. Ah!

When is that?

August 24th, 11 to 4, from— it's Shenley Park. And I know a leader— Bender Leadership Academy will have a booth, and you'll be promoting Rev Up Pennsylvania there. And so it's a great time to come and get lots of information about voting, including from Rev Up Pennsylvania, on August 24th in Pittsburgh at Shenley Park.

Awesome.

Yeah, yeah. And if folks are near Philadelphia, on September 7th, uh, from 11 to 4, we'll be in Philadelphia. So we've got lots of Pride events promoting the disability vote, promoting disability rights, making sure people know where they can call if there's a problem, and troubleshooting any issues people have those days.

Oh, that is so awesome. That is awesome. Well, You know, Perry knows this, but for those of you that don't, for Pride Month, and it's already up, Disability Pride Month, I have a tree. And the tree has pictures of disability rights leaders everywhere. And on the top, I purchased a replica of Justin Dart's hat. And that's the treetop. But guess what else is on here? At the mental health summit, your group was there, Disability Rights PA, and I got these green, large green bands that say Disability Pride, and they're also hanging on my tree. So, I am all about disability rights, disability pride, and what a great way to celebrate what you've just talked about. What a great way. With that, I wanted to talk about a few other things, but guess what? It's on the half hour. It's time for my news break. Oh, I got Perry Jude on here. So, Perry Jude, take it away.

Joyce Bender, thank you for letting us do our Advocacy Matters segment. It's a pleasure. Boy, we want to talk about this. It's the Health and Human Services, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services final regulations implementing Section 504 of the 1973 Rehabilitation Act. So I'll get to all of that in a moment. So last November, here— right here on Disability Matters with Joyce Bender, we reported that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced a proposed rule that would update and strengthen prohibitions against discrimination based on disability. And 504, Section 504, deals with recipients of federal funds. So any program or activity that receives federal funds is— cannot discriminate on the basis of disability, and we call that Section 504. Any recipient of federal funds. So back in November, HHS puts out a proposal telling the country that they want to update and strengthen these prohibitions on discrimination. So here we are, it's June, and we're happy to report that Health and Human Services released their final Section 504 regulation. So it does sometimes take that long from getting public comment to issuing a final regulation. They've released the new rule after receiving 5,200 public comments. And Joyce Bender, I know some of your listeners put in a public comment because we talked about it on your show last November. So I know your listeners listen to Advocacy Matters and they respond. So congratulations, your listeners were part of 5,200 public comments. And this is the first significant update of Section 504 in 50 years. It's been that long.

50 years. Wow. Oh, by the way, you guys rock, you listeners. When Perry's on here and she gives these reports and she, you know, asks you to do something like that, you guys are awesome. Do it. Do it. You're helping make a difference. So what, what happened from these updates? What's different than it was before?

Yeah, so a couple things. One, the new regulation works to ensure that healthcare decisions are not based on negative biases or stereotypes about people with disabilities. That's really important because sometimes, and we know this we saw through COVID that in the early stages of COVID doctors and hospitals were making horrible decisions based on biases and stereotypes about people with disabilities. So it does away with that. The second thing—

Now how? Give me an example of how.

Absolutely, Joyce. So who could get to an ER? Who was allowed in an ER? People were reporting to us that they had a seizure, needed to go to the hospital, wanted to get into the ER, and were denied access to the ER. We had complaints that people with disabilities who had a support person, a direct support care worker, that direct support care worker could not get into the hospital to help the person with the disability and support them through their hospitalization. We know that people with disabilities were not at the top of the list in the very beginning to get access to ventilators. In fact, some states around the country wanted to remove people with disabilities from ventilators to give them to non-disabled people.

Oh my goodness.

Absolutely horrendous things. So hospitals, healthcare providers cannot do that, cannot do that anymore. You cannot base a decision like who gets a ventilator based on a negative bias or stereotype about people with disabilities or our life expectancy. It's against the law, plain and simple.

Before you go over anything, any other change, I have a question. What happens if you're deaf and you're in the hospital and you need a sign language interpreter and they say they don't have one? What is their situation?

Yeah, and that gets addressed in the new regulations as well. The program has to be readily accessible and usable by people with disabilities including people who are deaf. So the hospital must provide effective communication. That could be a person that they pay for, not the person coming in to get services, but that the hospital pays for, or they can use video interpretation, which isn't always the best., but can be used in some circumstances. So, people who are deaf are entitled to effective communication at the doctor's or at a hospital, and they have a right to that, Joyce.

Oh, isn't that wonderful? Uh, because it has been terri— I know someone in the hospital, uh, who had cancer and could not get an interpreter in there. I mean, they were in bed and they were wanting to ask questions. So I mean, that can't happen now. If it does happen, you can pick up the phone and call like Disability Rights PA or someone because they're violating the law. And, uh, I, you know, took a long time, but thank God, thank God that it did, uh, happen. I assume they also have to be accessible? Like, what about the equipment? Does the equipment have to be accessible, such as mammogram?

Yes, absolutely. The new regulation establishes rules for accessible medical equipment. And so how it does this is it adopts the, the Health and Human Services rule adopts the U.S. Access Board's standards for medical diagnostic equipment like exam tables and mammography machines. So Access Board standards for medical diagnostic equipment are now embedded in the final Section 504 regulations. It's new. It's important. It's critical so that people with disabilities have access to healthcare. Absolutely.

Thank goodness. Thank goodness. You know, Perry, here I am. Next year is the 30th anniversary of Bender Consulting Services.

Congratulations.

Thank you. My life's work has been one thing: employment of people with disabilities. As I always tell people, did you notice you're not out there seeing all these competitors of Because people don't want to do it. It's hard. That's why. You know, before I started Bender, when I was in IT search and recruitment, I had so many competitors in Pittsburgh, right here in Pittsburgh. I don't have any for Bender Consulting Services, pretty much, that does exactly what I do anywhere. So, this is a— This is a long fight. Why do you think, Perry, that this has been such a struggle to get competitive employment, full-time, not segregated for people with disabilities?

Joyce, I really do think it comes down to biases, stereotypes, stigma. Why else would you not hire a person with a mental health disability? I have one, and I'm working at a very high level. Why else wouldn't you hire a person with intellectual disabilities? I know many people with intellectual disabilities who are employed competitively at jobs in P&A in protection and advocacy organizations. Why wouldn't you hire a person with a physical disability? This— it's just based on some false information from some stereotypes about what it might cost an employer to accommodate a person with a disability, and it's— I— that's what I think. I think it's bias and stereotypes.

Yeah, the stigma. It's so hard for me to comprehend this. Of course, everyone that works for me has a disability, but I don't know, like, you know, I just see great people. But guess what? We are people. And guess what else? You have people with disabilities working for you right now.. It's just they aren't telling you. Some of your high performers are people with disabilities. You have people working there with depression, bipolar disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, epilepsy, MS, diabetes, hard of hearing. I could go on and on. They're already working for you. It's just they aren't telling you. Why do you think that is, folks? It's because of what Perry just talked about. They're afraid that if they do tell you, they're not going to get that promotion. They're not going to be treated like everyone else is treated. They're not going to get the same chance. That's what they're worried about. But they're there. They are working for you. And what you have to do is create more equity, a better inclusive environment. And you know why I said equity and not just equality? You can hire, you can say, oh, well, we are equal in hiring. I hired this person with a disability. Okay, does that person have the same career mobility opportunities? Or are they all in one area, everyone in customer service or everyone in call center? You know, can everyone go in the front door? Do you have universal design? I mean, I could go on and on, but I always ask one question when people say to me, "Oh, yeah, we're hiring people with disabilities." I'll say, "Okay, so if I come to your company," And I walk through the lobby. I wait, watching people come in and out. How many wheelchairs, how many service dogs will I see? And you know what? Everyone I've told that to, every business executive, has said to me, "You know what? I can't think of any." Now, these are billion-dollar companies. You know, they're lucky if they have one person.. And that is absolutely shameful. Don't you agree with that, Perry?

Joyce Bender, absolutely. There, really, in my experience in hiring and accommodating people with disabilities, I've never found a disability that couldn't be accommodated. This is, and not for a lot of money. This is what I don't understand about businesses. Everything can be accommodated. You They just have to listen and interact with the person with the disability over what their needs are, what the job is, and come to an agreement over how to make that person successful. There's no reason businesses should not be engaging in these important conversations with our community.

Yes, indeed. And with that, we have a caller on the line for Joyce Bender. What's going on at Bender News? Gerald, are you on the line?

I'm here, Joyce. Hi, Joyce, and hi, Perry Jude.

Hey, Gerald.

Hey, we had Jonathan Capehart on last week, but we've got the best news anchor in America, Perry Jude Radischik, on this week. It's so great to hear you on for more than just a half hour. Today, just on the half hour page. And thank you for all you're doing across the state and for our community. And it's just— I'm proud to know you, and all the work you do is incredible. And to have you a part of REV UP and really get to fight the fight with you, it's an honor.

So thanks, Gerald. You're wonderful.

Thank you.

Oh, so are you.

And I've got some wonderful news for our our listeners today, and that's to talk about a lesser-known product, but becoming a very popular product here at Bender, and that is our strategic planning product line. Well, we go into a company and we help them redefine the work that they do internally with their employee, candidate, and customer experience teams. To be more inclusive for people with disabilities across the board, to make sure their organization is set up to include people with disabilities at all levels. We look at cultural factors included, like the supply chain. We help you highlight your successes, remove barriers, and recommend sustainable str— strategies for continued inclusion and equity equity within your organization so that people with disabilities can not only get jobs, but thrive, grow, become leaders within your company. We've had a lot of great businesses reach out to us and work with us in this product area to up their game and become disability inclusion champions and really be great supporters of our community and wanted to call that out to the listeners today that there's a lot of great service we have. Sherry Lapaya from our team does great work with our companies helping them bring their disability inclusion to the next level and do things like make those great strategies set in place for easy access to accommodations like you guys were just talking about so that there isn't all that friction. Easy to get access to what they need. So go to benderconsult.com to learn more and to contact us today.

Thank you, Gerald. I just want to mention before you go, first of all, it is a fantastic new product, and Sherry Lapaya is fantastic and is doing a phenomenal job over this product line. I just wanted to mention that it was originally the idea of, yes, Mary Brocker. And when Mary told me about this, I'm thinking, I don't know, really, are people going to really be wanting us to do management consulting for them in the disability area? And boy, was she right, because she started— her and Sherry started this years ago at PNC and then Bristol-Myers Squibb. And not only has it taken off since then, We have these companies calling us. It isn't us going out, you know, right now trying to get— we're getting business coming our way. And boy, wait till that Disability:IN conference, Gerald.

Oh, I can't wait. It's going to be a blast.

Yep. Well, thank you, Gerald. Love having you. You are so awesome. Thank you for calling in.

Thank you for having me, and you two have a wonderful day.

Signing off. Thank you. It's amazing, isn't it, how, you know, things progress? I'm telling you, someday, sure, someday, Perry, people are going to say— hopefully it won't be 100 years from now— but someday people are going to be saying, do you know that Joyce Bender had this radio show and this company that would— a national company finding employment for people with disabilities? And had a news anchor that was actually the CEO of a protection and rights advocacy group talking about why you should hire people with disabilities. Can you believe it? Because that would be like us today saying, "Join Women Matters with Joyce Bender," and us talking about hiring women.

Yeah.

Or hiring African Americans, hiring Latinas. You know what I mean? Hiring people from the LGBTQ+ community. Someday people are gonna say, I'm going to say, can you believe they had to do that? And I hope it won't be— I hope it will get resolved sooner. What were you going to say?

Yeah, I hope it does too. I hope it doesn't take 100 years. There are so many talented people with disabilities out there who want to work, who are ready to work, if only businesses would listen to you, if only businesses would use your products. Learn how to do this. It's not hard. It's the easiest thing to do. And they would— these businesses would have such a talented pool of people working for them.

They would. And you know what else we need, Perry? We need more people with disabilities to go into public service. I mean, you can start in your own township. Running for some office. We obviously vote for people to be on council, but we also vote for sheriffs, we vote for all different types of jobs. You could start locally, but Ted Kennedy Jr. always says to me, "What can we do to get more people with disabilities to run for state senator?" state rep, congressperson. Well, guess what? President Biden does have a disability. He stutters. But what do you think about that, Perry? Don't you think that would be wonderful?

It would absolutely make a difference. One, it would reduce stigma, again, because here you have a person with a disability in the legislature being able to speak from their lived experience on all the legislation, all the funding bills that come before them. If anyone out there is thinking of jumping in a race and running for public office, do so. Both parties have candidate training programs that you can be a part of. There are labor unions that have candidate training programs. There are women's organizations that have candidate training programs. It would be absolutely the right thing to do for you to pursue that interest in public service, and it's just so important. You would have an impact beyond our wildest dreams.

As I said, you could start locally, but everyone, we got to get people doing that. So, Perry, what are some of your, in your opinion, 10 greatest accomplishments over the past couple years at Disability Rights PA?

You know, the first thing I would say, I'm a manager, right? I'm an administrator because I'm a CEO here, and so managing is a big part of what I do, just like I'm sure it is for you too, Joyce. And the thing that I really am proud of is the The culture that we've established at Disability Rights Pennsylvania, the transparency with employees, the personnel policies that put the employee and family first, we really go the extra mile to make sure that if someone needs something, they can take care of it. If they have an emergency with their child, they can go and take care of it. And what I have found is when you take care of your employees, they do incredible work and it reduces turnover. So, and plus they appreciate being recognized in those ways. So really, I think at the top of my list is building a culture where the employee is first here at Disability Rights Pennsylvania. And the staff does great great work, Joyce Bender. They do incredible work here.

You know what? You do. You have a great staff. And by the way, that all— that great culture, Perry, it starts with you. And you need to recognize that because you're such a great leader and it always starts at the top. It does. It always starts at the top. And you do have a wonderful culture there. You do. So, Perry, what message do you have for our listeners today?

Oh my gosh. The message that I have for listeners today, Joyce, it's June, is pay attention to the debates tonight. Look up the websites of all of the candidates, not just running for president, but for the U.S. Senate, the U.S. House. Check out their positions on disability issues and go and vote. And if you're nearby a Disability Pride event in Pennsylvania, stop by and say hi.

Now, where— you have two offices, right, Perry? Where are you?

Three. We're in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Harrisburg.

And they can find your location address by going on the website?

Yep, going on the website at disabilityrightsPA.org, disabilityrightsPA.org, or call us. We do live intake for any disability-related legal issue between 9 and 3 Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Our phone number, write this down, our phone number is 800- 800-692-7443. That's 800-692-7443.

Thank you, Perry, and thank you for being with us today.

Joyce, it's always a pleasure. Thank you and have a great afternoon.

Well, wait a minute, and we'll be— you'll be hearing her on all the shows on the half hour with the news. Before she goes, we end every show with a quote quote. And since we were talking about the importance of all groups, let's not forget that women are still paid less than men in corporate America, which is sad in so many areas. So the quote today is from Secretary Hillary Clinton, who said, "Women are the largest untapped reservoir of talent in the world." This is Joyce Bender, America's Voice, where disability matters, at voiceamerica.com. Talk to you all next week, and when you go out tomorrow, remember, in the words of Mary Brocker, choose joy. You won't go wrong. Talk to you then.

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.

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