skip to main content
skip to newscasts

Thursday, March 28, 2024

Public News Service Logo
facebook instagram linkedin reddit youtube twitter
view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Pulling back the curtains on wage-theft enforcement in MN; Trump's latest attack is on RFK, Jr; NM LGBTQ+ equality group endorses 2024 'Rock Star' candidates; Michigan's youth justice reforms: Expanded diversion, no fees.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg says rebuilding Baltimore's Key Bridge will be challenging and expensive. An Alabama Democrat flips a state legislature seat and former Connecticut senator Joe Lieberman dies at 82.

view newscast page
play newscast audioPlay

Historic wildfires could create housing and health issues for rural Texans, a Kentucky program helps prison parolees start a new life, and descendants of Nicodemus, Kansas celebrate the Black settlers who journeyed across the 1870s plains seeking self-governance.

TN Disability Advocates "Camp Out" For Better Housing Options

play audio
Play

Thursday, September 18, 2008   

Washington, D.C. – More than 400 people with disabilities and others are camped out in front of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) offices to draw attention to another kind of housing crisis - what they see as a lack of federal funding for accessible housing options.

The goal is to shed light on the "Community Choices Act," legislation to help people with disabilities to live independently, rather than in nursing homes -- where many end up, advocates say, simply because there are so few other choices for them. Randy Alexander, a community organizer with the Center for Independent Living of Memphis, is at the tent city in Washington.

"The Community Choice Act would make those services an entitlement, so states would have to provide equal access to the services people want and need in order to live their own lives, in their own homes."

Alexander says the next administration must make affordable housing for people with disabilities a priority and participants in the action have attempted to meet with representatives from both presidential campaigns. In Tennessee, he says the recently-passed "Community Choice Act of 2008" was a good start, but budget cuts have eliminated programs before they could get off the ground.

"This administration has sold out to the managed-care organizations and nursing home industry, to continue to make sure that industry keeps getting funded on the lives and backs of people with disabilities."

Alexander says currently there are 35,000 people with disabilities in Tennessee who live in nursing homes. Of those, at least 7,000 say they would prefer to live on their own. Cosponsors of the Community Choices Act include Tennessee Congressmen Bart Gordon and Steve Cohen.

For more information online, visit www.duhcity.org.


get more stories like this via email

more stories
A report from the Tennessee HealthCare Campaign recommended the federal government needs to strengthen 340B drug pricing and other federal negotiation mechanisms to make needed medicines more readily available and less expensive for hospitals to purchase and administer. (Spotmatikphoto/AdobeStock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

A recent report examined how some rural Tennessee hospitals have managed to stay afloat despite financial challenges. The report includes interviews …


Social Issues

play sound

Earlier this month, a new Arizona Public Service rate hike went into effect and one senior advocacy group said those on a fixed income may struggle …

Social Issues

play sound

Michigan recently implemented a significant juvenile justice reform package following recommendations from a task force made up of prosecutors…


Nearly 13 million Americans receive health coverage through unique plans under both Medicare and Medicaid. They are known as Dual-Eligible Special Needs Plans. (Adobe Stock)

Health and Wellness

play sound

Medicare and Medicaid are key sources of health coverage for many Americans and some people qualify for assistance under both programs. With lagging …

Social Issues

play sound

A mix of policy updates and staffing boosts has helped to put wage theft enforcement on the radar in Minnesota, and officials leading the efforts are …

More than six in 10 Americans favor keeping the abortion pill mifepristone available in the U.S. as a prescription drug, while over a third are opposed, according to a Gallup poll. (Adobe Stock)

Social Issues

play sound

New research shows more than six in 10 abortions in the U.S. last year were medically induced, and U.S. Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto - D-NV - is …

Social Issues

play sound

Colorado is working to boost the state's agricultural communities by getting more fresh, nutritious foods into school cafeterias - and a new online …

Social Issues

play sound

Missouri lawmakers are concerned with protecting people from the potential risks of the increasing accessibility of AI-generated images and videos…

 

Phone: 303.448.9105 Toll Free: 888.891.9416 Fax: 208.247.1830 Your trusted member- and audience-supported news source since 1996 Copyright © 2021