Disability Policy Consortium

Disability Policy Consortium About Us. By Us. Delivering systems change at every level since 1996. Everything about the disability community should be led by the disability community.

What we do:

- Legislative Advocacy
- Community Organizing
- Research
- Peer Support

For 25 years, the Disability Policy Consortium has fought for the rights of people with disabilities. We have a rich history of innovative and effective work in community organizing, participatory research, public policy development, and peer support. As an organization run by and for people with disabilities, we prove every day what members of our community can accomplish when they are allowed to reach their full potential. For that reason, the Disability Policy Consortium (DPC) leads efforts to advocate for, conduct research with, and deliver services to our disabled peers. Board of Directors:

John Chappell, President
Joe Bellil, Treasurer

Anita Albright
Ellen Bresin
Cheryl Cumings
Jini Fairley
Allegra Heath-Stout
Carol Hilbinger
Jennifer Lee
Josh Montgomery
Robyn Powell
Jason Savageau
Penny Shaw
Chloe Slocum
Andrew Veith
Heather Watkins
Casandra Xavier

Executive Director:
Harry Weissman

Check out our Website: www.dpcma.org

Check out DPC’s store for exclusive AboutUsByUsaurus disabled dino swag — bold, witty, and one-of-a-kind designs created by disabled artist Emma Gelbard, only at DPC! https://dpcma.printful.me/

Take Action Thursday: Join Us at the Legislative Briefing on 2/25 130pm-4pmIn just under one week, we will gather at the...
19/02/2026

Take Action Thursday: Join Us at the Legislative Briefing on 2/25 130pm-4pm

In just under one week, we will gather at the State House for DPC’s Annual Legislative Briefing, and we would love to see you there!

This year, we will be highlighting four key priorities:
• Wheelchair Repair Reform – H.4358 / S.2662
• Alternative Housing Voucher Program (AHVP) – H.1481 / S.1004 • Healthcare Anti-Discrimination (HCAD) – H.1360 / S.869
• Hearing Aid Coverage

These bills are about everyday access. Mobility. Housing. Healthcare. Communication. They shape whether disabled people can live, work, and participate fully in our communities.

The most important way to take action today is simple: Make sure you are registered.

Register here: tinyurl.com/dpc-briefing

When we gather in the same room, our priorities are harder to ignore. Your presence matters. Your voice strengthens the whole room. We are less than a week away. Take a minute today and secure your spot!

Acting locally can take many forms. Sometimes it looks like advocacy. Sometimes it looks like showing up to a hearing or...
18/02/2026

Acting locally can take many forms. Sometimes it looks like advocacy. Sometimes it looks like showing up to a hearing or sharing your story. And sometimes, it looks like making a decision inside your own workplace.

In addition to our advocacy work, Disability Policy Consortium partners with organizations across Massachusetts and beyond to provide disability-led training and consulting. We work with healthcare providers, higher education institutions, state agencies, and nonprofit organizations that want to better serve disabled clients and better support disabled employees.

What makes DPC’s training different is simple and powerful. It is about us, by us. Our trainings are developed and led by disabled people, grounded in lived experience, disability history, and disability rights. They move beyond compliance or checklists and instead ask organizations to reflect, listen, and act.

The feedback we receive tells us this approach matters and that it moves people toward action.

“This training motivated me to do more. It was emotional and brought privilege to light.”

“It was a reminder to always challenge perceptions and to not define people by my perceptions. It also means we need to keep addressing systemic inequity.”

This February, as we focus on acting locally, we invite employers and organizations to see training as a form of direct action. Choosing to learn from disabled people. Choosing to invest in inclusion. Choosing to build systems that respect disabled clients and employees not in theory, but in practice.

Would you like to work with us to bring a training to your workplace?

Send us an inquiry email to disabilitydei@dpcma.org or use our Contact Us form.

Quick Facts: Access Is Not AbstractAround the world, access is recognized as a human right. The right to participate. Th...
17/02/2026

Quick Facts: Access Is Not Abstract

Around the world, access is recognized as a human right. The right to participate. The right to be included. The right to belong.

But here is the harder truth: those same values are often spoken loudly in mission statements and quietly ignored in practice.

A city proclaims its commitment to inclusion. Then schedules a public comment meeting without CART or ASL interpreters. Deaf and hard of hearing residents are effectively turned away.

A building proudly says it meets ADA requirements. The doorway technically clears the minimum width. A wheelchair user still cannot navigate comfortably without scraping knuckles or asking for help.

Global values sound good. Local decisions determine whether they are real.

Quick facts to ground us:
~Accessibility is a civil and human right, not a special accommodation
~Most barriers are not accidents. They are the result of design choices
~Delayed access is denied access
~When access is added later, it costs more and works less
~When disabled people are involved early, barriers are reduced before harm happens

This is where responsibility lives.

Access is decided in agendas and budget lines. In whether someone asks about interpreters before the meeting is posted. In whether architects aim for the minimum or design for dignity. In whether timelines account for disabled people’s lives or treat delay as acceptable.

These are not abstract systems. They are choices made by real people in local rooms.

Thinking globally means naming access as a right. Acting locally means building it in from the start.

Access is not an idea. It is a practice. And it is shaped where people live.

Why It Matters Monday: Independence Is Built Through Community Investment Independence is often framed as something indi...
16/02/2026

Why It Matters Monday: Independence Is Built Through Community Investment

Independence is often framed as something individual. Self-sufficiency. Doing it alone. Not needing help. That framing misses the truth. For disabled people, independence is built through community investment. It depends on whether supports exist, whether they are reliable, and whether they are designed with real lives in mind.

Across the world, disabled people fight for the same thing. The ability to live in our communities. To make our own choices. To participate fully in public life. These are global values rooted in dignity and autonomy.

Locally, those values are tested by investment. Independence depends on whether personal care services are funded and staffed. Whether accessible housing is available. Whether transportation works consistently. Whether assistive technology and equipment are maintained and repaired on time.

Whether support is treated as essential rather than expendable.

When communities invest, independence expands. People work. Families stay together. Health crises are prevented. Lives are lived in community rather than institutions. When investment is reduced, independence does not slowly fade. It contracts. Choices narrow. Risk increases. Participation becomes conditional. And people are pushed toward settings and solutions they never chose.

This is not a personal failure. It is a policy outcome.

Thinking globally helps us name independence as a shared value. Acting locally determines whether that value is sustained or stripped away. Because independence is not something disabled people earn. It is something communities choose to support.

13/02/2026

You might recognize her.

Maybe from the Ugly Laws post that made the rounds in January. Or maybe because she’s been in your workplace, your organization, or your community, leading a training and asking the kinds of questions that stay with you.

Meet Ellysheva Bunge-Zeira, DPC’s Director of Training and Consulting. Ellysheva leads DPC’s disability-centered trainings and consulting with nonprofits, healthcare systems, foundations, community organizations, and local government. Her work is rooted in deep experience, care, and a strong belief that disability-led learning changes how people think and act.

At DPC, our trainings are built by disabled people, grounded in real lived experience and history, and shaped by the understanding that disability is a natural part of being human. As our credo says, this work is About Us. By Us.

We are excited to introduce Ellysheva and share more about the work she leads through this video. Learn more about DPC’s Training and Consulting work at disabilitydei.org.

Acting Locally, Your Way Think globally, act locally often begins with ourselves. It starts with paying attention to wh...
13/02/2026

Acting Locally, Your Way

Think globally, act locally often begins with ourselves. It starts with paying attention to what we need, what we have capacity for, and how we move through the world.

There is no expectation to show up in a way that does not work for your body, your energy, or your life. Being involved does not have to be public or visible.

For many disabled people, participation happens in quieter ways, shaped by access needs, health, and timing. That does not make it smaller or less meaningful. It is simply different.

Involvement can look like researching an issue to better understand what is happening. It can look like engaging on social media, sharing posts, or helping information reach people who might not otherwise see it. It can mean offering written testimony, sharing your story when you are able, or helping shape language and messaging behind the scenes.

Sometimes it looks like amplifying others who are doing on-the-ground work and making sure their voices are carried further. Think globally, act locally is not about doing everything or doing it perfectly. It is about finding ways to participate that are sustainable and honest for you.

Change grows when people are able to stay engaged in ways that respect their own needs. You do not need permission to participate in the ways that work for you. Not all impact is visible, and it does not need to be.

Take Action Thursday ✨Taking action does not have to mean doing everything. It means choosing one way to show up and doi...
12/02/2026

Take Action Thursday ✨

Taking action does not have to mean doing everything. It means choosing one way to show up and doing it with intention. At DPC, action looks like community. It looks like learning together, organizing together, and responding when disabled people tell us something is not working. If you are looking for ways to take action with us, here are a few places to start:

👉 Subscribe to our newsletter to stay connected: tinyurl.com/DPC-newsletter
👉 Register today for our annual Legislative briefing happening on 2/25/26 tinyurl.com/dpc-briefing
👉 Join our Unstuck calls to map barriers and build solutions together: tinyurl.com/DPC-unstuck
👉 Email Advocacy@dpcma.org to get connected to our HALT and CODA meetings
👉 Sign up for the Wheelchair Repair Campaign emails to stay informed: https://tinyurl.com/JoinDPC-DME
👉 Register for the Wheelchair Briefing: tinyurl.com/WCBrief26

All of these are ways to stay connected. Because at the heart of this work are our Calls to Action.

Calls to Action are where learning, community, and shared experience turn into movement. They are how we show up together when it counts, and why staying connected matters.

How will you stay connected today?

Last week, we shared how change begins with noticing. Noticing the moment something feels off. Noticing the barrier that...
12/02/2026

Last week, we shared how change begins with noticing. Noticing the moment something feels off. Noticing the barrier that keeps showing up. Noticing the pattern.

The next step is questioning.

A lot of people think change starts with having the right solution. More often, it starts with noticing something that does not make sense and a question that will not go away.

For example, a person with a brain injury keeps running into the same problem in healthcare settings. Appointments move quickly. Instructions are shared once. Complex information is delivered without checking for understanding. When they ask for more time or clarity, it is treated like an inconvenience.

At first, it feels personal. Like something they need to push through or manage on their own.

But over time, noticing turns into questioning. Why is the system built this way. Who is it actually working for.

When you look at it through that lens, other questions follow naturally. Who decided this pace works for everyone. Who benefits from it. Who is left behind when access needs are ignored.

That shift matters. It moves responsibility off the individual and back onto the systems that create the conditions in the first place.

This is often how we begin shaping our legislative priorities at DPC. By listening to lived experience, noticing patterns, asking better questions, and challenging systems rather than expecting people to adapt to them.

If you have ever felt this frustration, you are already closer to this work than you think. Not because you have the answers, but because you noticed the problem. That is the starting point.

If you have ever noticed something that feels unfair or ineffective, what question is it asking you to raise next?

Think Globally. Act Locally. Advocacy in action. Community Organizer at DPC, Destiny Maxam, recently spoke at a statewi...
11/02/2026

Think Globally. Act Locally.

Advocacy in action.

Community Organizer at DPC, Destiny Maxam, recently spoke at a statewide listening session hosted by the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities at UTEC in her city of Lowell.

She shared her own lived experience of disability discrimination in housing spaces and showed what is possible when agencies listen directly to disabled people and work together to address barriers.

In that space, she connected with a reporter from the Lowell Sun and spoke about how these same dynamics show up at the local level. During winter storms, poorly cleared sidewalks and curb cuts can make it unsafe or impossible for disabled residents to move through their communities, turning everyday weather into an access issue.

That conversation led to local coverage focused on winter storm response and sidewalk clearing, grounded in Destiny’s repeated efforts to get the issue addressed through 311 and the local DPW, which went unanswered.

The article also noted that Lowell City Councilor Sean McDonough had raised the issue through a city council motion that similarly received no response. After the article was published, and following collaboration with Destiny, he came out in person to help clear the sidewalk, making a clear point that accessibility must be taken seriously and prioritized.

Just one day after the article dropped, the City of Lowell cleared the sidewalks and curb cuts outside Destiny’s home to restore access. Later that week, the city also addressed accessible parking spaces that had been used for snow dumping.

This is what thinking globally and acting locally can look like. Disabled people sharing lived experience in statewide spaces, building relationships, and carrying those conversations into local action that improves access for entire communities. Read the articles here:

https://www.lowellsun.com/2026/02/01/the-column-snow-job/

https://www.lowellsun.com/2026/01/30/lowell-state-leaders-talk-fair-housing/

Call To Action: Massachusetts!Have you ever donated durable medical equipment or assistive technology to REquipment? Req...
10/02/2026

Call To Action: Massachusetts!

Have you ever donated durable medical equipment or assistive technology to REquipment? Requested a device you needed?
Referred a family member, friend, client, or neighbor? Seen a post about how REquipment helped someone get the equipment they needed?

Now is the moment to speak up.

The Governor’s FY27 budget proposal cuts $500,000 from REquipment, a 35.7 percent reduction. This cut would effectively end the statewide reuse program that so many disabled people across Massachusetts rely on when insurance will not cover equipment or takes too long.

On Wednesday, February 11, the Joint Committee on Ways and Means will hold a hearing on this budget.

We need legislators to hear from us.

You do not need a long or perfect story. If REquipment has helped you or someone you care about, that is enough. What matters is that voices from every corner of the Commonwealth speak up.

Access to free, timely, gently used equipment changes lives. REquipment is needed now more than ever.

Take action today!
Contact your state lawmakers at:
tinyurl.com/REQadvocacy

Tell them to protect REquipment and stop this devastating cut.
Thank you for helping keep this program beyond June 30, 2026.

How to Start Acting Locally And Why It Matters When we talk about acting locally, we are talking about power at its star...
10/02/2026

How to Start Acting Locally And Why It Matters

When we talk about acting locally, we are talking about power at its starting point. City councilors. Select board members. School committee members. Local officials whose races are often treated as low stakes.

These roles matter more than people realize. Local elected officials are often the first to hear directly from constituents about access barriers, service delays, and harm. They are the ones who raise issues in budget discussions, introduce ideas at meetings, and decide what gets attention and what gets dismissed. Many of them later run for state office, carrying those priorities with them into the State House.

The policies that shape our lives do not appear overnight. They start locally.

Acting locally does not look the same for everyone. Visibility and capacity vary, and all forms of engagement matter. For some, it means attending meetings or speaking publicly. For others, it looks like sharing posts, engaging in the comments of disability organizations, amplifying their messaging, or supporting advocacy work behind the scenes. Quiet participation still builds momentum and moves issues forward.

Here are a few ways disabled people and allies can begin to engage at the local level.

~Start with your city or town. Look up the next public meeting on your city or town website. City council, select board, school committee, or a local commission. Agendas are public. These are spaces where decisions and priorities begin to take shape.

~Choose one issue you care about. You do not have to speak on everything. Pick one issue that affects you or your community. Accessibility at meetings. Transportation. Housing. Healthcare access. Services. Focus gives your voice weight.

~Show up in the way you can. You might attend just to listen. You might submit written comment. You might engage online or help spread information so others can act. Lived experience does not need to be perfect or public-facing to matter.

~Pay attention to who is running locally. Attend a meet and greet if you are able. Ask candidates where they stand on disability rights, access, and inclusion. Notice who takes these issues seriously and who avoids them.

~Do a little research. Look at candidates’ prior work, votes, and community involvement. Are disability issues present at all? How are they framed? Who has a track record of listening?

Local elections are not separate from state policy. They are the pipeline. When disabled people and allies engage locally, in visible and behind-the-scenes ways, we shape what issues move forward and who carries them. That is how access stops being an afterthought and starts becoming policy.

Acting locally is not small. It is where change begins.

Why It Matters Monday: Access Is a Global Value With Local Consequences Around the world, access is recognized as a hum...
09/02/2026

Why It Matters Monday: Access Is a Global Value With Local Consequences

Around the world, access is recognized as a human right. The right to participate. The right to move freely. The right to be included in public life.

On paper, these values are widely accepted. They show up in laws, policies, and mission statements. We agree, in theory, that disabled people belong everywhere decisions are made.

But access does not live on paper. It lives in practice. It lives in whether a public meeting is accessible. Whether captions are provided without being asked. Whether buildings, transportation, and services are designed for real bodies, not ideal ones. Whether timelines reflect urgency or ask disabled people to wait indefinitely. This is where the gap appears.

Access may be named as a right globally, but it is enforced or ignored locally. It is shaped by municipal budgets, state policy decisions, and who is invited into the room when plans are made.

Barriers are not inevitable. They are the result of choices. Too often, disabled people are expected to adapt, improvise, or go without, while access is treated as extra, inconvenient, or optional.

When that happens, inclusion becomes conditional. Participation becomes exhausting. And rights quietly erode into requests. Thinking globally helps us understand that this is not an isolated issue. It is a pattern. Disabled people are consistently excluded from full participation, even in systems meant to serve us.

Acting locally is how we disrupt it.

When communities plan with disabled people from the start, access stops being a favor. It becomes a foundation. When lived experience is centered, barriers are anticipated instead of apologized for. And when local systems are held accountable, rights move from theory into reality.

That is why access matters. Because rights only mean something when they are honored where we live.

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