Abilicorp Foundation(ABF) - 2021

Mission

Abilicorp’s mission is to initiate and promote Disabled Owned Businesses. It aims to provide resources needed to implement innovative ideas that offer products and services for and by people with disabilities. Creative ideas may include developing gadgets and software, producing art and entertainment, providing remote assistance, financial management, and personal assistant services. Resources include access to investors, capital, mentors, advisers, marketers, classes, workshops, forums, blogs, and assistive technology.  Abilicorp will encourage any products and services it helps bring to fruition to be made available through the Abilicorp website.

Background

 My focus in the Disability Movement has been improving employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Despite great laws, including the Americans with Disability Act, that have significantly improved people’s lives with disabilities, most people with disabilities’ economic well-being continue to be dismal. The unemployment rate still hovers around 70%. Many great agencies are working very hard to improve the financial health of this community. What is missing is a concerted effort to initiate and promote Disabled Owned Businesses

The Entrepreneurial Spirit; Initiating Disabled Owned Businesses

 The U.S. spends millions of dollars annually trying to improve employment opportunities for people with disabilities. Much of this goes to persuade employers to hire people with disabilities. Some of this funding goes to preparing this cohort to be part of the workforce. Vocation training includes such things as resume writing and interviewing skills. Little if any funds are available to promote the entrepreneurial spirit many of us do or can have. As with the general population, there are people with disabilities who undoubtedly do better working for themselves. Abilicorp will create a model that will promote entrepreneurs with disabilities by providing them with the support they need. Abilicorp will undertake an education campaign informing the greater Disability Community that entrepreneurship is a feasible option with a proven model.

Promoting Disabled Owned Businesses

Some websites promote minority-owned businesses. A quick Google search for lists by minority-owned enterprises resulted in

1. Women-Owned Businesses
2. Black-Owned Businesses
3. LBTQ-Owned-Businesses 
4. Hispanic-owned Businesses
5. Veteran-Owned Businesses. (includes service-disabled veterans)
6. Deaf-Owned-Businesses  

There is no similar type of website for disability-owned companies. Disability: In has a comprehensive process for certifying Disabled Owned Business Enterprise, but the list they maintain is only available to corporate sponsors of their agency.

Funding Strategy

 Abilicorp will request 5% of any products and services sold through its website. Abilicorp will ask for a board seat on enterprises it helps start or fund. An Abilicorp staff member or adviser will fill this seat. Abilicorp will also seek a 10% minority interest in any for-profit corporation to help fund or start. Investors will be encouraged to invest directly in enterprises of their choosing. Investors who want to fund anonymously or through charitable giving can do so through Abilicorp.

Next Steps

There is a crucial need for attendants. Abilicorp’s first project will be starting the Abilicorp – Personal Assistant Services(ABPAS)

Would you please let me know what questions and comments you have regarding this exciting new endeavor?

 

Yitro - Torah Portion Commentary, February 2023

 

Yitro

February 2023

 

Reading this week’s Torah portion reminded me that Judaism is a very action-oriented religion. Throughout the Torah, we read about what this guy did, what God did, what people should or shouldn’t do, etc. Yitro told Moses not to try to do everything himself and to engage others to do their share of the work.

 February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion month. Synagogues throughout the U.S. have programs where they talk about disability and how to accommodate the needs of people with disabilities, and how to create an inclusive environment. Although I have participated in hundreds of these programs, I believe that disability awareness is an illusion and that an inclusive environment for people with disabilities is the same as everyone else's.

 I have always had a visible disability called Cerebral Palsy that has significantly affected my mobility, manual dexterity, and speech. As a teenager, I got involved with the Disability Movement, fighting for our rights, removing architectural barriers, better employment opportunities, etc. I dressed and fed myself, drove a van, flew throughout the U.S. for my Wells Fargo job, etc. I could do almost everything independently, albeit slowly, for most of my adult life. Denise and I hired attendants to help cook, clean, do laundry, and assist us when David was a baby. It was annoying but not life-threatening when an attendant was late or missed a shift.

 As a Disability Movement leader and having friends with all kinds of disabilities, I thought I knew what disability awareness was. I freaked out when my spine began compressing. I started losing functions, ever-increasing pain, and needing attendants to do almost everything. I can’t eat, dress, get out of bed, etc., without help. I had to start taking anti-depressants. I felt that I was in a whole new world. Since everybody is unique, disability awareness is a myth.

 Inclusion is different. Everyone can feel included. Paraphrasing JFK’s famous quote tells us how; “Ask not what we need do to for us. Ask what we can do together.”

Often when we discuss the inclusion of people with disabilities, the conversation quickly turns into talking about what we should do for them. Do we need to make the temple more accessible? Do we need to build a ramp or an ADA bathroom? Do we need to buy prayer books or hire interpreters for people who are deaf or hard of hearing? Do we need tables and chairs at the Onegs so people can sit and mingle? Although these are all essential things to consider, I suggest that a critical way of including us in Temple Life is to need us. I suggest that maybe the best way of adding anyone into a community is to need them, to want their assistance, and to enable them to do their part in Tikkun Olam.

 Rabbi Berlin often relates how her family found a welcoming synagogue when she was a child. Her family, which included a brother with a developmental disability, did not feel welcomed at their old temple. The rabbi at the new synagogue immediately asked her brother to please turn the lights off before Havdalah and turn the lights back on at the end of the service. Her brother was thrilled! From then on, he had his job. He knew he was needed. He and his family knew they were wanted. The rabbi had created an environment where everyone felt valued.

 Many people are surprised when I say Wells Fargo was where I felt the most accepted and included. I often loved rolling into meetings where people did not know me. The tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. At first, no one would make eye contact, but as the meeting gained momentum, there was a great sense of relief when the team began to focus on my ideas rather than my disability. People sometimes struggled to understand my speech, but there was always someone in the group who could help interpret and communicate with me. Inevitably, by the end of the meeting, I found myself chatting with folks and feeling like part of the team.

 This year, think about Temple Sinai’s activities, work, play, informal gatherings, and tasks you wish had someone helping you. Then think about people with disabilities, including children with disabilities and the elderly, who you know. Are they interested in working and participating with you on any of these projects? If they are interested, find out if there are barriers or things they need to participate in the projects. If there are, collaboratively and creatively find a way to remove the obstacles and get what they need to feel included. There is always a way!

 Don’t be afraid to ask a person with a disability a question or to do a task. If you don't ask, you are taking away the other person's opportunity to say 'Yes!' to feel needed and to be part of the activity. If the other person gets offended, you might get to know them better by discussing why they feel offended. Please remember that the other person may be having a bad day or not want to talk about their feelings.

 Shabbat Shalom and Go-Go-Go!