We believe in the power of will and perspective.
When communities Value each Person's Contributions, We ALL Gain:
We believe every person has an equal right to Life, Liberty, and The Pursuit of Happiness.
We believe "The Pursuit of Happiness" implies every person should have Equal Opportunity under the Law and through Policy to participate in society including economic self-improvement regardless of sex, religion, skin color, political affiliation, impairment, ability, or disability. ** The Disabled know better than most the truth that Life is Not Fair, but the law must strive to be. **
We believe Institutionalization revokes the right to Life and Liberty
No one should live under the constant threat of institutional incarceration for no reason other than mobility impairment. To disregard the talents, insights, experience of family, friends, and neighbors simply because they have difficulty walking or using their hands is to devalue them. To remove them from society, is to disregard their humanity or dehumanize them.
Devaluation of the mobility impaired through policy and action is to say that physical labors have greater value than intellectual labors.
- Inclusively, regardless of impairment, ANY person who feels devalued by their community is effectively stripped of their dignity and humanity, effectively killing them emotionally, and often slowly physically.
- If you have nothing to look forward to, or feel enthusiastic about, than why try? There is little remaining but to wait for the inevitable death by self neglect that frequently follows. Neglect in any form leads to higher healthcare costs. A person who is actively engaged in their community has far less healthcare costs.
- Nursing Homes are little more than warehouses to keep the physically or mentally impaired out of sight and out of mind. Most agree that nursing homes do not work. Any large corporate facility will never feel like or be "home". (Making the name an oxymoron)
- Existence IS NOT Living ... Living is much more than breathing and a heartbeat.
- Institutionalization effectively strips that person of their right to Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness - that which we most fundamentally hold dear as AMERICANS.