Communities Of Power:
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Economic Development: A Disability Issue!
Too often, poverty and disability are linked. It isn't only that it's costly to meet our daily needs for health care, assistive technology, and personal assistants. Existing systems require that we stay poor! The most obvious example is the number of people who don't look for a job and keep their cash assets low so they remain eligible for Medicaid.
Recently, we focused our advocacy on work and Medicaid. We have partially achieved the goal of permitting Medicaid eligibility while working, but that can't be our entire economic agenda! It's good when people find jobs, too, but that's not all we can do. It's time to learn from immigrant groups how to build economic value, to see how focusing on economic development can help us.
Here are some basic concepts to support economic development in our community:
1. Everyone contributes something.
Everyone with a disability works for pay, even if the amount of work is small,
and the pay is small. It isn't possible to build community assets unless
everyone is a part of it.
2. Use each other's strengths (synergy) to mutually build assets.
This is more feasible now with the Internet. Unlike many immigrant groups, the
disability community is everywhere, and wants to remain everywhere. Linking is
tougher, but just as necessary.
3. Focus on assets, not wages.
Building assets is the road to self- and community-sufficiency because it gives
us the power to control our own destinies. We need to build assets, not replace
SSI with less predictable income. That means an emphasis more on
self-employment and micro-business, not a cycle of getting / losing jobs.
4. Improve the economic environment.
Traditionally, our community has not built strong, healthy ties to the local
business community. Business leaders have a lot to teach us about how to
improve our economic prospects, and we have a lot to teach them about how to
take our interests into account. To build our own economic self-sufficiency, we
need to be at the table when local business leaders meet. Downtown Development
Authorities, merchants associations, and builder's exchanges are generally
eager to meet people who will join in economic development efforts.
5. Join local economic mutual support groups.
We all need help, and we can all learn from the successes and mistakes of each
other. In the same sense that we come together to make housing more accessible
or make city hall hear our concerns, we need to build collective action around
economic development.
As you read these articles, keep the big picture in mind. Ultimately, building economic assets is about taking advantage of opportunities. We must be ready to expand our horizons and see possibilities, not think along old lines. Let the ideas in this issue percolate in your heart, and see what dreams pop up. Then, take a chance, one small step, and go after one of them. While "freedom from" is one way to survive, "freedom to" build the kind of life we want, working together, is a good way to escape a system that too often keeps us poor and powerless.
