Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

MEDIA RELEASE
February 25, 2025
Contact: Adam Fox, afox@cohealthinitiative.org, 303-563-9108
Katie Reinisch, katie@progressive-promotions.com, 303-653-1009

DENVER – Republicans in Congress just pushed through a rushed budget resolution, one of the first major steps towards passing the Trump Administration’s fiscal agenda. It includes deep cuts to Medicaid — at last word, approximately $880 billion — from a program that serves more than 70 million people nationwide and 1.1 million in Colorado. Nearly 1 in 5 Coloradans receive their health care from Medicaid. Six of every 10 Coloradans in nursing facilities rely on Medicaid, and Medicaid is vital for providing in-home care to help people with disabilities and aging adults live independently. Over 34% of Colorado children are covered through Medicaid. The cuts would undermine Colorado’s hard work to expand coverage, essentially ending Medicaid expansion and ripping that expanded coverage from roughly 400,000 Coloradans.

Statement from Adam Fox, deputy director of the Colorado Consumer Health Initiative:
“You can’t cut hundreds of billions from Medicaid without taking healthcare away from millions of seniors living in long-term care, children, and people with disabilities. Rushing these cuts will hurt those who can least afford care – and won’t do anything to lower our healthcare costs for the average Colorado family. At a time when our state budget already faces a $1 billion gap, these cuts will devastate our state’s economy, threatening 300,000 healthcare provider jobs, while perhaps pushing teetering rural providers over the cliff. They are going to strip health coverage from countless Coloradans and tank our economy all in the name of creating tax cuts for the ultra-wealthy.”

Statement from Stephanie Felix-Sowy, President of Service Employees International Union Local 105, uniting over 8,000 property services and healthcare workers across the Mountain West, and the largest healthcare union in Colorado:
“House Republicans’ budget proposal is a direct threat to over a million Coloradans who rely on Medicaid. Slashing healthcare to fund tax breaks for billionaires will devastate working families, seniors, veterans, and people with disabilities across our state. This is just another example in the long list of actions taken by Republicans to favor billionaires over the rest of us. These cuts won’t just take healthcare away—they’ll force clinics to close, overwhelm hospitals, and put frontline healthcare workers out of jobs. Instead of making life more affordable, this plan will create more hardship for Coloradans already struggling. Our communities deserve better.”

Statement from Hunter Nelson, Small Business Majority’s Colorado director:
“Any changes that make healthcare more expensive could have a potentially devastating impact on Colorado’s small businesses. After payroll, healthcare coverage is already the highest cost for small firms. If Congress and the Trump administration make drastic cuts to Medicaid and eliminate premium tax credits that help make healthcare coverage purchased on Affordable Care Act marketplaces more affordable for many small business owners and their employees, insurance that is now very costly but within budget would become unaffordable. This could mean many entrepreneurs are forced to go work for someone else just to have access to health insurance, or that employees of small businesses would seek jobs at larger companies mainly for stronger benefits. The result of that migration would be that much of our small businesses community would no longer exist.”

Statement from Phyllis Albritton, Colorado Safety Net Collaborative:
“While many of our members do not serve people with Medicaid, some do. Medicaid is an important safety net for so many people in low-wage jobs so that they can keep working and providing for their families. Let’s not take that away as the economy worsens. It will just increase healthcare costs for everyone else and keep people from working.”

Statement from Amanda Boone, Co-Founder of Cystic Fibrosis United:
“Many individuals living with Cystic Fibrosis and other Rare Diseases depend on the Colorado Medicaid program to access critical care. From children and families benefiting from the waiver program, to those enrolled in the Medicaid Buy-In and traditional Medicaid. Should the state lose any federal funding, patients would lose access to essential care, jeopardizing their ability to live healthy, fulfilling lives, potentially forcing them to seek emergency care. We urge our members of Congress to protect our community from these cuts and approach the budget with careful consideration to ensure that those who rely on these services are not left without the care they need.”

Statement from Heather Tritten, President/CEO of The Colorado Children’s Campaign:
“Hundreds of thousands of Colorado families have access to health care, food to eat, or support for their basic needs because of federal funding for programs like Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF. Cutting funding would have direct, often devastating impacts on children’s lives and futures. We call on our representatives in Washington to support children across Colorado and to create a responsible budget that invests in our communities.”

The post Republican Congress Chooses Cuts to Health Care for Seniors, Children, and the Disabled to Pay for Tax Breaks for the Ultra-Wealthy appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

DENVER, CO – Disability Law United, Newman | McNulty, LLC, and Brooklyn Law School’s Disability and Civil Rights Clinic today filed suit against the City and County of Denver on behalf of Housekeys Action Network Denver (HAND) and disabled, houseless people who have been forced to sleep on the streets after being denied access to shelters and shelter-based services in violation of disability law.

Shelters and facilities under contract with and funded by Denver systemically fail to provide accessible services to disabled people. From shelters that are inaccessible to wheelchair users, to inadequately trained shelter staff who confiscated necessary medical supplies or prevented individuals with disabilities from utilizing existing resources earmarked for accessibility, the six named plaintiffs were left without shelter, experienced significant medical complications and emotional distress, and lost personal property with no recompense. As a result, HAND was forced to expend its valuable resources helping these individuals survive being cast into the streets with nowhere to shelter, at times paying for hotel rooms for houseless individuals in crisis.

Frequent reports were made to Denver officials about these discriminatory practices, but despite the alarms raised and Denver’s own acknowledgment that 42% of homeless individuals in the area report a disabling condition, Denver has failed to ensure their contractors and grantees do not discriminate against people with disabilities in violation of federal and state laws.

The plaintiffs’ stories demonstrate the illegal and inhumane actions of Denver through its contracted shelter providers. One plaintiff was hospitalized to treat infection and excruciating pain after shelter staff confiscated the medical scissors she needs to maintain her colostomy bag. After release from the hospital, shelter staff kicked her out because she was physically unable to bend over and clean around her sleeping area.

Her confiscated belongings were never returned, and she was forced to return to sleeping on the streets. Her colostomy bag froze to her body because of Denver’s actions.

Another plaintiff was forced to crawl upstairs at shelters without elevators or ramps for wheelchair users. On other occasions, he was turned away because – while beds were available – shelter staff had not set aside these accessible beds for people who need them. On multiple occasions, shelter staff moved his wheelchair away from him without any communication, leaving him immobile and without access to his only possessions.

Another plaintiff was ejected from a shelter after he was forced to urinate outside because the shelter’s bathrooms were not accessible him in his power wheelchair.

Unable to meet his basic needs in shelters, and punished for attempting to do so, he sleeps outside.

Still another plaintiff was refused an accommodation to be placed in an available bed near the communal bathroom and showers because she could not make long, frequent trips from her bed at the back of the shelter before she would soil herself. She observed other shelter residents with disabilities were similarly denied beds closer to the bathrooms.

HAND, a nonprofit organization established to address systemic issues and advocate for houseless individuals in Denver, was forced to redirect resources and staff to fill the gaps in service left as a result of the listed failures by the Denver-funded shelters, including providing financial support to disabled people who were ejected from or unable to access shelters and devoting staff time to linking disabled people to caseworkers. Preventing disabled houseless people from facing harm cost the organization’s efficacy at its core mission.

Denver has failed to address these grave issues, despite the fact that the individual plaintiffs, HAND, staff from related agencies and the shelters, and numerous members of the Denver community have repeatedly reported these practices to Denver officials.

This failure is a clear violation of federal and state law.

In October HAND, through its attorneys, offered to work with Denver to design a process that would address these issues. That offer was rejected, necessitating this lawsuit.

HAND continues to divert staff and resources to disabled houseless individuals who find themselves without shelter and in crisis because of Denver shelters’ discrimination on the basis of disability. “Shelters continually treat people with disabilities as an extra burden they shouldn’t have to deal with and do not give accommodations for their disabilities,” said Terese Howard of HAND. “It is the shelter’s purpose to provide shelter for those in need, yet disabled houseless people who are particularly vulnerable are continually kicked to the streets in extreme weather and other dangers. This must be stopped.”

“While the Mayor raced to house 1,000 people for the cameras, he was ignoring the pleas of Denver’s disabled houseless residents who were repeatedly being forced out of shelters and onto the streets simply because of their disabilities,” said Andy McNulty.

“Denver’s repeated refusal to provide our houseless and disabled neighbors with shelter because of their disabilities not only violates the law; it runs counter to basic human decency.”

“Access for those with disabilities cannot be an afterthought. It has to be an integral and planned part of every City program,” said DLU attorney Kate Thorstad, “and Denver must hold its contractors responsible for meeting the basic human needs of those in wheelchairs, and those with other disabilities who are houseless.”

The post Disability Advocates Sue Denver, Allege Systemic Discrimination & Failure to Provide Accessible Shelter & Services to Disabled, Houseless People appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.

Editor’s Note: Press Releases are provided to Yellow Scene. In an effort to keep our community informed, we publish some press releases in whole.

On February 2, 2022  from 3:30-4:30pm via ZOOM Prof. Phaedra C. Pezzullo will interview known advocate Mia Ives-Rublee about her expertise in disability justice with environmental organizations, institutions, and broader coalitions – including outdoor recreation access, being a competitive athlete, and on plastic ban advocacy, as well as the value of public protest and voting.

Mia Ives-Rublee is the director for the Disability Justice Initiative at American Progress. Ives-Rublee holds a bachelor’s degree in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and a master’s degree in social work from UNC Chapel Hill. She is a leader in disability justice and inclusion, working with nonprofit organizations and businesses, such as: Women’s March, Families Belong Together, DC Action Lab, Adoptees for Justice, Fair Fight, People’s Collective for Justice and Liberation, Lonely Whale, and more. Best known for founding the Women’s March Disability Caucus, Ives-Rublee helped organize the original Women’s March on Washington in 2017, pushing for better access to disability accommodations at progressive events and more policy platforms inclusive of the disability community.

Ives-Rublee was named by Glamour magazine as one of 2017’s Women of the Year Award. She was also recognized by She the People as one of 20 Women of Color in Politics to Watch in 2020. As a North Carolina community regional organizing director for the Elizabeth Warren Campaign for President, she communicated policies and organized events around specific issues affecting the disability and Asian American communities. Ives-Rublee worked as the field director for Down Home NC to encourage rural residents to vote. She also worked with the Asian American Advocacy Fund and the Georgia Disability Vote Partnership to help elect Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-GA) and the Rev. Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) during the 2021 election.

To attend via ZOOM – Register Here 

Hosted by: the Department of Environmental Studies. Co-Sponsored by: the College of Media, Communication & Information, the Environmental Center, Ethnic Studies, & Disability Services.

On Access: The University of Colorado Boulder strives to host inclusive, accessible events that enable all individuals, including individuals with disabilities, to engage fully. To request an accommodation or for questions about accessibility, please contact Prof. Phaedra C. Pezzullo (phaedra.pezzullo@colorado.edu) at least seven days prior to the event start date. 

The post Disability Justice, Coalition Work, & Environmental Futures: Featuring Mia Ives-Rublee appeared first on Yellow Scene Magazine.