Our Annual Report Fiscal Year 2021
Access in Action
From Our President and CEO
Dear Access Living friends and allies,
As I reflect on 2021, I am in awe on the tireless work of this entire community, and I am deeply grateful. I am grateful for you.
Whether you are a self-advocate or an ally in our advocacy efforts, a community partner or donor, we could not do the work we do without each and every one of you.
This year, you rallied, uplifted each other’s voices, and helped us advance disability justice, protect disability rights, and collectively called for changes that make the world more accessible and inclusive for everyone. Together, we made a real difference in the lives of people with disabilities.
Now’s the time to take a moment to celebrate the work we’ve done and to look toward the work still ahead.
Thank you for all you do to support us.
Be well,
Karen
President and CEO, Access Living
Our Impact
Hear from some of Access Living’s consumers and clients about our work this year. We asked them about our services, advocacy, civil rights work, training and consulting and even a pilot program we did to get disabled people laptops and access to broadband during the pandemic. This is what they had to say…
Our Consumers
By Primary Disability
By Race
By Age
Our Services
2,000+
People reached through our disability inclusion consulting and training efforts for nonprofits, philanthropies and companies.
954
Calls were taken from consumers for support services.
275
Consumers with disabilities were assisted with housing needs.
250+
Disabled Chicagoans were registered by Access Living for COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
205
Disabled Chicagoans received case management support through our partnership with the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities.
155+
Home visits were completed to deliver meals, make assessments and provide assistance.
157
High school youth with disabilities prepared to transition into higher education or the workforce through our youth leadership trainings in 18 schools.
140
Personal assistant trainings were held to empower people with disabilities in their daily lives.
90
Disabled consumers got assistive technology devices and the necessary training to use them to live more independently.
44
Households received our housing counseling services to improve living conditions.
36
Disabled consumers transitioned out of nursing facilities.
24
Cross-disability support group sessions were held to offer peer support during the pandemic.
20
Disabled consumers graduated from an 11-week financial literacy training, and shared that they have improved their financial positions as a result.
Our Civil Rights
549
People learned about the fair housing rights of people with disabilities.
47
New fair housing and Americans with Disabilities Act cases were handled with favorable results received in 26 cases. Many cases are still pending.
40
Fair housing tests were conducted.
Our Advocacy
COVID -19
Access Living has been on the front lines supporting people with disabilities during the pandemic. Our COVID-19 Impact Report highlights the work we’ve done in response to evolving needs.
Education
We passed several state-wide bills to address emerging needs of students with disabilities during the pandemic including education plan delays and the accessibility of remote learning platforms.
Healthcare
We worked to support the creation of a Community Integration Subcommittee for the Illinois Medicaid Advisory Committee (MAC).
Housing
We worked t to advance the end of Source of Income (SOI) discrimination statewide, winning more legislative support than ever.
Transportation
Allying with US Senator Tammy Duckworth’s office, we supported the All Stations Accessibility Act, a new $1.75 billion federal grant program to improve the accessibility of legacy passenger rail stations.
Latinx and Immigration
Access Living continued the Disability and Immigration Taskforce of Illinois to support immigrants with disabilities in multiple ways, surveying immigrants with disabilities on their experiences in English, Spanish, Polish, Arabic and Chinese.
Diversion & Reentry
Access Living launched the Voices of Reentry video storytelling project and continued to collaborate on efforts to ensure accessible diversion and reentry for people with disabilities.
Racial Justice
The Community Emergency Services and Supports Act (CESSA) became law, making Illinois the first to adopt a statewide non-police emergency response for mental health/behavioral crises.
Legal Support
Among its successes, our civil rights legal team resolved a case to help make health care access more equitable for disabled people and resolved a wheelchair accessibility case in a historic Chicago neighborhood
Our Arts and Culture
Collaborating Arts Organizations
Collaborating Artists
Our 2021 Board of Directors
Officers
John Schmidt – Board Chair, Mayer Brown LLP
Tuyet Le – Vice-Chair
Kent Klaus – Treasurer, DePaul University
Felicia Rauls – Secretary, Mesirow Financial
ShaRhonda Crystal Knott Dawson – Program Committee Chair, Brondihouse, LLC
Shari Runner – Program Committee Vice-Chair, The Humanity Institute
Jennifer Brown – Resource Development & Communications Committee Chair
Kristin Weaver – Resource Development & Communications Committee Vice-Chair, The Northern Trust
Ben Lumicao – Nominating & Board Development Committee Chair, Allstate
Elliot J. Roth, MD – Nominating & Board Development Committee Vice-Chair, Shirley Ryan AbilityLab
Members
Ken Bennett
Denise Avant
Kevin Bradley, HUB International
Andrés J. Gallegos, Esq., Robbins, Salomon, & Patt, Ltd.
Dr. Larry Goodman
William Haffner
Hon. Neil F. Hartigan
Anthony Hinton
Dr. Zachary Kordik, Modern Mental Health
Wilson Mantilla, Peoples Gas
Karin Norington-Reaves, Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership
Mark Owen
Kurt Schulenburg, Accenture
Beth Server, BMO
Chad Turner, Bank of America
Molly Walsh, J.P. Morgan
Our 2021 Young Professionals Council
Justin Cooper, President
Rachel Wittenberg, Social Media Chair
Laura Maule, Secretary & Friendraising Chair
Michelle Bonin, Friendraising Chair
Ellis Wills-Begley, Recruitment Chair
John William Abbate
Joshua Adams
Azeema Akram
Chris Alessia
Nora Ames
Sarah Arora
Natalia Avila
Margot Macaulay Babington
Becky Baker
Ray Baker
Vishal Bansal
Molly M. Bathje
Brianna Beck
Drew Beres
Jasmine Betancourt
Bavna Bhagavat
Maggie Bridger
Jenny Burke
Jezabel Cardenas
Tonera Chiume
Candace Coleman
Kate Connolly
Carson Creamer
Elizabeth Cummings
Timothy M. Curtis
Melissa Dappen
Anton Dietzen
Abby L. Draper
Chelsea Emond
Bridget Evans
Haley Elizabeth Feller
Alicia Gallegos
Katie Garvey
Tara Giuliano
Kevin Griffin
Emily Hall
Jess Hauert
Jenna Heffron
Bradley Stavros Heit
Stephen D. Hiatt-Leonard
Russell Houser
Rachel Howland
Megan Hufnagel
Kelsey Ibach
Ben Jacobi
Leigh Juranitch
Adam Kahn
Ravi Kasi
Kapil Kumar
Angela Larson
Josh Lewis
Jonathan Lira
Zhiying Ma
Chaitanya Manchanda
Amy Mashburn
Ryan McGraw
Janie Mejias
Abraham Melendez
Kaitlin Miller
Aziza Nassar
Greg Oguss
Neel Patel
Shivam Patel
Viki Peer
David Pirszel
Boss Povieng
Caitlin Powers
Caitlin Regan
Sylvie Sabones
Elizabeth Schroeder
Ray Shipley
Morgan Stasell
Alan Stupnitsky
Maggie Sugrue
Glenna Sullivan
Alex Tapas
Kim The
Hannah Thompson
Ismail Umer
Will Vandenberg
Amelia Wallrich
Kelsey Watters
Alli Wickes
Temaka Williams
Elizabeth Wirtz
Robert Zimmerman
Russell Zimmerman
Lead On Live
Access Living’s Gala Reimagined
Legacy Sponsors
Anniversary Sponsors
Visionary Sponsors
Marca Bristo Lead On Tribute Committee
Leadership Sponsors
Lead on Live Peer-to-Peer Fundraisers
Renowned Chicago mouth painter, and gun violence survivor, Antonio Davis (L), painted a portrait of Access Living’s founding President and CEO Marca Bristo, recently unveiled at a legacy campaign donor event
Our Funders
Corporations and Foundations
Employer Giving Programs
Individual Donors
In-Kind Donors
Major Gifts Campaign
Marca Bristo Legacy Campaign
Memorial Gifts
Planned Giving Legacy Society
Public Funding
Tribute Gifts
Our Financials
For security purposes, we post our financials as a PDF. Download our statements of financial position: June 30, 2021 and 2020.