Disability Rights Vermont

12/20/2025

Our office will be closed on December 24th through December 26, 2025, for the holiday break. We will reopen on Monday, December 29th for regular business hours. You can still call and leave a confidential voicemail anytime at 802-229-1355 or via email at info@disabilityrightsvt.org and your message will be returned when we reopen. You can also send a secure message via our website. Thank you.

Photo is a closed sign with white lights in the background.

12/18/2025

🌟 Mad Pride 2026 is taking shape — and we’re inviting community members to help build it! 🌟

Mad Pride is more than an event — it’s a political movement for visibility, justice, and the collective power of mad, psychiatric survivor, neurodivergent, and disabled communities. As we organize for 2026, we’re forming our Mad Pride Planning Committee, and we’re looking for people who want to be part of shaping this year’s vision.

🗳️ If you’re interested in joining the committee, please fill out our availability poll by Friday, December 19th. This will help us set our first meeting for early January and clarify who will be part of this year’s organizing team. Even if you can't make it in January, you can still get involved at any time in 2026. Feel free to share this opportunity with others who should be at the table!

✨ Our first meeting will dig into the foundations of our collective work, including:

- How we make decisions together
- Responsibilities and role-sharing
- Meeting frequency and scheduling
- Facilitation, agenda-setting, and note-taking (what these roles require and how we rotate them)
- Committee structure, subcommittees, and potential chair roles
- Co-creating our committee’s Mad Pride values

Whether you’re an experienced organizer or someone newly interested in mad liberation work, this is a chance to help build a powerful, community-led Mad Pride.

Reach out with any questions at info@madfreedomadvocates.org — and join us in shaping something bold, inclusive, and unapologetically mad. 💥💜

https://doodle.com/group-poll/participate/dBEq0GJb/vote

12/17/2025

12/17/2025

Champlain Housing Trust has partnered with the Developmental Disabilities Housing Initiative (DDHI) to create 10 affordable, permanently service-supported apartments on St. Paul Street in Burlington. This development represents a new model of supportive housing for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more at https://www.getahome.org/when-housing-isnt-enough/

12/17/2025

Thank you to everyone who attended the NAMI Vermont Lunch & Learn on December 3rd. Matthew Dickson gave us an inspiring and hopeful presentation about his journey and recovery. If you attended this Lunch & Learn, please take a few minutes to complete the evaluation form: www.namivt.org/lunch-learn-evaluation. Your feedback helps us improve for future events!

Join us for our upcoming Lunch & Learn series in January! Registration is required to attend. Please visit www.namivt.org/lunch-learn-series to register and view the full lineup of speakers, their topics, and the dates they will be presenting. Sessions are held on the first Wednesday of every month from 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. You’re welcome to sign up for one session or attend all of them! More speakers will be added soon. After you register, you’ll receive a confirmation email with a Zoom link and reminders before each session.

12/17/2025

Thank you for helping make this video happen. Please share this important information to help keep all of our communities cared for. Link in bio.

12/16/2025

It is with a heavy heart that Disability Rights Vermont mourns the passing of Morgan Brown.

Morgan Brown was a strong advocate in the disability justice space and an equally strong writer about the same. In fact, Morgan was a man of so much skill and greatness that his loss leaves a hole in our community that one can truly feel. His words, photographs and messages were so impressive, often times they were beautiful and sad while also being inspiring and kind. He will be missed deeply, and what we can do to honor his efforts and his life is to keep up the storytelling, advocacy, and art.

Green Mountain Meandering Missives
https://gmmissives.blogspot.com/

Rest peacefully, your friends at Disability Rights Vermont.

12/03/2025

Today is the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.
At Disability Rights Vermont, we’re shining a light on the real barriers people face, not their disabilities, but the systems, assumptions, and policies that limit access and independence.

Our Ball & Chain Campaign highlights this truth through powerful portraits and stories created by Vermonters with lived experience. Each piece represents what people carry every day, and the freedom that becomes possible when communities commit to accessibility and inclusion.

We’re honored to work with the Vermont Commission on Women and Commissioner/DRVT Board Member Amanda Van Eps in sharing these stories. We’ll be featuring more throughout the month.

📸 Featured today: Allaire Doussan.

12/02/2025

It’s Giving Tuesday!
Today, we’re asking for your support to help us continue protecting and advancing the rights of Vermonters with disabilities.

Your donation helps us be there for people when they need it most.
💙 Make a gift today: disabilityrightsvt.org/donate

12/02/2025

10 things to know about the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) number 1: Disability is common. More than one out of every four people have a disability. Read our new fact sheet to learn more: https://adata.org/10-things-ada