The Family Cafe

02/20/2026

Thanks to everyone who joined us and our Board Chair, legislative expert Jim DeBeaugrine, last Friday for Lets Talk! 📢 He’ll be joining us again tomorrow for some further legislative insights.

Are you signed up to join us this week? Register for the Zoom meeting: https://bit.ly/LetsTalk2026 🔗

Share this with your friends and followers - we want to make sure as many Floridians with disabilities and their families are in the loop about legislation impacting the disability community.

02/19/2026

The Family Cafe invites you to attend the next FROM webinar!

Fundraising in a New Era: How Fundraising Is Different Now and How to Set Yourself Up for Success

Monday, March 9th, 10 am – 11:30 am

Register at https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_baCeLsWVSbKtaP-yQwZCcA

Fundraising used to be a somewhat straightforward experience: identify organizations and people who care about your cause, ask them for money, and repeat. But in this new era of less predictability about who will fund your work, we need to change our approach. This includes building authentic relationships with potential funders and finding creative ways to engage people in your work to become partners and champions. Sign up for this webinar to learn more about the changed landscape of fundraising and how to set yourself and your organization up for success in 2026 and beyond.

Presenter Mary Kingston Roche is an experienced policy leader and advocate who has effectively secured new funding, champions, and partners for the organizations she has been involved in during her career. She is also currently on a local nonprofit Board and understands firsthand the challenges and opportunities for fundraising in today’s climate. She shares her experience and insights from identifying, pursuing, and securing funding; building relationships; and creating partnerships to help individuals and organizations successfully navigate fundraising in this new era.

This webinar is the first in a two-part series on fundraising, with part two set for April. Stay tuned for details about part two!

02/13/2026

Registration for The 28th Annual Family Café is now OPEN! 📢🌟 We hope you’ll join us at the largest cross-disability event in the nation. 😊

Click here to register: https://bit.ly/RegisterForCafe28 🔗

Before you register, make sure know:
👉 Who in your family is coming
👉 If you’d like to attend a pre-con
👉 Which days you’d like to apply for Financial Assistance
👉 If you’d like to volunteer during the event
👉 Your general information: name, email, etc.

We can’t wait to see you all! Remember, registration is FREE for individuals with disabilities and their families. Plus, our Financial Assistance lottery grows every year, so if you need help with your room and board, apply before April 1st, 2026.

There is special pricing on hotel rooms for attendees, too:
🏨Hyatt Regency Orlando: $139/night when you call and mention The Family Café
🏨Rosen Plaza: $134/night when you call and mention The Family Café
🏨Hilton Orlando: $139/night, with $15/night self parking when you click the link on our website.

02/13/2026

Online registration for The 28th Annual Family Cafe is now open!

Since 1998, The Annual Family Café has brought Floridians with all types of disabilities together for three days of information, training, and networking each June. With a great range of individual breakout sessions, a packed Exhibit Hall with dozens of vendors, and a series of special events inclu...

02/13/2026

This week’s Black History spotlight is on Lois Curtis, a trailblazer in disability rights and independent living. 🌟

Curtis was born with cognitive disabilities and schizophrenia, and because her family lacked the supports to care for her properly, she spent nearly 20 years in various institutions from the age of 11. By the time she was 19, Lois Curtis was miserable and longed to live within the community. This is when she reached out to the Atlanta Legal Aid Society for help in liberating her from institutionalization.

Their efforts were consistently complicated by the state of Georgia’s claim that Curtis’ care in an institutional setting met the legal requirement. Curtis and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society made a decision that would change disability rights in the United States forever: they were going to sue the state of Georgia for unjust segregation of individuals with disabilities under the ADA.

In the landmark Supreme Court Case Olmstead v. L.C. (1999), Lois Curtis, her co-plaintiff Elaine Wilson, and their legal team successfully argued that individuals with disabilities should be treated and live within our communities - citing inherent discrimination in institutionalization. After the case, Curtis began living in the community in group homes and host homes as support programs developed in response to the court decision.

It was then that she focused on her visual art, being featured in several Georgia galleries. At this point in her life, Curtis expressed her fondness of living in the community and how it much enriched her life.

She also took that time to write a letter of encouragement to anyone still facing institutionalization: “Hello to all the people living in institutions, I remember you. Give me a prayer. Sometimes I feel good about my life. When I feel bad about my life I name my country, sing the gospel, and bring my mind back home. I will sing with you again. Have a beautiful day. Love, Lois”

Want to learn more about Black leaders in disability history this Black History Month? Follow The Family Café and The Florida Youth Council for weekly posts throughout February. ➕

02/12/2026

02/12/2026

At last week’s Let’s Talk session, we talked with Florida Independent Living Council, Inc.’s Sarah Goldman about how to be involved in the legislative process - from ANYWEHRE in Florida, not just Tallahassee. ⚖️

This week, join us and Jim DeBeaugrine - former APD director, The Family Cafe’s board chair, and legislative expert - to talk more about the current happenings in the Florida legislature that individuals with disabilities should know about. Register today: https://bit.ly/LetsTalk2026 🔗

The 2026 Legislative Session is bound to be full of legislation that affects us all, so now is the time to tune in and find out what's happening, and what it could mean for you! 🫵 Share with someone you think needs to be clued into what’s happening at the Florida capitol, and if you missed our last session, check out the recording on our website.

02/11/2026

ICYMI: Florida Youth Council’s Shevie Barnes won the Florida Developmental Disabilities Council Idelio Valdes Self-Advocate Award yesterday at DD Day at the Florida Capitol. This is part of her incredible acceptance speech. 👏 Congrats Shevie!

02/11/2026

We had such a good time at DD Day at the Florida Capitol yesterday! And we’re so proud of Florida Youth Council’s Shevie Barnes for being awarded the Idelio Valdes Self-Advocate Award. 🌟

It was great to join Florida Developmental Disabilities Council and all the other wonderful organizations who came out to make the disability community’s voice heard. 🤝 Thank you to everyone who took time to stop by our booth!

02/09/2026

Registration open in less than ONE WEEK! Friday, February 13, registration for The 28th Annual Family Café will open online. 🧑‍🍳

As always, registration is free for individuals with disabilities and their families, and if you’d like financial assistance to cover your room throughout the event, you can apply for our financial assistance lottery in the application as well! 🌟

We are so excited for this year’s annual event, and we can’t wait to see all of you there!

02/06/2026

For , we’re teaming up with Florida Youth Council to spotlight important Black figures in disability history. 🌟 Today, we’re sharing the story of Brad Lomax: a civil rights activist and disability rights activist who exemplified a united approach to the fight for equality. 🤝

In 1950, Brad Lomax was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, experiencing segregation first-hand on family trips to Alabama. While attending college at Howard University, Lomax developed symptoms that would later be diagnosed as Multiple Sclerosis, leading him to require the use of a wheelchair. Around this time, Lomax also became more politically active, joining the Black Panthers and teaching political education. His activism work channeled both his passion for Black liberation and disability rights.

These passions were a great asset to the disability rights movement during the 504 Sit Ins of 1977, when Lomax and over 150 other disability activists sat in protest at the Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) government building in San Francisco for nearly a month to push for the signing and enforcement of section 504. This successful protest was the impetus for the greater Disability Rights movement as we know it.

Disability rights leaders attribute part of the success of the 504 Sit Ins to the involvement of the Black Panthers, who showed up in support of Lomax. Activist Corbett O'Toole stated in an oral history of the disability rights movement, “I think the secret history of the 504 sit ins it that we never, ever would have made it without the Black Panthers. The Black Panthers fed us dinner… every single night for the whole demonstration. We never would have survived without them.”

Among Lomax’s other achievements are the founding of the East Oakland Center for Independent Living and the establishment of the Black Panther Health Clinic in Washington, D.C.

Want to learn more about Black leaders in disability history this Black History Month? Follow The Family Café and The Florida Youth Council for weekly posts throughout February. ➕

02/06/2026

Check out Part Four in CAFE TAC's Empowering Your Emerging Adult Series!

Emerging Adult Series Part Four – Mending Family Bonds: Healing Relationships During Recovery / Latest News, Recovery, Trainings, Webinars, Workforce Development, Youth and Emerging Adults / By Jeremy Countryman Are you supporting a young adult facing both mental health and substance use challenge...