Advocacy
If it wasn’t for advocacy, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities would still be warehoused in institutions, living in squalor and squandering their lives, their potential and their human dignity. Nothing is more essential to ensuring meaningful, productive lives in the community for people with disabilities than strong, consistent advocacy.
Today the YAI Network serves more than 20,000 people in 450 programs. More than 95 percent of our funding comes from government, so it is absolutely essential that the people who care about the people we serve make their voices heard with their elected officials. Currently, are biggest focus of advocacy is ensuring fair wages for the wonderful professionals who carry out our mission every day by providing vital services for people with disabilities. Learn more here.
If you are a person with a developmental or learning disability in the New York metropolitan area, you may be interested in YAI's Self Advocates Association. Learn more here.
The best way for other friends and supporters to join our advocacy efforts is to join the Friends of YAI (people with disabilities are of course welcome to join too!). That way you will be the first to get our action alerts, and the first to hear about our visits with legislators in City Hall, Albany and Washington, D.C.
Together we have built an amazing system of services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. With your help advocating, we can improve it, and ensure that it continues to meet the needs of the people we serve into the future.
