Community Living Policy Center

Past CLEC Webinars

Past Webinars

Find upcoming and recent CLEC events

Fire Through Dry Grass

Image of the Fire Through Dry Grass film promotion poster. Five poets face the camera in front of the Coler nursing home. They are middle aged Black and Latino men who all use wheelchairs..

Community Living Equity Center hosted a free screening of the vital documentary Fire Through Dry Grass on January 10, 2024 and an interactive panel discussion with the film's Reality Poets along with CLEC lived-experience experts one week later.

Recording of the discussion now available

In the film Fire Through Dry Grass, Black and Brown disabled artists document their lives on lockdown during COVID, using their poetry and art to underscore the danger and imprisonment they felt. In the face of institutional neglect, they refused to be abused, confined, or erased.

An interactive panel took place one week after the film screening. It shed light on the intersectional experiences of disabled persons of color in institutional settings as well as raised awareness of the impacts of structural racism, systemic poverty, and incarceration. The campaign hopes to engage diverse stakeholders, including nursing home residents, advocates, and policymakers on community-living policy reform. Tools related to resident rights were shared with event attendees. Thank you to those who joined us for this two-part screening and interactive panel discussion.

Panelists:

Francene Benjamin
AlHassan "El" Abdulfattaah
Shannon Nelson
Tyree Brown Theresa Williams

Moderator: Timotheus “T.J.” Gordon Jr.

Looking at HCBS From a State Level

Looking at HCBS Equity at a State Level

Home- and Community-Based Services (HCBS) are essential for individuals with disabilities to live and participate in their homes and community. However, little is known about how HCBS impacts disabled people of color. The Community Living Equity Center was thrilled to feature three states and organizations that are beginning to examine equity within their HCBS systems. Attendees heard from our CLEC stakeholders—New Disabled South, Colorado Department of Healthcare Financing and Policy, and the University of Minnesota—about how each of them got started on identifying HCBS inequities within their state, which data sources were used, and what themes have emerged from their work.

Access the recording of LOOKING AT HCBS EQUITY AT A STATE LEVEL

Panelists:

Kiana Jackson
Liana Major
Tasia Sinn
Tetyana Shippee

Disability Identity and Pride in Equity Research

Disability Identity & Pride in Equity Research - webinar announcement

The Community Living Equity Center's first ever webinar, Disability Identity and Pride in Equity Research, centered the voices of members of the CLEC Community Advisory Committee. The webinar included a brief introduction of the Community Living Equity Center mission and guiding princindy Arias, and Germán Parodi

Moderators: Teresa Nguyen and Jennnifer Lee-Rambharose

Access the webinar recording.

Download the extended Webinar Recap | Download the 2-page Webinar Summary