Access Living

Accessible Juneteenth 2026 is NEXT WEEK!! Join us for a celebration of the Black disability community at a fun and accessible, family friendly event!

🗓Tuesday, June 16, 4:00-7:30pm
📍Access Living, 115 W Chicago Ave

This year, DJ Matt returns to bless us with music fit for our Accessible Juneteenth celebration. We will also have performances from Aaron Schiffman, Cherlnell Lane, LLC, Jada Mercedes Thompson, Victoria Boateng, and Miss Mamas.

We are excited to share food from Cook It Mama Café (sandwiches & salads with vegan & gluten-free options).

We’ll have tables where you can meet people from Black-owned and disability-owned/friendly organizations and businesses. If you’re a Black and/or disability-owned/friendly business or organization and would like to be an exhibitor, sign up at: https://forms.gle/bxvyNLbF25v7RQ2a7

We are also looking for volunteers to help run many aspects of Accessible Juneteenth; if you’re interested, sign up at: https://forms.gle/sdwMB58rDTipznm19

Schedule/What to Expect:
4:00 pm Doors Open
4:30 pm Welcome and Announcements
5:00 pm Showcase
Throughout: Food! Exhibitors! And more
7:30 pm Event ends/doors close

Access info: ASL and captioning will be provided for the showcase portion. A room will be available for a quiet, cool-off space! To protect immunocompromised people in our community, please wear a mask indoors. We’ll have extras on hand! Accessibility requests, questions, or event inquiries can be sent to [email protected]

For more full details and information, check out the Accessible Juneteenth event page: https://dcc.uic.edu/events/accessible-juneteenth-2026-6th-annual-celebration/

This event is brought to you by Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, Access Living, The Institute on Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois Chicago, UIC Disability Cultural Center, Center for Racial and Disability Justice (University of California, Los Angeles), UIC Black Studies, UIC Black Cultural Center, and UIC Chancellors Committee on the Status of Persons with Disabilities (CCSPD).

Chicago Transit Authority is seeking feedback from disabled riders on all things accessibility! If you're interested in sharing feedback, you can do so here: https://www.research.net/r/CTAADA

Survey closes on June 5th!

2026 CTA Riders with Disabilities Take this survey powered by surveymonkey.com. Create your own surveys for free.

Yesterday, Access Living announced settlement of the second-largest accessible affordable housing lawsuit in history. After over 8 years, the City of Chicago will now be required to build and/or retrofit 2,800 units to be accessible with a significant portion of those being affordable. This is a massive win for people with disabilities!

https://www.accessliving.org/newsroom/press-releases-and-statements/access-living-wins-civil-rights-lawsuit-against-city-of-chicago/

The Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities (ICDD) develops a Five-Year State Plan to improve the independence, productivity, integration, and inclusion of individuals with developmental disabilities (DD) and their families across Illinois. The plan is designed to meet the requirements of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act (DD Act) and focus ICDD resources on systems change efforts that improve lives statewide.

To develop this draft framework, ICDD gathered input from self-advocates, families, community partners, providers, state agencies, and other leaders across Illinois. Research and the Council’s statewide systems work, combined with this community input, made clear that individuals with DD and their families continue to face barriers in self-advocacy, leadership access, employment, housing, behavioral health, service coordination, and crisis response.

Individuals and families consistently emphasized the need for stronger leadership pathways, a greater voice in shaping systems priorities, more responsive supports, and improved coordination across public systems.

The priorities reflected in the draft State Plan were further refined through the Council’s goal mapping process and organized into two major focus areas: Individual and Family Advocacy (IFA) and Systems Change (SC).

The IFA goal focuses on strengthening self-advocacy, leadership development, and lived experience so individuals with DD, families, and allies can shape cross-disability and systems change efforts. The SC goal focuses on strengthening the support systems that impact daily life, including employment, community living, behavioral health, service access, and responsiveness to emerging needs.

Public comment closes on Monday May 24th.
Learn more here:

forms.office.com

The Chicago Transit Authority is seeking feedback from disabled riders and those with disabilities who aren't able to ride transit due to accessibility challenges. The survey takes 15-20 minutes and is offered in English and Spanish. This survey will stay open through the month of May.

English Survey: https://www.research.net/r/AccessLivingCTA
Spanish Survey: https://www.research.net/r/CTAccess?&lang=es