Advocacy Day for Access & Independence at the South Carolina Statehouse
April 7, 2025
Details on speakers, event activities, and symbolic locks and keys given to lawmakers.
The SC Access & Independence Network, in association with the SC Statewide Independent Living Council, will host their annual Advocacy Day for Access & Independence tomorrow, Tuesday, April 8, 2025, from 10 am to 12 pm at the SC Statehouse. The event will also be live-streamed online to viewers worldwide.
The annual Advocacy Day for Access & Independence will allow the disability community, advocates, and supporters to rally and call on South Carolina lawmakers to address barriers to independence for people with disabilities. 2025 issue area of focus is Community Living. Community Living will be defined by the ways that barriers to employment, transportation, housing, and healthcare impact the ability of disabled people to live self-sufficiently in their communities of choice.
The 1 in 3 people with disabilities living in South Carolina are ready to advocate for increased access to employment, transportation, housing, and healthcare, as well as assurance that their rights will be protected. These issues are explored in the attached handout. Policies regarding people with disabilities across our state encourage dependence on state programs and the government instead of promoting independence and self-sufficiency. South Carolinians with disabilities are often discriminated against in all matters of daily life. Advocacy Day for Access and Independence will hold the megaphone as disabled people rally on these issues, with the goal of improving the lives of disabled and nondisabled South Carolinians alike!
Advocacy Day for Access & Independence was created as part of the State Plan on Independent Living with the support of over 50 organizations statewide to unlock the barriers that prevent people with disabilities from having equal access and opportunity.
The goal of the event on the North Steps of the Statehouse will be to unlock the barriers to independence that people with disabilities experience. The rally will include several speakers with disabilities and their political and business allies. Speakers include SC State Representative Neal Collins, SC disability advocate, Lamondre Pough, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center’s Director of Policy & CoverSC representative, Sue Berkowitz, Executive Director of the SC Housing Justice Network, Kenya Cummings, former Ms. SC Wheelchair, Kim Brock, and many other leaders and advocates from the disability community.
Event participants will have the opportunity to listen to and engage with speakers, a poster-making station, and a postcard-writing station. Postcards written to lawmakers during the event will be returned to lawmakers’ offices shortly after the event ends.
These postcards will be outfitted with small keys. The keys unlock mini-padlocks that are attached to issue area packets delivered to lawmakers on April 1st. This powerful symbol, using the words of people with disabilities to unlock the barriers reported to lawmakers, is sure to garner the attention of South Carolina’s elected officials.
“We Want Access! We Want Independence! We Want Equality!” Search www.unlockingbarriers-sc.org for more, watch this short video, and follow our hashtag #BarrierFreeSC on social media. Find our official Facebook page at SC Access & Independence Network.
Participants may register for this free event at www.unlockingbarriers-sc.org or by calling 800-681-7715 or via the TTY line at (803) 779-0949. Free materials, including t-shirts and buttons, will be given out on a first-come, first-served basis. A refreshment station will be available to accommodate those with dietary needs during the event.
SC ACCESS & INDEPENDENCE NETWORK SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:
Able South Carolina, AccessAbility, AgrAbility SC, Babcock Center, Beginnings SC, Beyond BASIC Life Skills, Billion Strong, Brain Injury Association of South Carolina, Carolina LIFE, Clemson LIFE, Coastal LIFE, Columbia College, Columbia Urban League, The COMET, Converge Collective, CoverSC, Disability Next Door, Disability Rights SC, Equip Leadership Group, Family Connection of SC, Gullah GeeChee Chamber of Commerce, Harriet Hancock Center, Hire Me SC, Lions Vision Services, McGuireWoods Consulting, Mental Health America SC, NAACP SC, National Federation of the Blind SC, National MS Society, Palmetto Animal Assisted Life Services (PAALS), Pacer LIFE, Palmetto Council of the Blind, REACH College of Charleston, SC Appleseed Legal Justice Center, SC Assistive Technology Program, SC Association of the Deaf, SC Commission for Minority Affairs, SC Department of Mental Health, SC Developmental Disabilities Council, SC Housing Justice Network, SC Inclusive Post-Secondary Education Consortium, SC Spinal Cord Injury Association, SC Statewide Independent Living Council, SC Vocational Rehabilitation, Thrive Upstate, Together SC, Upstate SC LGBT Chamber of Commerce, University of South Carolina Aphasia Lab, University of South Carolina School of Medicine- Center for Disability Resources, Walton Options for Independent Living, WinthropLIFE, Women’s Rights and Empowerment Network, YMCA Columbia, Youth Leadership Forum SC, York CAN
ABOUT ABLE SOUTH CAROLINA
Able SC is a disability-led organization seeking transformational changes in systems, communities, and individuals. Since 1994, we’ve remained a consumer-controlled, community-based, cross-disability nonprofit that seeks to make South Carolina a national model of equity and inclusion for all people with disabilities. To learn more about Able SC’s programs and services, please visit www.able-sc.org.
ABOUT SOUTH CAROLINA STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
The South Carolina Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting Independent Living for people with disabilities throughout the state. SILC members are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina. Federal regulations requires at least 51% of SILC members be people with significant disabilities. The South Carolina Statewide Independent Living Council (SILC) promotes the independent living philosophy of consumer choice, peer support, self-help, self-determination, equal access, and individual and systems advocacy.
