- Date:
- 2015-12-06
- Main contributors:
- Indiana Disability History Project
- Summary:
- "At that time, supported employment was just beginning across this country" and the goal was "to show that this was very viable, that people with severe disabilities could actually work." Suellen Jackson-Boner, the Indiana Governor's Council for People with Disabilities Executive Director for 35 years until she retired in 2015, discusses several projects the Council was involved in over the years. In addition to supported employment, the Council funded housing initiatives starting in the early 80’s. The Council staff organized people in Indiana too work towards the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act in 1990. Count Us IN was a project centered on the right to accessible polling places for people with disabilities. The Council was an early supporter of promoting leadership among people with disabilities. Suellen states, “There are a lot things the Council was at the very forefront in helping to fund or get started and to get organized, which is really, I think exciting.”