News

NEW LENOX, IL — Trinity Services, Inc. is proud to announce its participation in National Disability Voter Registration Week (NDVRW) this July 13-17.

NDVRW is a national, nonpartisan campaign to register, educate and prepare voters with disabilities for the 2020 elections and is coordinated by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ (AAPD) REV UP Campaign for voter registration, education, and engagement.

Trinity supports people with developmental and intellectual disabilities throughout Illinois. This week, Trinity staff members are educating people they support about voting, helping them register to vote or double-check that they are registered, and working on surveys with them to gauge what they already know about voting and what they want to learn.

The voting survey also asks people what they would change if they were an elected official, and some of the responses so far have been that they would end violence, promote peace, lower taxes, raise wages for essential workers and increase funding for schools.

The disability community will play an immense role in upcoming local, state, and federal elections. In 2020, more than 35 million people with disabilities are eligible to vote, a number which increases to 62 million when including family members in the same household. The power of the disability vote can hold elected officials accountable for decisions that directly affect the programs and services people with disabilities rely on to live independently in the community of their choice.

Justin Dart, father of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), said it best: “Vote as if your life depended on it, because it does.”

Trinity Services, Inc. is a 70-year-old, nonsectarian, nonprofit organization dedicated to helping children and adults with developmental disabilities and mental illness flourish and live full and abundant lives. Trinity serves roughly 3,500 people in more than 30 communities in northeast, central and southwest Illinois. To learn more, visit www.trinityservices.org.

The REV UP Campaign, launched by AAPD in 2016, is a nonpartisan initiative that coordinates with national, state, and local disability organizations to increase the political power of the disability community while also engaging candidates and the media on disability issues. REV UP stands for Register! Educate! Vote! Use your Power! Learn more at www.aapd.com/REVUP. For more information on the REV UP Campaign, National Disability Voter Registration Week, and other civic engagement and state-specific resources, visit www.aapd.com/NDVRW.