EXTRA, EXTRA! An Extra Exciting Summer Update.

I know, I know.  It’s not December, when I usually send my annual holiday update.  But I have such exciting news that I couldn’t wait.  I’ll save it for the end to escalate the anticipation.  Hopefully, you’ll make it that far down.  There’s a surprise; so don’t miss it.

Quick health update since I mentioned it in December and friends keep asking why I am not coming out to play:  I have cerebral palsy, a physical disability.  It’s hard to explain CP because everyone’s CP is different and I ironically don’t know that much about it.  Yes, that guy on the Speechless show has it.  My CP makes the me spastic, basically, I have too much movement I can’t control, as some of you who have walked up from behind me may have noticed my startle reflex with me jumping five feet out of my wheelchair.

Anyway, I’m having too much tone in my right foot.  It feels like I have a lot of trapped energy and movement, which is making it harder to walk on, even assisted.  I’m working with doctors to find the right treatment.  Don’t worry; I guess this happens to many people with my type of CP, especially as we age.  I am doing a lot better than before, when I even had difficulty sitting in my wheelchair from the tone; funny how just a foot can make a big impact.  Doctors never seem to know what to do with me, but they are trying.  I’m a bit of an anomaly across the board, including in medicine too… they don’t know why it’s only one side, but I am thankful that it is not both feet.

Despite my tone, I was able to hit the slopes.  Unfortunately, not with my Midwest friends this year, but out West, during our family’s spring break.  Yes, they were very annoyed and I am not sure that they will ever take me again since we almost didn’t make it back. It started snowing while we were coming down the mountain and my dad insisted on driving down.  We skidded off the detour and got stuck on the edge of a cliff until someone towed us out.  I thought it was humorous, but no one else did.  It was one in a series of many unfortunate travel events during that road trip.

I tried the world’s only joystick operated ski through the University of Utah’s TRAILS program.  Dr. Jeff Rosenbluth envisioned it for people with spinal cord injury (SCI), having been an adaptive ski instructor before medical school.  Why can’t I have a cool doctor like that?  He even came to ski with me on the first day.

Picture of me skiing in a joystick operated kart ski in Utah on a snowy mountain.  There is a man behind me holding on to a rope connected to my ski for good measure.

They were excited because I was the first person with a disability besides SCI to try it.  I also discovered that I was the first woman (go girl power!), so they let me go faster than they let anyone else before (being short finally paid off!).  It was the fastest I’ve ever skied, so of course, I loved it!  I surprisingly didn’t crash; I almost did at least twice misjudging a snowbank on a turn.  But Dr. Rosenbluth was strong enough to stop me.  Apparently, it hurts more than wiping out on a regular sit ski, which I have done.  I’m glad that I didn’t find out how much more it hurts.

So the real exciting news…  Drum roll please.  Able Community, the housing cooperative for people with and without disabilities that my friends and I have been working on, has finally received our 501(c)(3) status!

We were waiting to tell everyone formally until we got the green light from our Perkins Coie pro bono attorneys to officially solicit tax deductible donations.  And guess what?  We made a video to say that your donations will now be tax deductible; and if you filed an extension, you can deduct any donations you made in 2016!

It is fitting that we send out this update in July.  We had our first Able Community meeting in July, before we even had a name for it.  I really wanted to have that meeting on the 4^th of July, since we’re working to improve people with disabilities’ independence.  But we settled on July 6^th instead.

For you Amazon.com shoppers, 0.5% of your purchases can be donated to Able Community at no additional cost to you.  You have to set your donation preferences on smile.amazon.com and remember to make your purchases through smile.amazon.com.  Here’s the link: https://smile.amazon.com/ch/47-1913272

More exciting news… Able Community is this year’s recipient of the Berkeley Student Cooperative co-op development grant!

And extremely exciting news.  Able Community found a house to rent in downtown Arlington Heights (a Chicago suburb) to start living in together!!!  We are looking for more housemates with and without disabilities, and personal care assistants (both live-in and hourly PAs) if you or anyone you know are interested.  Please forward this application link to anyone who may be interested: http://bit.ly/apply2AC

Picture of Able Community’s red brick house with a ramp being built for the front door.

We are currently waiting for the renovations to make it accessible before we move in.  We plan to host an open house hopefully at the end of August and many get-togethers there that we would love to see you at.  Let me know if you are interested in attending.

We hope you enjoy our video and consider donating to Able Community, a 501(c)(3) housing cooperative for people with and without disabilities, so we can really start doing amazing work.  You have donate through the link on the video or through our link here: http://www.ablecommunitychicago.org/donate/ or if you want to send a check, I’ll give you our address.  Your donations will help us furnish our empty house and other household needs.

Until more good news,

Esther S. Lee,

esther@disabilitylawcollective.com

Able Community

http://www.ablecommunitychicago.org

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Happy Holidays!

The following is from my annual holiday update to my friends.

A blue postcard says “Happy Holidays” in the center with white snowflake stars. This image is from this e-card link.

I dreaded writing this year’s update. Although I was appointed as co-chair for the Women’s Bar Association of Illinois’ Attorneys with Disabilities Committee and a member of the Statewide Independent Living Council of Illinois (SILC), I haven’t been as productive as I would like to have been this year. I’m so used to doing everything at 90 mph that my slower pace is hard for me to get used to.

Another SILC member I just met worked at the University of Illinois when I was a freshman. When I asked her why we never met before this year, she replied that she saw me but she could never catch me because I was too fast. So perhaps there are benefits to living a slower pace. Please forgive me if I was going too fast to be there for you. I’m definitely here now if you need me.

Last December, I was just ending my pro bono work with the Legal Council for Health Justice, or the organization formerly known as Aids Legal Council of Chicago, which was a fantastic six months of hands on experience with Social Security matters directly from the Executive Director. I was enthusiastic to launch my own law practice, the Disability Law Collective, with the assistance from my legal incubator program. I soon realized that successful self-employment requires more than shared office space, particularly as a person with a disability. I did get my first case through Access Living and am eager to grow my practice.

I see improving independence and employment for myself and others with disabilities as the reoccurring theme of my work and my ultimate life goal. Able Community is the non-profit housing cooperative for people with and without disabilities that I have been working on with a fantastic group of people, who all happen to have disabilities and are all graduates from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Our Able Community members are working towards improving independence for people with disabilities, personal assistants, and their families.

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A post shared by Able Community (@ablecommunity)

Able Community is not having a fundraiser this year because we are working on our 501(c)3 incorporation; we are extremely close to filing the application. I realize that I’ve been saying this for a while, but we have just submitted our materials to our non-profit pro bono attorneys and our next step is filing the application. We will have more fundraisers once we file for our 501(c)3 status, so we can provide tax deductions. If you still want to donate to Able Community anyway, we would of course gratefully accept your generosity; here is a link to our PayPal info on the bottom of this hyperlinked page. We are incredibly grateful for everything our supporters have done for us already.

(In case you missed it, above is our fundraiser video from last year. It explains what Able Community is and who the members are better.)

I consider myself so blessed to be back home in Illinois, near the city I love and to be closer to the other Able Community members. As someone who pursued a legal career to practice civil rights and fight racial injustices, I am appalled by the recent police brutality incidents. I am conscious that the systematic violence and racial inequalities deeply rooted in our nation’s history call for even greater collective systematic change at the city and national level. I have also come to realize that the everyday injustices are just as important to advocate for as the systematic ones and I hope that my law practice, the Disability Law Collective, will meet the everyday legal needs of the disability community.

(A sneak preview of Disability Law Collective’s animated promotional video.)

I also feel blessed to be back, closer to my friends in Illinois, to celebrate life’s happy and sad moments together. I lost 3 friends this year. While this comes with being a part of the disability community and I have lost schoolmates from an early age, I don’t think I will ever get used to it. I’m sure that my losses do not remotely measure up to what the families who lost their loved ones with disabilities or the teachers and professionals who continuously loose people with disabilities they work with must go through.

Having said that, I believe it is wise to make legal preparations so your loved ones and family know what your final wishes are. This can be done through estate planning, including wills, and medical and financial powers of attorneys. I’d be happy to help you figure out what legal options meet your needs and if for some reason I cannot (I’m only licensed to practice law in Illinois and California), I’ll be happy to help find someone else who can. And please let me know if there is anything else I could help you with, legally or otherwise.

I have been enjoying Chicago. One of the Able Community members would marry football if he could, whereas I would definitely marry Chicago. My sister and I have been doing the touristy things that we never did before, like architecture tours. We’ve also been going to Broadway musicals. I’m really glad that my love of musical started in an early age (thanks to my elementary school music and art teachers). I did subject to my whole law school to this love by making many of the professors and students participate in my law school musical production during my last year.

I’ve also taken up some inherently dangerous adaptive activities, including water skiing and alpine skiing (I’m sure some of you would love to throw me off a mountain). It feeds my rebellious-defying-what-people-say-I-cannot-do-because-of-my-disability spirit. Similar to the teams of people assisting people with disabilities find independence through sports traditionally meant for able-bodied people, I am excited to be a part of teams advocating for the independence for people with disabilities through the Disability Law Collective and Able Community.

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A post shared by Able Community (@ablecommunity)

(Photo with the crew of volunteers who made sure that I didn’t kill myself my first time skiing.)

I am taking better care of my health with adaptive yoga and horseback riding. I look forward to adding adaptive scuba diving to the list of my inherently dangerous adaptive adventures. Perhaps I am training to be the next James Bond… I know that I am not an attractive British able-bodied man. But how cool would it be if there was a movie with a female spy with a disability who is a person of color?!?

Happy Holidays, but especially a very Merry Christmas and a Happy Hanukkah (showing my Judeo-Christian biases)!

Sincerely,
Esther S. Lee,
Attorney at Law
esther@disabilitylawcollective.com
Disability Law Collective <http://disabilitylawcollective.com>
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Back to Back Disability Conferences: NOSSCR & ADA

Dear Gimpy Law Readers:

I am attending two conferences to better serve the disability community. I just finished attending NOSSCR, a bi-annual conference on Social Security law, and am currently attending the National ADA Symposium. Interestingly, the definition of “disability” is harder to meet under Social Security than under the ADA.

NOSSCR/ADA Conference logos

I realize that I haven’t posted in a while. I faced setbacks to officially launching my law practice, Disability Law Collective. In particular, I was figuring out office accessibility at my incubator program. There seems to be a fine line when advocating for yourself in an employment-esque context. I also had to think about my clients and future attorneys with disabilities in my program.

Anyway, I will write an actual blog soon. If you want to see a blog on a particular topic, please comment below.

Attending the Access to Law Initiative Incubator Conference.

I’m attending the Access to Law Initiative Incubator Conference. I’d love to connect with you if you’re there!

“The rapid growth of incubator and residency programs over the past 2 years is proof that good ideas spread fast. Law schools, Legal Aid programs and bar associations across the United States, and now the world, are assuming an increasing role in the development of post-graduate training and support programs for attorneys wishing to establish solo and small firms or not-for-profit organizations. Inherent in these programs is a focus on training lawyers who can help to resolve the unmet legal needs of individuals and entities from moderate to low-income communities while they build economically sustainable practices that will continue to serve those client needs.

These incubator and residency programs are expanding rapidly and reflect the fact that increasingly the people who choose to attend law school do so because they are committed to expanding access to affordable legal services for the mainstream groups that have not been adequately served, and because they recognize that solo and small firm practice has long been the most popular career path for lawyers.

This conference addresses the opportunities and challenges institutions face in the conceptualization, design and implementation of successful incubators and residency programs.”

Find more information about the ALI Incubator Conference at https://www.cwsl.edu/incubator.

The non-profit I’m starting, Able Community, needs your help!

Dear Gimpy Law Readers,

I wanted to share about the non-profit I’m starting, Able Community. Watch this video, then read the e-mail below to find out more!

Able Community is building the first fully accessible, affordable, and intentionally inclusive cooperative housing for people with and without disabilities in the United States. Beginning this holiday season, we are asking for your help! Please consider donating to Able Community’s Every Dollar Counts campaign, our very first fundraiser.

It is extremely difficult for people with disabilities to find affordable and accessible housing, and personal care, which affects our independence and employability. Able Community is creating an alternative to institutions and living with family for people with disabilities, while improving personal assistants’ quality of life and compensation. Our members will run and operate this collaborative housing cooperative and personal care services to meet these unmet independent living needs. We will be located in Chicago, because of its employment potential and accessible public transit, with approximately 20 various sized apartment units, some offices, and shared common space for people with disabilities, personal care assistants, and their families.

All of Able Community members have disabilities and/or work with persons with disabilities, so we are passionate about the need for this innovative solution and we have creative ideas about how to accomplish it. We have been meeting weekly, investigated the lack of other living situations, drafted our founding documents, and are in the process of incorporating.

In order to make the Able Community a reality, we are raising $800 to incorporate as a non-profit and for our website. We need YOUR help; a donation of $10, $25, or $50 will help us get there. With your support, Able Community’s housing co-op will become a reality.

Every dollar will have a meaningful impact on our work doing—redefining independence for people with disabilities. Able Community believes that Every Dollar Counts. Instead of sending a Christmas card or buying us a cup of coffee, contribute a few dollars to our cause and contribute to changing lives – and ultimately the disability community – forever.

To find out more and donate online, go to AbleCommunityChicago.Org, click on the donate link below, or make a check payable to Able Community. It would be helpful if you have a PayPal account, but we welcome donations in any method.

Thank you in advance for your support of Able Community!

 

Happy Holidays,

Gimpy Law Blogger, on behalf of Able Community.

The Amazingness of Gimpy Law Readers

Dear Gimpy Law Readers,

You continue to amaze me. Gimpy Law is having a real global impact:

November 6, 2014 Gimpy Law Views by Country: United States 816, Canada 36, United Kingdom 24, Panama 9, Australia 7, Republic of Korea 5, Ireland 4, India 3, Spain 2, Malaysia 2, Greece 2, Philippines 1, Morocco 1, Croatia 1, Puerto Rico 1, Indonesia 1, New Zealand 1, Northern Mariana Islands 1, Russian Federation 1, Nigeria 1, Saudi Arabia 1, Hungary 1.

I am honored at how well Gimpy Law has been received and that it has a global presence. Look at how gorgeous you all look on this map!

I don’t believe that this Gimpy Law blogger deserves the credit. I believe that it is a testament to the relevance of disability and prevalence of people with disabilities around the world. Let’s keep on keeping on!

Your Gimpy Law blogger.

Happy Fall, an e-mail update to my friends

Dear friends,

After 9 years of living in California, I moved back home to Illinois. I’m in an incubator program that incubates new attorneys into solo practitioners. Yes, my life has been full of detours, twisting and turning my intended direct path. When I was in Pasadena, I met up with my law school friend and mock trial competition co-counsel. As I shared my job search frustrations, she jokingly asked if I was upset that I haven’t changed the world yet. She was right. I remember writing in my law school applications that I’m not naive enough to think I can change the world, but I want to be a catalyst for everyday change. I’ve come to realize that I do want to change the world. Or at the very least, be part of that change.

This mass email will probably be my last update from this address. I plan to launch my law practice for people with disabilities and their families on January 2, 2015! I keep pushing back my launch date, so perhaps sharing my exciting news of my second wind at my legal career will motivate me to stick to this date.

In other fantastic news, Able Community, the soon-to-be nonprofit housing cooperative I’m starting with friends with and without disabilities filed its articles with the Illinois Secretary of State. We’ve been working on it for the past two years and are progressing towards our goal of becoming a 501(c)3. If I am able to leave a legacy, I believe it will be for my work on Able Community, redefining independence for people with disabilities, personal assistants, and their families by improving accessible housing and the dynamics of care to enable reaching our full personhood potential and employment. To find out more about Able Community, please visit: ablecommunitychicago.org.

Stay tuned for more exciting news to come!

This was an e-mail update to my friends. If you would like to receive e-mail updates from me, please leave me a comment below.

Picture of the “at” symbol emerging from an envelope with a blue arrow circling the envelope, representing an e-mail, from this link.

Blogging on Blogging

WordPress is pissing me off. I find WordPress themes limiting and frustrating, both the paid wordpress.org option that I use for my non-profit, Able Community, and this free wordpress.com Gimpy Law blog. While there are a plethora of themes, many of which are free, these themes are still restrictive in terms of having to pay to change color schemes divergent from the limited color options provided and being restricted to the theme’s layout, features, and fonts. Of course, if I had mad HTML skills, perhaps I could change these restrictions.

Here are the two themes Gimpy Law has tried:

Current Truly Minimal theme on a laptop.

I’ve been advised to use “responsive” themes that are mobile friendly, easily readable on cell phones and mobile devices. I do like how the Truly Minimal theme looks on my phone, better than on my computer. I have tried to change the header picture to one with better resolution, but am still working on this. I wish the laptop version of the Truly Minimal theme had brief thumbnail summaries and images of each post, so readers could easily find certain posts without scrolling down entire posts.

The Fontfolio theme with featured pictures and shortened titles that I tried before briefly.

I like the idea of the Fontfolio theme, displaying a featured picture and title of each blog on the main page, so that newcomers to Gimpy Law can easily visualize and scan the different posts without having to scroll down each post in reverse chronological order. But unfortunately, some of the pictures get cut off, like Barbie’s friend, Becky’s head; and longer post titles are shortened and you cannot see them till you mouse over them.

I miss my Xanga blogging days, where everyone’s blog had the same exact layout, but at least we could change colors and fonts as we pleased and even mess around with the template a little. Xanga was popular, apparently among Asian Americans, although my white friends introduced me to it in college.

In addition to my personal Xanga blog, I made an anonymous Shakespeare Xanga, complete with the “What Is a Youth” song  on repeat from Romeo and Juliet (the 1968 film soundtrack) and scarlet red background. I wrote in iambic pentameter/Elizabethan diction on my posts and comments to my unsuspecting friends’ blogs, most of whom were fellow English majors. My friends and I had a good laugh when they uncovered my ghost writing, Shakespeare guised identity. My friends’ Xanga blogs are all dead and gone, eliminating my readership. My Xanga is private and haven’t used it in years.

Here are some paid WordPress.org themes I would consider using for Gimpy Law:

Fluxipress Theme

The benefits of WordPress are that it is the new Xanga, Myspace, whatever blog; it’s trending and there is a huge base of potential readers. What I especially like about Wordpress is that any reader can leave comments, without having to have a Wordpress account. So always feel free to leave comments. Long story short, Gimpy Law will stay on Wordpress and just be annoyed by the inflexibility in its themes… that is unless Wordpress retaliates against this post.

Any thoughts on Gimpy Law’s layout or theme selection? Feel free to share them below in the comment section.

Shout Out to GimpyLaw Readers: You Guys Blow My Mind!

I am amazed that the mad rantings of this Gimpy Law attorney actually has readers, let alone that it has so many readers around the world.  Here’s a summary of the Top Views by Country in the history of GimpyLaw, as of today:

253 United States views. 6 Canada views. 4 South Korea views. 2 Malaysia views. 1 Morocco view. 1 Philippines view.

In one of my college Rhetoric classes, Expository Writing, we read an essay about how a writer wanted to hand deliver individualized messages to each of her readers, old school Pony Express style.  I wish I could get to know each of GimpyLaw’s readers, their unique stories, what draws them to this GimpyLaw blog, and our communities, whether they be disabilities or ties to advancing justice.

But perhaps I should introduce myself first.  I’m a 30ish Korean American women with a disability.  I’m originally from the Northwest suburbs of Chicago, but lived in California for 9 years, where I went to law school at UC Davis.  I recently moved back to Illinois to participate in a program that will help me start my own law practice.  I’m also starting a non-profit housing cooperative, called Able Community.

That’s enough of a dating service description about me; I do not like long walks on the beach, by the way.  I’d like to hear about you, my readers.  Feel free to drop me a line in the comment section below!

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