5 Great Resources for People with Disabilities: CapNY Discovering Ability

CDTA
Effy Redman reflects on life and resources for people with disabilities.

“On and off through my adult life, I have lived, worked, and spent time in New York City, where the sense of anonymity can be intoxicating. I’ve always returned to the Capital Region, where I have family and roots dating back to high school. Now I’m approaching middle age, in deeper touch with my vulnerabilities (and strengths) as a person with disabilities.”

Resources for People with Disabilities

There are diverse resources available to people with disabilities living in the Capital Region. From services to support and creative expression, Effy Redman explores some favorite resources for people with disabilities.

Effy writes, “I understand that people recognizing you as you walk down the street is not necessarily a bad thing. People in my upstate community have more time to spare, whether for a chat about the weather or personal revelations over cups of tea.”

Reading for a Brighter Tomorrow
Former U.S. serviceman, Luis Carlos Montalvan and his service dog with children at Saratoga Springs Public Library.

Saratoga Springs Public Library is wheelchair-accessible and has a large-print books section. They offer Outreach Services for individuals with disabilities who are homebound. There are online English language learning classes and adult basic literacy classes available. I have spent many hours wandering the SSPL stacks or writing in their study rooms. Disability-related titles on offer include Overcoming Dyslexia,  Accessible America: a History of Disability and Design, and From the Periphery: Real-Life Stories of Disability. All lending materials, services, and activities are free of charge.

Ageless in Saratoga

Author, licensed acupuncturist, energy healer, and wellness educator Bridgette Shea offers a variety of therapeutic services at Ageless Acupuncture, including acupuncture and Chinese medicine. She has written two books drawing from her experience–Handbook of Chinese Medicine and Ayurveda and Cultivating Your Microbiome.

Ageless Acupuncture owner Bridgette Shea

From my Chinese medicine appointments with her, I remember Bridgette’s gravitas and compassion. She has a background in ancient healing wisdom rooted in the study of dreams. She brings an individualistic perspective on health. “Perhaps the wisdom to live with optimal health has been within us all along, it’s as unique to each of us as our fingerprint,” Bridgette writes in Cultivating Your Microbiome.

A Touch of the Sacred at One Roof

One Roof was founded in a Victorian house in downtown Saratoga Springs by visionary psychotherapist Dr. Selma Nemer. This holistic health center offers integrative medicine and nutrition, meditation, psychotherapy, a stress reduction program, and more. The setting is serene, supporting deep reflection and healing. One Roof evolved over fifteen years, with the goal of uniting practitioners who wanted to work together. “Healing work can be very enlivening,” Nemer said. “It can also be exhausting and lonely.”

Driving past 58 Henry Street, she found the run down house whose loving restoration she would oversee. Its interior aesthetics reflect the comforting beauty of her vision, the opposite of clinical. Nemer said, “I just always wanted a healing center that felt like home.”

I left my shoes at the front door and padded across bright antique rugs. I sank into a velvet-upholstered chair. I was comforted by the sense of sanctuary. One Roof cross-references clients to related services in the Capital Region whenever appropriate. “Our mission is to be respectful and healing to anyone who crosses our threshold,” Nemer says. There’s an intentional, sacred feeling at One Roof. The price range for services is moderate. The Saratoga Stress Reduction Program and some psychologists/psychotherapists here accept insurance plans. Others offer sliding fee scales. You’ll find more info here.

Freedom by Bus

Among the crucial resources for people with disabilities is accessible, reliable transportation. Committed to sustainability and affordable, accessible transportation, the Capital District Transportation Authority (CDTA) serve Albany, Schenectady, Saratoga, and Rensselaer/Troy.

Due to disability, I do not drive. I rely heavily on CDTA buses. I love the mobility and independence riding CDTA buses gives me. Bus exteriors are clearly marked with route numbers and destinations. Inside, riders can look to LED display signs announcing each stop. CDTA’s STAR Program is a special transit program. It’s made available by request to individuals whose disabilities or impairments significantly limit their ability to ride buses on fixed routes. STAR Program operates within a ¾ mile radius of regularly routed buses. For bus riders who need assistance with navigation, trip planning, etc., CDTA offers Travel Training. This is one-on-one support and training for the initial transit experience and onward.

Capital Region Expressive Arts Transformation and Empowerment (C.R.E.A.T.E.)

C.R.E.A.T.E. Community Studios is a 501 c(3) non-profit with spaces in Saratoga and Schenectady. C.R.E.A.T.E.’s mission is to make the expressive arts available to all community members. Process rather than product is the focus.

Executive Director Heather Hutchison (MA, ATR-BC, LCAT) along with art therapists and art educators founded CR.E.A.T.E. to fill the absence of expressive arts in the region. “Historically,” Hutchison writes, “the arts have always been at the forefront of social change.”

Hutchison points out that people at protests often use visual art to demonstrate how they feel about issues. “We pride ourselves on being a safe space,” Hutchison says. “And [we] hear.. time and again from our attendees that when they come to CR.E.A.T.E., they feel accepted for who they are.” One goal is to make the arts widely accessible, particularly to marginalized communities.

The C.R.E.A.T.E. organization offers open-minds and empathy. Through C.R.E.A.T.E., people can tell their stories and be heard. Hutchison with Program Director Aili Lopez (LMHC, ATR) shaped the vision almost a decade ago. “We have a shared vision of believing in the intrinsic healing powers of art and creativity,” Hutchison writes. CR.E.A.T.E. has evolved through their expansion of offerings for people with and without disabilities. including open studio time and groups.

C.R.E.A.T.E in Action

C.R.E.A.T.E.has participated in community public arts projects in Schenectady. CR.E.A.T.E. Saratoga shares a space with Living Resources Arts in the thriving Beekman Street Arts District. Many programs are available online. To offer “sources of strength and hopefulness” early in the pandemic, CR.E.A.T.E. started a free YouTube series showing projects people could try at home. They also distributed art materials to community partners. Artists and community members were created lawn signs bearing hopeful art and messages. These were installed around Schenectady and Saratoga. “Making art together intrinsically gives us a sense of community and purpose which, in turn, combats feelings of isolation and depression,” Hutchison writes.

“And that’s not even getting into the neuroscience of how the expressive arts create new neuropathways in the brain, raise dopamine levels, and more.” Hutchison writes: “Playing with art materials is how we figure out how to do many things as toddlers and preschoolers. Art is deeply rooted in how we experience ourselves in the world around us. [During the pandemic] we’ve allowed ourselves to play again. This taps into that non-verbal part of ourselves and allows for healing. When we are able to make art collectively and safely, that will bring us back together as a community.” Classes, workshops, and events at CR.E.A.T.E. are either low-cost or free of charge.

  • Written by: Effy Redman

Effy Redman is a memoirist, educator, and disability advocate living in Ballston Spa, NY. She has published work in the New York Times, Vice, Ravishly, and Chronogram, among other places. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from CUNY Hunter College. Follow Effy on Twitter: @effyredman.

Capital Region Disability Leaders And Visionaries

Inclusion starts at home and, ideally, extends into one’s community. As a person with disabilities raised by parents who taught me I was capable of anything I could imagine, I sought freedom.

I ran wild with my able-bodied siblings in our childhood garden, ran track and cross country with my high school peers, and pulled all-nighters in undergraduate college.

When my physical disability seemed like a social barrier, I took up the study of dance. After diagnosis with a mental illness, I began writing a book and went to graduate college.

Capital Region Disability Leaders and Visionaries

Meet these four Capital Region disability leaders and influencers who have inspired me through their activism and resilient approaches to life.

Discovering Community with Disability Leader Shameka Andrews

Shameka Andrews, 43, is the first of my Capital Region disability leaders and influencers. She recently started the Pride Center of Albany’s Prideability support group for LGBTQ individuals with disabilities, meeting bi-weekly on Zoom. I met her there. Born and raised in Albany NY, she coordinates community outreach at the Self Advocacy Association of New York State. Additionally, Shameka coordinates the Ms Wheelchair NY program, an advocacy and empowerment program for women who use wheelchairs. She serves on the Developmental Disabilities Planning Council and the NYS OPWDD Developmental Disabilities Advisory Council, among other boards and committees.

Writing It Down

Shameka writes about her life as a person with disability, and disability issues. Her books include Butterfly on Wheels and Wisdom on Wheels Interviews. She started writing as a way to deal with issues she encountered in her life. “I see my role as making sure disability and accessibility are always part of the conversation no matter what the conversation is about,” Shameka writes. “And to make sure that people with disabilities are actually at the table having their voices heard.” Asked what community means to her, she responded, “To me, community means people that support one another, lift each other up, come together for a common cause, help each other grow to better themselves and those around them.”

Giving the Voiceless a Voice with Amanda Blodgett

Poet and mental health advocate Amanda Blodgett works as Secretary for the Saratoga County Citizens’ Committee for Mental Health (SCCCMH). I serve on SCCCMH’s Newsletter Committee. We first met on a bus from Saratoga to Albany for Mental Health Association in New York State’s 2019 Mental Health Matters Legislative Advocacy Day. With a group brought together by SCCCMH, we attended talks by mental health activists. We also met with NY state legislators, and rallied at the state Capitol. When I saw Amanda speaking about mental health rights into a megaphone offered by a reporter, her confidence and honesty impressed me. The pandemic prevented the 2020 Mental Health Matters Day from occurring. But our friendship has endured. Raised in Chicago, she moved to Saratoga County at 22.

Now 40, Amanda lives in Ballston Spa. As one of the Capital Region disability leaders, I asked how she began mental health/disability advocacy work. Amanda says: “First, I started just telling anyone who listened about my disability.” Her therapist told her about SCCCMH, which she joined in 2008. “SCCMH educates, supports, and informs to end stigma,” Amanda said. Through SCCCMH, she networked with other mental health advocacy groups. “I want to be a voice for the voiceless,” says Amanda. She aims to inform people in the Capital Region and beyond about mental illness. “That could be educating them as to what mental illness is and what it’s not,” Amanda writes.

Working for Saratoga’s Citizens

Amanda considers mentally ill people’s rights important, too. When the Saratoga County Mental Health Center moved from Saratoga Hospital’s grounds to 135 South Broadway, some people in Saratoga protested, claiming the center’s clients would deface the city’s gateway.

So Amanda wrote a letter to Saratoga County’s City Hall. She joined with SCCCMH to fight to allow the move to occur. “There is so much stigma,” she says. “It’s hard to get people to speak for our rights.”  Amanda remembers a volunteer position where the organization discriminated against her after she revealed her “invisible disability.” But, “most people are supportive,” she says. She believes communities have the power to come together to celebrate differences. As a writer, Amanda appreciates the opportunity to reach a larger audience. She chooses the poetry genre: “a great way to reach people.”

Becoming Mindful with Martel Catalano

Martel Catalano (age 31) and her friend Nell Pritchard founded their nonprofit Beyond My Battle in 2018. Their goal: to support people with serious illnesses, rare diseases, and disabilities. Rooted in mindfulness and psychology, BMB offers support groups and workshops. Also, they offer events such as a pop-up art show called Art with Heart and Hope.

Martel grew up in a small Manhattan suburb in northern New Jersey. She has lived in Saratoga since 2016. BMB originated in 2017 as an online support group, “providing a space where people with all kinds of illnesses and disabilities could find camaraderie and support.”

“Ultimately we want to be more resilient in the face of health-related uncertainty,” Martel writes. I asked how her work through BMB shapes her community perspective. Martel recalled that as a teenager, “when I was in a really bad place with my own rare disease, my mom kept telling me the best way to make myself feel better would be to help others.”

Martel’s Meditation Journey

In her mid-twenties, Martel began studying meditation. She got involved in service through some of her teachers. “My perspectives on community clicked in a new way,” she said. And as a result, BMB grew quickly. Through BMB, Martel met many people, who “provide [her] an immense sense of belonging.”

Martel’s studies have helped her “blend the principles of mindfulness, and the inner exploration and psychology, to create the approach we take at BMB. All of our programs help patients and caregivers cultivate a sense of awareness that leads to greater understanding and presence.”

Walking in Peace with Jeffrey Halpern

Jeffrey Halpern (age 63) is a Galway, NY-based peace activist and drummer. Jeffrey has Parkinson’s disease, and embodies the possibility that one can achieve a life honoring the well being of others. He always offered genuine, kind words when I saw him during difficult times in my life.

Originally from Queens, NY, Jeffrey began his career as an activist in 1970. At 13, he attended a Vietnam War protest in Washington, DC with his father. Since then, Jeffrey has participated in many peace and social justice issues, including No Nukes, immigrant rights, and climate change. He also supports Native American and African American rights.

Civil Disobedience

Jeffrey has participated in civil disobedience (CD) protests, and has been arrested five times. He writes: “Every time I have been arrested, I have felt that it was important. Non-violent CD is the way I can express my feelings and speak truth to power.”

As a member of the Saratoga Peace Alliance, Jeffrey has participated in peace vigils held in front of the post office in Saratoga Springs. They’ve met once a week for 12 years. “My activism has had a big influence on my world view,” he writes. “It shows me that it is important to follow my conscience and act according to my principles.” Jeffrey’s vision and commitment place him among the Capital Region’s amazing disability leaders.

  • Written by: Effy Redman

Effy Redman is a memoirist, educator, and disability advocate living in Ballston Spa, NY. She has published work in the New York Times, Vice, Ravishly, and Chronogram, among other places. She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from CUNY Hunter College. Follow Effy on Twitter: @effyredman.