Welcome to the Access Alaska community.

We’ve been opening doors to independence for seniors and Alaskans with disabilities for more than two decades.

Alaska is your home. Access Alaska is your community. A place where:

  • You can find answers, voice concerns and share insights.
  • You can access services or help a fellow Alaskan.
  • Life’s challenges are always met with respect, dignity and understanding.

We help Alaskans secure funding, find information and access resources, training and services to lead the most productive, meaningful and satisfying lives possible.

Select your area of interest from the following menu:

Elder Alaskans: Resources and services for Alaskan elders to make the most of their golden years. .

Alaskans with Disabilites: Resources and services to enable Alaskans with disabilities to achieve independence.

Alaska Families: Resources and services to support and help families help themselves.

Complete Services: A comprehensive listing of Access Alaska services.


Life is what you make it.

This is where you make it better.

Access Alaska Opening doors to independence

With offices in Anchorage, Fairbanks, Mat-Su and Kenai

Access Alaska Community News and Events

August 01, 2008

Support the ADA Amendments Act in the Senate!

 ADAWatch.org National Coalition for Disability Rights 601 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Suite 900S Washington, DC 20004

Senate ADA Amendments Act Introduced with 57 Co-Sponsors
 
Senators Harkin and Hatch have introduced the ADA Amendments Act - S. 3406 - with 57 original cosponsors!  
 
While we will have to work hard to gain even more support in the Senate, ADA Watch and the National Coalition for Disability Rights (NCDR) thanks the state and local organizers and thousands of grassroots supporters who took part in our Road To Freedom bus stop events to support restoration of the ADA; signed our petition; attracted widespread media attention to the need for restoration; and utilized our ADA Restoration Action Center to send thousands of messages calling on Congress to respond to the narrowing of the ADA in the courts.
 
While there is more that we will have to do next year to restore the ADA, we fully support passage of the ADA Amendments Act.
 
The ADA Amendments Act of 2008 will restore the civil rights of people with disabilities by:
 
• Specifically rejecting restrictive interpretations by the Supreme Court that have reduced the protections for people with disabilities under the ADA
• Directing that the definition of "disability" must be construed broadly, to cover anyone who is discriminated against on the basis of disability.
• Clarifying the definition of disability, to more clearly prohibit discrimination against people with physical or mental impairments.
• Prohibiting consideration of an individual's ability to mitigate the effect of a disability (e.g., by taking medications) in determining whether she is eligible for protection from discrimination.
• Covering individuals who experience discrimination based on a perception that they have an impairment regardless of whether they have a disability.
 
Here is the list of origional co-sponsors of the Senate ADA Amendments Act: Harkin, Hatch, Kennedy, Enzi, Specter, Obama, McCain, Dodd, Dole, Gregg, Clinton, Alexander, Johnson, Roberts, Kerry, Coleman, Feingold, Snowe, Leahy, Burr, Brown, Smith, Durbin, Murkowski, Lautenberg, Warner, Sanders, Brownback, Reed, Martinez, Mikulski, Isakson, Casey, Craig, Murray, Bennett, Landrieu, Collins, Biden, Allard, Nelson, Sununu, Cardin, Thune, Levin, Barrasso, McCaskill, Crapo, Schumer, Stevens, Salazar, Voinovich, Tester, Cochran, Reid, Luger, Chambliss.
 

If your both your senators are not on this list, contact them and ask them to support the ADA Amendments Act of 2008. If one or both of your senators are co-sponsors, call them and thank them for supporting the civil rights of people with disabilities.

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July 30, 2008

Americans with Disabilities Act: 18th Anniversary celebration

Thursday, August 7, 5-8 p.m.
Snow Goose Theater
717 West Third Avenue
Anchorage

ADAPlease join special guest, the Honorable Olegario "Ollie" D. Cantos VII, Esq., Special Counsel to the Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Justice, for an evening of conversation, friends and good food to celebrate the passage of this important civil rights act.

This event is sponsored by Access Alaska, UAA Disability Support Services, UAA Center for Human Development, The Disability Law Center, The Alaska Center for the Blind & Visually Impaired, The State of Alaska Americans with Disabilities Act Coordinator's Office, Assistive Technology of Alaska, The Govenor's Council on Disabilities & Special Education, Stone Soup Group, Municipality of Anchorage - ADA Commission and Frontier Community Services.

For more information, contact Doug Toelle at Access Alaska (800) 770-7940.

July 29, 2008

Disability rights protestors force meeting with Bush Administration

Jim Kreatschman, Access Alaska Interior Director (second from right with the legs) outside the RSA

PRESS RELEASE

For more information:

Kelly Buckland (208) 869-4135
Shannon Jones (913) 486-4565
Brad Williams (518) 424-8121

Disability rights protestors force meeting with Bush Administration

WASHINGTON, DC (July 23, 2008)
Over 200 disability rights advocates from across the country protested outside the U.S. Rehabilitation Services Administration (RSA) located at Potomac Center Plaza.

The boisterous group chanted until the Assistant Secretary of OSERS, Tracy Justesen, came down and agreed to meet with a delegation from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL). The NCIL delegation presented the memberships demands to the Assistant Secretary.

Specifically at issue is RSA’s recent interpretation of the Rehabilitation Act and the negative impact it will have on the operation of Statewide Independent Living Councils (SILC’s). Despite years of accepted operation, RSA has limited the scope of councils so that they function according to minimum statutory duties.

“In Kansas, by advocating for public policy issues, we have increased the employment rate for people with disabilities by 20%,” stated Shannon Jones of Topeka, Kansas. “These types of advocacy efforts are being thwarted by RSA’s narrow interpretation of SILC duties. Once again, people with disabilities will be marginalized because of bureaucratic nonsense.”

After meeting for more than an hour, RSA agreed to respond in writing to NCIL’s demands. While NCIL looks forward to their response, they are concerned about how these restrictions will continue to impede policy related to people with disabilities.