I am Dawn Russell. In June 2020 I joined the Council. I live in Lafayette with Gabby, my curly-haired dog. I enjoy interior decorating, and Elvis, but I’ll get back to him later. My partner David and I moved from Memphis to Denver in 1999 to make a new life.
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I grew up in the Mississippi Delta. My Daddy owned a grocery store in a town called Crowder. The doctors said I needed physical and occupational therapy. The therapy was offered at an institution in Memphis. On Thursdays from the time I was age 3 to 13 we made the 90-mile drive for therapy.
When a bed was open, I stayed there. Nobody explained why. I thought it was because I didn’t do well enough at therapy. When I stayed, my family promised to visit. They always kept their word. One time it snowed. The roads were closed. That day we only had five minutes to visit but they made it. The other kids had few visitors. Mama and Daddy knew that and brought treats for everyone. Sometimes Daddy brought dimes for Cokes.
When they headed home, I’d cry. An employee there, Ms. Beltz, would take me into the therapy pool and dunk my head under water to break my spirit. At night I’d lay in bed and look at the exit sign. It was like a night light. Elvis was my superhero. I knew he was in Memphis too. If it got bad enough, I thought he’d come to get me out.
Quitman High was inaccessible. We moved to Texas for an accessible education. I graduated, went to junior college, and then on to Memphis State. There I heard about a job at Memphis Center for Independent Living.
I thought I was socially conscious, but I didn’t know that much about people with disabilities. I told Mama “I don’t want to work with those people.” She said, “Dawn, I didn’t raise you that way, those are your people.” I applied for the job and got it.
In Memphis I met ADAPT, an organization of people with disabilities who believe in freedom. Nobody needs to live in institutions or nursing homes. ADAPT wants to close them. We advocate for Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) instead. People who know ADAPT know us for our protests. Some think all ADAPTers have physical disabilities. That’s not true, I use a wheelchair, but I call myself “a DD girl,” because I have a developmental disability. The services we fight and go to jail to expand exist because of people with DD. Council service is another way I advocate for HCBS.
Important events in Denver’s disability history included leaders with developmental disabilities. People with DD were part of the Denver 19. They left Heritage House, built Atlantis Community and ADAPT. I moved to Colorado because ADAPT started here. People with developmental disabilities have fought for disability rights since the beginning. The Council supports integration. In ADAPT we’re more direct. We say, “Free Our People.”