Tzedek DC is honored to receive a two-year grant of $200,000 from the Ford Foundation to support the Tzedek DC Disabilities Community Project. This project offers legal services, provides community education, and undertakes advocacy tailored to the particular needs of disabled DC residents with lower incomes facing debt and credit-related challenges. The project was launched in January 2020 under the leadership of Marissa Ditkowsky, a disabled attorney and activist at Tzedek DC. Tzedek DC recognized the deep need for such a project among our own client community; people with disabilities make up at least 25% of our clients, and a majority of our disabled clients are people of color.
The grant will allow the project to continue to build out its impact. In less than two years, the project’s initial accomplishments have included:
Providing 12 presentations to 230+ total attendees on topics relevant to the lives of disabled audience members so that they can understand and assert their rights and are empowered to make financial decisions for themselves.
Serving more than 285 clients with disabilities in direct legal services, and for each of those clients in full representation matters saving an average of $2,173, more than three and a half weeks’ wages at DC’s minimum wage.
Advocating for systemic reforms of federal student loan rules that affect disabled borrowers, including a now-adopted rule to automatically discharge the loans of any borrower that receives Social Security benefits and meets certain qualifications.
Advocating for systemic reforms of DC law to prohibit discrimination against disabled residents when algorithms are used in consumer, housing, and other contexts and to ensure that required notices are provided in accessible formats.
This grant award comes from the Ford Foundation’s path-breaking new Disability Rights Program, in recognition of the fact that “people with disabilities continue to face unfair policies that systematize poverty and persistent prejudice that has segregated them from movements and society.” Moreover, individuals with disabilities experience unique challenges within the legal system and when facing consumer protection and financial problems.
Tzedek DC’s Director Ariel Levinson-Waldman said, “We are especially appreciative of this grant because, despite the clear need, no other DC organizations (and very few nationally) focus specifically on individuals with disabilities who face debt-related problems. We are grateful to the Ford Foundation for its vote of confidence in the ability of Tzedek DC’s Disabilities Community Project to help fill that gap. We are excited to grow and deepen the work of our colleagues on the project by attorney Marissa Ditkowsky, Communications Manager Caitlyn Hickman, and others.”
About Ford Foundation
Established in 1936, the Ford Foundation has sought to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. The Foundation’s Disability Rights Program rests on the premise that to build a world where everyone is equal, we need to recognize how disability interconnects with the issues of social justice and follow the lead of the individuals at the center of the fight. By centering intersectionality and the voices of those most marginalized—from people of color and queer to immigrants and indigenous people—disability justice encourages us to see how society’s diverse systems of oppression reinforce each other and affect every member of the disability community.
About Tzedek DC
Tzedek DC’s mission is to safeguard the legal rights and financial health of DC residents with lower incomes facing the often-devastating consequences of debt collection and credit-related obstacles. This mission is carried out as anti-racism work in response to the massive wealth gaps tracking race in DC and nationwide. Tzedek DC serves a client base of 90% African American, 60% women, and 25% disabled community members. Our strategic approach combines three synergistic activities: (i) free legal representation and advice; (ii) working in coalition to make systemic change; and (iii) providing community legal education on debt collection, identity theft, and credit management. Since 2017, Tzedek DC has served over 2,200 client households in legal matters and helped catalyze systemic reforms benefiting hundreds of thousands of DC residents.