In this disturbing era of Trump, we revisit our encore show on disability rights. During his campaign in November 2016, Trump mocked NY Times reporter Serge Kovaleski, who had chronic joint disease that limits his arm movements.
On this edition of Making Contact, we’ll explore the dynamic and complex relationship of care receiving, giving, and disability rights. The vast majority of care recipients are exclusively receiving unpaid care from a family member, friend, or neighbor. The rest receive a combination of family care and paid assistance, or exclusively paid formal care. Whether you’re a paid home care provider, or rely on personal assistance to meet your daily needs, or a family member caring for a loved one, the nature of the working relationship depends on mutual respect and dignity.
This show features a special segment by Making Contact Storytelling Fellow Alice Wong.
Featuring:
- Camille Christian, home care provider and SEIU member
- Brenda Jackson, home care provider and SEIU member
- Patty Berne, co-founder and director, Sins Invalid
- Kenzi Robi, president, San Francisco IHSS (In Home Supportive Services) Public Authority Governing Body
- Jessica Lehman, executive director, San Francisco Senior and Disability Action
- Rachel Stewart, is a queer disabled woman who is passionate about disability and employment issues
- Alana Theriault, disability benefits counselor in Berkeley, California
- Ingrid Tischer, director of development, Disability Rights Education & Defense Fund (DREDF)
- Alta Mae Stevens, in-home caregiver
- Alice Wong, disabled journalist and Making Contact’s 6th Community Storytelling Fellow
Our most important fundraising appeal of the year
December is the most critical time of year for Truthout, because our nonprofit news is funded almost entirely by individual donations from readers like you. So before you navigate away, we ask that you take just a second to support Truthout with a tax-deductible donation.
This year is a little different. We are up against a far-reaching, wide-scale attack on press freedom coming from the Trump administration. 2025 was a year of frightening censorship, news industry corporate consolidation, and worsening financial conditions for progressive nonprofits across the board.
We can only resist Trump’s agenda by cultivating a strong base of support. The right-wing mediasphere is funded comfortably by billionaire owners and venture capitalist philanthropists. At Truthout, we have you.
We’ve set an ambitious target for our year-end campaign — a goal of $133,000 to keep up our fight against authoritarianism in 2026. Please take a meaningful action in this fight: make a one-time or monthly donation to Truthout before December 31. If you have the means, please dig deep.