During our full-time HQ team retreat in Denver, we explored the city’s rich disability rights history and strengthened our commitment to this work and our connections across the field.
Our team visited Valor on the Fax, an innovative Permanent Supportive Housing community designed for unhoused individuals with disabilities, particularly those with traumatic brain injuries. The building includes accessible design elements like color-coded floors for wayfinding, dimmable lighting, and community spaces. Hallways are designed to widen and narrow at intervals, creating mini “neighborhoods” on each floor. To avoid an institutional feel, fluorescent lighting is intentionally left out, and apartment doors are angled so residents can see their surroundings from any perspective as they step outside of their unit.
We also got a powerful tour of Atlantis Community Inc., an independent living center with deep roots in the disability rights movement. We learned about the legacy of The Gang of 19 – a group of disabled activists who, in 1978, boldly blocked a major Denver intersection to protest the inaccessibility of the city’s bus system– and ADAPT. These movements, born in Denver, forever changed the landscape of disability rights in the U.S., and standing where so much advocacy began was a reminder of the power of grassroots organizing and the co-leadership of people with and without disabilities. We made time to unwind at Brewability, an inclusive brewery & pizzeria that employs adults with disabilities to brew craft beer. Sharing a slice (and a pint) while enjoying the restaurant’s Open Mic Night was a joyful reminder of why this work matters— building communities where everyone can belong is not only possible, it’s essential.