[IL-Talk] FW: Access Living Receives $8 Million Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott

[Deborah Kent Stein]

From: PR Newswire [mailto:PR_Newswire at PRNewswire.com] 
Sent: Thursday, November 3, 2022 7:01 AM
To: Deborah Kent Stein <dkent5817 at att.net>
Subject: Access Living Receives $8 Million Gift from Philanthropist
MacKenzie Scott

 




 

Access Living Receives $8 Million Gift from Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott


 

Funds Will Support Efforts to End Poverty for Disabled People and Expand
Community Supports

CHICAGO, Nov. 3, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Access Living, a leading disability
service and advocacy nonprofit, run and led by disabled people, announced
today it received an $8 million gift from billionaire philanthropist
MacKenzie Scott.



The donation is the single largest contribution Access Living has received
from an individual donor in its 42-year history of providing critical
services and breaking down the systemic barriers people with disabilities
confront daily in the city, state and nationwide.

"This extraordinary gift will help us tackle the most pressing issues
currently facing the disability community in Chicago and beyond," said
Access Living President and CEO, Karen Tamley, a wheelchair user and
lifelong advocate. "It's a truly life-changing investment for our community
and will make an enormous impact in supporting the goals we've set for the
future."

Access Living, a Chicago-based Center for Independent Living, will use the
unrestricted funds to advance the organization's strategic priorities
including economic opportunity, racial and health equity, greater
community-based supports and digital inclusion.

In Illinois, disabled people live in poverty at more than twice the rate of
people without disabilities and that rate is compounded for disabled people
of color. The dire lack of accessible, affordable housing, along with wide
gaps in community services and supports, too often lead to unnecessary
segregation, unemployment, isolation, sickness and poverty in the disability
community.

Said Tamley: "We are thrilled and grateful for what Ms. Scott's contribution
will allow us to do to escalate our work in addressing long-standing
disparities in the disability community, and to ultimately create the more
inclusive society we all need and deserve."

Said John Schmidt, the chairman of the board of directors: "I'm delighted
that MacKenzie Scott recognizes Access Living's strength and value to the
community under the exceptional leadership of our CEO Karen Tamley. This
extraordinary gift will enable us to move Chicago faster toward the goal of
full disability equity and inclusion."

 

SOURCE Access Living Of Metropolitan Chicago

 

CONTACT: Bridget Hayman, bhayman at accessliving.org

 

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