May 8, 2023 • 36 mins
This episode provides background on the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities’ podcast project, MOPD’s Commissioner Rachel Arfa’s story, and the launch of MOPD's Career Center.
Learn more about Commissioner Rachel Arfa
Link to YouTube: (ASL Interpreted and Captioned version here) https://youtu.be/nKcvcS3lU-Y
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
CMC (00:02):
Thanks for joining us
at MOPD’s first All Access podcast.
My name's Christina McGleam.
I'm the Deputy Commissioner
here at the Mayor's Officefor People with Disabilities.
LH (00:12):
Hello, I'm Lauren Hooberman.
I'm director of the Career Center
for the Mayor's Officefor People with Disabilities.
CMC (00:19):
We're really excited to bring people together,
to share stories,build community around disability
related topics,and how it impacts Chicago residents.
To get us started,
we're going to share an interviewwith our commissioner, Rachel Arfa.
But before we do that, let's talka little bit about MOPD's mission
(00:39):
and what we do within the city of Chicagoand why this work is so important.
Lauren, can you share a little bitabout our mission?
LH (00:48):
The mission of MOPD is to foster accessibility, full participation
and equal opportunities for peoplewith disabilities in all aspects of life.
Christina, will you share a little bitabout our programs at MOPD?
CMC (01:01):
Sure.
And MOPD, we haveseveral different programs with the focus
on building independencefor people with disabilities.
We have a home modification programthat works on individuals homes
to make them more accessible, mainly inthe rest in their bathrooms or kitchens.
We also do lifts and rampsto their entrances or exits of their home.
(01:26):
We have a disability resource unit whichprovides information and referral services
to individuals about MOPD’s programs,as well as programs in the community,
and also an independent living programthat builds independence within the home,
giving personal assistancefor up to 6 hours a week in the home,
(01:46):
doing tasks such as cleaning, preparingmeals and other household duties.
We also have home delivered mealsand assistive devices.
Lauren,do you want to talk to a little bit
about the career center and what we do there? LH
LH (02:00):
At the MOPD Career Center, we work with job seekers
who have a variety of skills,interests and abilities.
The only thing that's required is that
someone is 16 years of age or olderand they live in the city of Chicago.
So we see lots of different job seekersand we work with them one on one.
Our career placement counselors
meet with each job seeker and spend timegetting to know them.
(02:23):
They help them to identifyskills that they have,
help them to set both shortand long term goals.
And the ultimate goalis to help an individual
find job placementthat is meaningful to them.
So it's something that they're excitedabout.
It's something that is sustainablewith their lifestyle
and it's something thatif they want to continue
(02:46):
on that career pathway,that they have those opportunities.
CMC (02:50):
And how do you build those relationships with employers
so that we're able to place individualsin those jobs?
LH (02:56):
Yeah.
So we workwith a lot of different employers.
Since we opened at the end of July.
We have been able to workwith different types of employers
who are excited about collaborating
and they have been supportivein a variety of ways.
So when we've partneredwith these employers,
we all talk aboutwhat are their hiring needs?
(03:16):
What kinds of roles and opportunitiesdo they have available?
And then we'll talk a little bitabout our process at the career center
and figure out, you know,how can we work together
so that we can help match qualifiedcandidates to their open positions.
So it's been really great.
We've had some excellent placements.
Employers have also been very opento collaborating and providing feedback
(03:41):
about that employee's performanceonce they start on the job.
And then sometimes we also advise aroundhow to support
different individualswith different kinds of disabilities.
So perhaps it's helpingto set up the environment,
the workplace,getting reasonable accommodations in place
so that each individual that we placewill be successful.
CMC (04:02):
As your boss, I'm kind of interested in some of the things that you've learned
in your first year here at MOPD
that you think would be valuablefor other people to know.
LH (04:10):
All right, Boss.
Deputy Commissioner McGleam.
I had worked with students before
who identify as having a disabilitylike when I was a teacher.
But this is entirely focused around peoplewith disabilities.
And so that's been very different.
So it's been so interesting to learn justabout all the different disability types.
(04:30):
It's been interesting to learn moreabout the Americans with Disabilities Act
and the Rights that jobseekersare provided under the ADA.
I didn't know very much about requestingreasonable
accommodationsand even that that's a process.
It's a conversation with an employer.
A lot of times,like a best practice is for a job seeker
(04:51):
to be able to say to the employer,This is what I need in order
to be successful on the jobso that the employer isn't left guessing.
Christina,what's something that you have found
rewardingabout starting the career Center?
About launching the career Center?
CMC (05:09):
The work that I do around employment
initiatives at the City of Chicagoand with MOPD is great because it
combines things that are important to me,both personally and professionally.
As someone with a disability
and as someone who has hadprior experience as a career
placement counselor, I love thatI get to use the things that I learned
(05:31):
about placementto help build the career center
and as well as help troubleshootsome things with our clients.
I also know how hard it is as someone
with a disabilityto find meaningful employment,
and it's really rewarding to be ableto get to help other
people like me find jobsthat they love as much as I love mine.
LH (05:52):
Bellisima.
I'm excited for our listenersto get to know.
Commissioner Arfa,it's going to be a great episode.
CMC (06:00):
Like I said, we're going to listen to an interview with our commissioner,
Rachel Arfa, who we're really excitedto share this with you.
Commissioner Arfa started at MOPD in July of 2020.
Before that, she was a civilrights attorney at Equip for Equality.
She is so smart and we have learnedso much from her as a leader
and as an advocate.
(06:22):
So we're really excitedto share this interview with you
and hope that you learn a lot.
RA (06:32):
Thank you
so much, Christina,for that and introduction.
Thank you.
Lauren and Christinafor having me on this podcast.
I am so excited about thisand I am very having so much fun and I already see
a benefitto be on a podcast.
is that when you are laughingand smiling,
you don't have to worry about
(06:54):
if your eye makeup falls off![Laughter]
...which is something I think aboutwhen I am on camera.
So, my hearing loss was diagnosed when I was 18 months old.
and when I think about a podcast,
it is not something that is true enough
to me as a Deaf person
(07:14):
Number 1, because it's not accessible
by its nature to peoplewho are deaf and hard of hearing.
I hear people who listen to podcasts
all the time comment on somebody’s voice, or their tone.
That's not something that I have access toas a deaf person.
They do acknowledgethat there is technology
that has come out. For example, iPhones now provide
(07:37):
automatic speech recognition,which makes the podcast more accessible.
But it still doesn't capture the tone
that I think the peoplewho have access to sound can pick up
on. I’m really excited
that we are making this podcast accessiblein a number of ways.
(07:57):
When people first meet me,
the always ask me, where is your accent [from]?
So, people assumesometimes that I am from another country.
And when they ask me the that, I say “Well, I’m from Chicago”
The next question is “No, really, where are you from?” I’m a Chicago native.
(08:18):
I was born and raised here.
I would say,
even after all these years,
it catches me off guard that
people say,
“But no, where are you from?”
I learned how to talk, and I went through 18 years
of speech therapyjust knowing how to type, to hear, or listen
(08:38):
and with my hearing aids, or with my cochlear implants,
after I got cochlear implants, the sound is still something
that by it’s nature is not accessible to me. Even doing this interview feels... Awkward.
When I...
... I rely so much on looking at facial expressions.
LH (08:59):
Following that, Rachel, I've heard you say whether we're in a meeting, like a team meeting
or at an event or maybe you're presentingor something, you will tell people,
“If you don't understandme, please ask me to repeat myself.”
RA (09:12):
I recognize that my speech pattern is a little bit different.
You know, 18 years of speech therapy
have taught me how to phrase and say words.
But, I think that
really goes to the standard expectationthat we have about how we each talk.
(09:34):
And the assumption isthat everybody has a typical speech
pattern and communicates in the same way.
I know that it takes peoplea few minutes to get used to how
I talk. You may be experiencing thatyourself, if you’re listening to me
(09:54):
You may find that, as we go along, even now
that it is easier for you to understand what I’m saying.
I think that...
after I got bilateral cochlear implants, that access to sound,
really helped me improve the way that I talk
(10:16):
because I could hear more enviornmental sounds
And... but growing up I was used to
people not understanding me
when I talk.
I would say that people have a hard time understanding me
and I knew it. When I was in 7th grade
(10:37):
going to school, here in Chicago, I had a ‘Mean Girls’ experience
where I was friends with this group of girls.We were connected since 6th grade.
But in the 7th grade we went on a class field trip. And during that overnight class field trip
My friendsstopped talking to me.
They never told me why, they just all stopped talking to me.
(11:00):
And I didn't know why.
And then later,one of the girls’ moms said to my mom,
“Well, Rachel is just too hard to communicate with.”
And I knew, that was such a realizationthat they stopped talking to me
because I was deaf and they didn’t want to take the time to include me.
(11:22):
And, you know,
that was a very painful experience... and it defined my perspective for several years,
but it also taught me how to read people
and how to surround myselfwith people who I care very much about
who also care very much about me.
It has given me that extra radar,
(11:42):
you know, all these experiences
and helped to shape my perspective, so I could see that.
But it's not a statement made without
laughter, or without pain. And I think that those experiences,
are what help to define us and help to drive us
in our lives.
LH (12:00):
Think about you... and how you are such a strong advocate,
but you also,I think, are very conscientious.
You're very openabout encouraging people to ask questions.
There is some level of discomfort,
I think, around people who don't identifyas having a disability
(12:21):
to ask questionsabout people with disabilities.
What you're sayingreally resonates with me.
You have that terrible experiencewhen you were young
and those girls were very mean to youand you were able to,
I think, probably become stronger for it
and also identify that type of behavior.
RA (12:43):
You’re right. I think that in adversity we learn who we are
and what we’re made of and
we also recognize that it could take...
we’re not expected to recoverfrom that overnight. It could take days,
months, years. Sometimes it never leavesyou. Every painful experience you have
(13:07):
kind of stays with you. And I relate to that when we talk about
trauma. When we talk about loss.
My dad passed away 12 years ago.
That’s a loss that I still feel.
I think that we can all recognize and
relate to that.
LH (13:27):
One question that I'm thinking about too is you mentioned your cochlear implants.
It can be kind of a divide.
Maybe some people might chooseto wear them, some people may not.
You may wear themin certain situations.
Are you comfortabletalking a little bit about that?
RA (13:43):
Yeah. LH
So, you asked me about my cochlear implants, but
I think I need to sort of
talk about my experiencewith hearing loss.
So, I was born profoundly deaf. We don’t know why.
The way my deafness was diagnosed was (13:58):
I was 18 months old,
I was at a babysitter’s house and
my friend and I were running down the street. The babysitter said, “Stop!”
My friend stopped running and I kept going.
And she noticed that happened a number of times.
(14:19):
She said to my parents, you should take her to an audiologist.
and get her hearing checked. My parents said,
“Okay.”
Sure enough
The audiologist said, yes, your daughter has hearing loss.
What I find funny is that if you go backnine months earlier,
my dad took me to the doctor and he said,
(14:42):
“Oh, I think she has she has hearing loss.” And the doctor said,
“Nah, she's fine.”
But if my hearing loss had been...
...If my dad’s comment had been taken seriously,
when I was 9 months old. Then that would have been 9 months earlier
of an ability to address my hearing loss.
To get me tools and access to language.
(15:05):
Those experiences are
not scientific at all.
I mean it was just an observant and caring babysitter.But since that time
The State of Illinois passed the NewbornScreening in Hearing Acts
which now requires a baby’s hearing to be tested at birth.
(15:25):
But that was not around when I was
born. And my hearing loss is fluctuating hearing loss.
Which means that
sometimes my hearing would be better than others.
So it's possible that
the day I was born would have been a great hearing day.
So, my hearing loss was a progressive, fluctuating, hearing loss.
(15:46):
Which means it would go up and down every day, so it was not consistent
every minuteto every hour to every day.
And then each time it went down,it never came back up.
By the time... so it was more of a mild to moderate hearing loss
but, by the time I hit 3, it was a profound hearing loss.
(16:07):
So, I wore behind-the-ear hearing aids
from then on.I remember, I mean, I remember them
being around, for the 5th grade.
and I started saying that I didn’t think I could hear that well.
We would go to the audiologist to check the hearing aids
and she’d say, “yeah, they’re fine. Ok.”
(16:28):
And then my audiogram looked
consistent,
but to be honest, I would continue to hear tinnitus every time they put on the headphones
that they had at the audiologist.
I would hear this tinnitus, and when he was sitting in this little booth at the audiologist,
they would tell you to raise your hand every time you hear something.
(16:49):
so I thought I heard somethingall the time, so I would just raise my hand [Chuckles]
all the time. So, that...
...technique, that test,was not an accurate way to measure
what I was actually hearing. But then, in 5th grade,
I was sitting in my classroomwith everybody
and, all of a sudden, people left the classroom andit wasn’t the normal time to leave.
(17:11):
So I got up and I followed everyone so,
“Why is everybody in the classroom?”
It was because there was a fire drill. And I was no longer
able to hear the fire drill. That’s when I realized I had lost even
more hearing. I had lost all of my hearing.
There was nothing for my hearing aids to even amplify.
(17:36):
And then so, I just sort of
wore hearing aids on and off. They didn’t have
that much benefit, but I didn’t realize the extent of that.
And then I remember a turning point for me, when I was 13.
I wanted to try the new type,
(17:59):
the new hearing aids, which were digital hearing aids.So, I tried them.
For half and hour, I could hear again
And then after that half an hour,I stopped hearing.
And that doctor came into the room. He was the first doctor
that ever came in and sat facing me, instead of talking to my parents.
Which was another important lesson (18:20):
that I was the one who was in charge of my own healthcare.
He faced me and he made sure that I had
a way to understand him, and he said,“Rachel,”
“could you...”
“...survive in a world without sound?”
And I just burst into tears.
My life at that point...
My family is hearing.
(18:40):
I went to a school with all hearing people
I had deaf friends,I always knew and had friends who were just like me, with hearing loss
but that was a moment where I really thought about
how much I need to be able to hear.
And that is a part of me.
That is a part of my identity.
(19:02):
Being able to navigate the world
that I live in.
So, from then on I started thinking about a cochlear implant. And when I was 15 years old
I decided to get a cochlear implant. It was a 2-day hospital stay
and 5 weeks later, I was
activated... with a cochlear implant. And it just
(19:24):
opened up a whole other world. Because, for the first time in many years I was able to hear
environmental sound. I could hear the sound of a car door closing.
I could hear the sound of my own voice.
It was like there was a microphone and I had to get used to
there being a microphone.
Just like the one I’m speaking into because
(19:45):
I had not been able to hear my own voice in so long.
I had to train myself on how to hear again.And then 15 years later
I decided to get a 2nd cochlear implant.this is in the ear that
I had heard nothing out of for 20 years.
So I thought there’s no...
(20:05):
...I don't have anything to lose.
A lot of times when people get cochlear implants, they think about how much hearing they have to lose.
I had absolutely nothing to lose.
[My] Hearing loss was not
able to be mapped out in an audiogram
because there was nothing to measure.
So, the technologyhad advanced by that point.
(20:27):
So, I actually could hear even betterout of the cochlear implant
even though that earhas been stacked up for 20 years,
that has given me a pretty great depth of sound.
I had to spend a lot of time to train myself on how to listen.
CMC (20:46):
You mentioned how your hearing loss is a part of your identity, and I know
that's something that is really powerfulwithin the deaf community.
Can you talk to us about that?
RA (20:57):
Sure.
So, I think that there is...
There are a lot of labels or identities, you know. There’s
people who identify as a member of Deaf Culture.
People who identify as Deaf,people who identify as having hearing loss,
hard of hearing, or have a hearing problem.
(21:21):
Depending on your age, you might say that there’s a full range. One thing that
I pride myself on
is that I can identify
with every single part of that range.
In fact, I call myself “Deaf Fluid,”
because I can communicate with people who
(21:45):
rely on spoken language and hearing aids,
but I am also fluent in American Sign Language.
So, I can connect with each way. I think
that there is so much division, so much...
“I am this, but not that”
When we all share the same experience.I mean,
if you bring together people with different Deaf identities
(22:09):
in one room,
you’re going to find so much more commonality.
And that's such an opportunityto build more of that shared
common identity and shared experiences.
I think that many Deaf and hard-of-hearing people
are very cautious about disclosing their
Deaf identity or asking foraccommodations at their job.
(22:32):
Because there is so much assumption about
what that means.
There's an assumption that Deafpeople are expensive.
For example, the assumption that every Deaf person needs
a sign language interpreter.
The assumption is that (22:49):
that person needs
an interpreter 24-7and, but that's actually not the case.
In my last job
I had 1 or 2 meetings a week
So, I needed a sign language interpreterand captioning for that
but otherwiseI didn't need an interpreter.
(23:10):
My job as Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office forPeople with Disabilities
I have more than 2 meetings
a week.[Laughter]
[Laughter]More than 2 meetings a day.
So, that looks a little bit different.
I think that there’s a lot of different tools,I mean, [Microsoft] Teams and Zoom are coming up with more
(23:33):
captioning. Sometimes you may need to bring in a
real-time captioner, depending on the meeting.
But I think, firstabout these assumptions that people
with disabilities are expensiveis inaccurate, because
it is no different than not taking the time to
not ask me to repeat myself
(23:53):
because then you’re not even gettingbeyond the surface.
CMC (23:57):
Can you talk to us about why you thought it was so important
to have an ASL interpreter on staff?
We have a great ASL interpreterwith us at our career center, Esteban,
who's there every dayand does a great job to
not only support deafclients but also advocate for
individuals
who are deaf or hard of hearing within...
(24:20):
As we buildall different programs or services
within it. Within the career center.
So we just want to heara little bit about,
you know, why that was so important,to have someone on staff
full timeas well as the other accessibility
that you've implementedwithin the Career Center.
RA (24:35):
So, I just wanted to share about my experience
and how I’ve come to advocate for myself
and an awareness of how
disabilities are viewed
really led me to become an advocate.And so I went to law school
I worked in Legal Aid, representing low-income clients
(24:57):
who needed legal assistance. I came to notice
that many of my clientswere people with disabilities.
There should be more doneto make sure that the legal system
is accommodatingany disability access that is needed.
Then a job at Equip for Equalityopened up in Chicago
(25:20):
and I grabbed this opportunity
to become a disability civil rights attorney
Where I worked for over
a decade learning from
some of the best lawyersand some of the best humans
That I know. In that work
I representedand many people with disabilities in the area of
employment discrimination. Specifically,
(25:41):
around getting reasonable accommodations,interviewing for jobs,
any disciplinary hearings,
all the way from the hiring processthrough termination.
And I saw first hand the barriersthat people
with disabilities experience.It was my job to advocate
(26:02):
for that access.So, I, as a deaf attorney, confronted
those attitudesand hope to feed more access
on behalf of my clients
and that work is...
There's still so much need.
(26:24):
One of the things that I really saw was
how hard it is for people with disabilities to get jobs, anc
the data supports that.Even though the Americans
with Disabilities Act will turn 33 in this year in 2023
Disability employment is still
one of the areasthat has yet to make significant gains
(26:44):
and I am so committedto increasing that number to create more
opportunities for people with disabilities.
Now just fast-forward to, after July 2020,
after I became Commissionerof the Mayor's Office for People
with Disabilities,I started to notice a few things. First,
(27:04):
in the Pandemic, the job market blew right open.
There were more jobs, but therewere people to take those jobs.
Employers were looking fornew strategies. I also noticed that
I was starting to get phone calls from employers
saying, “We would love to hire people with disabilities,”
“we don’t know where to go.”
(27:27):
And, so,
Mayor Lightfoot and I worked togetherto get funding for
the MOPD career center.We were approved for $1.2 Million
from City Councilto launch the Career Center for the Mayor’s
Office for People with Disabilities.We’re really proud of this,
(27:49):
that we have built this center.And one thing that was just so important was that
we integrated accessibility
into the very design of the Career Center.And how we do that?
We did it in a number of ways.First we had assistive technology available
through computer stationthat have adapters and cables
(28:11):
and assistive technologybuilt into the computer station
because we recognizedthe digital divide, that many people
with disabilitiesmay not have accessible... access
to computers and even computers withassistive technology.
And that the other thing that we did, thatI think was unique, is we decided
(28:34):
what kind of staffwe needed to build out the Career Center,
we put at that point, when we were designing things,a position for an American Sign Language
interpreterand...
the reason why that is so important is,a lot of times for someone who is Deaf and
relies on American Sign Language,comes to ask for services,
(28:57):
they are either told, “Oh well, we can write notes,”but many people may not have
the written English literacy.
But also, if you think about it,any time we write notes, you kind of abbreviate
what we are saying, so actually reducethe message in information.
So it just causes harmin so many different ways.
CMC (29:19):
Through your stories, you told us so many reasons why
people with disabilities are,you know, strong
and why you have thoughtthere is so many different,
you know, barriers to get where you aretoday.
Can you share with us why it employerswho may be listening to this
may want to contact our career centerand hire people with disabilities?
(29:41):
What kind of assets dopeople with disabilities bring to
different organizations?
RA (29:47):
Absolutely.
I have to say that people with disabilities aresome of the best problem solvers around.
We have to navigate different accessibilitybarriers every single day.
We have to do it in adiplomatic way, sometimes
as much as you want to make a big fuss about it
(30:08):
we have to learn how to build relationshipsand educate and problem solve.
And we do it every day, so,
thinking about the job and facedwith such a challenging situation
People with disabilitieshave so many of those
skills already from our
life experience.I’d love to hear from both of you two,
(30:30):
why should we hire peoplewith disabilities?
CMC (30:34):
Yeah, I think that you know besides being great problem
solvers are also great innovators,very creative
and are willing to think of different waysto solve different solutions.
I think that'swhere some of the technical expertise
or the technical experiencethat the Career Center has
(30:55):
is really important.
And that's something that Lauren and Irecently have talked to employers about,
even questions abouthow do I get someone with, as,
you know, a visual impairment,for example, in this type of role.
And I think that's one of the really,
(31:15):
you know, challenging and excitingexperiences of the Career Center, is that
what we get to do is we get to go inand help these companies troubleshoot
these situations and actually just realizethat it's not even troubleshooting
that is really just people doing thingsmaybe in a different way
than they would have expected,
(31:36):
but with the same result or a better result. RA
Because what you do thatthen you create new approaches and new ways
of doing that.
Lauren, I know you have to make this case every day, too.
What’s another reason weshould hire people with disabilities?
LH (31:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think about some of ourindividual jobseekers
and most recently we had we talkedwith one employer who hired two of our job
seekers at the career centerand they raved about each one of them
and they gave very specific examplesabout how each one has been
a really great fit for the companyand what they've contributed.
(32:17):
And also this particular managerat this company talked
about how she has learnedmore from these two individuals
than she feels likethey have learned from her.
And I think both Christinaand I thought that was really powerful
and speaks to the contribution
that each individual makesat that company.
(32:38):
So I hold that up as one example.
I mean, if I think about,
you know, our career center as a whole,
I think that the job seekers
who come to us are enthusiastic,
they're thoughtful,they are really hardworking and diligent.
(32:59):
They bring a lot of differentskills and abilities and insights.
I also think it's really importantto have representation.
CMC (33:08):
I think too.
Another thing that I take for granted
that I can only hope for
other individuals with disabilitiesis that
and we've talked about thisbefore, Commissioner,
but being able to bring your whole selfto work
your personal life,
your personal experiences,your personal life, ALL: [Laughter]
(33:31):
but your personal experiences as someone with a disability and how that's an asset,
that is an asset here at MOPDas we build out different programs.
But I think what's important for employerswho are not working in the disability
space is to realize that that's an asset,you know, in their space as well,
that those problem solving skills,that diverse experience
(33:55):
is something that will add to their value
and their company as well.
RA (34:03):
You’re so right. I think that you can bring your whole self to work
regardless of what your
identity is. We use that...
very spirit a lot in the Employee Resource Groupfor people with disabilities,
which is the first Employee Resource Groupthat we have at the city of Chicago
(34:23):
I’m also really proudto be the Executive Sponsor of that
and I am a champion of that effort.
CMC (34:30):
I think one question that we do need to ask though is
who would you like to interviewon this podcast or who do you want
Lauren and I to have on this podcast?
Because we have a wish list
and I want to hear yours.
RA (34:45):
One person that comes to mind is Michelle Obama.
Michelle Obama writes about in her book
when she was student here atWhitney Young High School, in Chicago
she took notesfor deaf students in her classes
and I would love to ask her how that informed her perspectivefor the rest of her life.
(35:06):
I think that
Senator Tammy Duckworthwould be a phenomenal guest.
Senator Duckworth is a personal heroand role model of mine.
When I started this job, I looked around for
leaders with disabilities
in municipal governments
state level and federal level, and we are so lucky to live in a state
(35:29):
where we arerepresented by a powerful woman with a disability
Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Yeah,she's been a champion for disability
advocacy and access.
CMC (35:43):
Thanks for listening.
Be sure to follow us on social media@MPODChicago
@MPODChicago
I'm your co-host, Christina McGleam.
I'm your co-host, Lauren Hooberman.
Special thanks to our editingand recording engineer Rob Littwin,
our executive producer, CommissionerRachel Arfa.
And thank you to the staffat the Herald Washington Library.
Thanks for joining us
at MOPD’s first All Access podcast.
My name's Christina McGleam.
I'm the Deputy Commissioner
here at the Mayor's Officefor People with Disabilities.
LH (00:12):
Hello, I'm Lauren Hooberman.
I'm director of the Career Center
for the Mayor's Officefor People with Disabilities.
CMC (00:19):
We're really excited to bring people together,
to share stories,build community around disability
related topics,and how it impacts Chicago residents.
To get us started,
we're going to share an interviewwith our commissioner, Rachel Arfa.
But before we do that, let's talka little bit about MOPD's mission
(00:39):
and what we do within the city of Chicagoand why this work is so important.
Lauren, can you share a little bitabout our mission?
LH (00:48):
The mission of MOPD is to foster accessibility, full participation
and equal opportunities for peoplewith disabilities in all aspects of life.
Christina, will you share a little bitabout our programs at MOPD?
CMC (01:01):
Sure.
And MOPD, we haveseveral different programs with the focus
on building independencefor people with disabilities.
We have a home modification programthat works on individuals homes
to make them more accessible, mainly inthe rest in their bathrooms or kitchens.
We also do lifts and rampsto their entrances or exits of their home.
(01:26):
We have a disability resource unit whichprovides information and referral services
to individuals about MOPD’s programs,as well as programs in the community,
and also an independent living programthat builds independence within the home,
giving personal assistancefor up to 6 hours a week in the home,
(01:46):
doing tasks such as cleaning, preparingmeals and other household duties.
We also have home delivered mealsand assistive devices.
Lauren,do you want to talk to a little bit
about the career center and what we do there? LH
LH (02:00):
At the MOPD Career Center, we work with job seekers
who have a variety of skills,interests and abilities.
The only thing that's required is that
someone is 16 years of age or olderand they live in the city of Chicago.
So we see lots of different job seekersand we work with them one on one.
Our career placement counselors
meet with each job seeker and spend timegetting to know them.
(02:23):
They help them to identifyskills that they have,
help them to set both shortand long term goals.
And the ultimate goalis to help an individual
find job placementthat is meaningful to them.
So it's something that they're excitedabout.
It's something that is sustainablewith their lifestyle
and it's something thatif they want to continue
(02:46):
on that career pathway,that they have those opportunities.
CMC (02:50):
And how do you build those relationships with employers
so that we're able to place individualsin those jobs?
LH (02:56):
Yeah.
So we workwith a lot of different employers.
Since we opened at the end of July.
We have been able to workwith different types of employers
who are excited about collaborating
and they have been supportivein a variety of ways.
So when we've partneredwith these employers,
we all talk aboutwhat are their hiring needs?
(03:16):
What kinds of roles and opportunitiesdo they have available?
And then we'll talk a little bitabout our process at the career center
and figure out, you know,how can we work together
so that we can help match qualifiedcandidates to their open positions.
So it's been really great.
We've had some excellent placements.
Employers have also been very opento collaborating and providing feedback
(03:41):
about that employee's performanceonce they start on the job.
And then sometimes we also advise aroundhow to support
different individualswith different kinds of disabilities.
So perhaps it's helpingto set up the environment,
the workplace,getting reasonable accommodations in place
so that each individual that we placewill be successful.
CMC (04:02):
As your boss, I'm kind of interested in some of the things that you've learned
in your first year here at MOPD
that you think would be valuablefor other people to know.
LH (04:10):
All right, Boss.
Deputy Commissioner McGleam.
I had worked with students before
who identify as having a disabilitylike when I was a teacher.
But this is entirely focused around peoplewith disabilities.
And so that's been very different.
So it's been so interesting to learn justabout all the different disability types.
(04:30):
It's been interesting to learn moreabout the Americans with Disabilities Act
and the Rights that jobseekersare provided under the ADA.
I didn't know very much about requestingreasonable
accommodationsand even that that's a process.
It's a conversation with an employer.
A lot of times,like a best practice is for a job seeker
(04:51):
to be able to say to the employer,This is what I need in order
to be successful on the jobso that the employer isn't left guessing.
Christina,what's something that you have found
rewardingabout starting the career Center?
About launching the career Center?
CMC (05:09):
The work that I do around employment
initiatives at the City of Chicagoand with MOPD is great because it
combines things that are important to me,both personally and professionally.
As someone with a disability
and as someone who has hadprior experience as a career
placement counselor, I love thatI get to use the things that I learned
(05:31):
about placementto help build the career center
and as well as help troubleshootsome things with our clients.
I also know how hard it is as someone
with a disabilityto find meaningful employment,
and it's really rewarding to be ableto get to help other
people like me find jobsthat they love as much as I love mine.
LH (05:52):
Bellisima.
I'm excited for our listenersto get to know.
Commissioner Arfa,it's going to be a great episode.
CMC (06:00):
Like I said, we're going to listen to an interview with our commissioner,
Rachel Arfa, who we're really excitedto share this with you.
Commissioner Arfa started at MOPD in July of 2020.
Before that, she was a civilrights attorney at Equip for Equality.
She is so smart and we have learnedso much from her as a leader
and as an advocate.
(06:22):
So we're really excitedto share this interview with you
and hope that you learn a lot.
RA (06:32):
Thank you
so much, Christina,for that and introduction.
Thank you.
Lauren and Christinafor having me on this podcast.
I am so excited about thisand I am very having so much fun and I already see
a benefitto be on a podcast.
is that when you are laughingand smiling,
you don't have to worry about
(06:54):
if your eye makeup falls off![Laughter]
...which is something I think aboutwhen I am on camera.
So, my hearing loss was diagnosed when I was 18 months old.
and when I think about a podcast,
it is not something that is true enough
to me as a Deaf person
(07:14):
Number 1, because it's not accessible
by its nature to peoplewho are deaf and hard of hearing.
I hear people who listen to podcasts
all the time comment on somebody’s voice, or their tone.
That's not something that I have access toas a deaf person.
They do acknowledgethat there is technology
that has come out. For example, iPhones now provide
(07:37):
automatic speech recognition,which makes the podcast more accessible.
But it still doesn't capture the tone
that I think the peoplewho have access to sound can pick up
on. I’m really excited
that we are making this podcast accessiblein a number of ways.
(07:57):
When people first meet me,
the always ask me, where is your accent [from]?
So, people assumesometimes that I am from another country.
And when they ask me the that, I say “Well, I’m from Chicago”
The next question is “No, really, where are you from?” I’m a Chicago native.
(08:18):
I was born and raised here.
I would say,
even after all these years,
it catches me off guard that
people say,
“But no, where are you from?”
I learned how to talk, and I went through 18 years
of speech therapyjust knowing how to type, to hear, or listen
(08:38):
and with my hearing aids, or with my cochlear implants,
after I got cochlear implants, the sound is still something
that by it’s nature is not accessible to me. Even doing this interview feels... Awkward.
When I...
... I rely so much on looking at facial expressions.
LH (08:59):
Following that, Rachel, I've heard you say whether we're in a meeting, like a team meeting
or at an event or maybe you're presentingor something, you will tell people,
“If you don't understandme, please ask me to repeat myself.”
RA (09:12):
I recognize that my speech pattern is a little bit different.
You know, 18 years of speech therapy
have taught me how to phrase and say words.
But, I think that
really goes to the standard expectationthat we have about how we each talk.
(09:34):
And the assumption isthat everybody has a typical speech
pattern and communicates in the same way.
I know that it takes peoplea few minutes to get used to how
I talk. You may be experiencing thatyourself, if you’re listening to me
(09:54):
You may find that, as we go along, even now
that it is easier for you to understand what I’m saying.
I think that...
after I got bilateral cochlear implants, that access to sound,
really helped me improve the way that I talk
(10:16):
because I could hear more enviornmental sounds
And... but growing up I was used to
people not understanding me
when I talk.
I would say that people have a hard time understanding me
and I knew it. When I was in 7th grade
(10:37):
going to school, here in Chicago, I had a ‘Mean Girls’ experience
where I was friends with this group of girls.We were connected since 6th grade.
But in the 7th grade we went on a class field trip. And during that overnight class field trip
My friendsstopped talking to me.
They never told me why, they just all stopped talking to me.
(11:00):
And I didn't know why.
And then later,one of the girls’ moms said to my mom,
“Well, Rachel is just too hard to communicate with.”
And I knew, that was such a realizationthat they stopped talking to me
because I was deaf and they didn’t want to take the time to include me.
(11:22):
And, you know,
that was a very painful experience... and it defined my perspective for several years,
but it also taught me how to read people
and how to surround myselfwith people who I care very much about
who also care very much about me.
It has given me that extra radar,
(11:42):
you know, all these experiences
and helped to shape my perspective, so I could see that.
But it's not a statement made without
laughter, or without pain. And I think that those experiences,
are what help to define us and help to drive us
in our lives.
LH (12:00):
Think about you... and how you are such a strong advocate,
but you also,I think, are very conscientious.
You're very openabout encouraging people to ask questions.
There is some level of discomfort,
I think, around people who don't identifyas having a disability
(12:21):
to ask questionsabout people with disabilities.
What you're sayingreally resonates with me.
You have that terrible experiencewhen you were young
and those girls were very mean to youand you were able to,
I think, probably become stronger for it
and also identify that type of behavior.
RA (12:43):
You’re right. I think that in adversity we learn who we are
and what we’re made of and
we also recognize that it could take...
we’re not expected to recoverfrom that overnight. It could take days,
months, years. Sometimes it never leavesyou. Every painful experience you have
(13:07):
kind of stays with you. And I relate to that when we talk about
trauma. When we talk about loss.
My dad passed away 12 years ago.
That’s a loss that I still feel.
I think that we can all recognize and
relate to that.
LH (13:27):
One question that I'm thinking about too is you mentioned your cochlear implants.
It can be kind of a divide.
Maybe some people might chooseto wear them, some people may not.
You may wear themin certain situations.
Are you comfortabletalking a little bit about that?
RA (13:43):
Yeah. LH
So, you asked me about my cochlear implants, but
I think I need to sort of
talk about my experiencewith hearing loss.
So, I was born profoundly deaf. We don’t know why.
The way my deafness was diagnosed was (13:58):
I was 18 months old,
I was at a babysitter’s house and
my friend and I were running down the street. The babysitter said, “Stop!”
My friend stopped running and I kept going.
And she noticed that happened a number of times.
(14:19):
She said to my parents, you should take her to an audiologist.
and get her hearing checked. My parents said,
“Okay.”
Sure enough
The audiologist said, yes, your daughter has hearing loss.
What I find funny is that if you go backnine months earlier,
my dad took me to the doctor and he said,
(14:42):
“Oh, I think she has she has hearing loss.” And the doctor said,
“Nah, she's fine.”
But if my hearing loss had been...
...If my dad’s comment had been taken seriously,
when I was 9 months old. Then that would have been 9 months earlier
of an ability to address my hearing loss.
To get me tools and access to language.
(15:05):
Those experiences are
not scientific at all.
I mean it was just an observant and caring babysitter.But since that time
The State of Illinois passed the NewbornScreening in Hearing Acts
which now requires a baby’s hearing to be tested at birth.
(15:25):
But that was not around when I was
born. And my hearing loss is fluctuating hearing loss.
Which means that
sometimes my hearing would be better than others.
So it's possible that
the day I was born would have been a great hearing day.
So, my hearing loss was a progressive, fluctuating, hearing loss.
(15:46):
Which means it would go up and down every day, so it was not consistent
every minuteto every hour to every day.
And then each time it went down,it never came back up.
By the time... so it was more of a mild to moderate hearing loss
but, by the time I hit 3, it was a profound hearing loss.
(16:07):
So, I wore behind-the-ear hearing aids
from then on.I remember, I mean, I remember them
being around, for the 5th grade.
and I started saying that I didn’t think I could hear that well.
We would go to the audiologist to check the hearing aids
and she’d say, “yeah, they’re fine. Ok.”
(16:28):
And then my audiogram looked
consistent,
but to be honest, I would continue to hear tinnitus every time they put on the headphones
that they had at the audiologist.
I would hear this tinnitus, and when he was sitting in this little booth at the audiologist,
they would tell you to raise your hand every time you hear something.
(16:49):
so I thought I heard somethingall the time, so I would just raise my hand [Chuckles]
all the time. So, that...
...technique, that test,was not an accurate way to measure
what I was actually hearing. But then, in 5th grade,
I was sitting in my classroomwith everybody
and, all of a sudden, people left the classroom andit wasn’t the normal time to leave.
(17:11):
So I got up and I followed everyone so,
“Why is everybody in the classroom?”
It was because there was a fire drill. And I was no longer
able to hear the fire drill. That’s when I realized I had lost even
more hearing. I had lost all of my hearing.
There was nothing for my hearing aids to even amplify.
(17:36):
And then so, I just sort of
wore hearing aids on and off. They didn’t have
that much benefit, but I didn’t realize the extent of that.
And then I remember a turning point for me, when I was 13.
I wanted to try the new type,
(17:59):
the new hearing aids, which were digital hearing aids.So, I tried them.
For half and hour, I could hear again
And then after that half an hour,I stopped hearing.
And that doctor came into the room. He was the first doctor
that ever came in and sat facing me, instead of talking to my parents.
Which was another important lesson (18:20):
that I was the one who was in charge of my own healthcare.
He faced me and he made sure that I had
a way to understand him, and he said,“Rachel,”
“could you...”
“...survive in a world without sound?”
And I just burst into tears.
My life at that point...
My family is hearing.
(18:40):
I went to a school with all hearing people
I had deaf friends,I always knew and had friends who were just like me, with hearing loss
but that was a moment where I really thought about
how much I need to be able to hear.
And that is a part of me.
That is a part of my identity.
(19:02):
Being able to navigate the world
that I live in.
So, from then on I started thinking about a cochlear implant. And when I was 15 years old
I decided to get a cochlear implant. It was a 2-day hospital stay
and 5 weeks later, I was
activated... with a cochlear implant. And it just
(19:24):
opened up a whole other world. Because, for the first time in many years I was able to hear
environmental sound. I could hear the sound of a car door closing.
I could hear the sound of my own voice.
It was like there was a microphone and I had to get used to
there being a microphone.
Just like the one I’m speaking into because
(19:45):
I had not been able to hear my own voice in so long.
I had to train myself on how to hear again.And then 15 years later
I decided to get a 2nd cochlear implant.this is in the ear that
I had heard nothing out of for 20 years.
So I thought there’s no...
(20:05):
...I don't have anything to lose.
A lot of times when people get cochlear implants, they think about how much hearing they have to lose.
I had absolutely nothing to lose.
[My] Hearing loss was not
able to be mapped out in an audiogram
because there was nothing to measure.
So, the technologyhad advanced by that point.
(20:27):
So, I actually could hear even betterout of the cochlear implant
even though that earhas been stacked up for 20 years,
that has given me a pretty great depth of sound.
I had to spend a lot of time to train myself on how to listen.
CMC (20:46):
You mentioned how your hearing loss is a part of your identity, and I know
that's something that is really powerfulwithin the deaf community.
Can you talk to us about that?
RA (20:57):
Sure.
So, I think that there is...
There are a lot of labels or identities, you know. There’s
people who identify as a member of Deaf Culture.
People who identify as Deaf,people who identify as having hearing loss,
hard of hearing, or have a hearing problem.
(21:21):
Depending on your age, you might say that there’s a full range. One thing that
I pride myself on
is that I can identify
with every single part of that range.
In fact, I call myself “Deaf Fluid,”
because I can communicate with people who
(21:45):
rely on spoken language and hearing aids,
but I am also fluent in American Sign Language.
So, I can connect with each way. I think
that there is so much division, so much...
“I am this, but not that”
When we all share the same experience.I mean,
if you bring together people with different Deaf identities
(22:09):
in one room,
you’re going to find so much more commonality.
And that's such an opportunityto build more of that shared
common identity and shared experiences.
I think that many Deaf and hard-of-hearing people
are very cautious about disclosing their
Deaf identity or asking foraccommodations at their job.
(22:32):
Because there is so much assumption about
what that means.
There's an assumption that Deafpeople are expensive.
For example, the assumption that every Deaf person needs
a sign language interpreter.
The assumption is that (22:49):
that person needs
an interpreter 24-7and, but that's actually not the case.
In my last job
I had 1 or 2 meetings a week
So, I needed a sign language interpreterand captioning for that
but otherwiseI didn't need an interpreter.
(23:10):
My job as Commissioner for the Mayor’s Office forPeople with Disabilities
I have more than 2 meetings
a week.[Laughter]
[Laughter]More than 2 meetings a day.
So, that looks a little bit different.
I think that there’s a lot of different tools,I mean, [Microsoft] Teams and Zoom are coming up with more
(23:33):
captioning. Sometimes you may need to bring in a
real-time captioner, depending on the meeting.
But I think, firstabout these assumptions that people
with disabilities are expensiveis inaccurate, because
it is no different than not taking the time to
not ask me to repeat myself
(23:53):
because then you’re not even gettingbeyond the surface.
CMC (23:57):
Can you talk to us about why you thought it was so important
to have an ASL interpreter on staff?
We have a great ASL interpreterwith us at our career center, Esteban,
who's there every dayand does a great job to
not only support deafclients but also advocate for
individuals
who are deaf or hard of hearing within...
(24:20):
As we buildall different programs or services
within it. Within the career center.
So we just want to heara little bit about,
you know, why that was so important,to have someone on staff
full timeas well as the other accessibility
that you've implementedwithin the Career Center.
RA (24:35):
So, I just wanted to share about my experience
and how I’ve come to advocate for myself
and an awareness of how
disabilities are viewed
really led me to become an advocate.And so I went to law school
I worked in Legal Aid, representing low-income clients
(24:57):
who needed legal assistance. I came to notice
that many of my clientswere people with disabilities.
There should be more doneto make sure that the legal system
is accommodatingany disability access that is needed.
Then a job at Equip for Equalityopened up in Chicago
(25:20):
and I grabbed this opportunity
to become a disability civil rights attorney
Where I worked for over
a decade learning from
some of the best lawyersand some of the best humans
That I know. In that work
I representedand many people with disabilities in the area of
employment discrimination. Specifically,
(25:41):
around getting reasonable accommodations,interviewing for jobs,
any disciplinary hearings,
all the way from the hiring processthrough termination.
And I saw first hand the barriersthat people
with disabilities experience.It was my job to advocate
(26:02):
for that access.So, I, as a deaf attorney, confronted
those attitudesand hope to feed more access
on behalf of my clients
and that work is...
There's still so much need.
(26:24):
One of the things that I really saw was
how hard it is for people with disabilities to get jobs, anc
the data supports that.Even though the Americans
with Disabilities Act will turn 33 in this year in 2023
Disability employment is still
one of the areasthat has yet to make significant gains
(26:44):
and I am so committedto increasing that number to create more
opportunities for people with disabilities.
Now just fast-forward to, after July 2020,
after I became Commissionerof the Mayor's Office for People
with Disabilities,I started to notice a few things. First,
(27:04):
in the Pandemic, the job market blew right open.
There were more jobs, but therewere people to take those jobs.
Employers were looking fornew strategies. I also noticed that
I was starting to get phone calls from employers
saying, “We would love to hire people with disabilities,”
“we don’t know where to go.”
(27:27):
And, so,
Mayor Lightfoot and I worked togetherto get funding for
the MOPD career center.We were approved for $1.2 Million
from City Councilto launch the Career Center for the Mayor’s
Office for People with Disabilities.We’re really proud of this,
(27:49):
that we have built this center.And one thing that was just so important was that
we integrated accessibility
into the very design of the Career Center.And how we do that?
We did it in a number of ways.First we had assistive technology available
through computer stationthat have adapters and cables
(28:11):
and assistive technologybuilt into the computer station
because we recognizedthe digital divide, that many people
with disabilitiesmay not have accessible... access
to computers and even computers withassistive technology.
And that the other thing that we did, thatI think was unique, is we decided
(28:34):
what kind of staffwe needed to build out the Career Center,
we put at that point, when we were designing things,a position for an American Sign Language
interpreterand...
the reason why that is so important is,a lot of times for someone who is Deaf and
relies on American Sign Language,comes to ask for services,
(28:57):
they are either told, “Oh well, we can write notes,”but many people may not have
the written English literacy.
But also, if you think about it,any time we write notes, you kind of abbreviate
what we are saying, so actually reducethe message in information.
So it just causes harmin so many different ways.
CMC (29:19):
Through your stories, you told us so many reasons why
people with disabilities are,you know, strong
and why you have thoughtthere is so many different,
you know, barriers to get where you aretoday.
Can you share with us why it employerswho may be listening to this
may want to contact our career centerand hire people with disabilities?
(29:41):
What kind of assets dopeople with disabilities bring to
different organizations?
RA (29:47):
Absolutely.
I have to say that people with disabilities aresome of the best problem solvers around.
We have to navigate different accessibilitybarriers every single day.
We have to do it in adiplomatic way, sometimes
as much as you want to make a big fuss about it
(30:08):
we have to learn how to build relationshipsand educate and problem solve.
And we do it every day, so,
thinking about the job and facedwith such a challenging situation
People with disabilitieshave so many of those
skills already from our
life experience.I’d love to hear from both of you two,
(30:30):
why should we hire peoplewith disabilities?
CMC (30:34):
Yeah, I think that you know besides being great problem
solvers are also great innovators,very creative
and are willing to think of different waysto solve different solutions.
I think that'swhere some of the technical expertise
or the technical experiencethat the Career Center has
(30:55):
is really important.
And that's something that Lauren and Irecently have talked to employers about,
even questions abouthow do I get someone with, as,
you know, a visual impairment,for example, in this type of role.
And I think that's one of the really,
(31:15):
you know, challenging and excitingexperiences of the Career Center, is that
what we get to do is we get to go inand help these companies troubleshoot
these situations and actually just realizethat it's not even troubleshooting
that is really just people doing thingsmaybe in a different way
than they would have expected,
(31:36):
but with the same result or a better result. RA
Because what you do thatthen you create new approaches and new ways
of doing that.
Lauren, I know you have to make this case every day, too.
What’s another reason weshould hire people with disabilities?
LH (31:52):
Yeah, absolutely.
And I think about some of ourindividual jobseekers
and most recently we had we talkedwith one employer who hired two of our job
seekers at the career centerand they raved about each one of them
and they gave very specific examplesabout how each one has been
a really great fit for the companyand what they've contributed.
(32:17):
And also this particular managerat this company talked
about how she has learnedmore from these two individuals
than she feels likethey have learned from her.
And I think both Christinaand I thought that was really powerful
and speaks to the contribution
that each individual makesat that company.
(32:38):
So I hold that up as one example.
I mean, if I think about,
you know, our career center as a whole,
I think that the job seekers
who come to us are enthusiastic,
they're thoughtful,they are really hardworking and diligent.
(32:59):
They bring a lot of differentskills and abilities and insights.
I also think it's really importantto have representation.
CMC (33:08):
I think too.
Another thing that I take for granted
that I can only hope for
other individuals with disabilitiesis that
and we've talked about thisbefore, Commissioner,
but being able to bring your whole selfto work
your personal life,
your personal experiences,your personal life, ALL: [Laughter]
(33:31):
but your personal experiences as someone with a disability and how that's an asset,
that is an asset here at MOPDas we build out different programs.
But I think what's important for employerswho are not working in the disability
space is to realize that that's an asset,you know, in their space as well,
that those problem solving skills,that diverse experience
(33:55):
is something that will add to their value
and their company as well.
RA (34:03):
You’re so right. I think that you can bring your whole self to work
regardless of what your
identity is. We use that...
very spirit a lot in the Employee Resource Groupfor people with disabilities,
which is the first Employee Resource Groupthat we have at the city of Chicago
(34:23):
I’m also really proudto be the Executive Sponsor of that
and I am a champion of that effort.
CMC (34:30):
I think one question that we do need to ask though is
who would you like to interviewon this podcast or who do you want
Lauren and I to have on this podcast?
Because we have a wish list
and I want to hear yours.
RA (34:45):
One person that comes to mind is Michelle Obama.
Michelle Obama writes about in her book
when she was student here atWhitney Young High School, in Chicago
she took notesfor deaf students in her classes
and I would love to ask her how that informed her perspectivefor the rest of her life.
(35:06):
I think that
Senator Tammy Duckworthwould be a phenomenal guest.
Senator Duckworth is a personal heroand role model of mine.
When I started this job, I looked around for
leaders with disabilities
in municipal governments
state level and federal level, and we are so lucky to live in a state
(35:29):
where we arerepresented by a powerful woman with a disability
Senator Tammy Duckworth.
Yeah,she's been a champion for disability
advocacy and access.
CMC (35:43):
Thanks for listening.
Be sure to follow us on social media@MPODChicago
@MPODChicago
I'm your co-host, Christina McGleam.
I'm your co-host, Lauren Hooberman.
Special thanks to our editingand recording engineer Rob Littwin,
our executive producer, CommissionerRachel Arfa.
And thank you to the staffat the Herald Washington Library.
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