JenTen Productions

Compelling Storytelling

advocacy

YES! Access — Strength in Numbers

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For the past several months, Jennifer Tennican / JenTen Productions has been volunteering with a new nonprofit, YES! Access. It’s a story-first, disability-led movement stewarded by co-leaders Meg O’Connell and Tara Cunningham. More than 80 percent of their volunteer team identifies as disabled, neurodivergent, or chronically ill. The YesAccess team comes from across the nation, representing diverse backgrounds and experiences. They believe in the power of story to affect positive change and create a more inclusive future. Share your story today and tag it with #YesAccess — Make A #YesAccess Video>

 

July is Disability Pride Month

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Disability Pride Month commemorates the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 1990. Over 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. live with a disability — that’s more than 70 million people. The first Disability Pride celebration took place in Boston in 1990; the first parade was held in Chicago in 2004. Barriers still exist in health care, employment, public access, and representation — Disability Pride Month is a call to address them. Disability Pride affirms that people with disabilities do not need to be “fixed” — they deserve to be embraced just as they are.

Source: https://ad.lacounty.gov/about-us/campaigns/disability-pride-2025/

 

 

May is Mental Health Awareness Month

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Turn Awareness Into Action is the theme of this year’s Mental Health Awareness Month. According to an article by the Clinical Director of the University of New Hampshire’s Institute on Disability (IOD), “One in five people in the US experience a mental health issue each year – no one is immune to this. This includes people with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD).” Here’s a short article with frequently asked questions and other resources — Remember, we’re all in this together!

 

 

NDEAM 2024

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Observed each October, during National Disability Employment Awareness Month, or “NDEAM,” we celebrate the value and talent workers with disabilities add to America’s workplaces and economy. NDEAM’s purpose is to confirm our commitment to ensuring disabled workers have access to good jobs every month of every year. That’s the spirit behind this year’s official theme: “Access to Good Jobs for All.”

We partnered with several Vertical Harvest employees to create Instagram reels this year. Check them out and follow us: @heartsofglassfilm

 

Disability Pride 2024

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July is Disability Pride Month. This year’s theme — “We want a life like yours” — comes from The Arc’s National Council of Self-Advocates. It reflects the disability community’s dreams for life experiences that people with disabilities are too often denied. For more information about The Arc and to find a chapter near you, please visit thearc.org.

 

Summer & Disability Pride 2023

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We’ve been doing a lot of work with Arc Chapters across the United States. The national organization as well as local chapters have great resources and information about Disability Pride Month. They have some terrific suggestions about ways to celebrate in July.

Here’s a little historical context about the roots of Disability Pride we found on The Valuable 500’s website.

“While disability pride and parades are a relatively new concept, the idea of Disability Pride is rooted in the same foundation as movements like LGBTQ+ and Black Pride. In 2013, Chicago’s Disability Pride Parade defined their mission in three ways: ‘To change the way people think about and define “disability,” to break down and end the internalised shame among people with Disabilities, and to promote the belief in society that Disability is a natural and beautiful part of human diversity in which people living with disabilities can take pride.’”

The Valuable 500 is a global business partnership of 500 companies working together to end disability exclusion.

Visit our socials and let us know how you’re celebrating disability pride!