San Francisco Bay Area Residents Lead the Country in Advocacy

San Francisco Bay Area (June 17,2000) - Birthplace of the independent living movement and home to the first center for independent living, the Bay area met the Spirit of ADA freedom flame with activist fervor. 75 torch bearers, all wearing signature yellow ADA t-shirts waited anxiously, stars among a sea of bystanders, in Jack London Square, Oakland for the flame to cross the Bay from its starting point at PacBell Park (home of the Giants) in San Francisco.

Among the crowd gathered in Oakland to help what Shirley Dean, the Mayor of Berkeley, called an effort to create an America that works for all, there were many extraordinary people. We had a chance to speak to one of the participants and hear her story.

Lori Gray, a relay volunteer who helped facilitate the torch bearer's orientation, was born in 1961, three months prematurely, weighing 1.5 pounds. Due to complications at birth, Lori, now 38, is blind and has limited mobility. She also suffers from epilepsy and chronic pain.

Raised by practicing Christian Scientists, Lori explained that she "grew up in a family where disability has a different meaning." "Basically," she said, "I grew up not thinking I was disabled." This attitude has allowed Lori to participate in demanding activities like rock climbing and white water rafting.

In addition to challenging her self physically, Lori has been tireless in her work on behalf of the disability movement. An advocate since the age of 10, Lori moved to the San Francisco Bay Area from southern California in 1981 to attend the University of California, Berkeley and then went on to study law at Berkeley's law school. In 1990, half way through her law degree, Lori was forced to withdraw because the florescent lights in the classrooms triggered epileptic seizures. Following her departure from law school, Lori took several years off from what she calls "living." In 1995, Lori says she finally decided to make a push to "reclaim my life" and be out in the work force again.

Today Lori works 40 to 60 hours a week for the Bay Area Outreach and Recreation Program, an organization that provides sports and recreation opportunities for people with disabilities and their families, and conducts disability awareness training for the World Institute on Disability, the local sponsor for the Bay Area relay.

She gives the ADA credit for promoting her full inclusion in the work force and enabling her to maintain her own self worth and all things that go along with equal access. "The ADA," she said, "made it possible for me to work."

Guest speakers at the Bay Area Spirit of ADA celebration included Jerry Brown, Mayor of Oakland and former Governor of California, Judy Heumann, Assistant Secretary Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services, U.S. Department of Education, and Mary Lou Breslin, founder of Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund, among others.

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