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Mayor's committee honors Ability Fest champions; ADAPT urges stronger advocacy and higher attendant pay
Summary
The committee presented Ability Festival awards and ADAPT representatives urged stronger advocacy, noting attendant pay averages about $13 an hour and calling for more involvement to sustain services.
At the Nov. 14 meeting the Mayor's Committee presented awards to community champions from the recent Ability Festival and heard remarks from ADAPT representatives about ongoing advocacy and attendant pay concerns.
Commissioner Gabriel Arellano presented three awards recognizing organizational and individual leadership tied to the Ability Festival. Arellano named Travis County Services for the Deaf in Austin, Haley Broadway for individual leadership and ADAPT of Texas for longstanding advocacy.
Representatives from ADAPT thanked the committee and urged continued engagement. Nancy Crother, introduced as a lifelong ADAPT member, spoke about the history of disability advocacy and raised a workforce concern: "Our attendants are now getting an average of $13 an hour," she said, urging more people to join advocacy and to press for better compensation and legislative action to address recruitment and retention.
Another ADAPT speaker described cross‑disability collaboration and praised the festival for building connections among age groups and different disability communities. Commissioner Arellano said the festival exceeded expectations with strong turnout and that organizers plan to make it an annual event, convene a working group and seek city human rights staff support for future planning.
The committee thanked the presenters and said it would remain available as a conduit to council and city departments for future accessibility initiatives and festival planning.
