For months, we’ve been calling on the Senate to pass a COVID-19 relief bill that includes emergency funding for home- and community-based services. Now, our Senators are considering leaving for recess without passing any COVID relief bill at all — so it’s time for us to tell them that they can’t go home without doing their jobs.

The Senate has the power to fund the services our community needs. But now that negotiations on the bill are getting difficult, they are seriously considering refusing to pass any kind of relief bill, no matter what the consequences are for people with disabilities and other marginalized communities. It is completely unacceptable for our Senators to turn their backs on the people they claim to represent, and we won’t let it happen without putting up a fight. Join our call-in day TOMORROW to help us hold the Senate accountable!

For scripts and tips you can use to call, check out our email below.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Autistic Self Advocacy Network <[email protected]>
Date: Fri, Aug 6, 2020 at 4:00 PM
Subject: 📱 Our allies in the Senate need us to call NOW 📱

We’ve received news from our allies in Congress that we need a big push TOMORROW to let our Senators know home and community-based services are critical to our community. This is our chance to get HCBS funding included in the upcoming COVID-19 relief bill.Without this funding, members of our community who rely on these services to live their daily lives may be forced into institutions, where COVID-19 is spreading uncontrolled. We can’t let this happen.

Call and email your Senators to make sure that emergency HCBS funding is included in the next COVID-19 relief package! You can use our script:

My name is [your full name], and I am from [city]. I’m [calling/writing] to ask Senator [Name] to make sure that the Senate’s coronavirus relief package includes Medicaid funding for home- and community-based services for people with disabilities. Many people with disabilities rely on home- and community-based services to do things like get dressed, take care of our families, and live safely in our homes. Without emergency funding, agencies that provide these supports are starting to close. People with disabilities risk being forced into institutions, where they would be at much greater risk of catching COVID-19.

We need the Senate to pass a COVID relief package that specifically funds home- and community-based services. This is a matter of life or death for my community. Can I count on the Senator’s support?

When you’re done, check in with us on Facebook to let us know how it went.

Have call anxiety, or wondering what to expect from a call to your elected officials? Check out this guide to making a call to your members of Congress. Unable to speak on a phone call due to a disability? Check out our Proxy Calling System here. Want to help someone else make a call? Consider signing up to be a proxy caller.

There is no excuse for excluding home- and community-based services from COVID-19 relief. People with disabilities, like everyone else, deserve to be protected from this incredibly dangerous virus. Keep calling, emailing, and telling your Senators to stop making excuses, protect disabled people, and do their job.


Autistic Self Advocacy Network
PO Box 66122
Washington, DC 20035
United States
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