New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. with honorees and co-sponsors at his Disability Awareness Month celebration at City Hall on Monday, November 19, 2007. Pictured (back, l to r) are: Lawrence Carter-Long, Director of Advocacy, Disabilities Network of New York City (DNNYC); Marvin Wasserman, Executive Director, Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled and Founder and Steering Committee Member, Taxis for All Campaign; LaVerne D. Miller, Esq., Director, Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center Consumer Access, Inc.; Thompson; Matt Aubry, Director of Development, YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities Network; Reverend William Wrede, St. Matthew's Lutheran Church of the Deaf, Queens; Barbara Klein, Director of Development, The Jewish Guild for the Blind; (front, l to r) Carl Jacobsen, President, National Federation of the Blind of New York State; Christopher Greif, Consumer Advocate and Executive Assistant to the Chairperson, Brooklyn Consumer Council; Al Lepre, Director, American Deaf Exposition; and, Reverend María Isabel Santiviago, Vicar, St. Ann’s Church of the Deaf at Calvary at St. George’s Episcopal Church, Manhattan.
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New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. last night honored several New Yorkers for their accomplishments during his 2007 Disability Awareness Month event. The event was co-sponsored by YAI/National Institute for People with Disabilities and the Disabilities Network of New York City.

“National Disability Awareness Month is a time when we recognize leaders in the community, address ongoing concerns, and celebrate achievements in the struggle for equal rights of people with disabilities,” Thompson said at the City Hall ceremony.

“More than any physical barriers, it is stereotypes and false assumptions that have kept people with disabilities out of the workplace, out of one school or another, or on the sidelines of community activities. We need to spread the word, and drive the message home: there is absolutely no limit to what can be achieved by people who are living with disabilities.  We must break down the inaccurate assumptions, open doors, and make it possible finally for all people to contribute their talents, ideas, and leadership. When we do that, we all benefit.”

Thompson presented the first award to the Jewish Guild for the Blind. Accepting the award was Director of Development Barbara Klein. The Guild is a non-profit, non-sectarian agency that has been helping visually impaired persons of all ages since its founding in 1914.

“The Guild offers an impressive array of services, including treatment for medical, psychiatric and low vision difficulties, as well as managed long-term care, residential services, day health programs and vocational training,” Thompson said.

The other honorees were:

• Christopher Greif, who has held a variety of positions that have enabled him to advocate for the rights of New York City consumers. Following a training program with the Office of Mental Retardation and Developmental Disabilities, Mr. Greif began his career of service in Brooklyn Borough Hall, after which he became Executive Assistant to the Chairperson of the Brooklyn Consumer Council. While working at the Council, Mr. Greif has been elected as Vice President of the Brooklyn South office of the Citizens Police Academy Alumni Association. Earlier this year, he was also appointed to Chair the subcommittee of the Brooklyn Consumer Transportation Council, which successfully improved transportation to the Brooklyn Developmental Disabilities Services Office through the addition of a second bus.

• Carl Jacobsen, a longtime member and leader of the National Federation of the Blind
  (NFB). Since joining the NFB in 1989, when he became second vice president, Mr. Jacobsen went on to become president of the New York City Chapter, a position he held until 2005. In 1991 he was elected first vice president of the State affiliate. Six years later he became president of the affiliate, a position he continues in today. He is also a member of the NFB Board of Directors. Mr. Jacobson has trained entrants at the Randolph-Sheppard Program, as well worked with blind children and teens in developing cane use and other travel skills. Throughout the 1970s and 1980s Mr. Jacobsen was active in developing programs for preschool children through local churches.

• Al Lepre, a longtime advocate for the hearing impaired. Mr. Lepre has served as the Director of the American Deaf Exposition at the South Street Seaport for the past seven years. He has hosted Deaf Expos as well in Parsippany New Jersey, Baltimore, Maryland and Eisenhower Park, Long Island. Mr. Lepre has been named as a chairperson for the upcoming National Basketball Tournament of the United States Deaf Basketball Organization. He ran previous tournaments for the USADBO across the nation, from St. Louis to Orlando to Providence, Rhode Island.  Mr. Lepre is a former Vice President of the Eastern Athletic Association of the Deaf and a former president of the New York Athletic Association of the Deaf. For his work as a basketball coach, he was honored to be selected to the Eastern Athletic Association of the Deaf Hall of Fame.

• LaVerne D. Miller, Esq., a former Assistant District Attorney with the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Ms. Miller has worked as a community organizer and housing advocate in southeast Queens. Since 1996, she has worked as the Director of The Howie T. Harp Peer Advocacy Center in Harlem. The center's mission is to train consumers with histories of homelessness, mental illness and incarceration to work in human services.  Ms. Miller was recently named a co-chair of the New York City Federation for Mental Health, Chemical Dependency, Mental Retardation and Developmentally Disabled.  She is also a national consultant for the Center for Mental Health Services/Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

• Marvin Wasserman, a leader in the disability community for more than 40 years, from his days as president of People for the Rehabilitation of the Disabled through Education (PRIDE) to his leadership in the state Democratic Party as Democratic State Committeeman. Mr. Wasserman has sought to advance disability issues through the political process on both the local and national levels. As a result of the active involvement of disability activists in the gubernatorial campaign of former New York State Governor Mario Cuomo, the 504 Democratic Club was formed. The advocacy of the 504 club, which Mr. Wasserman served as president for eight years, led in part to Gov. Cuomo’s decision to push through legislation to ensure that 100 key subway stations are accessible by the year 2020. Continuing that work, Mr. Wasserman was instrumental in founding the Taxis for All Campaign, an organization dedicated to bringing wheelchair-accessible taxis and community car service to New York City. He current serves as Executive Director of the Brooklyn Center for Independence of the Disabled.

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