Coalition Milestones

1984 – An informal, adhoc group meets to discuss a wide variety of disability issues. Within four years the informal group takes the name Coalition for Community Services.

1988 through 1989 – Partners come togetherto formalize the Coalitionfor Community Services as the new Coalition for Tennesseans with Disabilities and begin discussions about funding.

1990 – The Coalition receives its first funding from the Council on Developmental Disabilities and a home at the offices of the Arc of Davidson County. The Coalition hires its first Executive Director, Carol Westlake, and begins work toward creation of a family support program.

1991 – Developmental Disabilities Awareness day at General Assembly. This marked the first time that individuals and families with disabilities of all types joined together to visit the general assembly and raise awareness of our community. Within a year it became known as Legislator Awareness Day.

1992 – Established a statewide ADA Network to provide technical assistance andtraining. This partnership began with support from the Council on Developmental Disabilitiesand the Southeast Disability and Business Technical Assistance Center.

Family Support Act - This was the Coalition’s first legislative effort. The bill was written by our family and personal assistance task force. It was the first cross-disability program and the only community-based service required by statute in Tennessee.

1993 – Founded Family Voices of Tennessee which was followed with additional funding in 1997 to establish one of the first family-governed and operated health information centers in the country.

1994 – Successfully fought an effort that would have weakened TN’s Special Education Laws.

1995 – Chartered a bus so that families and consumers could visit DC for the “Promises to Keep” national rally supporting the IDEA and ADA.

ADA Town Hall Meeting – More than 100 people with disabilities, family membersand professionals gatheredin Nashville to providetestimony about the impact ofthe ADA on their lives.

1996 – The Disability Coop was established as the Coalition moved into its own office and member organizations voted on July 1st to become the Tennessee Disability Coalition.

Governor announced plans to do away with the Department of Mental Health and Mental Retardation – the Coalition organized the opposition and won a two year struggle!

1997 – The Commission on Compliance and the Division on Mental Retardation Services tapped the Coalition to establish an advocacy program to protect the rights of Arlington Developmental Center residents who were leaving or had left the Center as a part of a lawsuit.

1998 – The Title 33 Law Revision Commission was convened with input from more than 1,000 people. A major outcome was expansion of the law to include people with developmental disabilities other than mental retardation.

2000 – Family Voices of Tennessee becomes the first state chapter of the National Family Voices Organization.

The Coalition established Project BRAIN with the goal of improving educational outcomes for students in Tennessee with traumatic brain injuries.

2002 – The Coalition launched the VOTE! Campaign to improve polling place accessibility, increase voter registration, and grassroots advocacy across the state.

Family Voices of Tennessee opened one of the first Family to Family Health Information Centers in the country.

2003 – The Coalition took the Tennessee Mental Health Consumers’ Association under its wing and helped it grow into a vibrant, statewide organization.

2004 – In January, the United States Supreme Court heard oral arguments in Lane vs. Jones and ruled in their favor in May. Coalition staff was present to hear oral arguments and support an ADA Rally.

TennCare Advocacy – Organized at the grassroots level and partnered with other community groups to promote the reform of TennCare without reducing basic standards of Medical Care.

2005 – Provided leadership for the TennCare Saves Lives Coalition. Its advocacy efforts included town hall meetings across the state and culminated in “The Drive to Save Lives,” a statewide ambulance tour designed to help save TennCare.

2006 – Work Incentives Planning and Assistance program launched in cooperation with the Center for Independent Living of Middle Tennessee.

The Governor signed the Autism Equity Act into law.

Worked with national partners to launch the Disability Vote Alliance.

2007 – Re-launched Legislator Awareness Day as a three-week event called “Disability Days on the Hill.”

The Coalition sponsored four ADA Road to Freedom stops in Tennessee – more than any other state in the nation.

The Coalition worked with Special Education advocates to pass Due Process Legislation that reinforced and strengthened parent’s rights under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.

In late 2006 and through October 2007, the Coalition purchased, renovated, and moved into its new home at 955 Woodland Street in Nashville.

2008 – Led successful efforts to pass Claire’s Law, Tennessee legislation to ensure that all newborns are screened for hearing loss.

The Coalition worked with organizations such as AARP for successful passage of the Long-Term Care Community Choices Act. This legislation reinvents Tennessee’s long-term care system to shift the emphasis from institutionalizing individuals to providing home- and community-based services that preserve individual choice, freedom, and dignity.