Dear friends,
This year has been a year of mission-driven transformation.
We strengthened our advocacy and education programs, expanded our reach to best serve our community, and reconnected with our partners in ways that motivated us to more zealously represent our clients.
We fought to ensure that our diverse group of constituents were treated with respect and received access to the rights, services, and resources they deserve–whether they be in California’s foster care system, in the Shasta County jail, or in the streets of Fullerton.
We welcomed new voices to the team. Our litigation team grew by four talented new members—staff attorneys Ashly Villa-Ortega and Sophie Tohl, legal fellow Dorothy Couchman, and paralegal Andrew Gray. We were also thrilled to add to our Board of Directors Christine Diaz-Herrera, Tanya Avila Guzman, and Chris Ortman, who have already lent their unique perspective, expertise, and drive to our renewed vision.
As we enter our next chapter, we will continue to grow our determined and vibrant team, lending strength to both infrastructure and outreach. Our 50th year will see the revitalization of the trusted, impactful programming that our community has come to know and rely upon. The direct services, educational programming, and self-advocacy resources offered by our Cancer Legal Resource Center will be developed, reimagined, and bolstered to maximize our impact and reduce inequities faced by cancer patients and their caregivers.
For these and many other reasons, we are excited about the future. As the Disability Rights Legal Center prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, we want to embrace the connections we have built and, together, realize that change for our community, our friends, our family.
Our intersectional, community-centric lens requires us to continue to reflect on what transformative change needs to look like for people with disabilities. We cannot shy away from it; we should instead rely on our courage and ganas (passion and desire) to bring those changes to life.
We know we can achieve more, because we have seen the power of collective action. We did that with you–our dear friends, partners, sponsors, volunteers, and directors.
We thank each of you for galvanizing DRLC’s mission. As we look forward to our next half century of service, your support makes all the difference in our unrelenting efforts for equity, justice, and transformative change.
We are grateful that you have chosen to join us in this next chapter to co-create meaningful, lasting change.
Juntos Podemos!
Sylvia Torres-Guillén
DRLC Executive Director
