Meet Molly. She is a Training Specialist on our Voting Rights Team. She travels across Texas to educate people with disabilities about their voting rights. She also works with election workers to make sure polling sites are accessible.

Thanks to Molly and our entire Voting Rights Team for the nonpartisan work they do to remove barriers people with disabilities face when casting a ballot.

Learn about our work related to Voting.

#WeAreDRTx

Meet Preston. He’s part of our Employment Advocacy Team which helps people with disabilities get training through Texas vocational rehab and job accommodations so they can work and earn a paycheck.

Our thanks to Preston and the whole Employment Team for helping people with disabilities who want to work to be able to work.

Learn more about our work related to Employment and VR Services.

#WeAreDRTx

If you live in Texas, you know that a disaster can strike at any moment – it’s a question of when, not if. Because disasters and emergencies are a constant threat, it’s important for people with disabilities to be ready so you don’t have to get ready. So how prepared are you? Tell us!

Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) is conducting the 2025 Disaster Resilience Survey of Texans with Disabilities. Your responses will help DRTx understand how prepared Texans with disabilities are and identify the needs in the community.

The survey is for:

• people with disabilities
• people who support people with disabilities
• other people with a connection to the disability community

The survey asks what you’re worried about, how prepared you are, what supplies you keep on hand, and more. With the survey results, DRTx could create new resources, develop education and training for the community, guide advocacy and policy initiatives, and educate emergency managers about the needs of the disability community.

American Sign Language (ASL): If you use ASL, watch this ASL video about the survey or read the information below.

ASL users can complete the survey via video phone call. To complete the survey, call DRTx at one of the video phone numbers below. The video phone lines are open Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Central Time. If there’s no answer, please leave a video message and we’ll call you back within a few days.

• Sign Language Video Phone: 1-866-362-2851
• Purple 2 Video Phone: 1-512-271-9391

The survey is available in English, Spanish, and ASL. The deadline to complete the survey is May 31, 2025. If you need help completing the survey, or if you need it in a different format, you can either email DRTx, or you can call us at 1-800-948-1824 or one of the video phone options listed above.

Surveys links:

• 2025 Disaster Resilience Survey of Texans with Disabilities
• Encuesta 2025 de resiliencia ante desastres de Tejanos con Discapacidades

 

Take the survey!

Meet Isabel. She’s a Senior Advocate on our Education Team which works tirelessly to protect the legal rights of children with disabilities in Texas schools by helping them get the services they need to succeed.

Thanks to Isabel and the entire Education Team for the work they do for our kiddos!

Learn more about our work related to Education.

#WeAreDRTx

Meet Stephanie. She is the Supervising Attorney of our Disaster Resilience Team which was created because of the dangers Texans are facing with our state’s extreme weather patterns. People with disabilities are at a greater risk of serious harm and death during disasters. This team provides preparedness training, advocates for inclusive emergency planning, and works on legal strategies.

Thanks to Stephanie and her team for the important lifesaving work they are doing!

Learn more about our work related to Disaster Resilience.

#WeAreDRTx

Meet George. He’s the Advocate Supervisor for our Institutional Rights Team which regularly monitors state facilities where several thousand people with disabilities live. The team works to ensure the safety of these Texas citizens and that their human rights are not violated.

Thank you to George and the IR Team for their critical work.

Learn more about our work related to Institutional Rights and Civil Liberties.

#WeAreDRTx

3.5 million. That’s how many Texans have a disability. And that’s how many people we advocate for each day of every year to make sure they have access to basic needs like healthcare, housing, jobs, education, and more.

The only way we’re able to do this critical work is because of you.

Your support last year helped us serve several thousand Texans with disabilities through individual case services and lawsuits. It enabled our policy staff to educate state policymakers on how proposed legislation could impact all Texans with disabilities. It allowed us to create resources for the more than 300,000 people who visited our website last year.

In 2024, here are just a few of the many ways your support made an impact:

Thank you for the many ways you support us so we can make Texas accessible for all Texans.

If there’s a winter weather emergency, you could be stuck at home for a few days – possibly without power – left to fend for yourself with only what you have. Since extreme winter weather can come out of nowhere, it’s important that you get prepared now for whatever the Texas winter throws at you.

Below are some of the supplies you may want to keep on hand in case you have to shelter in place during a winter storm.

• Clothes: have warm clothes, outerwear, and blankets so you can stay warm both inside and outside of your home.
• Food & water: have three days’ worth of shelf-stable food and enough water for each person to have one gallon per day.
• Medical: keep enough medications for seven days, make sure you have a fully-stocked first aid kit, and have a backup plan if you use a mobility device that is power dependent.
• Gadgets: have a radio, a flashlight, and a can opener that you can still use if the power goes out. And make sure you have batteries and power banks to operate and charge your gadgets and devices.
• Miscellaneous: have an alternative heat source to help you stay warm, and keep a shovel and salt or sand handy to clear paths outside your home.

And don’t forget your pets! Many of the items above apply to your pets and service animals, too. Take your pets into consideration when planning for things like how to stay warm, how much food and water to have, how much medication to keep on hand, and more.

Learn more and see our full checklist:

• Winter Emergency Supplies Checklist for People with Disabilities
• Lista de verificación de suministros de emergencia de invierno para personas con discapacidades

The 2024 Disaster Resilience Survey of Texans with Disabilities asked respondents how prepared they are for disasters, what worries them, and what their disaster resilience needs are. The survey was open to Texans with disabilities, people who support a person with a disability, and others connected to the disability community. The survey, which was conducted by Disability Rights Texas (DRTx), received 405 responses.

Overall, Texans with disabilities appear to be less resilient than they were a year ago. While the significant preparedness gaps that were revealed in the 2023 Disaster Resilience Survey remain in the 2024 survey, this year’s survey reveals a population that – in certain areas – is actually less prepared and more worried than a year ago. Conversely, instances of people being more prepared or less worried were rare and not significant.

Less prepared

There are steps everyone can take to be more prepared for disasters. This can include signing up for emergency alerts, having extra supplies on hand, and understanding what your local emergency management department will do when there’s an event.

For some people with disabilities, preparing for disasters can be complex because considerations will be made on available options, such as backup power needs to keep medications refrigerated, the accessibility of a public emergency shelter, and how to provide food and water for a service animal.

In general, the majority of respondents are not prepared for disasters when it comes to the specific areas covered in the survey. And, what’s more, there are some areas where respondents are significantly less prepared than they were a year ago. For example:

• 74% don’t have a solid plan for evacuating and sheltering in place (up eight points from 66% in 2023)
• 89% don’t know how to get emergency prescriptions refilled (up 18 points from 71%)
• 76% don’t have copies of their important documents in their emergency kit (up 11 points from 65%)

Also, in almost all instances, 2024 survey respondents reported having less supplies on hand than 2023 respondents. For example, 57% don’t have enough food and water for five days (up 21 points from 36%), 51% don’t have food that meets their dietary needs (up 28 points from 23%), and 40% don’t have a first aid kit (up 13 points from 27%).
 

More worried

The majority of respondents indicated they are worried about 12 of the 14 types of disasters and emergencies the survey asked about. In 2024, the worry survey respondents had about some disaster types increased significantly:

• 68% are worried about a drought (up seven points from 61%)
• 52% are worried about wildfires (up 11 points from 41%)
• 65% are worried about household fires (up eight points from 57%)
• 85% are worried about extreme heat (up nine points from 76%)

Of the two disaster types that were not worrisome for the majority of survey respondents, worry about earthquakes actually increased eight points to 26% (18% were worried in 2023) and worry about hurricanes remained the same at 44%.

Increasing disaster resilience

Feedback from this survey is one of the sources that informs DRTx’s efforts to help people with disabilities be more resilient in the face of disasters and emergencies. Our website features a number of Disaster Resilience resources and we publish a Disaster Resilience newsletter.

In 2025, we’ll conduct another disaster resilience survey, and we’ll also use the feedback from that survey to identify – and address – the preparedness needs of Texans with disabilities. To get notified when the survey is available, subscribe to the newsletter or follow us on social media.

Tuesday, November 5, is Election Day. This is your opportunity to vote for the people and issues you support. Read the information below to make sure you’re ready to vote in-person on Election Day.

Who can vote?

Anyone who is registered to vote on Election Day can vote. If you registered to vote, you should have received a Voter Registration Certificate in the mail 30 days after registering. If you aren’t sure if you’re registered, you can check on the My Voter Portal.

What am I voting on?

This election includes races for federal, state, and local offices, and possibly specific local issues (called “propositions”). See your sample ballot so you know what to expect when you fill out your ballot.

Where do I vote?

It depends on where you’re registered to vote. In some counties, you can vote at any polling place in the county, while in other counties, you can only vote at the polling place assigned to you. Contact your county elections office to find out where you can vote.

When do I vote?

Polling places will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 5.

How do I vote?

• Transportation: Make sure you have a way to get to your polling place and see our Find a Ride Guide to learn about some of your transportation options.
• Identification (ID): You’ll have to provide one of the accepted forms of ID to vote.
• Accommodations: You have a right to accommodations so voting is accessible for you. This could include things like curbside voting, moving to the front of the line, using a special voting device, getting help with your ballot, and more.

Need help?

If you have questions regarding voting, or if you feel that any of your voting rights have been violated, please contact the Disability Rights Texas Voter Hotline at 1-888-796-VOTE (8683) or e-mail vote@drtx.org.