Join us this Shabbat Renewal as we celebrate JDAIM (Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month) with guest speaker Cicely Reid, Senior Staff Attorney for Disability Rights Texas.   The purpose of Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month (JDAIM) is to unite Jewish communities to raise awareness and champion the rights of all Jews, including Jews with disabilities, to be respected, valued, and included in all aspects of Jewish community life.

Disability Rights Texas (DRTx) is the federally designated legal protection and advocacy agency (P&A) for people with disabilities in Texas. DRTx’s mission is to help people with disabilities understand and exercise their rights under the law and secure their full and equal participation in society.  DRTx attorneys fulfill the organizational mission by providing direct legal representation in order to: assist people with disabilities whose rights are threatened or violated, protect the rights of individuals and groups of people with disabilities through the courts and justice system, educate and inform policymakers about issues that impact the rights and services for people with disabilities, empower people with disabilities and their family members to assert their rights, and make referrals to essential benefits programs and services. Disability Rights Texas attorneys practice law in the areas of: ADA, employment, voting rights, accessibility, special education, healthcare and community integration, foster care, housing, transportation, disaster services/relief/recovery, supported decision making and alternatives to guardianship, social security, and institutional rights and civil liberties.

The mission of JDAIM (Jewish Disability Awareness, Acceptance, and Inclusion Month) is a unified initiative to raise disability awareness and support efforts to foster inclusion in Jewish communities worldwide.

More about our speaker: 

Cicely Reid is the pro bono coordinator and senior staff attorney at Disability Rights Texas.  Cicely works in the Houston office primarily with the community integration and healthcare team on Medicaid appeals, and the employment, voting rights, and accessibility team on DOJ complaints and other accessibility disputes and litigation.  Cicely also operates, markets, and manages the DRTx pro bono program across the entire State.  Her focus is recruiting and utilizing private law firm attorney volunteers to help litigate and resolve DRTx cases.  Cicely is also responsible for pro bono clinics and training programs, and the development of CLE materials for volunteer attorneys. The pro bono program has successfully allowed Disability Rights to greatly increase the number of clients that the Organization can assist and represent.

Prior to joining Disability Rights Texas, Ms. Reid served as an assistant district attorney in Harris County, Texas.  Ms. Reid then transitioned to large private law firm practice, serving as in-house defense counsel for several Fortune 500 insurance companies.  Cicely earned her MBA from Tulane University in 2013 in finance and nonprofit governance. Cicely is a proud graduate of The University of Texas School of Law-Austin and Texas A&M University- College Station, where she earned undergraduate honors in political science and business management.