Mélange Accessibility for All Magazine January 2022 | Page 89

To Table of Contents her every day . She ' s been an awesome role model over these 58 years .
Is there anything else that you want people to know about your work on behalf of people with disabilities in the Department of Education ? I ' m so lucky to be able to work for Secretary Cardona and President Biden , I really think that this Administration wants to partner with all Americans to try to make things better . When the President discusses Build Back Better , he really means it . Our schools get to have the support that they need . So teachers are adequately supported , both financially and with resources where kids and families feel like school and their communities are a place that welcomes them . To be a part of that strong desire to help Americans and especially Americans with young children have the opportunities that they want for themselves so that their children can grow up and be productive contributors to their community .
We are all one-car accident or one major health crisis away from needing those supports ourselves , and you never know when you ' re going to need them . I think we as neighbors , friends and their families , need to help create that community where everybody can be successful .
How do we create a foundation , so people can soar and people can do what they want to do , and have the opportunity to figure it out , and then to act on what it is that they want to do ? I think that ' s part of our role here at the Department is to create those support systems . That ' s what I ' m hoping we can do over the next four to eight years . That ' s what gets me out of bed in the morning – how can we make the system strong so everybody can be successful ?

". . . There ' s a place for all of us . I think one benefit of working in the disability community , as long as I have , is that everybody can make a contribution . Everybody can be successful in the community ."