Advocacy Priorities

MISSION STATEMENT

Advance the legal rights of people with disabilities in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

VISION STATEMENT

DRCVI’s vision is a barrier free, inclusive world that values diversity, culture, and each individual.

    In this world all people with disabilities have:
  • Equality,
  • Dignity
  • Power,
  • Freedom of choice,
  • Independence, and
  • Freedom from abuse, neglect, and discrimination.
    They have quality, culturally responsive, safe, affordable, and accessible:
  • Housing,
  • Education,
  • Healthcare,
  • Technology,
  • Transportation, and
  • Individual and family supports that they choose and direct.

People with disabilities have the right to family, social, and intimate relationships. They are financially secure, can make life choices, and have opportunities for satisfying work, recreation, spiritual lives, and community service.

ADVOCACY PRINCIPLES

Our advocacy will be zealous, dedicated, effective, creative, innovative and daring.

We will take on issues of importance to the disability community.

We will integrate a variety of advocacy approaches in all of our work, including self-advocacy, legal, non-legal, media, and public policy and investigatory.

We value diversity. Our staff should reflect the ethnic, language, and disability diversity, and demographic diversity of the U.S. Virgin Islands: rural, age, sexual orientation, a range of different life experiences that reflect the disability community.

Our advocacy efforts will affirmatively address the needs of traditionally underserved and under-represented communities through partnership with such communities.