Open Your Eyes To Access

is a nonprofit organization rooted in the disability, social, and caregiving justice movements. We amplify disabled voices, organize non-disabled people to lean into disability justice work, invest in community relationships, and advocate for local policy change.

a white woman with pink and blue hair with her eyes closed, holding a bouqet of lillies upside down with her black prosthetic arm and the blossoms covering her right eye.
Our Shared Future: Centering Disability Stories Community Conversations at Leland Township Public Library Join us for a five-part conversation series hosted by Derenda LeFevre of Open Your Eyes To Access (OYETA). These conversations will focus on centering disability stories, the history of disability in our communities, and provide opportunities for non-disabled people to learn about disability, ableism, and what it means to embrace accessibility and equity in our community spaces. Conversation Schedule: Tuesdays, 3:30-5:30pm February 3rd, March 3rd, April 7th, May 5th, and June 2nd Refreshments will be served and documentation for continuing education credits will be available upon request. Call the library to RSVP, for more information and/or to request an accommodation. Leland Twp. Public Library, 203 E Cedar Street, Leland, MI 49654. www.lelandlibrary.org. (231) 256-9152. Supported by OYETA, The Leland Twp, Public Library and The Grand Traverse Regional Community Foundation

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We Want To Connect With You!

Are you a community organization in Leelanau or Grand Traverse County that shares our values of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion?

Reach out via Email: [email protected]

  • Get Out The Disability Vote!

    We support full inclusion in democracy by supporting the Get Out The Disability Vote, an initiative of Detroit Disability Power, and will work to advocate for and ensure access at the polls.

  • ADA Zoning Ordinance Initiative

    We advocate for the inclusion of ADA language in every Planning Commission Ordinance to ensure that access is a priority in our built environments and places of public accommodation.

  • Downtown Visitability Audits

    We engage in community improvement and education campaigns that prioritize the disability community and by doing so, create universally accessible spaces that all community members can use and enjoy.

  • Disability Public Narrative & Curriculum Project

    Physical and mental impairments are a natural and common part of being human that are deserving of accommodations and civil rights protection. They can happen to anyone at any time via illness, accidents, genetic conditions, aging, and more. The Social Model of Disability recognizes that it is the barriers in the built environment and ableist attitudes that actually create disability.

  • Community Conversations

    Through broad and diverse coalitions that extend into various community spaces including arts & culture, farming, political organizing, and education we teach about and co-create Universal Access in our physical and organizing spaces.

  • The Library

    So many powerful people with disabilities are leading the way. Here you'll find links to the work they are doing as well as curated podcasts, tedtalks, and books to dive deeper into disability justice stories. It's free to sign-up!

Current Offerings