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Shepherd Center's Advocacy Director Honored with Disability Rights Award Johnson, who joined Shepherd Center in 1987, is a nationally-recognized activist and community organizer who, since sustaining a spinal cord injury at the age of 20, has dedicated his life to creating an identifiable sense of community among people with disabilities. Johnson helped establish the Metrolina Chapter of the National Paraplegia Foundation and one of the first Title VII Independent Living Centers in the U.S. He also ran the Transitional Living Program at Holistic Approaches to Independent Living (HAIL) in Denver, and was subsequently its Director of Advocacy. He was also Colorado’s first Statewide Independence Living Coordinator. In 1984, Johnson helped to create Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT), a grassroots-driven organization that has been an effective force for change in the national disability rights movement. He is also a founding member of the board of the Healthcare Georgia Foundation, and helped to create the Brain and Spinal Injury Trust Fund, which provides independent living services to thousands of people with brain or spinal cord injuries throughout Georgia. Johnson created a website (www.lgtinc.org) that is dedicated to the pioneers of the disability rights movement and the people and groups that are making a difference today. His vision resulted in the Spirit of the ADA Torch Relay, a tenth anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) celebration hosted in 24 locations around the country in 2000. It brought together people with disabilities, their friends and families, and disability rights advocates, thus also bringing much public national attention to the legislation. The Betts award is named in honor of Henry B. Betts, M.D., a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation medicine. |