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Baltimore, MD – Disability Rights Maryland (DRM) clients’ Keyonna Mayo, Susan Goodlaxson, and Janice Jackson, who filed a class action lawsuit with the Image Center against Baltimore City for safe and equal access to the City’s sidewalks and streets for individuals with mobility disabilities, have been named the recipients of DRM’s 2022 Excellence in Advocacy Leadership Award, which will be presented to them at the Breaking Barriers Virtual Awards Gala on Thursday, April 28, 2022.

Excellence in Advocacy Leadership awardees are DRM community partners, who, in collaboration with DRM, act as agents of change through legislative, policy or litigation initiatives. They demonstrate outstanding determination and resolve in defending and enhancing the rights of people with disabilities to full inclusion and community access. Awardees bravely, selflessly, and publicly, leverage their own personal experiences to rectify the inequities of discrimination against people with disabilities by taking on the “system” fearlessly to secure equitable participation in all aspects of society.

Keyonna Mayo, Susan Goodlaxson, and Janice Jackson, are on the forefront of citizen-based disability advocacy to make Baltimore’s sidewalks accessible to all residents. “Two years ago, only 1.3% of our more than 37,000 City curb ramps were in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act,” stated Robin C. Murphy, DRM Executive Director. “The work to provide people with disabilities their basic right to freely travel outside of their home is well past due, 30 years overdue.”

DRM looks forward to celebrating with you the extraordinary accomplishments of its exceptional honorees as well as the life altering work its staff does every single day of the year at our 2022 Breaking Barriers Virtual Gala on Thursday, April 28. To learn more, click here.