New York's Chief Disability Officer Kimberly Hill Ridley has been busy since the office was created nearly two years ago.
The office within the Executive Chamber helps connect New Yorkers with disabilities – especially people with physical or sensory disorders – to resources to secure employment, housing, emergency preparation and home care, among others.
"If you're a person with a physical disability or any type of sensory disability, there really is no go-to point in New York for those individuals," Chief Disability Officer Kimberly Hill Ridley said Friday. "Our office solidly represents that group of people."
Hill Ridley said the office has held more than 2,000 meetings with organizations and stakeholders that work with people with disabilities New York, focusing most improving the unemployment rate among New Yorkers with disabilities since the office was created in February 2022. Hill Ridley meets regularly, typically at least biweekly, with Gov. Kathy Hochul about what New Yorkers with disabilities' most urgent needs.
"Every person with a disability has a different story, and therefore, different priorities as to where they're at at that point in time," she said.
Sunday marked International People with Disabilities Day, or a day to raise awareness about disability issues and combatting their related stigma.
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