Dear Selection Committee: This was all on 1 page, but I increased the font, so it is now on 2 pages. Teckla

One of Scott Lay’s essential beliefs was that employment is a fundamental aspect of community inclusion and self esteem for all people, including people with disabilities. Scott grew up in Mollalla, Oregon and early each summer he would dive into the Mollala River. In 1969, about a week after graduating from high school and a week before his induction into the Marines, the annual dive resulted in a C5,6 fracture to his neck and quadriplegia. A greater result of the fracture was his focus on creating integration, accessibility and employment opportunities for people with disabilities.

Following rehabilitation he began work on his Bachelors of Science at Portland State University (PSU) and then earned his Masters in Public Administration. At PSU he served as the Coordinator of the Handicapped Information Program, he then joined the Board of Directors of Independent Living, Access Oregon, a new Independent Living Center. As a Director, and later as Chairperson, Scott had opportunities to participate in several endeavors that helped establish the Independent Living philosophy in Oregon. Due to his success in promoting disability issues, Scott received a Governor’s appointment to the Oregon Disabilities Commission; later he was elected to serve as Chair. The Oregon Paralyzed Veterans gave Scott an award in 1990 and in 1993 he was honored as the Disabled Oregonian of the year for his efforts to increase employment and the employability of Oregonians with disabilities. Due to his proposals and contributions to the Ticket to Work and Work Incentives Improvement Act, Scott was asked by the White House to observe the signing of this landmark legislation in December of 1999. He was also in Washington, D.C. to witness the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some of the sidewalks in the area didn’t have curb cuts, Scott drove his power chair down the street with the cars.

Scott’s home was in Portland, he passed away on July 31, 2009 after building a path for growth for thousands of Portland residents and Oregonians. His intellect and charisma led him to investigate and impact Legislative action, Oregon Administrative Rules, policy building, and implementation practices. People always liked Scott’s involvement, well consumers always liked his involvement. When bureaucrats were adversely impacting the laws, rules or policies governing the lives of people with disabilities, Scott was pleasantly and ferociously tenacious in giving a voice to their reality and needs. He was an integral writer of Oregon’s Employed Person’s with Disabilities (EPD) program, the first program in the nation to allow people with disabilities to go to work, earn money, contribute to the economy, and ‘buy’ Medicaid insurance. From 2001 to the time of his death, Scott was involved first as an employee and then as an advocate and consultant to Oregon’s Medicaid Infrastructure Grant (MIG), developing infrastructure to promote benefits planning, training people to understand and access the EPD program, serving as a consultant to the MIG to develop on-line resources to promote accessibility and inclusion, and providing benefits planning to individuals receiving SSI and SSDI so they could access the work world, community involvement and inclusion. He is known to listen to detailed staff discussions and then refocus the discussion to the critical details with calm wisdom and focused direction.

In addition to building administrative infrastructure, Scott helped consumers see that they could open doors for themselves. He had an inherent gift for talking with people with disabilities and opening their thoughts and beliefs to the possibility of accessing employment and community inclusion. Countless consumers recount their experience of Scott taking the time to sit down with them and talk about the viability of their access to and inclusion in work. He shared information to let them know that they could go to work; that having a disability didn’t mean they were relegated to impoverishment.

All of his advocacy and professional efforts have at their core the profound belief in the basic civil rights of persons with disabilities; that persons with disabilities are equal in every way to able-bodied individuals. This steadfast belief is interwoven into all his endeavors.

His presence, experience, knowledge, and practice, give him the unique distinction of being worthy of this award.