What We Do

Mission
    The Center for Disability Advocacy Rights, Inc. provides legal services to some of New York City's most vulnerable residents--impoverished people with disabilities, seniors, children, immigrants and people with mental illness. CeDAR's programs help stabilize clients’ lives by accessing public benefits and available services to meet basic needs such as income, food, health care, home care and housing. In addition, CeDAR's advocacy and litigation efforts seek to protect the rights of all disabled persons and seniors here in New York City, New York State and throughout the country.

History
    In 1997, Jill Boskey and Christopher Bowes established CeDAR as a legal and social services organization devoted to serving the community of seniors and individuals with disabilities. CeDAR's founders sought to address critical challenges faced by this client population, such as onerous intake processes, diminishing advocacy resources and piecemeal service delivery. CeDAR's key program objectives include:
· A service delivery approach uniquely suited to the needs of poor and low-income individuals with disabilities and those of advanced age, with bilingual and specially trained staff, open intake, client-centered programs and accessible offices;
· A strong commitment to comprehensively meeting clients' varied needs legally (disability and public benefits concerns), medically (access to mental health and medical care) and socially (workforce development and recreation); and
· Helping to link local and national legal and advocacy organizations devoted to protecting the rights and advancing the interests of the disabled and seniors, both individually and collectively in ways that foster self-sufficiency and self-respect.

Our Clients
    As a general rule, CeDAR's catchment area extends to Manhattan alone; however, CeDAR also accepts children’s SSI cases throughout New York City as well as referrals from other area legal services offices. In addition, CeDAR has initiated class actions with statewide impact. 
All of CeDAR's clients are at or below the poverty level and are of advanced age or have a disabling impairment. Currently, about 25% of CeDAR's clients are over 60 years of age; 40% are over 50 years of age; and 30% are children. Approximately 40% of CeDAR's clients are recent or first-generation immigrants, and half do not speak English. Reflecting Manhattan’s changing demographic composition, almost half of CeDAR's clients are Latino, many are African-American, and an increasing number are Asian. Nearly two-thirds of CeDAR's clients suffer some form of mental impairment, ranging from adjustment disorders accompanying a severe physical disorder to severe mental disorder requiring structured day treatment.