Welcome to MOPD All Access! In this interview, MOPD Commissioner Rachel Arfa sat down with Chief Executive Officer of the Obama Foundation, Valerie Jarrett, to discuss the opening of the Obama Presidential Center, and how the Obama Foundation championed accessibility throughout the Obama Presidential Museum and Center, establishing innovative new standards for accessibility in our City and nationwide.

Visual Description:

Opening image is the MOPD All Access logo, displaying a blue square next to a red star and the letters MOPD in black bold text at the bottom of the screen, followed by the words All Access. The screen then opens at the Obama Presidential Library, from the President's Reading Room. The background shows carefully curated books on light wood bookshelves, along with photographs displayed on some shelves.

MOPD Commissioner Rachel Arfa opens the interview. She is wearing a light teal pantsuit with a white blouse and a pearl string necklace. She has brown hair in a half curl and hazel eyes.

CEO Valerie Jarrett is wearing a pastel blue pantsuit with matching blouse, a two-string silver necklace with gemstones, and transparent clear glasses Her brown hair is in a perfectly coiffed bob with a soft wave and she has brown eyes.

The screen rotates from showing Commissioner Arfa or CEO Jarrett while each speaks. Jennifer McElroy, ASL interpreter, is visible at the bottom right of the screen in an A-frame outline. Jennifer is wearing a hunter green dress with matching large green eye glasses and a short brown pixie-like haircut. A black bar is along the bottom of the screen viewed horizontally and displays captions in white font. At the top left corner, the MOPD logo is visible in white.

At minute 9:54, a photograph is displayed. The photograph shows CEO Jarrett, Commissioner Arfa, Leah Katz-Hernandez, Claudia Gordon and Maria Town at the Obama Center on John Lewis Plaza on opening day, Juneteenth, 2026. Maria is holding up a royal blue fan with white lettering displaying the Obama Center logo. The Forum building is in the background, along with other people moving around and a portion of a white tent. The mood is happy and joyous.

As the interview closes, the same image displayed at the start is shown again.

On October 15, the MOPD All Access Podcast had its second live show. For this episode, we welcomed content creators and disability advocates Yare Tua and Natasha Caudill to take the stage for a conversation.

Yare and Natasha are Chicago-based content creators who talk about their disabilities in content they make for YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and more. As part of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, Yare and Natasha talked about their own career paths, using their platforms, and what advice they might have for anyone interested in creating content.

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

This podcast was recorded on October 15, 2025 at Central West Community Center, 2102 West Ogden Avenue.

In 2024, the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities launched a new project to help people in Chicago with disabilities from gun and community violence. At our Gun Violence Awareness event this past June, gun and community violence survivors and anti-violence advocates shared their powerful stories and MOPD was able to highlight some of the community-based organizations who are working with survivors every day.

On this episode of the MOPD All Access Podcast, we share part of that conversation, but first, Christina and Lauren talk to Porcia Seals, the coordinator of the Disabled Survivors of Gun and Community Violence Project, and Clare Stanhope, training officer, about their experiences working on the project.

At the end of the episode, high school student Sky Sims from Young Authors Chicago shares an original poem she wrote called “Grief is a Windy City.”

Learn more about MOPD’s Disabled Survivors of Gun and Community Violence Project here: https://www.chicago.gov/city/en/depts/mopd/supp_info/gun-violence-disability-chicago.html

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

One of MOPD’s best known programs is the Home Modification program, or HomeMod, which makes accessibility updates to the homes of people with disabilities and older adults. Ramps, lifts and wider doorways can help someone get in or out of their house or apartment. Accessible kitchens and bathrooms can adapt an existing home to make it easier to use.

2025 marks the 25th anniversary of the HomeMod program, which also just worked with its 2,000th client!

This month, the MOPD All Access Podcast spotlights this program and its major milestone. Program Director Mark Nobriga and Disability Specialist Yazmeen Ramirez talk about how this program came to be and how it allows Chicago residents with disabilities to live independently.

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts. Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

The MOPD All Access Podcast celebrated Mental Health Awareness Month this year with our first ever live show. Our guest is Alexa James, the CEO of NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Chicago. Alexa previously appeared on All Access Episode 10, Mental Health Beyond Awareness. https://youtu.be/o1DEnYUrwQc

Find Alexa James on LinkedIn at linkedin.com/in/alexa-james-ms-lcsw-29486364/

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com or wherever you get your podcasts.

Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

“I always wanted to be an actor since I was probably born,” says Santina Muha in this fun and frank conversation. Santina is a comedian and actor who hosts the series “Rollin’ With My Homies,” featuring conversations with wheelchair users like herself. Santina tells Christina and Lauren that while she doesn’t always think of herself as a disability activist first, she has been advocating for herself since she was 6 years old and sees her performance work as an extension of that.

Find Santina Muha on YouTube at @santinamuha2016.

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com

Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

In honor of National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month (March), the MOPD All Access Podcast welcomes Dani Smith of City Colleges of Chicago to talk about a Transitions program City Colleges has for students with disabilities.

Dani Smith is the District Director of Comprehensive Transition Programs. In this job, she supports students with disabilities and oversees After 22, a program for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In Illinois, special education programs in high schools end at the age of 22, but many students still need support in their transition to employment. Students in After 22 program create an individual plan to take them from school to employment. The program celebrated its first completion ceremony in the summer of 2024.

After 22 is a City Colleges of Chicago program run at Richard J. Daley College and Wilbur Wright College. Students in the program can get financial aid or work with IDHS’ Division of Rehabilitation Services to get support. Students who join must be 18 years or older, have a high school diploma and a developmental or individual disability.

The summer youth job program One Summer Chicago, which Dani mentioned, is accepting applications now at onesummerchicago.org. Join the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities on Saturday, April 26 from 12-3PM to apply for summer jobs and get information at the Inclusive Summer Jobs Expo. This event will be held at the Little Italy Branch of the Chicago Public Library at 1336 West Taylor Street. For more information, go to cityofchicago.org/disabilities.

Learn more about the Anixter program connecting students with internships here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g6EYbde6zz4

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com

Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.

InfiniTeach is a Chicago-based nonprofit that has been a leader in technology, accessibility, and inclusion for people who are neurodiverse. On the latest episode of the #MOPDAllAccess podcast, we speak to four members of the InfiniTeach team -- co-founders Katie Hench and Lally Daley Hotchkiss and employees Aliyah Rich and Ned Williams -- about how to build a more inclusive world for people who are neurodiverse. Because people who are neurodiverse show up in every workplace and career, whether we know it or not, “everyone has a neurodiverse team.” We can all carry on InfiniTeach’s important work!

Stream podcast audio at mopdallaccess.podbean.com

Follow MOPD at mopdchicago on X, Facebook, Instagram and connect with us on LinkedIn.