CDCAN REPORT #207-2011: Memorial services for Jana Overbo, disability rights advocate, at Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley

Bay Area Disability Rights Advocate Jana Overbo Passes Away

Memorial Service Set for December 22 at 5 PM at the Ed Roberts Campus in Berkeley

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN) [Last updated 12/21/2011 11:40 PM] - A celebration of the life of Jana Overbo, a widely respected and beloved Bay Area disability rights advocate, is scheduled to be held December 22, 2011, Thursday late afternoon at 5:00 PM, at the Ed Roberts campus at 307 Adeline Street in Berkeley.  Overbo passed away unexpectedly in her sleep on December 19th, Monday at her home.

Overbo is survived by her parents, two sisters, a niece, and a nephew and many friends. Condolences for Jana Overbo’s family can be emailed to her parents John and Pat Frykman at the following email address: johnfryk@gmail.com

Close friend Connie Arnold, a Sacramento area disability rights advocate, mourned her death, saying she loved Overbo for her "strong spirit" and for the "good times we had over the years...I will miss her so very much."

Another close friend, Nikki Brown-Booker expressed grief of losing "...one of my very best friends. I will miss her friendship and laughter...I loved her a lot and it is a big loss not only to me but to the disability community."

Her passing follows a series of unexpected deaths of other prominent and respected disability advocates in the State including Laura Williams last July, who was the longtime president of Californians for Disability Rights (CDR) and Sandy Varga of Los Angeles who died in September.  Varga was a leader of the Personal Assistance Services Council of Los Angeles County - the public authority for the county's In-Home Supportive Services program.

Details of Overbo's Memorial Services

WHEN:  December 22, 2011 - Thursday
TIME:  5:00 PM (starting time of the services)
WHERE:  Ed Roberts Campus, 3075 Adeline Street, Berkeley, CA 94703  (Located Directly Across the Street from the Ashby BART Station next to Center for Independent Living in Berkeley.  Persons taking BART can get off at the Ashby Station and take the elevator up to the Ed Roberts Campus)
Go to Ed Roberts Campus Website for directions: http://edrobertscampus.org
WHO SHOULD COME:  Friends and family, former and current co-workers and others are invited to celebrate the life of Jana Overbo.   
CELEBRATION PARTY: There will be light refreshments and drinks.   People attending are welcome to come mingle with others and share your memories and stories of her amazing life and contributions to the disability community.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Connie  Arnold at 916-743-9007 (cell), close friend of Jana Overbo

Overbo First Ever "Disability Employment Navigator"

Overbo was responsible for establishing the first ever disability employment navigator position in the State in march of 2003, with responsibilities that included working with prospective employers in the hiring of persons with disabilities and ensuring that the three San Francisco One stop Career Centers were accessible to persons with all types of disabilities.

From 1992 to 1995, she worked in Ireland, and was instrumental in helping to mobilize that country's independent living movement for people with disabilities.  During that time in Ireland she worked as development director and information officer of the Center for Independent Living in Dublin, Ireland.

Her disability advocacy included working as an independent living advocate for the Independent Living Resource Center in San Francisco, and also worked with the Center for Independent Living in Berkeley and the World Institute on Disability (WID) - a respected disability advocacy organization  co-founded by the Judy Heumann, Joan Leon and the late Ed Roberts. WID's mission in communities and nations around the globe is to eliminate barriers to full social integration, increase employment, economic security, and health care for persons with disabilities - issues that Overbo felt strongly about and fought for all her life as an advocate.

Overbo's long career also included other significant interests as a production assistant and associate producer from 1986 to 1992 at KPIX TV-5 in San Francisco. According to friend Connie Arnold, Overbo was recognized for her work by winning several awards.

Overbo Strong Advocate Against Budget Cuts and Disability Rights

Overbo helped support legal action and other efforts to promote the rights of people with disabilities, mental health needs and seniors to live in their own communities and homes, as recognized by the federal Americans with Disabilities Act, and the 1999 US Supreme Court Olmstead Decision that required the states to take steps to avoid the unjustified or unnecessary institutionalization of persons with disabilities, mental health needs and seniors.

Connected to that issue was her strong advocacy in recent years in protests and other efforts to fight against massive State budget cuts to critical health and human service programs including In-Home Supportive Services, SSI/SSP and Medi-Cal.  She was a active and strong participant in a protest encampment in 2010 in Berkeley called "Arnieville" (named for then Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger as a rebooted version of the 1930's "Hooverville" shanty towns built by homeless people during the Great Depression, so named after then President Herbert Hoover). The "Arnieville" encampment, which lasted several weeks and also came to Sacramento, was a precursor to the "Occupy" movements in 2011.

SOME TRIBUTES FROM FRIENDS AND DISABILITY RIGHTS ADVOCATES

ADRIENNE LAUBY (KPFA Radio - Berkeley): "I'm sad to read this.  I met Jana at 'Arnieville' [2009 weeks long encampment in Berkeley to protest state budget cuts - a precursor to the 'Occupy' movement] and she helped talk about our protest on KPFA. Jana was the definition of vibrant and her stories were fascinating. It's hard to believe she's gone..."

CDCAN Note: people can hear Overbo and others speak during that protest by going to the archive of the KPFA program through the Pushing Limits website: http://www.pushinglimits.i941.net/?p=48

NIKKI BROWN-BOOKER: "Jana was one of my very best friends. I will miss her friendship and laughter and one thing you could always say about Jana is she had great style. I loved her a lot and it is a big loss not only to me but to the disability community."

CONNIE ARNOLD: "Jana was a good friend of mine who I knew since 1981 from my days at U.C. Berkeley...My mother who knew her said Jana loved her sugar cookies and she always was appreciative of the things we did for her...She loved the Hot House Flowers band.  She liked Rock n Roll music.  Jana loved her cats Baine who died last year and she loved her cat Nunca that was living with her at her apartment.

Jana was loved by her life-long friends, Kathy Myers, Nikki Booker, Connie Arnold, Rick Bacigalupi, and others... Jana had several caregivers who she appreciated including Ruth, Juanita, and Stephanie. Jana was a wonderful person and a good advocate when she was doing well.  She was really appreciative of a spa day she had about a week ago at home where her toenails and her hair were done for her, and she loved it.  She said her feet were so pretty.  As her friend, I loved Jana for her strong spirit and her laughs over the good times we had over the years.  She will be missed so much."

CRYSTAL PADILLA (Disability Rights California in Oakland): "Jana was a fabulous advocate and helped with Laguna Honda and she is going to be a big loss for the disability community."

JOAN LEON (World Institute on Disability):  "Oh my, this is terrible news!  I always loved Jana, I admired her style, her positive view of life, and her willingness to try anything that might work.  We enjoyed having her at WID [World Institute on Disability].  I was always charmed by her work in Ireland and personally loved her red hair. I join Devva in saying - "bye Jana -you had a great life and touched many people".

BLANE BECKWITH (disability rights advocate, Bay Area): "This news makes me feel very sad. Our community has lost a very gifted advocate, not to mention a very special person.  I first met Jana in 1980, when she was a student at UC Berkeley. I will  miss her very much."

MAGGIE "DEE" DOWLING (disability and senior rights advocate and Bay Area radio talk show host);  "One more person from our advocacy community. My condolences to Jana's family and friends."

DEBORAH DOCTOR (Disability Rights California - DRC): "I am SO sorry to hear about Jana. She was such a blazing spirit...I will miss her."

SUSAN HENDERSON (Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund - DREDEF): "I'm so sorry to hear the news about Jana.  I ran into her many times over the years, and always appreciated her sincerity and enthusiasm. She was a sweet woman.  My thoughts are with you."

MARTY OMOTO (California Disability Community Action Network - CDCAN): "This is so hard to believe. She was a strong spirit and a good spirit and that part of her will always be with her family and friends and the community she loved, cherished and fought for.  She was deeply loved by family and friends and respected by all who came to know her. So she will always be remembered - she will never be forgotten - but most of all because of how she touched us all, she will be deeply missed - the warm human being that filled a room with her energy and love of life for her family and friends.  We will miss that.   Let us all send a prayer and thoughts to Jana's family.
When I think of her passing - so unexpected and so sad yet tied to a life that had happiness, challenges and hope, I remember that James Taylor song:

Just yesterday morning they let me know you were gone
Suzanne the plans they made put an end to you
I walked out this morning and I wrote down this song
I just can't remember who to send it to
I've seen fire and I've seen rain
I've seen sunny days I thought would never end
I've seen lonely times when I could not find a friend
But I always thought that I'd see you again...

I think we all thought we would see her again. one more time.  And so it is even harder to say goodbye because we want to hold onto to her life as we knew it.  And now we have to let go - and say goodbye to Jana...as we have done in recent days and years to so many people we loved and cared about...my sisters and more recently my dad, Laura Williams and Sandy Varga.  Warren Mattingly. Aaron Dimmitt.  Adam Marshall.  Paul Longmore. Tommy Yerby. Noel Nuedeck.  Julie Guzman.  Michael O'Riordan. Donald Roberts.  Joan Lee.  Bill Young.  Ruth Shelton.  Betty Bacon.  Jane Jackson. Nancy Seyden.  So many others.  Lives that mattered. Every life does.
Fire and rain.  We always thought we would see them one more time again..."

UPCOMING CDCAN REPORTS AND ALERTS THURSDAY:

• Update on Medi-Cal provider lawsuits
• Update on Developmental Services cuts, changes (regional centers and developmental centers)
• Update on federal issues impacting people with disabilities, mental health needs, the blind, seniors