In Honor &
Celebration of
Jeanette Nishikawa
Mary Ann Jones
Bob Roberts
Mary Ann Jones
Executive Director of the Westside Center for Independent Living, died September 24, 2007 in Burbank, CA with her beloved and devoted husband, Don and adored daughter, Wendy, at her side. Born January 20, 1944 in Omaha, Nebraska, the daughter of Eva and Delbert Nordell, Mary Ann led a wonderful and fulfilling life, achieving her goals one by one using her remarkable intellectual abilities and humor.
Strength of character and empathy were two of her most admired traits. She graduated from Saydel High School in Des Moines, Iowa in 1962 and a year later married her High School sweetheart, Don. She and Don became the proud parents of their only child, Wendy, in 1965. At the age of 23, Mary Ann, on a family camping trip, dove into a lake breaking her neck and severing her spinal column resulting in permanent paralysis.
As a quadriplegic, Mary Ann gave great credit to her time at the Sister Kenny Institute in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she gained the power to continue her life independently with Don at her side. She began her work on behalf of people with disabilities as a volunteer for the United Way.
In 1981 she graduated with honors from Mankato State University, Mankato, Minnesota with a degree in communications. Recognition of her skill in disability issues started with the position of Associate Director at the Sister Kenny Institute. Mary Ann and Don then moved to Chicago where she became the Director of Public Relations for the Schwab Rehabilitation Center before moving on to the National Easter Seal Society for five years. She opened her own Communications Company in 1988 and when she and Don moved to Burbank, CA, Mary Ann joined the staff at the Westside Center for Independent Living, first as Grants and Public Affairs Manager, then Development Director and in 1996 Executive Director, the position she held at her death.
Among her many awards and honors within the disability community: LA County Commission on Disability Access Award, and LA City Commission on the Status of Women Pioneer Woman Award. Affiliations included President, CA Foundation of Independent Living Centers, LA County Accessibility Appeals Board, St. John's Community Advisory Committee, American Association of People with Disabilities, S.C. Edison Consumer Advisory Panel, and Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago. She is survived by her loving husband of forty-four years, Don; their daughter, Wendy; and two brothers, Dennis and Curtis Nordell. There will be a memorial service at St. Andrew's Lutheran Church, 11555 National Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90064 on Tuesday, October 2nd at 2:00 p.m. The family requests that contributions in her memory be made to the Westside Center for Independent Living, 12901 Venice Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90066.
Published in the Los Angeles Times on 9/27/2007.
Jeanette Nishikawa
As executive director of the Disabled Resources Center in Long Beach since 1993, Jeanette has broad experience in Independent Living skills training, event planning, fundraising and administration and other disability issues.
As executive director of an independent living center with a small staff and budget of nearly half-a-million dollars, she recruits funding from both the state and federal government and private sources to provide services and counseling for people with disabilities. She has successfully obtained corporate employee donations and county dollars toward this end, and has developed sponsorships from companies such as Xerox to remove barriers to independent living. She also developed independent living skills curriculum, and developed counseling support groups.
Previously, she served as a service manager for the center from 1980 to 1993, where she worked directly with disability advocates and community members to lobby for change on behalf of people with disabilities. She also provided benefits counseling and service referral to those in need.
Prior to that she was an intern at Long Beach General Hospital from 1977 to 1979, where she managed alcohol rehabilitation, Asian-Pacific and South East Asian family outreach and developed and implemented a practical English acquisition program.
An active member of the community, she is a member of the Ethnic Advisory Committee of the State Department of Rehabilitation and past member of the Mayor’s Citizens Advisory Commission on Disability and the Advisory Committee for Community Rehabilitation Industries. She also served on the California State Independent Living Commission (1980-1985) and the board of directors of the local Y.M.C.A. and National Council on Alcoholism.
A certified alcohol counselor for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Social Services, she also holds a bilingual teaching certificate and a California Community College Teaching Credential.
Nishikawa earned a bachelor’s degree in social work and a master’s degree in community clinical psychology from the California State University, Long Beach in 1979 and 1988, respectively.
Bob Roberts
Robert L. Roberts (“Bob”), lifetime disability advocate and leader, passed away Saturday at the age of 52. Bob joined the disability rights movement in the 1960s and loved to tell of his relationship with Ed Roberts (no relationship) in Berkeley, who by many is credited with being the “Founder of the Disability Rights Movement.”
Bob was hanging out with Ed when he had founded the first (of now hundreds nationwide) Center for Independent Living in Berkeley. Ed’s advice: “You need to form your own independent living center over there in Marin.” Bob listened to Ed and went on to play an important role in initiating the organization of the Marin Center for Independent Living in late 1979. Beginning as a grass-roots organization of volunteers, spurred by the upsurge of the disabled, it went on to become an agency with 13 employees and a ¾ million dollar budget. Bob moved up the ranks at the Marin Center for Independent Living in his 20+ years with the agency from a staffer who ran the Personal Assistant Registry to being the Executive Director for over the last decade.
Bob’s particular passion over his lifetime was to a crucial issue for allowing people with disabilities to remain in their homes in the community: personal assistant care. Early on in his life he worked as a personal assistant. Then he organized and ran a business of personal assistants. Based on this zeal for assuring people with disabilities maximized their independence, he (and others) led County-wide efforts to form a Public Authority to provide in-home supportive services to those on Medi-Cal.
Until this death, he remained active as a Board member of the Public Authority. He participated in meetings, was the Chair of the Legislative Committee, a member of the Finance Committee and offered his expertise to support the Urgent Backup Care program. He recently (2005) developed the innovative online search “QuickMatch” (the Match.com for personal assistants) so that individuals needing in-home support could search 24/7 online for available, pre-screened, skilled, and compassionate personal assistants.
His community activism over three decades is far-reaching and longer than can be listed here. Some highlights: he served on the Board of Directors of California Foundation for Independent Living Centers; ; Board of Directors and Vice President, Blind and Visually Impaired of Marin; appointed member of the Marin County ADA Appeal Board; and Co-Vice President for the Northern California In-Home Supportive Services Consumer Alliance (CICA).
