Sarah Bacot

The Project

As a Fellow with Disability Rights Louisiana, Sarah is focused on the specific needs of individuals with disabilities who have been affected by disasters. As part of her project, she will provide direct services to clients dealing with a wide variety of disaster-related issues. In addition to providing services to individual clients, Sarah will work with community members and other stakeholders to develop more equitable disaster resilience in New Orleans and Louisiana more broadly.

Many individuals with disabilities face unique challenges before, during, and after natural disasters, from navigating the logistics of evacuation to ensuring access to essential services and assistive technology. Those with disabilities often also face unique barriers in housing and employment as a result of COVID-19. By combining direct services work with community outreach and policy advocacy, Sarah’s project will allow her to address both the immediate needs of her clients and to contribute to work and advocacy attempting to deal with the broader systemic issues affecting her clients.

Fellowship Plans

Sarah’s work with queer community inspired her to go to law school and to pursue public interest work. She was in her first year of high school when Hurricane Katrina swept away most of her Mississippi town. In the aftermath, she witnessed her community struggle and work to rebuild itself. She hopes that her experience working with marginalized communities and her personal experience with natural disasters will help her to be a better advocate for her clients.