and Fay. Only Laurie was not a person with a disability. From 1974 to mid-1976, ACCD was a volunteer organization. Board members paid their own expenses to quarterly meetings, which were held at metropolitan areas around the country in order to expose Board members to local, state and regional issues and to raise the organization's profile. In early 1976, Fay wrote a small grant proposal to the Rehabilitation Services Administration of the federal Health Education and Welfare (HEW) department. The purpose of the grant was to demonstrate coalition building. Grant award in hand, board members launched a search for the first ACCD staff member. Fiorito found him: at a conference in NYC, she heard a speech by Dr. Frank Bowe, a deaf researcher at NYU, and decided that he was the person. At its July 1976 meeting, the board agreed, hiring him as Director. That September, Bowe went to Washington, occupying a one-room office on Connecticut Avenue with an interpreter, Jan Jacobi. The organization's annual budget in 1976–1977 was $50,000. Four years later, it was $2,000,000. The staff grew to 20, including attorneys, rehabilitation counselors, and educators. Some board members were troubled by the growth. Suspicion was particularly high about funding. When a company donated $10,000 to the coalition, for example, the board spent hours at its next meeting debating whether to issue press releases denouncing that company (to demonstrate ACCD's independence). Other board members wanted the coalition to change its focus, from national advocacy to building up the capabilities of state and local coalitions. In 1981, after five years at the helm, Bowe departed. He was succeeded as Director by Reese Robrahn, a blind attorney. In 1983, its funds having dwindled to virtually nothing, the organization closed its doors. Explanations for its demise vary. The Reagan Administration was not interested in making grants to civil rights groups. Meanwhile, each disability group in the coalition—people with physical disabilities, the deaf, the blind, and individuals with cognitive limitations—responded to the threat posed by the Administration by retreating to protect its base. Membership In November 1976, ACCD had 21 organizational members. A year later, it had 60. During the same period, individual membership rose 500%. Representatives of the groups came to Washington once a year in a Delegate Council. These annual sessions revolved around resolutions, or broad goals for ACCD to pursue in the coming year, election of board members, and adoption