By Ian Miller
On October 31st, 2025, The Golden Scoop hosted congresswoman and Kansas Representative Sharice Davids for a roundtable discussion on ABLE (Achieving a Better Life Experience) accounts for uniquely abled people. Tom Tracy, deputy director for the Kansas State Treasurer’s Office, was also in attendance. We were honored to host them at The Golden Scoop, as the topic of discussion was an incredibly important one.
ABLE accounts are special banking accounts for people with disabilities, which allow them to save more money than the $2000 limit imposed by Social Security programs: ABLE accounts allow account holders to save up to a cap of $100,000, quite the life-changing sum and one which allows them to really create a lifelong plan for their future! It’s hard to dream with only $2000 in the bank, but ABLE accounts do away with that issue.
Do you have a goal of living independently in your own house? Maybe you want to travel the world and eventually visit every country someday? Or maybe you just want to save up for that new vacuum you’ve had your eye on? (Seriously, that’s when you know you’re finally an adult: when you get excited about buying a new vacuum.)
These dreams, and those of thousands of uniquely abled people around the country, were the purpose of our roundtable discussion.
“[It’s] great to be here to celebrate the National Disability Employment Awareness Month,” said Congresswoman Sharice Davids. “I am just so happy to be in such an incredible, incredible place to celebrate this, because I feel like all of us in this room know this, but The Golden Scoop isn’t just an ice cream shop or a coffee shop . . . You know, I really think of this as — it’s a shining example of what inclusive employment can look like when people focus on . . . the abilities [of uniquely abled people] and the different ways that people can contribute to our community.”
She spoke about her efforts to assist the uniquely abled community, mentioning her authorship of a Congressional bill aimed at increasing employment of disabled individuals in the workforce. “[One] of those efforts is a bill I introduced, called the ABLE Employer Flexibility Act, which is a bipartisan bill . . . that would help make workplaces more inclusive and financially fair . . . it’s a bipartisan effort ensuring that everyone has a chance to work, earn, and build a future, because . . . it’s a Kansas value, it’s an American value.”
Katie Morrison, working part-time for both KU Med and the Kansas City Chiefs, shared her goal of buying a new vacuum, and also her joy at being able to use her ABLE income to come off of Kansas benefits! “So, when I first started working, I was so scared,because those [Social Security income and housing benefits] were all things I depended on . . . since becoming an adult . . . and I started an ABLE account, and I was able to put my paychecks into my ABLE account and then gradually come off of all those benefits. . . And the first thing I bought off my ABLE account, you know, was a vacuum, and that felt really nice to buy my own vacuum.”
Whatever dreams you have, as big as a house or as small as a vacuum, an ABLE account can help make them happen, and people like Congresswoman Sharice Davids do their part every day to make those dreams a reality.
Find the Golden Scoop at these locations:
9540 Nall Avenue
Overland Park, Kansas 66207
913-284-804410460 W 103rd Street
Overland Park, Kansas 66214
913-232-9639Hours:
Monday – Closed
Tuesday-Saturday: 8am-7pm
Sunday @103rd: 9am-5pm
Sunday @ 95th: 1pm-5pm
