On Friday, December 26, 2025, Bob Kafka, the legendary and prolific disability rights organizer, advocate, and activist, passed away.

Though he had remarkable policy knowledge and inventiveness and was an excellent and casually charismatic (and when necessary LOUD) voice on behalf of his communities, Bob’s life could most aptly be expressed with the saying “Actions speak louder than words.” He was a man of action, one who understood organizing and fights for people power as simply about doing the work, not self-imposing barriers to his role or what shape activism should take, not getting caught up or slowed down by politeness or hierarchy, but doing whatever was needed in the fight for freedom. Bob famously attended to tasks big and small, flashy and unglamorous, he was a worker for the cause and his work never required him to have any particular title or authority. He was a giant of this movement because he did the work with a clear heart and the trust and love of his community.

Over his decades of pioneering work, Bob led on countless programs, policies, and direct actions. One of his greatest policy wins, and one that is still improving the material conditions of disabled people today, was the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program, a 2005-2006 federal Medicaid initiative that moved resources from institutional settings and solutions to in-home, community-based and self-directed care. In an excellent and in-depth 2007 New Mobility interview with Bob and his eternal organizing partner and wife Stephanie Thomas MFP was described as “based on a simple idea. Basically, it provides a pool of money that can be used to get people out of institutions and build the community infrastructure necessary to keep them in the community.” In that same interview Bob uses a nautical metaphor to describe the impact MFP would have on our nation — turning our nation’s long-term care system is as slow and deliberate as turning around the Queen Mary. But, he says, “The Queen Mary is turning.” This was the kind of work that Bob produced—work that actually addressed the needs of the people and wins that have lasted decades.

Bob became synonymous with ADAPT but it’s a good example of his life that he was not even one of its founders. Having recently acquired a disability and on fire to be of service and do good work in the disability rights movement, Bob simply found an existing organization that he thought was working, became involved with them, and went forth to a massive body of work together. Bob was a true organizer, not a glory seeker. He was a brave, serious, visionary leader in the liberation struggle for disabled people for the last five decades and one of the greatest single examples for how we should carry on the work of the disability rights movement.

“Don’t Mourn, Organize”
“Free Our People”

Photo Credit: Jorge Sanhueza Lyon/KUT News

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Sam Mickens
Director of Communications
(646) 945-0918
Sam.Mickens@disabilityrightsca.org

Disability Rights California (DRC) – Is the agency designated under federal law to protect and advocate for the rights of Californians with disabilities. The mission of DRC is to defend, advance, and strengthen the rights and opportunities of people with disabilities.