| This is a very historic moment in our self-advocacy movement because
up until now, parents and self-advocates did not work together except through
Partners in Policymaking or sometimes in state legislative advocacy. Now
we want to build our allies so that we support each other. Not to take control,
just to give real support for what we want in our lives.
I am very excited about Project Leadership, which has been funded by the
Administration on Developmental Disabilities to help self-advocates and family
members to understand what is going on in Washington, D.C. Historically,
only professionals and their organizations did the talking for us and our
family members. Lately, the Voice of the Retarded (VOR) has been effective
in telling members of Congress how they feel about the needs of their sons
and daughters. But this organizations doesn't speak for us. They do not agree
with what we want - the freedom to live in the community, authority to make
decisions for ourselves and to spend money the way we want, the support we
need to be successful, and the responsibility to give back to our communities,
help others learn to speak-up for themselves so they will become self-determined
individuals.
Project Leadership will help you to tell the federal government your hopes
and dreams for yourself and your family members. It will also help you to
gain confidence in yourself and to realize that you can make a difference,
not just for yourself but for other people. It will do this by training you
in three week-long sessions in Washington, D.C. The training will give you
confidence that what you have to say, no matter how you may communicate,
is important and that it can affect many lives. It will teach you to communicate
effectively about your ideas, so that you can be heard at the local, state
and national levels. It completes the circle that started when you got involved
in a self-advocacy or family group.
The great thing about Project Leadership is that Self Advocates Becoming
Empowered are partnering with Community Options, the National Parent Network
on Disabilities, and the National Program Office on Self-Determination. This
is a real partnership, not just in name only. We work together on all aspects
of the project, and each of the partners also has their own activities and
tasks to complete. We are all very committed to making this work. We would
like to see a nationwide group of trained leaders, self-advocates and family
members together. We would like to help new leaders to emerge, and we would
like to see them learn how to work with each other to make change happen
at the national level.
On the next page we have listed some
of the things Self Advocates Becoming Empowered has done so far on this project
(which began in October, 1999). Please join us!
Sincerely, James Meadours, Chairperson |
