Transcript Voices of Virginia - The Arc of Virginia

VOICES OF VIRGINIA
Katherine Olson
Self-Advocacy Coordinator
The Arc of Virginia
VOICES OF VIRGINIA
Voices of Virginia is a statewide self-advocacy
group run by people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities for people with
intellectual and developmental disabilities
 Voices of Virginia helps individuals with
intellectual and developmental disabilities speak
as one voice
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VOICES OF VIRGINIA
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We are composed of representatives from nine
local self-advocacy groups located all across
Virginia:
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People First of Charlottesville
People First of Northern Virginia
People 4 People ( South Hampton Roads)
Our Voices (Norfolk)
People First of Chesterfield
The Arc of Greater Williamsburg- Self-Advocacy
Program
The Arc of Rappahannock- Self-Advocacy Program
Four Seasons (Richmond)
Hampton/Newport News Aktion Club
What does self-advocacy
mean to you?
ACCORDING TO THE ARC OF US…
Self-advocacy gives people their rights of basic
personhood and citizenship by letting them speak
up and stand up for themselves
 Self-advocacy contributes to the knowledge,
experience, and wisdom that others have of your
needs and desires
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HISTORY OF SELF-ADVOCACY
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1967: Sweden
Swedish parent’s organization held a meeting for
people with developmental disabilities
 Leisure clubs were formed for individuals with
intellectual and developmental disabilities
 1968 & 1970: National Conferences were held for
members of these clubs; participants developed
statements on how they wanted to be treated
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HISTORY OF SELF-ADVOCACY
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1972: Movement Spreads
Great Britain and Canada
 1973: First Self-Advocacy conference, May We Have a
Choice, is held in British Columbia, Canada.
Individuals from Oregon attend and take the
information home with them
 1974: First People First convention is held in Salem,
Oregon. Instead of being led by professionals, as was
the case for the Canadian conference, it was run by
people with disabilities
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HISTORY OF SELF-ADVOCACY
Oregon: Within five years, Oregon had over 1,000
members of self-advocate groups
 Today, the self-advocacy movement has grown
into an international movement in an estimated
43 countries, with 17,000 members. In the US
alone, there are an estimated 800 self-advocacy
groups
 Every chapter is different in their own way
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PEOPLE FIRST
An international movement
 Individuals representing themselves
 Primary Objectives: To meet the needs of
individuals with I/DD so that they may live
independent and normal lives
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HOW DID PEOPLE FIRST GET ITS
NAME?
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January 8, 1974: At a conference planning
meeting one person talked about being labeled as
“mentally retarded” and said, “I want to be
known as a person first!”
HISTORY OF PEOPLE FIRST IN VIRGINIA
Virginia’s People First started right here in
Virginia Beach- it’s time to take it to the next
level!
 1989: After attending The Association for
Severely Handicapped (TASH) Conference in
Richmond, individuals from Virginia Beach
began to meet informally
 1990: Virginia Beach chapter requests funds from
the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities
 1991: Virginia Beach chapter receives funding,
hires a staff, and attends the national People
First Conference in Nashville, Tennessee
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HISTORY OF PEOPLE FIRST IN VIRGINIA
1991: People First chapters formed in Norfolk
and Northern Virginia
 1992: 130 people attend Virginia Beach’s “The
Power Behind the Vote.” Afterwards, they file
papers and become a statewide non-profit
organization; People First of Virginia, Inc. is born
 1993: The first State Conference was held in
Charlottesville. New chapters were established in
Emporia, Harrisonburg, Staunton, and
Chesterfield
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HISTORY OF PEOPLE FIRST IN VIRGINIA
1994: Northern Virginia hosts the National
People First Conference
 1995: Several chapters become inactive as a
result of poor funding and other problems
 1997: The Arc of Virginia provides People First
with support and resources; as a result, two
chapters are started in Prince William and
Fauquier
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HISTORY OF PEOPLE FIRST IN VIRGINIA
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1998: The Arc of Virginia and People First
collaborate and successfully apply for a grant from
the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities.
Staff are hired to develop community support,
maintain self-advocacy groups, and create new selfadvocacy groups. A consumer is hired to staff
People First of Virginia
2000-2007: People First chapters continue their
work independently of one another
2008: The Arc of Virginia hires a self-advocacy
coordinator
2008: The Arc of Virginia’s first State Convention;
self-advocates attend and develop a credo
What We Expect of Our Service System
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The State will take the “R” word out of the name of
the Department
Even at Arc meetings that we won’t hear the “R”
word being used
We will live in the community, like other people
We won’t live in institutions
We will have something to do during the day… like a
JOB that pays OK money
We will have a way to get around town
The service system will acknowledge the failure of
stereotypes like ones that say we are not capable of
doing things or making our own decisions
The Arc of Virginia, 2008 State Convention
What We Expect of Our Service System
We will have authority over the services we get
 We will have authority over our own life… that
is, power over our life
 We will be part of any decision making our life to
help us stay safe and healthy
 People won’t tell us what to do
 Our parents and others will listen to us and not
tell us what to do like we are children.
Sometimes parents don’t listen well. We can
make decisions! But we want to stay safe too
 You will respect that we want to date like other
people do, have boyfriends and girlfriends and
maybe even get married
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The Arc of Virginia, 2008 State Convention
WHAT DO WE HAVE TODAY?
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Tremendous need for statewide self-advocacy effort;
we need to work together!
Nine local I/DD self-advocacy groups located all
across Virginia
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People First of Charlottesville
People First of Northern Virginia
People 4 People (South Hampton Roads)
Our Voices (Norfolk)
People First of Chesterfield
The Arc of Greater Williamsburg- Self-Advocacy Program
The Arc of Rappahannock- Self-Advocacy program
Four Seasons (Richmond)
Hampton/Newport News Aktion Club
HOW DID VOICES OF VIRGINIA START?
The Justice Department found that Virginia
unnecessarily institutionalized people with
intellectual disabilities in training centers and
failed to provide adequate community-based
services, violating the Americans with
Disabilities Act
 The state faces a lawsuit if it does not fix the
problems, as outlined in the DOJ findings letter
 DOJ asked to meet with People First Chapters in
Virginia
 Historic moment for Virginia
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MARCH 7TH MEETING
MARCH 7TH MEETING
MARCH 7TH MEETING
ISSUES WE IDENTIFIED AT THE MEETING
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Major barriers to equality and community
integration for people with I/DD: waiting lists,
institutions and sheltered workshops
Other issues: community inclusion,
transportation, employment, discrimination,
need for help with bill paying, housing, limited
health care, accessibility
WHAT COULD WE DO TOGETHER?
Help one another by speaking up for each other,
as well as speaking for those who cannot speak
for themselves
 Contact candidates for the election to make them
aware of the issues surrounding the I/DD
community; write letters to delegates and the
state legislature
 Advocate to shut down the institutions
 Peer advocacy, volunteer work, vote, promote
public awareness in schools, at church, and in the
workplace
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APRIL 26TH MEETING
Met again to continue the momentum
APRIL 26TH MEETING
APRIL 26TH MEETING
WHAT WE’RE DOING NOW
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Help local self-advocacy groups come together to
establish a statewide voice
Help the self-advocacy movement spread across
Virginia
We will come together as one strong voice,
representing the self-advocates of Virginia with I/DD,
to inform the public that people with disabilities are
able to accomplish many things
We will work together to promote the equality and
independence for people with intellectual and
developmental disabilities
We will meet quarterly to discuss the issues that
currently face the I/DD community- everyone has a
story to tell
AUGUST 11TH MEETING
WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP?
Do you know of a local self-advocacy group that
wants to be involved?
 Is there a need for a self-advocacy group in your
region?
 Spread the word!
 Share your experiences
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CONTACT ME
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Katherine Olson
Self-Advocacy Coordinator, The Arc of Virginia
E-mail: [email protected]
Telephone: 804-649-8481, ext. 100