💛September 2022 MASS Flash ⚡
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Happy September everybody! Hope you've all had a great summer. We at MASS have a lot of exciting things going on this month, including the Future Leaders Meetup! and Self-Advocacy Impact Lab. We also have updates from our SDM and OVW projects. Finally, you can join us for opportunities to connect with other self-advocates in our Regional and Rainbow Group meetings, including a special Central In-Person Pizza Party Meetup. You can read about these and other events below!
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Hey everyone! Do you want to interact with other young leaders like yourself have some fun in the Fall?!
MASS has put together a virtual event for people 18-35 on Tuesday, September 20th 2022 from 6:00pm to 7:30pm.
Please join us to learn about what MASS does as a statewide organization and how to get involved. Meet new people, and - most importantly - learn about self-advocacy, leadership, and how to become the best version of yourself not only for today, not only for tomorrow…but for your future and for the rest of your life!
Click on the link or buttons below to learn more about the Future Leaders Meetup on Tuesday, September 20th from 6:00pm-7:30pm.
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Wednesday, September 28 from 5:30 pm - 7:30 pm |
Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy in partnership with Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong is excited to hold another Self-Advocacy Impact Lab (SAIL) on Wednesday, September 28 from 5:30pm-7:30pm.
SAIL is a hands-on intensive experience in which self-advocates can learn and experience the power of social change, by creating change from the ground up. Participants will work with the group and engage in discussions to learn strategies to create campaigns for change. Bring your ideas and be ready to learn!
Wednesday, September 28 from 5:30pm - 7:30pm:
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Are you interested in getting help with your healthcare? Introducing the Linkages Program from the Department of Public Health (DPH)!
The Linkages Program connects people 18 and older with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) to health care and promotion programs in their community.
You can work with the Linkages Program to create your own personal health care plan. The Linkages Coordinator will meet with you either virtually, over the phone, or in-person to see what works for you.
The Linkage Program looks to remove barriers to healthcare access and encourages self advocates to be confident, self-reliant, and knowledgeable about their rights and resources that are available to them.
Please contact Phelicha Berdet by emailing Phelicha.D.Berdet@mass.gov if you are interested in learning more about the Linkages Program.
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Are you interested in the DPH Linkages Program?
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Kamisha’s Corner!
A Back to School Message
Hey everyone! I hope you all had an amazing and incredible summer. As you know school is almost in session. This can be a little stressful and hard, especially when it comes to getting back in the swing of things.
But at the same time, I just want you to know that everything is going to be okay!
Take everything one day at a time. If you need to, take a moment to breathe and remind yourself that you got this - no matter what happens - and you can do whatever you put your mind to!
P.S. Something that can possibly help is to remind yourself how you have come this far in the first place!
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Supported Decision Making (SDM) - Beth Kollett SDMA Signing |
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[Image description: The peer guide team standing together in Millville town hall. From left to right Hezzy Smith, Beth Kollett, Kim Plaut, Sarah Binney, Donna Jay on facetime, and Marie Hennessy]
In January 2022, Donna Jay and Kim Plaut were hired as Supported Decision-Making (SDM) peer guides. The goal of the peer guides is to support self-advocates in the process of creating their own SDM Agreement/s. These agreements are important because they help individuals make their own decisions with support.
Beth Kollett, a self-advocate from Uxbridge, Massachusetts was chosen to be the first person to experience this peer guide process!
The peer guides worked very hard to create a process to help Beth figure out what goals she had and what was important to have in her agreements. The peer guides created questions about Beth’s goals, hobbies, supporters, and more to better understand what types of support Beth would want and create a clear agreement. They also talked about difficult topics like healthcare, housing, and higher education. The peer guides shared their own stories and experiences to help Beth open up to what is possible with an SDMA.
Beth shared that meeting with the peer guides helped her think about things in her life that she had not thought about before, like where she would want to live and managing her finances.
Everyone worked together to draft and edit an SDMA. The Peer Guides spoke with her supporters to make sure that everyone understood the agreement.
Beth had fantastic things to say about the SDM process. She shared that “The process was difficult and long, but worth it!” and that her favorite part was “getting to know Donna and Kim and hearing how they got involved in SDM.” She explained that the process helped make her a better advocate for herself and for others too.
On August 24th, 2022, Beth Kollett got her SDM agreement notarized, becoming the first participant to complete the SDMA process with the support of the peer guides! The Peer Guide team, pictured above, went down to city hall to watch Beth’s signing and celebrate with her.
Big congratulations to Beth and the Peer Guide team for your amazing and groundbreaking work!
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R3 (R Cubed) - Presentation at NAPSA Conference |
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You can learn more about the presentation, the app, and the R3 project by viewing the recent post on our MASS Facebook Page.
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REGIONAL + RAINBOW UPDATES |
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CENTRAL REGION: Sue Moriarty
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In-Person Regional Meeting Date for Central:
Pizza Party Meetup - Tuesday, September 13, from 5:00pm - 7:00pm:
Location: HMEA Autism Resource Center
712 Plantation St
Worcester, MA 01605
Join old friends and new ones for pizza, games, goodies and more!
Please RSVP by contacting Sue Moriarty by emailing sue@wearemass.org or calling (508) 209-7184.
Online Regional Meeting Dates for Central:
Drop-In Meeting - Wednesday, September 7, from 4:00pm - 5:30pm:
Regional Meeting - Tuesday, September 27, from 3:30pm - 5:30pm:
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SOUTHEAST REGION: Sarah Binney
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Online Regional Meeting Date for Southeast:
Thursday, September 22, from 6:00pm - 7:30pm:
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Rainbow Group: Pauline Bosma, Oscar Hughes, and Francesco Hladysz
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The Rainbow Group now meets twice a month! Here are our upcoming meetings.
Wednesday, September 14, from 5:30pm - 7:30pm:
Tuesday, September 27, from 5:30pm - 7:00pm:
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Online Regional Meeting Date for Metro
Thursday, September 15, from 6:00pm - 7:30pm:
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Online Regional Meeting Date for Northeast:
Wednesday, September 28, from 4:00pm - 5:30pm
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OVW/ - Mass Rights for Change |
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Let’s give a shout out to Mass Rights for Change, our OVW project! Our team continues to work together to support survivors with I/DD. In August we worked with our partners, Victim Rights Law Center and Pathways for Change, to work on brochures and infographics. We also continued to work on making our trainings and our Survivor Support Packet more accessible for everyone! We are looking forward to presenting about our collaboration to the Governor’s Council in September!
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We Want To Hear From You! |
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Is there anything exciting happening in your life that you are just itching to talk about? Want to share it with the world?!
If so, great because I, Kamisha Heriveaux, am always on the look out for interesting events, your hobbies, and topics that interest you - so please don't hesitate to reach out!
I can't wait to hear from all of YOU! Have a great day and keep on reading!
~ Kamisha
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MASS Advocates Standing Strong
200 Portland Street, Suite 500 c/o WeWork
Boston, MA 02114
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