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Hey all, Kamisha here! Happy New Year everyone! Can you believe this is the first Mass Flash of 2020? I most definitely can’t! We wanted to wish you a safe and fantastic year. As always keep reading!
Calling all January babies! First off, how cool is it to celebrate a birthday in the new year, all year round?! That must be amazing! We wish you nothing but the best this year and the years to come!
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Story Of The Month! Crystal Guyette!
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I just want say that Leominster really help in good times and bad times. But I really am proud of me for having that family I wanted since I was a kid. I have to give the credit to my providers who are my family for all for 10 years now. I really enjoy life in general. I work 3 days a week at McDonald's as cleaning lady and greet my customers. I like my job I want it close to home. Self-advocacy has helped me voice my opinions and helps me tell people how I'm feeling. I also want to tell people how awesome my mayor is. He's more than a mayor to me, he's a buddy of mine.
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Start 2020 as a Full-time Operations Coordinator with MASS!
Full-time Operations Coordinator Position Open with MASS Advocates Standing Strong! Email your cover letter, resume, and 3 references to info@ma-advocates.org. Apply soon for early consideration!
Read more
myemail.constantcontact.com
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Southeast Regional Coordinator:
Gail Delgado
Email:
Gail@ma-advocates.org
Phone:
339-832-2922
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Southeast Region!
Southeast self advocates are ready for 2020 and looking forward to the new year. Several new self advocate groups are either in the planning stages or have begun, Arc of Northern Bristol County, JRC, are Mansfield Redemption.
The self-advocates on the Cape, CAST-Cape Advocates Standing together are ready for the new year and forging ahead in advocacy for all.
SAVE THE DATE!!!!!! Join other self-advocates!!!!
Southeast Regional Meeting!
January 9, 2020 6pm to 7:30pm
Lakeville Public Library,4 Precinct Street Lakeville MA
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NORTHEAST REGION UPDATES!
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Northeast Regional Coordinator:
Bridget Crowley
Email:
Bridget@ma-advocates.org
Phone:
781-789-4274
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Northeast Region!
Thanks to everyone who came out to our Snow Ball event on December 18th. It was great to celebrate with everyone and raise some funds to help members attend the upcoming Self Advocates Becoming Empowered Moving Mountains Conference! Stay tuned for more ways you can support leaders to attend this amazing conference. Thanks also to everyone who donated warm gloves and hats for the Merrimack Valley Hope Mission. We wish to salute the following businesses and individuals for donating food or gifts to our event: Edible Arrangements in Haverhill; Cedars Foods, Panera Bread Company, Emily’s Bakery, Gametime, DeLeo’s Brick Oven Pizza,The Wicked Big Café, The Tap Restaurant; Paula Mione, and Wanda Burns.
Our next meeting is our Annual Meeting at 261 N. Main Street, Middleton at 6PM on January 15th. We are holding elections for Treasurer and Secretary of our Region. These positions are two-year commitments and they require you to attend the monthly regional meeting and one officers’ meeting a month. For more information, please contact Bridget at 781-789-4274. Happy 2020 to everyone!
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Central Regional Coordinator:
Sue Moriarty
Email:
Sue@ma-advocates.org
Phone:
508-209-7184
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Central Region!
The Central self-advocates had a fun and snowy December!
We celebrated the season at our regional meeting and get together in Worcester. We have some big plans for the new year but we took time out to watch a slide show of our year together, swap some cookies, play music, and enjoy being together!
The HMEA program that the self-advocates in Hopedale attended has moved to Franklin!
We continue to attend REDD and transportation group meetings in the region even as we dodged a LOT of snow in December! Deb Pierce is our transportation “rep”.
Jillian continues to surprise us …she recently made a video! And one of the members of the group talked about possibly moving someday! Justin generously continued his giving to help needy children at Christmas. His story was told in the Worcester Telegram newspaper!
The group is still talking about the MASS Conference, giving feedback and overall sharing what a good time they had!
Some of us are planning to attend the ADDP luncheon at the State House in January. We also talked about inviting a legislator to one of our regional meetings.
We were glad the weather cooperated with our December plans, and we are looking forward to our next meeting in 2020. Happy New Year everyone!
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METRO REGION UPDATES!

Metro Regional Coordinator:
Gail Delgado
Email:
Gail@ma-advocates.org
Phone:
339-832-2922
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Metro Regional!
Self-advocates in the Metro Region are excited for the New Year and all that will bring. Newly elected officers are: Anne Fracht President, Frank Thorne Vice President, Janice Smith Secretary. Looking forward to more self advocates coming out for the meeting with the region Coordinator working hard to help us reach out to more self-advocates in the region.
SAVE THE DATE
Join other self-advocates!!!!
JANUARY 16, 2020
6pm – 7:30pm
Beaverbrook STEP 85 Main Street, Watertown MA
GATOR Project co-researchers Kamisha and Cynthia all smiles about 2020, from the Metro and Southeast Regions.
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Please consider sponsoring the 17th Annual West Region Self Advocacy Conference! This event brings together advocates from across New England and enables them to make connections with other advocates and build friendships and to learn new things from one another. This event also provides an important platform for advocates to share their stories and make their voices heard. We cannot put on this event without support from like-minded groups, organizations, and individuals. We recognize sponsors who give any amount, starting at $1, with benefits such as personalized ads and thank-yous in our event program and on our facebook page, and, at higher levels of support, with tickets to the event. Please visit masswrsa.org to learn more!
ANNOUNCEMENT: The Rainbow Support Group of Western Massachusetts 2020 kickoff will be Wednesday, January 22nd, 5:30-7PM at the Western Massachusetts Training Consortium, 187 High St, Suite 303 (3rd floor), Holyoke MA. All LGBTQ+ self advocates and allies are welcome. No RSVP required.
See a hockey game with awesome self-advocates and support West Region Self Advocacy by joining us for our annual Thunderbirds Hockey Game Fundraiser on Sunday, March 8th 2020 at 3PM! Tickets are $15 for self-advocates and $20 for staff. Tickets include popcorn, a hot dog, and a soda, and a portion of all proceeds go to support West Region Self Advocacy. Please go to masswrsa.org to learn more and order tickets!
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LEGISLATIVE NEWS

Happy Holidays everyone! Our next legislative meeting at the state house is on Wednesday January 8th 2020 at 10:00. We are meeting on the 2nd floor at the bottom of the Grand Staircase where the benches are located. If you have any questions or concerns please contact Marie at 617-624-7549 or email info@ma-advocates.org thank you!
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Thank you!
Hey everyone, Kamisha here! Another year has come and gone! As we enter 2020, I would like to take some time to say thank you for taking time out of your day to read and support The Mass Flash all these years! You don’t know how much it means to me. I am truly grateful! Hold on tight because there is a lot more in store for you!
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Rainbow Corner!

Happy New Year to all from the Rainbow Support Group!
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Do You Want to Be in the MASS FLASH?
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Attention Everyone!
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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Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong
500 Harrison Avenue, Suite 116 | 617-624-7549
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