Looking for a fun evening to connect with friends, meet new people, and enjoy some friendly competition? Join West Region Self Advocacy for our Self Advocacy Game Night!
🗓 Tuesday, July 21st 🕟 4:30–7:00 PM 📍 185 High Street, Holyoke, MA
✨ Everyone is welcome! 🎲 Play board games and card games 🍿 Enjoy FREE snacks and drinks 🤝 Make new friends in a fun, welcoming, and inclusive environment
Whether you’re a longtime self advocate or just want to check out what we’re all about, we’d love to see you there! Bring a friend and come join the fun! 🎉♟️🎲
From September 23-25, 2024 West Region Self Advocate Steven Tobey and Self Advocacy Peer Coordinator, Amber Pettell traveled to Marlborough, MA to participate in the 2024 Paul W. Spooner Generational Leadership Summit.
The summit, hosted by the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC), Disability Policy Consortium (DPC), and Boston Center for Independent Living (BCIL), tackles the future of disability advocacy.
The summit included the new generation of disability advocacy leaders, and emerging leaders in advocacy in social justice for services, programs, and the human and civil rights of people with disabilities in Massachusetts. New and emerging disabled leaders came together with some existing leaders to discuss where disability advocacy needs to go in the coming decade, and what we can learn from the past that got us to where we are today.
Steven and Amber recently sat down to discuss the experience.
Amber: In your own words, what is the Paul W. Spooner Generational Leadership Summit?
Steven: The Paul W. Spooner Generational Leadership Summit is to help people gain leadership skills and learn about disability history and more about activism. We also did work groups where everyone got to choose between three different things, housing, public transit and the rights of people with disabilities. So the goal was to teach us to be leaders that build change campaigns. It’s about building ideas that work to change things in positive ways.
Amber: What made you want to apply?
Steven: I was interested in learning new skills on how to become a better leader for my self advocacy group and for the West Region. I hope to use some of those skills that I learned to help lead some of the west region self advocates and help people reach their goals
A: What’s one thing that you want to change in the world, or is there anything you want to build to make something better?
S: The one thing I would hope that I can change or make better is creating more and better housing for people who have disabilities.
A: Do you want to talk a little bit about the housing related project that you worked on at the summit?
S: So the project might help us get more housing resources out to people with disabilities. So our goal is to try to create a forum event where people with disabilities can go to learn and get help. We want to show people the resources that already exist that they can use.
A: What was your favorite part of the summit?
S: My favorite part was probably learning about the ADA law, which I found out that was actually signed six days after I was born. On July 26th of 1990. My birthday is July 20th, 1990. I also liked the different workshops they had for us to help build change campaigns.
A: Did you have a favorite workshop?
S: My favorite one probably was the “What is a Campaign?” workshop.
A: Was there any part of the summit that was difficult or stressful, or that you were unsure about?
S:The most difficult part was probably when we had to split up into our groups and we all had to come up with an idea for an activism campaign. Everyone worked on one of three topics; transportation, housing, or rights and advocacy. Each group was big and sometimes it was pretty hard to agree. with that many people, and so many ideas floating around it can feel overwhelming. It was hard to narrow it down. But in the end all the groups presented one idea that we will work on over the next year.
A: Would the PWSGL Summit be something you would encourage other folks to do?
S: Oh yes! I have already encouraged some of the other guys in my advocacy group to do it, and I would encourage any other self advocates out there in the West Region to do it.
A: And what would you want them to know about it as they think about applying for next year?
S: If you are interested in learning, leadership and activism you should do it. But be ready to work hard. Those couple of days are long days, you won’t get done till at least 9 o’clock at night. It’s fun but it is real work too.
A: Is there anything else about your experience with the PWSGL Summit that you would want folks to know?
S: I really enjoyed meeting different people from around the state.
A: Yeah, that’s actually my favorite part, it’s a really cool community.
A: Are you looking forward to going back next year?
If you are interested in becoming a part of Massachusetts West Self Advocacy, please contact Amber Pettell, apettell@wmtcinfo.org or Ris Houde, rhoude@wmtcinfo.org
Please join us as we celebrate 20 years of learning and connecting at the Annual West Region Self Advocacy Conference! Saturday June 29th 2024 Sheraton Monarch Place Hotel
Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy recently participated in Disability Voting Rights Week by hosting a voter registration drive at the Holyoke Mall. Disability Voting Rights Week (DVRW) is a national, nonpartisan initiative to build the power and presence of the disability vote. This initiative is led by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ (AAPD) REV UP Voting Campaign. There are an estimated 38 million Americans with disabilities who are eligible to vote. Nationally, people with disabilities voted at a 3.6% lower rate than nondisabled voters in the 2022 midterm elections. Additionally, one in seven voters with disabilities reported difficulty voting. In Massachusetts, the turnout gap between disabled and nondisabled voters is 3%. Inaccessible polling places, and a lack of accessible information from campaigns and around voting processes are key challenges.
Pictured Left to Right: Self Advocate Moses Wyrick, Peer Coordinator Amber Pettell, Regional Coordinator Heather Hodnicki and Self Advocate Luis Colon
Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy Celebrates Disability Voting Rights Week
Holyoke, Ma – Disability Voting Rights Week takes place on September 11-15, 2023. Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy will host both a Virtual Education Event and In Person Voter Registration Drive to make sure disabled voters in our community are registered and ready to vote. The Virtual Voter Registration will take place on Wednesday, Sept 13th at 5:30pm -7pm. For participation, please contact Heather Hodnicki, Self Advocacy Regional Coordinator at HHodnicki@wmtcinfo.org. The In-person Voter Registration takes place on Thursday, Sept 14th at 12:30pm-4pm at the Holyoke Mall.
Disability Voting Rights Week (DVRW) is a national, nonpartisan initiative to build the power and presence of the disability vote. This initiative is led by the American Association of People with Disabilities’ (AAPD) REV UP Voting Campaign. There are an estimated 38 million Americans with disabilities who are eligible to vote. Nationally, people with disabilities voted at a 3.6% lower rate than nondisabled voters in the 2022 midterm elections. Additionally, one in seven voters with disabilities reported difficulty voting. In Massachusetts, the turnout gap between disabled and nondisabled voters is 3%. Inaccessible polling places, and a lack of accessible information from campaigns and around voting processes are key challenges.
People with disabilities create a significant voting group with the power to influence policy. It is time for fully accessible elections and elected officials that engage with the disability community. “We invite the Holyoke community to join us in building the power of our vote during Disability Voting Rights Week. This event is not exclusive to the Disability Community, all are invited to participate”, says Self Advocacy Peer Coordinator, Amber Pettell.
The West Region Self Advocacy, (a program of the Consortium) is a network for local self-advocacy groups in Western Massachusetts to work together to “promote education, equal rights, responsibility and informed choice for people with disabilities to live full lives in the community”.
The Western Massachusetts Training Consortium is a 501c3 non-profit that creates conditions for peer-driven leadership to achieve its mission in which people who have faced marginalization, oppression, or otherwise felt invisible are better able to pursue their dreams and strengthen communities through voice, choice, and inclusion. This is supported by an organizational commitment to address systems of oppression and work toward undoing the harm they have caused. To learn more about our programs and communities, visit https://wmtcinfo.org/communities/.
Our 19th Annual West Region Self Advocacy Conference at the MassMutual Center was so inspiring! Collective voices were heard, as advocates from across Massachusetts came together in the name of Human Rights for All.
Keynote Speaker and Advocacy Coordinator, Bill Krebs of Keystone Human Services shared his journey on how he became a self advocate, standing up and fighting for his human rights. Dedicated self advocate, DJ Mo’ Money, hosted our Awards Ceremony! Folks were honored for the self advocacy work in the community and abroad. Our West Region Self Advocacy team members, Amber Pettell and Heather Hodnicki, were amazing!
Congratulations to all of the Award Winners:
* Edwin Sojka Memorial Award – Steven Graves
* Massachusetts West Region Self Advocacy Hall of Fame- Irene Morrison & Brian Kitner
