1 / 11

G R A D E (Grass Roots Advocates for Disability Empowerment)

G R A D E (Grass Roots Advocates for Disability Empowerment). An Exciting Year in Review. In the Beginning There Was A Dream . December 2009 88 members of the community came together and conversed.

kaia
Download Presentation

G R A D E (Grass Roots Advocates for Disability Empowerment)

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. GRADE(Grass Roots Advocates for Disability Empowerment) An Exciting Year in Review

  2. In the Beginning There Was A Dream

  3. December 2009 88 members of the community came together and conversed From than until today we have accomplished much in organizing ourselves and being a recognized voice in the community

  4. Accomplishments In The First 3 Months Organizing GRADE Community Endeavors Members of GRADE contacted city officials regarding people who have mobility impairments getting the new trash containers to the curb • Set regular bi-monthly meetings • Good minutes • Set-up e-mail & phone list • Kept members informed • Survey to find important issue in the community

  5. Following Months Organizing GRADE Community Endeavors Members combined their efforts with CATR and TARTA to change TARTA’s funding from a property tax to sales tax GRADE went to several city council meetings to ask them to: “Let their people vote”. Although we and our partners were not successful, we turned out numbers and began relationships with community leaders • A facilitator was hired by The Ability Center to assist the new group to stay organized • A web site was created and maintained • Chose a name • Several action alerts were put out through the web site, e-mail, facebook and phone calls

  6. Accomplishments Con’t Organizing GRADE Community Endeavors Worked on getting audio description for the visually impaired in our local theatres – success Nine Graders took part in Legislative Advocacy Day Chicago conference – Medicaid infrastructure Grants • Organized two out of town trips to speak with State Reps. and educate ourselves on national issues • Created brochures and letterhead • Had banner made with GRADE logo • Socializing with GRADE members to form a community and build trust

  7. GRADErs Socializing BuildingCommunity

  8. Accomplishments Con’t Organizing GRADE Community Endeavors Members supported Ability Center and networked with community leaders at Pinnacle charity fundraiser Two opinion articles were published in Blade Members visited college class to speak about advocacy for people with disabilities • GRADE members elected leaders in August after allowing time for natural leaders to emerge

  9. Accomplishments Con’t Community Endeavors • GRADE members attended county commissioners to defend the LCBDD budget • Community organization requested GRADE assistance in support of their cause • Disseminated results of political candidates’ responses to questionnaire on disability issues • GRADE members managed a booth for ADA day at Zoo and networked with other organizations • GRADE members have gained rapport with local politicians by attending their city council meetings • GRADErs became members of local and state committees • Worked with Toledo and Chicago’s transit authorities to bring their policies into compliance with the FTA and ADA

  10. The Future 2011

  11. Collaborate with Toledo/Lucas County Commission on Disabilities to survey local businesses for seal of approval for accessibility Train advocates in surveying for accessibility Send members to introduce GRADE to local political office holders Visitability enforcement Fund raiser Legislation day in April Establish post office box Establish official web site domain The Future 2011

More Related