Strategic Plan Goals
Goal 1: Make People First of Alabama Stronger
We will engage collective efforts to: (a) gain new members each year by reaching out to new communities and groups, especially youth; (b) complete the People First Toolkit, train lead team, regional representatives, and local members how to use Toolkit to streamline organization of state and local chapters and groups; (c) recruit, train, and recognize local advisors to support organization activities; and (d) pursue ongoing funding sources and maintain existing regional and state structure, bylaws, and administrative rules.
PF of AL continues to meet. They had a full board meeting on August 10. This was Greg Mitchell’s first meeting as the new president of PF of AL.
People First of Alabama had their first ever Advisors Retreat, Training and Acknowledgement. It was held at Brookley Center in Mobile on September 28th-30th. There were 25 Advisors/Potential Advisors that participated. I will include a copy of the agenda with this report. Lecell Lane, Coordinator for People First of Alabama facilitated the training and Jayne Chase from Partners With A Twist presented on People First Language.
While working in the schools doing presentations on Safety In Homes and Communities, Holly Cottingham and Lecell Lane opened the line of communication with students about starting inclusive People First chapters in their schools. Elouise Woods, Darren Morris and Lecell Lane will be following up on this with the Administration and students.
In region 1, Danny Grant and George Hamilton have been working on starting up a group in Decatur that had stopped their work. They have also been working with folks in Ft. Payne. Slowly but surely things are moving ahead. In Region 2, Holly Cottingham, Elouise Woods and Mike Marion have worked hard to assist 2 new groups to get started. The new groups in Winfield and Parrish and moving right along and another group in Fayette and Lamar has been contacted and is beginning. Holly Cottingham has resigned her position as Region 2 Team Leader. In region 3, Judith Daly has set a meeting up in Monroeville for October 25 at the Monroeville Activity Center at 10:30 AM. In region 4, Clara Brisker and Seretha Smith felt that they had too much to do and therefore they gave up their positions as Advisors for the People First of the Arc of Elmore County. Tyrone Pelham is going to fill in for the group now. People First is still looking for Region 4 Leader and Support. These are paid positions and would be a great opportunity for someone who wants a part-time position. In region 5, Mark McClellan and Pam Tombrello had 2 meetings to start up groups. However follow up meetings will have to take place for clarification of some information. Pam Tombrello in region 5 has resigned her position as Region 5 Team Support.
Goal 2: Spread the Word about Alabama People First and
Self-Advocacy
We will work with the Office of Consumer Empowerment to: (a) publish our quarterly newsletter, “Speaking Out!”, our 1-800 number, and the ArcLink and People First of Alabama Websites; (b) educate the public about People First’s vision, mission, and goals through community visits, local events, and the media; (c) increase communication between People First members by educating them about computer and email use at local libraries and helping them to set up personal email accounts; and (d) promote involvement of People First members and others at the state and national conferences and regional and local self-advocacy events.
Greg Mitchell gave his first speech as president of People First of Alabama to providers and others at a region 3 meeting last month. Greg talked about how self-advocacy has helped him to accomplish things that otherwise would not have happened… way to go Greg!
The next “Speaking Out” published by People First of Alabama will be back from the printer soon. Vicki Turnage and Lecell Lane, 2 of the national advisors for Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered went to a SABE board meeting in Indianapolis, Indiana on July 18-22. Vicki and Lecell were asked to go early and meet with the folks working on the national conference in September 2008. Indiana has a great deal of support from several organizations. Printing of the People First Language pamphlets put together by the Grassroots Committee of Self Advocates Becoming Empowered will be paid for by the grant from the Developmental Disabilities Council, “Safety in Homes and Communities”. The pamphlets will be put in the tool kits left at the schools, handed out to students in meetings, law enforcement groups and also given to members of self-advocacy groups/chapters.
The ArcLink for Alabama is up and running. Go to…www.thearclink.org then click on the state of Alabama. A lot of work still has to be done for the ArcLink site as well as People First of Alabama site but it is coming together. Please check the information and send in corrections as quickly as possible to the PF of AL office.
People First of Alabama office has moved to 1002 McFarland Blvd in Northport. The office had been in Lecell Lane’s home for over 3 years now but PF of AL needed more room so Lecell was asked by the board to go hunting for a new office space. New brochures and business cards will be coming out soon to help spread the word about People First of Alabama.
Goal 3: Make a Difference
We will: (a) continue to identify policy issues and develop policy statements; (b) choose one policy issue per region, develop an action plan, and work together for change; (c) expand member participation on local and state boards and committees; and (d) educate legislators, state leaders, and others about our vision, mission and goals, People First language, and how we want to be treated – just like anyone else.
People First of Alabama has supported several members of the board and lead teams to be participants in the Partners With a Twist leadership course. They have been working on Legislative information this past month. Tia Nelis one of the past Chairs of SABE was a presenter. People First of Alabama sent in a reorder for the T-shirts that were made show how PF feels about the “R” word. The shirts are good quality material and PF is only selling the shirts for $5.00 so that everyone that wishes will be able to purchase one. On the national level, Lecell with permission from Greg and the board attended as a national advisor for SABE another NDRN, National Disability Rights Network meeting as support for Eric Treat. Also again with permission, Lecell supported Julie Petty at the Alliance for Full Participation meeting to discuss having another Summit or go in another direction. Lecell was able to inform the AFP folks that there was some concern about the fact that information that was collected before the Summit was not used since so much time, energy and money went into those meetings. Evidently from the response most of the other areas had the same results (this is a shame). People First of Alabama is trying to get the attention of the Department on the seriousness of having a name change. No one seems to be moving on this and Alabama said that they agreed with the “Just Do It” statement….so Alabama just do it!
Greg Mitchell the new President of People First of Alabama is making a few changes on committees. He wants to give more people opportunities to serve and not the same folks serving on several committees or boards. PF is working on several transportation ideas within the state as well. This had gotten much better over the last 3 years but can use some more work. Several of the local groups are planning on having Vote Training by PF of AL leadership. They are getting ready now for the upcoming legislative year and the next national Presidential election.
Goal 4: Have Fun
We will encourage community involvement and visibility of our members by challenging local chapter and group members to: (a) choose at least one project in their own communities to become involved in; (b) work with regional representatives and members to host one educational event or exhibit per region per year; and (c) plan two social activities per year to bring members together for fun.
People First of Alabama is working on their State Conference that will be in December. More information will be available very soon. OF course this will include the anticipated dance after workshops and regional meetings where more issues will be discussed.
People First of Alabama/People First of Tuscaloosa members and supports volunteered at the Charity Skeet Shoot to benefit Dial-A-Ride transportation in Tuscaloosa. The benefit was put together by Ability Alliance of West Alabama.
Comments:
Lecell Lane was out due to medical problems for a week. Then she was out another week and a half due to her daughter’s medical emergency. Lecell wishes to thank People First of Alabama for their show of concern and caring during this very difficult time.