The Power of THE ONE International Humanitarian Award
History oct28-2010
1. 10 Years of the AlbertaSelf-Advocacy Movement in the Making…1999-2009 Report from the Self-Advocacy Summit Group
2. The self-advocacy movement ‘We need to build bonds or connections between us.’ -Self-advocate at Summit Planning Session in Calgary, February 7, 2002
5. People with low English literacy can read reports, rules and rights in plain language.
6. Thousands of dollars are raised each year for causes like breast cancer, disaster relief, food banks and Big Sisters & Brothers
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8. It started with People First The first People First group in Alberta started in 1978 in Edmonton People First is an international movement of people who have been labeled People First groups are all over; Canada has a national group, provincial groups and local groups Members have fun together, organize and interact in the community, discuss challenges and how to resolve them, work to close institutions, stand up for their rights and go for their dreams Profile Barb Oseemeemow Barb was the President of People First in Bonneville and has sat on many boards She sits on the Self-Advocacy Federation (SAF) Steering Committee in Edmonton where she is involved in films and presentations; Her art is on the SAF business cards Barb is a writer, artist, singer and stand-up comic She owns her own cleaning business and lives on her own
9. Leadership Today opened eyes Between 1998 and 2009 Leadership Today taught ~60 Leadership Training (LT) courses to more than 1000 people ~25 Train-the-Trainer courses to more than 200 LT graduates ~15 Inclusive Board workshops to community board members ~12 Supporting Self-Advocacy and 12 Partners in Advocacy workshops to support workers and supervisors Piloted a new workshop on How Government Works Self-Advocates co-taught all the workshops, Leadership Training and public presentations Leadership Today made graduates think about their place in the world Profile Derrick Seabrook Derrick is an active public speaker educating the community about his disability He writes letters to government and is a great leader, networker, canvasser, mentor and role model, and member of the Self-Advocacy Federation Derrick meets everyone as a parking attendant at his church He has found work at Boston Pizza, Rocky Bar Ranch and doing Quality of Life surveys
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11. She inspires peers by speaking about how to be all-star self-advocates by mastering self-confidence, communication and learning, and shares her successes and stories of overcoming challenges
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14. In April 2006, the first newsletter was put in with everyone’s pay
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17. She sits on the SKILLS board, SPA group, and was on the Gateway board
18. Daisy is on the SAF Steering Committee, is involved in films and presentations and emcees events
19. She is a great networker, canvasser, listener, mentor, speaker & role model
50. Timeline of the Self-Advocacy Summit Group… 10 years in the making Videos to inform local groups about the movement Affordable Housing actions 3 Provincial committees to plan conferences 70 attendees at six regional meetings around the province
51. Building the voice… “You have worked for four years to make the dream of a Self-Advocacy Summit come true. Now it’s time to talk about the things that matter to you, learn from the examples set by others and come up with solutions that will make your community the best place to live.” Gene Zwozdesky, Minister of Alberta Community Development, September 2004.
52. Summits welcomed diverse voices Roland Jensen (centre) with supporters Mickey Greiner of CSPD and Tony McMahon of Michener Services Doug Edey from the NW and the late Patrick Worth from People 1st Canada at the 2004 Self-Advocacy Summit.
53. A Provincial Self-Advocacy Group U.S. self-advocate Tia Nelis from Self-Advocates Becoming Empowered was emcee for the 2004 and 2006 Self-Advocacy Summits. Tia talked about how newsletters and forming a provincial group will help us be organized and build disability pride. At the 2009 Summit, Leadership Today graduate and board member Melody Scout reported what participants said a provincial self-advocacy group should look like.
54. The Future…Albertans Advocating for Change Together (AACT) We are a united Alberta network that learns about issues and advocates passionately for positive change in society. A recent study showed there are over fifty self-advocacy groups in Alberta. We want our provincial network to reconnect with the local groups at regional conferences to build and share our plan and steps to improve quality of life for all Albertans We would like financial support to help share the plan with local groups We want to create a website and database to help decision makers connect to our network Our vision is a better world in which everyone is accepted. We respect the many voices and groups’ views and want to be able to meet in the same room to work towards our common provincial goals
Editor's Notes
Explain why each is important.
A lot of the action and outcomes happen at the local group level.Regional groups were formed to help connect the local groups to share information and plan regional events (e.g., conferences, Community Living Awareness Month, IDDP). There was also a need to connect and share across regions as many issues are province-wide.
In 2002 the first provincial meeting included the Disability Action Hall, Leadership Today graduates, Calgary SCOPE Society and the VRRI. Many of the self-advocates lived all over the province. Together we decided we needed to have a conference. Other people heard about the meetings and wanted to be part of them. We created a network through regional meetings had over 70 attendees at each meeting.
Every Summit has included participants from People First and institution-based self-advocacy groups. Each has felt welcome, respected and heard.
Plans for a provincial group have been a long time in the making. In 2004 and 2006, Tia Nelis shared her insights into how SABE was created and resourced to become a functional national self-advocacy voice with representatives from diverse self-advocacy groups in every state.In 2009, Alberta self-advocates developed their idea of a provincial group based on Tia’s insights and their own.
