Self-Advocates and Allies Gather to Plan for Future Peer-to-Peer Support
Self-advocates and developmental disabilities network allies from the federally funded North East Advocates Together (NEAT) Peer-to-Peer Connections Technical Assistance Project gathered on May 16-18, 2016 for their final three-day technical assistance retreat in Concord, NH. Katherine Cargill-Willis, Program Officer from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Administration for Community Living, also attended the event.
A highlight of the three-day retreat included a training on how to make videos for social change by award winning documentary filmmaker, Dan Habib. Support from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation helped to make Dan’s training possible.
The final day of the retreat included brainstorming conversations about how to sustain the six-state peer-to-peer technical assistance connections after the project’s federal funding ends in September. North East Advocates Together has a successful history of collaboration and support; the group was formed in 1998, pre-dating the federally-funded project that shares its name.
NEAT Project partners include the following: Speaking Up For Us of Maine; Massachusetts Advocates Standing Strong; People First of New Hampshire; Self-Advocacy Association of NYS – SANYS Statewide Page; Advocates in Action Rhode Island; Green Mountain Self-Advocates; Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council; NH Council on Developmental Disabilities; Rose F Kennedy University Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities – NY; Paul V. Sherlock Center on Disabilities / RI College UCEDD; Center on Disability & Community Inclusion UCEDD-VT; and the University of Maine Center for Community Inclusion and Disability Studies UCEDD-ME.
The NEAT Peer-to-Peer Connections Technical Assistance Project is funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Grant No. 90DN0300-01-00 and administered by Vermont Protection & Advocacy (Disability Rights Vermont). Hilary Clark serves as the NEAT Outreach Coordinator and Skye Peebles serves as the NEAT Administrative Coordinator.
A photo gallery of the May retreat is available on the CCIDS Facebook page.