Rosie Hoffman
Discipline: Family Trainee
About:
I graduated from Columbia University in the City of New York with a BA in History (Ancient Greek). My academic focus was on the importance of storytelling in creating change in antiquity. As a community organizer, I worked on political campaigns helping constituents find their voices. Alongside other survivors of sexual assault, I spent time honing my narrative advocacy skills to empower survivors to share their stories to impact policy changes. Most recently, I worked as an advocate with survivors of dating abuse, stalking and domestic violence as well as an educator. As a volunteer with the Southern Maine Workers’ Center and Jewish Action Maine, my focus has been in amplifying the voices of directly impacted folks on campaigns ranging from access to dental healthcare to anti-white nationalism organizing. My older brother Jake, because of extreme premature birth, sustained brain hemorrhages. He lives with multiple medical, physical, intellectual, and behavioral disabilities, as well as mental illness. Since moving to Maine, my brother has been without the self-directed services he received in NY state. Currently Jake does not have support staff and has been unable to find employment or fulfillment. Jake’s hard work to communicate his interests and needs in a productive (as opposed to violent) way has allowed those of us lucky enough to be part of his life see him as the animal loving, anime enthusiast he is. Currently, I am working on prerequisites to apply to graduate school to become a Speech-Language Pathologist. It is my ambition to use Speech-Language Pathology as a tool to support, organize and amplify the needs of people with I/DD and their families.
