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By Pat Hornbecker, President, The Arc of California Board of Directors
It is January 2024! Time for resolutions, new projects, and bracing for the potential challenges ahead. It is a big election year. There are concerns about world issues, state funding, and our personal families’ welfare. Sometimes it may be difficult to get up in the morning, right? How do we look forward and continue the fight to support our loved ones? Community is the answer. As the mother of a young man with developmental disabilities, the first lesson to success I learned was to build my community and remember relationships go both ways. What do I need for support and advice, but also what does the community need from me?
There is power in community, especially for the disability community. Jobs, higher wages, economic security, housing, education, and healthcare are some of the critical issues to the disability community, and nearly all are controversial. Many of us are facing personal, regional, and global challenges. Healthcare choices are a particular concern for my three daughters, but a lack of dental care is a specific challenge for my son. Discrimination in the delivery of services for families of color is an ongoing battle. These issues are not limited to the “DISCO,” DISability COmmunity per Rebecca Cokley, a disability rights activist and the first U.S. Disability Rights Program Officer for the Ford Foundation.
Why should we join in the battles when day-to-day life is already so demanding as a parent? Because we care! We care for our loved ones and now we must love ourselves as caregivers. We realize that our problems are the same problems as the community that supports us. Every success comes from the endurance of those who choose to represent and show themselves as advocates and tell their stories. Doing the right thing is speaking the truth to people in power. It could be as simple as an email to a friend, a legislator, or the governor. It could be as big as showing up at a public meeting to cheer on the other supporters of our community or becoming a speaker of your own truth!
So here is the plan for 2024: We need to represent the DISCO. We must make it a priority to advocate for/with our loved ones and the issues they need us to carry forward. We need to remain confident about our knowledge, expertise, experiences, and voices, which, in the end, will win the day! Our attitudes must remain positive and our actions strong in the conviction that what we need for our family member or as a caregiver is deserved as a human right.
Join me along with The Arc of California for a year of committed activism. Together, we have the power to create change. With power comes responsibility and the failure to use this power inevitably increases the power of those who currently possess it. Let’s do this! Let’s make 2024 the best year yet!
Stay tuned for upcoming action alerts!
Gratefully,
Pat Hornbecker