8/10/2019 20141106 VOR Karen Article

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Sibling's

Speak

Out

The

next

generation

of advocates

for those

with

intellectual

and developmental

disabilities

(l/DDl

By Karen Schupak, a

VOR

member from Virginia

Hello

Fellow Siblings,

It was wonderful

to

finally

be at the

VORAnnual Conference

in

June, after

many

years

of

hearing

my

mother

praise

VOR's

mission,

as

well

as

being wowed by

Virginia

State

Coordinator

Jane

Antho-

ny's

award

winning

advocacy.

As

I

discussed

at the

conference,

I

would

love

to

spearhead

a

"Siblings

Speak Out"

grotry

within

VOR.

JoannaCarl, another

VOR

member,

has

offered to

help

with

this

project.

In an eflort to

preserve

and

grow

VOR,

we

would

like

to

try and

motivate

other

siblings

around

the

country

to

join

us and

get

involved.

Coordinating

with

VOR committees

and

staff,

the

Siblings

Speak

Out

initiative's

broad

GOALS

are to

increase sibling

involvement

and membership

in VOR by

coordinating

our

messaging

(frequency

and reach)

through

sibling

Facebook

posts, tweets,

blogs,

and

afii-

cles. We

hope

that

this networking

will

also increase

Sibling

connec-

tions

within each

state

for

peer

and

advocacy

support

and

ultimately

secure

local

and national

press.

As a

place

to

stafi,

here

are some

ACTION

ITEM

ideas that

you

may

or

may

tried.

Please

don't

hesitate to

tell

us

that

you

already

tried

and how

it

worked

We

apologize

that we

are

not

aware

of of all

the

outreach that

you

are

already

doing.

.

Invite

your

entire

Facebook

friend

group

to

LIKE VOR's Facebook

page

(,A/OR).

Connect

with

other

siblings

via Facebook.

For

questions,

referrals, to

volunteer

or

provide

feedback,

please

contact

Julie

Huso,

Executive

Director

at

605-370-4652

or

ih

uso @

vor.net

(subject

line:

Siblings )

Goming

soonr

Karen

will

soon

being

sharing

her personal story.

Her

brother,

who has

profound

intellectual

and developmental

disabilities,

receives

great

care at

the

Norlhern

Vi

rginia

Trai

ni ng

Center,

a

Medicaid

lntermediate

Care

Facility.

new

member

from

your

circle

of

advocates

and

caregivers.

We

will

Karen

(center)

with

families

representing

Northern

Virgin

Training Center.

.

Please

send

us

at

least one

name of

a

potential

follow

up

with

a

letter

introducing

VOR.

.

Attend

the

VORAnnual

Conference

(June

7,2015)

and

Initiative

and bring

at

least one new

parlicipant. We'll

recognize

the

sibling

that brings

the

most

new

participants.

.

Begin

a

"DID

YOU

KNOW"

weekly series

of

posts

on Facebook

regarding

the effects

of deinstitutionalization

and

other

initiatives

that separate

people

from

the home, work

and

educational

settings

they

need

and choose.

.

Send

us

your

Sibling

Story

for

use

on

VOR's

website (vor.net/

get-involved/siblings-voice),

publications, and

possibly the

press.

Touch on how this

has

affected

you

personally

and also

how issues

like

deinstitutionalization

have

impacted

your

sibling

and

your

family.

Siblings

and

all can

post

this on

Facebook:

"Do

you

know

or

have a

family

member with

intellectual

and developmental

dis-

abilities

(I/DD),

or

autism?

If

so, visit

www.VOR.net

to

leam

more

about

this national

nonprofit

organization

advocating

for

high

quality

care and human

rights

for all

people

with

IIDD. VOR

is

the

only

national advocacy organization

supporting

a fulI

spec-

trum of

care

options

to

accommodate

all

levels

of

individual

need and choice.

Siblings,

please

get

involved The

flrst and most

important

step

is to

join

VOR.

We

are

stTong

in spirit

and have

a

lot

to

say

Numbers count