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On March 29, 2019, The Arc of North Carolina hosted its annual Rooted in Advocacy conference in Winston-Salem. This year, the conference was designed to be fully inclusive for The Arc staff and board, the vast chapter network, parents, siblings, self-advocates, and professionals who interact with people with I/DD, instead of separate conferences on consecutive days..  The conference began with a showing of a documentary called Deej, an award-winning documentary chronicling the high school and college years of a non-speaking poet and advocate with autism, DJ Savarese, as he makes his way from public high school to Oberlin College.   As I watched the film, I couldn’t help noticing the commonalities of life with a developmental disability. Although DJ is non-speaking, I could relate to many of his experiences. He uses writing to advocate and communicate his needs and wants. He also talked about using his writing to free his people, which is the same type of language that I used to use.  

 

 

I’m getting excited, as one of my favorite disability advocacy events is making its annual appearance.  This will be my third time attending The Arc of North Carolina’s Rooted in Advocacy conference. This year, the conference will be held on March 29th at the Benton Convention Center in downtown Winston-Salem.  The first time I attended this event I was covering it for a local newspaper called The Camel City Dispatch.  I had a great time that year because as a journalist, I was able to interview many of the attendees and presenters.  It felt great to soak up some of their excitement towards self-advocacy.  Last year when I attended, I had the honor to address the group as a panelist representing a new initiative called the NC Empowerment Network (NCEN).  This year will a completely different experience because I won’t have any responsibility other than to enjoy and learn.  

The past 12 months have been busy ones for The Arc of North Carolina. We’ve been celebrating our 65th anniversary, and we’ve gone to Capitol Hill and the N.C. General Assembly to advocate for the needs of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) and their families. We hosted our Rooted in Advocacy conference for 300 attendees. We’ve increased our employee roster to better serve the growing needs of the I/DD community. We’ve expanded our housing program to ensure more options are available for people with I/DD and severe persistent mental illness.

 

There have been challenges too. In September, North Carolina was hit hard by Hurricane Florence. Many of our families and staff were impacted. But we came together and worked hard to try and get folks back on their feet.