Jumping in
November 29, 2006 was the day when I actually sarted doing some real work! I have been keeping a log of sorts, and according to it, that was the day when I jumped in and began doing advocacy and activism.
NYAIL
The first order of business was to call the folks in Albany, where the New York Association on Independent Living (NYAIL) is located. Our centers are membrs of this organization. Within this organization is the Statewide Systems Advocacy Network (SSAN), of which all Systems Advocates throughout the state are a part of. There are specific assignments that come from NYAIL that each advocate must do, and it is directly tied to the funding that each ILC receives for its Systems Advocate position. The assignments include participating in at least one public policy subcommittee, and attending their teleconferences (I am on the Housing and Election Reform subcommittees), and responding to each Action Alert that is put out. The Action Alerts usually involve calling, e-mailing, or faxing letters to state or federal lawmakers to take or rescind actions that affect people with disabilities. You must then post how you or your center responded on the websites that have been created for that purpose. Each Systems Advocate is required to get volunteers, and to set up a network so that the volunteers can participate in the Action Alert as well.
We are also required to design at least one training for our volunteers on any subject related to advocacy, I did a training along with a Power Point presentation called “Doing It Right” on how to properly document problems that one encounters with the bus company, or with the paratransit company.
Another thing that we must do is voter outreach and voter registration. As those of you who have been keeping up on my activities know, voting is an issue that is close to my heart, so this part is easy for me. We are required to ask our volunteers to sign a Vote Pledge tha they will vote in all elections. They are not required to sign it, but we must at least ask.
There are several other assignments that we have. We must make public testimony before a public body or group regarding an issue of importance to the disability community. I have already done this, testifying befor the Steering Committee of the County Community Development Block Grant grantor on the importance of affordable, accessible, integrated housing for people with disabilities. Each advocate and ILC must attend the NYAIL Legislative Day in Albany, the state capital, and visit lawmakers who represent their communities in order to speak to them about important issues affecting people with disabilities. This is part of the Legislative Agenda that NYAIL has. That agenda also includes lobbying for more state funding for ILCs, among other things. We have already done this. Our lobby Day was January 22, 2007. I wrote and sent out the letters requesting meetings, and we were able to meet with 11 of the 12 lawmakers who represent our area. Rochester had the largest group, with 48 people. We also visited the new Commissioner of the New York Department of Health (NYDOH). Overall, the day was very, very productive, and the meetings were very positive.
Another extremely important assignment that we have is to maintain a media contact list. We must also have a certain number of media hits each month for our center. This is very difficult for many centers, but not for CDR, and lately, for RCIL. RCIL had two media hits in January and ten this month because of a wheel in the snow that we did with our Mayor, and some stuff that I did, but that was so big that it deserves its own post.
Now, when we complete all of these assignments, we must complete a monthly report, that is due on the 15th of each month. It is easy to do this because we can post the report directly on the website. Each center receives a certain number of points for each assignemnt, and for getting the reports in on time. The points are tallied up, and if your center falls below a certain number, they must receive technical assistance from Albany, and the Systems Advocate must receive supervision from his or her supervisor. If the center continues to fail to reach the required number of points, the center will no longer receive funding for their Systems Advocate. RCIL had almost reached this point when I came. We were in danger of losing our funding for my position because my predecessor failed to do her job. Because of that, I feel as if I am operating at a disadvantage, and having to make up for the previous Systems Advocate’s poor performance. However, I have been diligent about doing the assignments and reports, and Chris says that I am doing a very good job, so I hope that we will pull ourselves up this year. If I have anything to do with it, and I have plenty, I will make sure that we do better than we have ever done!