Texas Advocate Gets a Response

One of our Texas Advocates member, Suzie, wrote Senator Corona about the "R" word and received a response. Way to go Suzie!

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Artistic Expressions

On a trip to the Dallas Museum of Art, the Artistic Expressions class viewed a piece by Lee Kraser, Pollination. They were inspired to write this poem expressing how it made them feel. Let yourself experience the creativity!

Golden grass, golden sun, earring gold, gold bug, fall leaves

Vanilla, milk, white coconut, white chocolate, snow

Blood red, fire engine red, red wine, red velvet, red rose, cranberry juice

Grasshopper green, tree green, green grass, green leaf

Bug legs, fish

Going into a garden jungle, going into a green jungle

Running through a field with cicadas chasing me with red roses in my hair

Everything

Flowers, roses, cicadas

Grass, bugs

Wind, movement, everything

Apple, cantaloupe, watermelon, cherries, grapes

Aromas of flower, freshly mown grass

Mustard, red candy, north wind

Movement, energy

Garden jungle, green grass

Love, harmony

A word about The Word...

It is always interesting to watch trends develop. The faith based community has always been a major player in providing services to people with developmental disability. For example Mosaic, Evergreen, CHAI and Joni and Friends have been part of our community for many years. However, the trend we are seeing now is faith based groups are changing to include people with disabilities as part of their fundamental flock. The questions we hear now do not revolve around the how-to’s of providing separate programs, but rather how to be successful when everyone stays together. Have faith! Times are changing.

Besides, if you have participated in The Arc’s My LIFE program, enjoyed a night of respite or attended a workshop, you have probably discovered many are located in facilities of worship. The good news is that many congregations believe that meeting the needs of families and individuals can begin as simply as opening the door and providing space for helpful community programming. It would be almost impossible for The Arc to offer many of our programs without the help of donated community space. Besides, we believe services should be available in local neighborhoods and communities. We are always looking for more community partners, so if you feel “called” to offer space…give us a call at 214.634.9810. Our genuine thanks and sincere appreciation go out to all who recognize that souls don’t have disabilities.

One of the newer activities to come to my attention is “Dallas Yachad”. This is the Dallas affiliate of the only Jewish organization in the world whose mission is to promote and facilitate the inclusion of all children, teenagers and adults with special needs. And in their own words, “Equally important, Yachad’s programs strengthen the Jewish community, by increasing awareness and understanding of individuals with special needs.” For more information visit http://www.njcd.org/. Thank you, Rabbi Jay Weinstein for introducing me to this group.

I look forward to us sharing ideas and information. In the coming weeks we are hopeful that the “forum” area will become increasingly dynamic with questions, answers, thoughts, successes and grumps. Take just a moment to visit the forum area on The Arc's Web site. Registering only takes a nanosecond, and once it is done, you are ready to go live!

Well, I have kept you long enough. Come back soon for a visit.

Art & Ability

Here are some picture from the Art & Ability exhibit at the Latino Cultural Center. It was fabulous. Congrats to Sharla Eudy, our Arc LIFE Director, for a successful show!