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Prioritizing Our Goals
On Saturday, May 16th, People First of New Hampshire's board of directors voted to make INSTITUTIONS: CLOSE THEM! as a priority #1 goal to help to close all institutions.
Activities include (click-on links for more details):
1. Laconia Film & Book Project
2. Virtual World Action Event (sign-up!)
3. Institutions: Close Them! is represented on our Facebook cause which we initiated in mid-March. At the time of this writing, we have recruited over 475 members from across the world to join. Be a member now.
5. More to share at a later time
The board and members of People First of NH are passionate about this goal, especially as many have been watching the national news about Corpus Christi in Texas and realize that the "fight clubs" and other abuse, neglect and rights issues continue to happen in institutions across the world.
Other Goals Prioritized By Need, Level of Work Involved, Previous Attention Given and Funding Required
1 Young Adult Board Committee
2 Young Adult Conference (Save The Date, November 6th)
3 Community Service Goal/Quilt Project
3 Open House/Self-Advocacy Fair
4 Employment
4 Relationships
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Who We Are And What We Are About
People First of New Hampshire is a statewide non-profit directed by citizens who experience disability for the purpose of self-advocacy.
What is self-advocacy?
Self-Advocacy is a way in which people speak-up, voice their opinion, and take responsibility toward being equal within society. Self-advocacy is a movement for people who experience disability. In many places across the world, there are organizations called "People First" for the self-advocacy movement. The title "People First" means that labels for people are not respectful, and, that everybody should be considered PEOPLE with ability first. People First of New Hampshire started in 1992 and has 17 chapters and groups across the state. |
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Message From Board President
About A Young Adult Self-Advocacy Committee
My name is Chrystal Johnson. As President of People First of NH and the Lakes Region Self-Advocacy Group and, a young adult myself, I think that self-advocacy is helpful at bringing out the adult in young men and women.
The board of People First has voted to start a young-adult committee. The board would like to see representatives between the ages of 16 - 30 on the committee. The committee would start with about 7-11 members but can grow. I will chair the committee until the committee becomes organized to have it's own elections. The first meeting agenda will be to introduce ourselves and discuss issues of concern for young adults. We'll then prioritize the issues to focus on goals. The committtee will determine when and how often it will meet. I will report the commitee's progress to the board of People First. More details to come once the committee meets and makes decisions. Anyone interested should contact us (contact info below).
Messages From Young Adult Self-Advocates
My name is Amir Barakat. I am 18 years old. I love animals. I think self advocacy is very important to defend yourself if someone is picking on you. You need to stick up for your rights and try to be a leader. That will help people understand.
My name is Jillian Libby. I am 20 years old. I like to meet new people. The Relationship Group has helped me speak-up for myself in my life. The Relationship Group has helped me talk to people in New Hampshire and in our country.
I hope that the group will help people know that we are no different.
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There Is No Age Limit For Self-Advocacy: Rose Turns 70
Rose, Pam, Shannon Dee & Rose
Members and friends of the Henniker Self-Builders Group celebrated Rose LaFlamme's 70th birthday earlier this month. Rose lives in Henniker and works at the Olive Garden in Concord. She has been involved in self-advocacy activities for many years. |
People First of NH Young Adults present at the New England Inclusive Education Leadership Summit
Participants of the Youth Empowerment Services Project (YES) attended and presented about young-adult self-advocacy at the New England Inclusive Education Leadership Summit featuring Including Samuel film & presentations. People First of New Hampshire is a collaborator for the YES project. |
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Ways To Financially Support People First of NH
There are a couple of ways in which you can support our work. You can visit our website and find our donate button at the top of the page, or, you can visit our cause on Facebook and join our challenge to raise funds for our goals. You can always send us a check to our mailing address below.
Click-on these links:
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This is what our friends from across the planet are saying about our March issue!
- "Wonderful issue! Just plain terrific." John Agosta Ph.D., Human Services Research Institute, Portland Oregon
- "Keep up the good work." Ricky Broussard, Self-Advocate, Texas
"Wonderful....all of it! From coast to coast wishing People First well!" Robin Keehn, Area 2 DD Board, Chico California
- "Thanks you so much for sending me this! You guys did a great job editing [video of The Subject Of Relationships] into a little 4-minute clip! Thanks so much for the opportunity" Angela Amado, Ph. D., Executive Director of the Human Service Research and Development Center and also a Research Associate, Institute on Community Integration, University of Minnesota, Minnesota
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