Statewide Independent LivingCouncil of Illinois
Statewide Independent Living
The 8th Annual Illinois Youth with Disabilities Leadership Summit began on Monday, July 17, 2006 at the University of Illinois at Springfield. Youth participants arrived at Lincoln Residential Hall where they were briefed in the workings of the dorm facility and directed to their home for the next three days. Several improvements were made to the dorm rooms at Lincoln Residential Hall thanks to the advocacy work of last year’s youth participants. Additional grad bars were installed in the restrooms and flashing fire alarms were added to several sleeping rooms on each floor in order to accommodate guests with hearing impairment.
The Opening Luncheon began at 12:30 p.m. with the Keynote Address given by Kevin Irvine. Mr. Irvine is a senior advocate for Equip for Equality. Kevin’s commitment to the disability rights movement comes from life experiences as a person with multiple disabilities. Kevin spoke to the youth participants about his life as a person living, working and raising a family with hidden disabilities.
Following the luncheon and speech by Mr. Irvine the youth participants gathered in the Great Room of the Lincoln Residential Hall to listen to Richard Parrish and Valerie Brew-Parrish who discussed the history of the disability rights movement. During this energetic presentation the young adults learned about leaders in the independent living movement such as Ed Roberts and Justin Dart, and laws such as the Americans with Disabilities Act and IDEA.
New to this year’s Summit was a greater emphasis on team building. Following dinner Monday evening Jessica Hayes of the Coalition of Citizens with Disabilities in Illinois discussed the importance of working as a team. The 21 youth participants along with their mentors were broken up into six teams. They were asked to work together to create a team name and logo, and to appoint positions or jobs within the team. Each team included a Captain, Scribe, Embassador, and Creative Consultant, and each position had specific duties to uphold. This was a fun interactive exercise that brought out team member’s strengths, and demonstrated how to work as a team. The "job" each team member was appointed continued throughout the Summit and was used to complete tasks in other workshops.
Tuesday morning began with the interactive and fun workshop, "How a Bill Becomes a Law." Presenters Janet Lambert and John Miller both from the Illinois Deaf and Hard of Hearing Commission divided the group into Representatives and Senators. Following a discussion on how a bill begins as an idea and develops into a law the two parties were asked to begin debating and drafting a bill to be presented to "Governor Gerard" in the afternoon. After some heated discussions about what was important to the youth participants and what would pass the House, Senate and finally the Governor’s desk, a proposed bill was approved to go to the Governor’s office. "Governor Gerard" reviewed the proposed bill which stated:
We the participants of the Youth Leadership Summit will make contact with our Representatives to request additional funding to continue and expand the Youth Leadership Summit. We request that the Statewide Independent Living Council of Illinois develop a media packet which the youth participants can share with their Representatives to increase publicity and funding.
This bill was signed by "Governor Gerard" and SILC staff will begin this process of implementing it.
Afternoon workshops included "Strategies for Employment" and "Strategies for College." Each was designed to assist the participant in identifying the steps necessary to become successfully employed or to plan for college.
To wrap things up Tuesday afternoon John Miller returned to play "Who Wants to be a Leader." This fun, interactive game is fashioned after Who Wants to be a Millionaire with questions about disability laws and government. Teams competed against one another for bragging rights.
After a nice dinner we began what most youth participants return to the Summit for . . . the dance of course. Music and fine karoake favorites kept all UIS summer students unfortunate enough to be living at Lincoln Residential Hall during our visit, awake late into Tuesday evening. There was dancing and lots of laughing and good music provided by DJ Bill Burgess.
Wednesday always starts off a little slow as by the third day almost everyone is exhausted. But we all managed to rise out of bed and head to the cafeteria for breakfast before the Summit’s final workshop titled, "Creating Your Leadership Profile." Consuela Puente and Stacy Yusim of Equip for Equality guided the youth participants through this hands on exercise meant to identify your strengths, interests and experiences in being a leader in self-advocacy.
To bring the Summit to a close we had a nice lunch followed by an awards ceremony and prize giveaways. For the first time in the Summit’s eight year history the Summit Planning Committee decided to give out awards to honor participants and mentors who have inspired us over the years. Thinking up awards was a job in itself but the Summit Planning Committee members developed four awards that I hope will continue at the Summit for years to come.
The Marlin Thomas Mentor of the Year Award recognizes an individual who has dedicated their time and energy to mentoring the young leaders of the independent living movement. In the spirit of the award’s namesake, Marlin Thomas, the recipient should embody the standards of dedication and commitment set forth by Marlin during his time as a mentor at the Illinois Youth with Disabilities Leadership Summit.
The first recipient of the Marlin Thomas Mentor of the Year was presented to Richard Hunt of the RAMP Center for Independent Living in Rockford, Illinois. Richard has spent countless hours advising, counseling and teaching self advocacy skills to the young adults who have attended the Youth Leadership Summit for the past eight years.
The Ed Roberts Independence Award honors a youth who strives to become an independent young adult in the tradition of this award’s namesake, Ed Roberts. Ed was widely regarded as the father of the Independent Living Movement and during his lifetime knocked down countless barriers to education and community living faced by people with disabilities.
Mary Hettel was awarded the Ed Roberts Independence Award. Mary has not only embraced and applied the independent living philosophy to her own life, but has also begun teaching others how to become more independent through her presentations on transition to the example she sets by moving far from home to attend college at the Southern Illinois University in Carbondale.
The Justin Dart Jr. Lead On Award is presented to a young leader who demonstrates the strength of character and leadership potential worthy of this award’s namesake. Justin Dart is widely regarded as one of the most pivotal leaders of the disability rights movement, and is frequently refereed to as the father of the Americans with Disabilities Rights Act.
David Gayes was the recipient of the Justin Dart Jr. Lead On Award. David has shown tremendous leadership skills and the desire to make changes to society. David has attended the Youth Leadership Summit since 2003 and has grown as a young leader in his community.
Quentin Satterfield was honored with the Peer Advisor Award. This award is presented to an individual who is always supportive of other participants. Quentin is encouraging to other participants, helpful and positive. He is always ready to assist with any task and, most important, Quentin leads by example. In addition to his friendly willingness to help, Quentin has grown as a leader and has begun speaking publicly about autism and how people can better understand this hidden disability.
By all accounts the 8th year of the Summit was a great success, but some of us old folks still haven’t recovered!
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