It’s great to see old and new friends each week for our Northeast Weekly Check-ins. On May 6th we special guest, Marie D’Aoust, joined us to talk about a new MASS Voting Club. Several people were interested. Valerie raised the issue of scam calls and what to do if you are getting them. Several members are waiting to see if the national Self Advocates Becoming Empowered Conference will happen in October of this year. Right now it is still on but organizers are watching the situation closely to be sure it safe. We wrote to our regional DDS Director to offer our support and to ask about plans to re-open programs. We also want to be sure that everyone in the disability community lost to COVID 19 is remembered. If you care about that too, please contact Bridget Crowley at bridget@ma-advocates.org .

On May 13th our group talked about the Census, upcoming plans to reopen, and voted to send lunch to people living and working at Hogan to boost their spirits at this difficult time. We sent posters, art and lunch to let everyone know they are not alone. Direct care staff Peter Heslam share a poem about this time and how writing is helping him cope. Hats off to all of the direct care workers out there for your great dedication and heart!

On May 20th everyone shared a song that represents their life. Find the fabulous NE Quarantine Playlist here: Northeast Playlist. On May 20th we also talked about the Governor’s Plan to re-open Massachusetts in four phases. We still need to practice social distancing and wear masks in many situations. Everyone wants to get back to normal but realizes it is important for activities to be safe for programs and workplaces to re-open. Everyone agreed that when it is safe to do so we want to throw a big party. Sandy J shared an update on pending stimulus packages and will keep us posted as Congress moves forward. At the end of this call, Joe Canto reminded everyone that, “When we all come together, no matter how big the obstacle, we can overcome it.” If you’re interested in joining a NE Meeting, please contact Bridget to sign up at: bridget@ma-advocates.org or 781-789-4274. Our regional meetings will continue every week on Wednesdays at 2PM.

Local Group News from NE

The Merrimack Valley Peer Support group held an online meeting on May 14th. They are canceling their annual celebration at Maria’s Restaurant this year due to COVID 19. The next Peer Support Meeting is May 28th.

Here’s news from the All for One group: “Hi this is Nicole who has autism. The name of my self-advocacy group all for one. We are meeting on Zoom online now every Monday at 2:00 until things get better. the date for the real meetings will be decided when we can meet in person. For more information, contact nicoled713@gmail.com .”

Many of us are coping with being at home with creativity. Donna Jay is making art and shared a piece for this issue of the MASS Flash called, “Spring.” Spring

We held regional Zoom meetings on April 1, April 8, 15th, 22nd and 29th. At these meetings we covered: how to stay healthy, taking care of yourself, getting help to get food, what is social distancing and why do we need to wear masks. Members shared ideas of what to do to keep your spirits up. As we get news each week of people we know who are sick with Covid 19 we are sending good wishes to everyone and their staff. Our hearts go out to everyone who is sick or has lost a friend or loved one at this time. We will be sending cards to residents of Hogan and their staff to show our support.

Donna Jay, Nichelle Delgado and Derek Spear joined SARTAC National Advocacy calls with self-advocates from all over the country. The regional group wrote a letter to Governor Baker thanking him for his work to keep everyone safe, and raised concerns about having support and equal treatment in the hospital. Read our letter to the Governor here: NE Letter to Governor Baker

Thank you to Tim Holmes, Derek Spear, Donna Jay, Nichelle Delgado and Therese LaPorte for taking part in two meetings with ally organizations like the Disability Law Center and Mass Families Organizing for Change to write a letter about allowing people with disabilities to get support from a loved one or staff if they need to go to the hospital. Thank you to John Mullally from Central for sharing your story about how staff and family make a difference in the hospital. Here is the letter sent to the Department of Public Health Commissioner: Visitor Policy Letter to the Dept of Public Health .

The Northeast will hold weekly meetings on Wednesdays at 2PM. Marie D’Aoust will be our guest on May 6th to talk about a new MASS Voting Club! If you would like to join a meeting, please e-mail or call Bridget to receive the meeting code: bridget@ma-advocates.org or 781-789-4274.

“Hope is being able to see that there is light in spite of all the darkness.”—Desmond TutuDear Friends, I hope this message finds you healthy and finding ways to keep your spirits up. It is a different world than it was at the beginning of March, and none of us understood how much our lives would change so quickly. I am taking refuge in the music, comedy, and art offered by people from all over the world like this student performance: https://boston.cbslocal.com/2020/03/23/coronavirus-berklee-virtual-orchestra-what-the-world-needs-now/ .

I am grateful for the good work of our friends and allies at SARTAC (The Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center) who are sharing critical information about this crisis and how to stay safe and connected with each other. This link tells about different ways to use video calling to see our friends, family and co-workers: SARTAC Info on Using Technology to Meet .

In the Northeast we had our first Regional “Zoom” call on March 25th. It was wonderful to see everyone and hear how we’re coping with staying home. We will have these video calls weekly every Wednesday at 2PM. Here’s a video from Mike Rogers of SANYS showing how to use Zoom: Video on how to use Zoom. Here’s the information to join our weekly Zoom check-ins.

April 1, 8, 15, 22 & 29 MASS NE REGIONAL WEEKLY CHECK INS

Join Zoom Meeting by video:

https://zoom.us/j/457078340

Meeting ID: 457 078 340

To join by phone only

Dial: 16468769923 and enter the Code: 457078340# US

Though technology will never replace seeing each other in person, I sure am glad we have ways to be together through this crisis.

Zoom allowed us to keep moving forward together on projects like Supported Decision Making -- task force members are finishing a draft Supported Decision making Agreement that we hope to share with all of you later in the spring. Supported Decision Making Task Force Members visited their legislators at the Arcmass/MDDC Legislative Reception to advocate for the SDM bills.

Derek, Cynthia, and Kamisha continue research on the topic of Transfer of Rights for students. At the beginning of the month Therese LaPorte spoke about her experiences and self-advocacy on a panel promoting Self-Determination at Lesley University. The All for One group met in Merrimac and talked about selling artwork to promote Autism Acceptance.

We also need strong self-advocates to share your stories so hospitals and our wider communities treat people with disabilities as a priority. Let’s keep our community strong, healthy and connected through this trying time. In the Northeast we are gathering messages of support to share on our Facebook Page – please contact bridget@ma-advocates.org if you want to submit a short video message, a note or drawing.

This month we welcomed a couple of new members to our regional group. All are welcome to check out our meeting. The next one is March 25th from 6-8PM at 261 N Main St Middleton. Please note, this is one week later than usual. Thank you to Therese LaPorte, Sandra Jones and Anne Fracht for attending the February 6th meeting of MA21 at Arcmass in Waltham. The group focused on self-direction and looked at a new guide for planning your budget. Donna Jay presented to the NE Arc Self-Advocacy group in Danvers about the Marriage Penalty and how to advocate for change on this issue. Therese LaPorte shared her experiences and the importance of self-advocacy at a Transition Forum at Lesley University on a panel of self-advocates. It was a great discussion with students, teachers and self-advocates about increasing disability pride, understanding and self-determination. Presenter, Stel Gragoudas said, “Being self-determined doesn’t mean doing every task independently. I am self-determined and I need help to get dressed each day.” In other news, we are overjoyed to know that the FDA finally banned the use of electric-shock therapy! Thank you to our Regional Chairperson, Derek, for making this issue a priority in our region.

GATOR (Guardianship and the transfer of rights) news: Kamisha, Derek and Cynthia are working hard searching for information for students about Transfer of Rights. MASS Researchers learned about how to do a literature search with Cady Landa of ICI on February 7th along with Marie D’Aoust, Gail Delgado and Bridget Crowley. Kamisha also joined the first advisory board meeting for this project with transition experts from around the country. The full GATOR Team meets by video conference every other week.

The MA SDM Task Force met on February 8th and reviewed SDM Agreement forms from different States. Kim Plaut and Austin Carr prepared three interviews and recorded them with the help of the Institute for Community Inclusion on February 21st. Our task force hopes to turn these videos into webinars to help more self-advocates learn about supported decision making as an important alternative to guardianship! MA SDM Task Force members took part in meetings about the Supported Decision Making Bill, which is moving along. Members attending the Arcmass/MDDC Legislative reception advocated for support on this bill. The task force meets again at Harvard on March 14th from 11:30-3PM.

Happy February Everyone! This month we’ve been making plans for the coming year and lining up dates to spread self-advocacy. Here’s what’s happening:

We held a holiday dance in December raising $381 to help with costs to attend the national Self Advocates Becoming Empowered Moving Mountains Conference in October. Our next event will be a Spring Fling. Stay tuned for more details.

Our regional elections for Treasurer and Secretary were held at our January meeting. Congratulations to Paula Mione on being re-elected to the role of Secretary and to Christina Kalafatis as our new Treasurer. We discussed registering to Vote and speaking up for transportation at the public meeting in Haverhill on January 23rd. We have rights and we have a responsibility to speak up. We do make a difference! Speaking of making a difference, MaryEllen Grelle represented self-advocates in the Merrimack Valley at a Legislative Forum with over 100 people in Lawrence on Transportation. MaryEllen raised the need for longer evening bus service hours and connections between areas so everyone can go to meetings, to work and see loved ones!

Merrimack Valley members attended a public meeting on The Five Year Transportation Plan on January 23rd. Thanks to new MASS Board Member, Sandy Jones, and Peer Support member, Nichelle Delgado, for raising the issues of extended service hours for busses and EZ Trans, and needing more flexible services. Their ideas will be part of the official five-year plan for the Merrimack Valley!

We will be presenting on Speaking Up with youth at Northern Essex Community College on January 30th. We will do this presentation again on February 26th at Opportunity Works.

We will give our Voting Rights Training at Communitas in Beverly on February 13th and Northeast Arc on September 24th.

Therese L is going to present to the Threshold Program at Lesley University on February 20th about the importance of self-advocacy.

NE Arc will have Donna Jay present about the marriage penalty to their self-advocacy group at their February Meeting.

Thanks to everyone who came out to our SnowBall event on December 18th. It was great to celebrate with everyone and raise some funds to help members attend the upcoming Self Advocates Becoming Empowered Moving Mountains Conference! Stay tuned for more ways you can support leaders to attend this amazing conference. Thanks also to everyone who donated warm gloves and hats for the Merrimack Valley Hope Mission. We wish to salute the following businesses and individuals for donating food or gifts to our event: Edible Arrangements in Haverhill; Cedars Foods; Panera Bread Company; Emily’s Bakery; Gametime; DeLeo’s Brick Oven Pizza; The Wicked Big Café; The Tap Restaurant; Paula Mione; and Wanda Burns.

Our next meeting is our Annual Meeting at 261 N. Main Street, Middleton at 6PM on January 15th. We are holding elections for Treasurer and Secretary of our Region. These positions are two-year commitments and they require you to attend the monthly regional meeting and one officers’ meeting a month. For more information, please contact Bridget at 781-789-4274. Happy 2020 to everyone!