Hi, my name is Richard Berman. I live in Newton on my own, and I am very active in my community. I am supported by Best Buddies and volunteer for them through fundraising events like our Team Believe.

My name is Patty Quatieri, and I am a woman who has the developmental disability, cerebral palsy. I would like talk about public transportation. Every morning I take 2 buses and 1 train to work.

My name is Mitchell Bourque, and I am 23 years old with a condition known as cerebral palsy. Cerebral palsy is a physical condition I was born with due to complications at birth. As a result, I have to be in a wheelchair and am dependent on others top help me with daily tasks such as eating, bathing, and etc.

Hello my name is Annmarie Devane. I joined the Arc of Opportunity self-advocacy group in March of 2007. Self-advocacy has helped me to speak up for myself and others with disabilities.

James' story is one of triumph! He is a determined advocate who gets things done. James used to live at a developmental center. He wanted to have his own home

So I was born on May 26th 1992 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I have been involved in Best Buddies for 10 years this September. I am also a lead trainer for the Explore, Prepare, Act training with MASS, and the SALS by the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council.

The southeast regional meeting was held via zoom on May 14, 2020. This month 2 guests visited the meeting, Marie D’Aoust sharing about self advocates choosing to start Voting Clubs and Nate Hoover(DDS SE Human Rights) visited to say hello to everyone.

Chairman of the Southeast region group is Albert Milne, and has been a monthly attendee since 2017,he is a MASS Board member, and recently became the Chairman of the MASS Board. Congratulations Albert, we are sure you will do a great job.

Commonwealth Enterprises (Mansfield Redemption) has put together a newsletter for their self advocates to stay connected during the pandemic. Several self advocates shared either a story or suggestions how to spend time during Covid-19.

“Patience is not about the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting” is the theme of their newsletter.

MoLife’s self advocacy group has invited Gail Delgado, Marie D’Aoust, and Nate Hoover to their next meeting, June 3rd, to talk about self advocacy groups, Voting Club, and Human Rights. Congratulations self advocates of the MoLife Program in New Bedford on starting a self advocacy group.

CAST and STAR Launch self advocacy groups continue to connect with the regional coordinator for encouragement to virtually stay active.

On May 14th, Cynthia Goldberg participated in a webinar about self advocate stories during the Covid-19 emergency, and she read two of her newest poems. She is sharing one in the June 2020 MASS Flash.

Adventures of the World to Shine

By Cynthia Goldberg

Sounds of the ocean waves

Have words through their doors

Opening up to a bright shining beautiful day.

Lift our voices of the world to the sea.

Listen to the waves following me.

We speak from our hearts to create the world—

To shine on our day, to shine across the bay!

It feels like shining crystals of the sun let these words speak to me,

“Let the Angels take the challenge.”

I’m hearing in the ocean waves

The courageous words of the “courage of Sarah Noble.”

Hearing the tides is in my adventure.

I start believing how it sounds

With heart words above the shining sun on a beautiful day.

The sunshine is following me.

Next meeting is June 11, 2020 at 6pm - 7:30pm via zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/108541531

Any questions email or call Gail Delgado, Region Coordinator

gail@ma-advocates.org or 339-832-2922

(if I do not answer please leave a message)

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

The Metro regional meeting was held via zoom on May 21, 2020. The meeting had one guest, Marie D’Aoust sharing about self advocates choosing to start Voting Clubs. Two new self advocates joined our meeting from reading about our zoom calls monthly from the MASS Flash. Welcome Sarah and Andrew!!!!

Self advocates like the idea of voting clubs to discuss and research candidates for election, for they need more information beyond are they registered to vote or not. Thank you Marie for helping self advocates to encourage Voting Clubs.

The metro region self advocates have been enjoying the good weather and time with family. Some are needing to be apartment hunting, however COvid-19 has squashed the process. They miss seeing their friends, so basically everyone is watching TV all day and/or taking walks while wearing a mask. Their other concern is their jobs to get back to and those looking for jobs worried where are the jobs going to be after the pandemic.

Self advocacy groups in the region are meeting virtually, Winthrop Strong, The Price Center, and Matthew’s group via phone calls.

Next meeting is June 18, 2020 at 6pm - 7:30pm via zoom:

Join Zoom Meeting: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/226456287

or

Dial:

+1 646 876 9923 US Meeting ID: 226 456 287

Any questions email or call Gail Delgado, Region Coordinator

gail@ma-advocates.org or 339-832-2922

(if I do not answer please leave a message)

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.

Central Highlights for May Massflash

April had its ups and downs for Central Region.

We lost our beloved Central Workteam President and friend, Janet Laperle.

She was a patient and confident leader and she treated each one of us as special.

Central had our first zoom meeting in April. We enjoyed getting together! We saw a couple of new faces and some that we hadn’t seen in a while. We all checked in on how we are doing, and John Mullaly did some breathing and yoga movement with us. We went through the MASS Flash and showed videos and songs online. It was fun! We talked about our rights with medical issues. John Mullaly wrote a letter to Governor Baker about that. Also, some people cannot reach their DDS Service Coordinators. Teka said she would make sure everyone had the DDS phone number they needed. We look forward to our zoom meeting calls, and Jackie Dulmaine, Seth and the group will be joining a class at Quinsigamond College for a training on self-advocacy. We also plan on having our guest speaker, State Rep Natalie Higgins speak with us soon! Deb Pierce and Seth Gaston attended transportation meetings in April, and Deb joined the REDD Group meeting too. Justin is keeping up to date on legislative issues. Our grant projects are humming along. We are thankful for our Central board members Jillian and Karen. Thank you to our many Central Region leaders!

Hello Self Advocates

ZOOM regional meeting

Thursday, April 16⋅6:00 – 7:30pm

https://zoom.us/j/226456287

Join by phone

‪+1 337-441-4148‬ PIN: ‪774 076 552‬#

Any questions call Gail @ 339-832-2922 or email gail@ma-advocates.org

-----------------------------------

Join Anne Fracht and other self advocates every Monday and Thursday

Meetings Every Monday and Thursday 1:00 pm east coast time. The meeting is for one hour. The focus is peer to peer connections. Self-advocates sharing information and supporting each other while staying home during the Coronavirus.

Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/324815633

Dial 1 929 436 2866 Meeting ID: 324 815 633

The Central Region has had a good month in March even though half of it was spent at home!

At our regional work team meeting in March we had a presentation by Jillian Berube about making DREAM BOARDS, and she shared her hopes and dreams using her own board. Deb Pierce has worked on emergency preparedness so she helped us discuss the Covid 19 virus and how to keep healthy, including safe travel and taking public transportation. Deb also sends cards to those in the group who are sick or have had surgery. We wish at least three members to get well soon…we miss you! Justin Bernard also presented about voting. It was a great meeting!

Several people attended The Arc of Mass and MDDC Day at the State House. Honorees were Rep Michlewicz and Sen Patrick O’Connor. Justin reports that :”The event was good with about 400 people. Also got a chance to meet with my local legislators/aides. Jillian and her mom were there too with about 6 from Center of Hope. Great keynote speaker.” And we love the take home flyer with tips for successful advocacy!

We plan to hold TWO regional meetings in April by zoom call: Tuesday, April 14th and Tuesday, April 28 from 1-3 PM. Click on this link to join the meeting: https://zoom.us/j/988205111

We will let you know when we are offering more call ins too, so stay tuned! THE GREAT NEWS is that we will be joined by some members who haven’t had rides to the meetings…now you can call into the meeting!!! We are learning so much about how to be creative and stay connected!

We want to thank all of our staff and supporters for helping us stay connected through this tough time!

Our OVW Mass Rights for Change grant project team has met a lot during the month. We are working on plans to improve access to needed services for survivors of sexual assault. Our Central Awareness and Action team held two trainings in March and we cannot wait to get out and do more! The team even had an interview with Fox 25 about how abuse is a big issue and how important our training is!

So what is ahead for Central? We can’t wait for spring flowers to appear and to be able to get out with our friends once again!!! We look forward to having a meet and greet to welcome new members who join us for our phone meetings…. including self-advocates from the THRIVE self-advocacy group and others we have met. We are working on an online presentation for Quinsigamond Community College students! We also look forward to getting out to host tables at events like ADA 29 in Worcester and to join the REDD Group and transportation meetings as soon as we can. Meanwhile, we are excited to connect with local self-advocacy groups and host zoom calls to keep self-advocates near and far in Central Mass connected!

Spring has finally arrived……Happy Spring everyone!

“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.

Check out this link for some music and instruction about washing your hands.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OxOJ7hh3H-I&feature=youtu.be

Southeast Regional Meeting

Thursday, April 9⋅6:00 – 8:00pm

https://zoom.us/j/108541531 OR Join by phone ‪+1 413-438-7148‬ PIN: ‪689 838 506‬#

ANY QUESTIONS CALL GAIL @ 339-832-2922 OR EMAIL gail@ma-advocates.org

ACTS OF KINDNESS by Delta Projects

During these trying times it is great to have caring staff, Cherita Miles Jackson and Kolby! Today they, and the people they support, made care packages of chicken and vegetable soup, biscuits, sugar-free brownies;. Then door dropped off at some of our other homes, that have medically challenged people living there. Great job AJ, Ashley, and Sara.

Rainbow Corner

Hi from Pauline!

I hope everyone is doing well. I know it has been tough for some people. I want you all to know that I am available for support. I will be “live” on Facebook Monday’s at 11:00am & Friday evenings at 6:00pm Come Join me!

Please check our Rainbow Support Group Facebook page for updates and information.

Looking forward to hearing about other Rainbow Support Groups activities around Massachusetts.

Stay healthy…and remember its ok not to be ok!

Pauline Bosma

(508) 944-5797

https://www.facebook.com/Rainbow-Support-Group-119976291441557

**Looking for groups, members and others to write updates and articles of interest in the Rainbow Corner each month. Please contact Pauline rainbowbosma@gmail.com or (508) 944-5797

https://www.bostonpride.org/parade/