Last year in February, more than 20 self advocates from around the United States proposed projects to SARTAC (Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center, a program of SABE), and of those, 6 were chosen to receive 5,000 dollars to create their advocacy projects. Each fellow is collaborating with a host organization, such as a State DD Council or People First. This year, the Washington State Office of Developmental Disabilities Ombuds has been proud to host Sorretie Jaro to create her project “Empowering Legislative Advocates Through Video.”
At the 2018 SABE conference, the self advocate fellows from this year got to meet each other for the first time, as well as several fellows from the previous year. Fellows who have completed their projects presented them to the national conference. Projects from this year’s fellows included “Invisible No More – Using Strong Relationships to Improve Policy” and “Toolkit for Self Advocates on the Importance of Competitive Employment”.
For more information about SABE and SARTAC, check out http://selfadvocacyinfo.org/, and stay tuned on the DD Ombuds website for more updates on “Empowering Legislative Advocates Through Video”.