We Remember Them

The Day of Mourning honors people with disabilities who were killed by their family or caregivers.  Every year, vigils are held around the world on March 1.  This year, there are over a hundred new names on the list.

EqUUal Access has updated our Day of Mourning Toolkit

To find a vigil near you, or a link to the virtual vigil, please visit the Autistic Self Advocacy Network website

 

 

 

Are you considering going to GA in Kansas City?

The GA Housing Reservations System works well for finding a hotel room close to the Convention Center. When the system goes live, Thursday March 1 at 10am Eastern, there will be a link to the system on the Housing, Hospitality and Travel page of the UUA website.  That same page also has some information describing the hotels covered by the system.  There is more information about the accessibility of the hotels on the Accessibility Information for General Assembly page. There is usually a surge of people when the system opens; it can be helpful to read through the information in advance and have a first and second choice in mind. ADA-compliant and non-ADA-compliant rooms go through the same system (there is a drop down box under Guest Type to choose).

A few things to note:

• The System will open with 5 hotels, but only 4 of them are included in the information on the Accessibility Information page.  The fifth, the Hotel Indigo, is brand new and was still under construction during the site visit when the accessibility information was compiled.  While it is new, it is also the farthest away from the Convention Center and down a hill.
• As part of their contract for General Assembly, the hotels in the Reservation System have agreed not to use scent through their ventilation systems during GA (including the professional & meeting days on either side of GA).
• This year, none of the hotels are connected to the Convention Center with accessible passageways.

If you have difficulties with the Housing Reservations System

The staff in the UUA GA & Conference Services Office are knowledgeable, helpful, and kind.  Contact them if you have difficulties with the system by emailing: generalassembly@uua.org

What about other forms of lodging?

Some home hospitality is available with local UU families.  A reservation system for Home Hospitality will be available beginning March 1, also via a link on the Housing, Hospitality and Travel page.

You can also make your own arrangements through a travel agent, online booking site, B and B booking site, or directly with a hotel.

What if I decide later that I am going to GA?

Additional hotels are often added to the Reservation System when the initial hotels are full, so do check back.  And, the staff in the UUA GA & Conference Services Office often have suggestions that can help.

Need a Roommate?

The GA Forum has discussions about all kinds of GA topics, including roommates.  The Forum will reopen March 1.

Can’t attend in person?

Virtual GA attendance is possible!

Stay tuned for updates!

 

A blog has been created to be a beacon for education about mental health in order to remove stereotypes and prejudice and to promote understanding and justice within Unitarian Universalism and beyond.  It is a joint project of the EqUUal Access Mental Health Caucus and the mental health community ministry of Rev. Barbara F. Meyers.  Access it and sign up to follow the blog at: UUMentalHealth.org/

The Unitarian Universalist Association has rolled out the name Side with Love for its flag-ship social justice campaign.  In replacing the name Standing on the Side of Love, the campaign acknowledged that our community has been calling attention to the exclusionary language of the name from the beginning.  At General Assembly 2017, Rev. Theresa Soto brought forward a Responsive Resolution asking for a re-imagining of the name (see post).  Staff from the UUA worked on the name change in consultation with Rev. Soto, leaders from EqUUal Access, and other stakeholders, which has led to today’s announcement.

The UUA’s announcement lists 3 opportunities from this re-imagining:

• to firmly name what we are for and against. To recognize that as we seek to embody universalism we commit to resisting oppression.
• [to contemplate] provocative spiritual questions including “When have I sided with love? When have I shirked siding with love?
• to expand and deepen our understandings of the ways ableism shows up within the justice and spiritual communities we participate in, create and cultivate.

EqUUal Access encourages all Unitarian Universalists, UU communities, and UU organizations, to embrace these opportunities.

In addition to the resources provided by Side With Love in the announcement, you can find more about ableism under the Resources page on this website.

Let us know how you are encountering — and countering — ableism.  Join the conversation on Facebook!  Enter your sermon in our annual sermon contest! Submit your photo for our anti-ableism multi-media project!

A new AIM Newsletter is available: http://www.equualaccess.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/AIM-January-2018-Newsletter.pdf

 

We are excited to announce the 2018 EqUUal Access Sermon Contest. Any sermon focused on a disability-related topic will be considered.

To be eligible, the sermon must be preached on or before April 29, 2018. The winner will be announced at General Assembly in Kansas City, and will receive a $500 award. Both clergy and lay-preachers are encouraged to participate.

To enter, email your sermon and a separate cover page to info@EqUUalAccess.org with the subject line “EqUUal Access Sermon Contest.”  Your cover page should contain: your name, address, phone number, email address, sermon title, congregation to whom the sermon was delivered, and date the sermon was delivered.  Your sermon should contain a title, and all identifying references (your name, name of the congregation, etc.) should be absent.  Submissions must be in MS Word or Plain Text (PDF not acceptable.)

Entries must be submitted by May 6, 2018.

We’re pleased to announce that Rev. Helen McFadyen has been hired to be the new AIM Administrator, who will be taking over from our beloved administrator Michelle Avery Ferguson.  Michelle will be training Helen over the next month.

Growing up in a blended blue-collar family in Montreal, Helen McFadyen reflects a mix of cultures including Metis (Indigenous) and French Canadian. She has worked and volunteered for years around disability rights and accessibility concerns in various municipalities, and for organizations such as Guide Dog Users of Canada and the Alliance for Equality of Blind Canadians. 

Helen trained and worked bi-vocationally, credentialing both as a UU minister and as a spiritual health practitioner (hospital chaplain). A self-avowed lifetime learner, Helen is currently doing research that examines the impact of mutual supportive relationships on residents of intentional communities as part of a Doctor of Ministry degree program.

A dedicated member of EqUUal Access for about a decade and EA’s Consultant for International Liaison for two years, Helen now brings her enthusiasm, energy, experience, and skills to AIM.

Thanks to the Internet and telephone communication technology, Rev. Helen will be able to work closely with AIM congregations. “This is a commitment without borders”, she reflected upon accepting the Administrator position.

Rev. Helen McFadyen lives in the province of British Columbia where she serves as Developmental Minister to the UU Fellowship of Kamloops.  She enjoys swimming, playing ukulele, and hiking with her faithful companion and guide dog, Camilla.

CONTACT AIM ADMINISTRATOR:

E-mail:  aim@uua.org

Telephone: (857) 990-6388

Here is a link to an engaging video created by Rev. Helen McFadyen for the EqUUal access both at GA in 2017 in New Orleans: