Odds and Ends

In an attempt to keep our web site Home page as current and un-cluttered as possible, I am moving several items over here to the blog.  The first two items are newsletters from Project SEARCH at Seattle Children’s Hospital and our own Project MOVE in Spokane.  Also, a great web site on Transition at the University of Kansas featuring 101 Transition Ideas.

A humble beginning

Well, here we are! WiSe dives into the world of blogging. It is another bold move. Opening up the conversation about Supported Employment to the world.

Today was my rookie outting in the world of blogging. I had no idea how expansive this world is. I have searched templates, explored a massive number of sites, admired amazing photos and stories and am blurry-eyed with possibilities!

I find it simply mind boggling to consider the potential for feeling connected in a virtual world. I’m left to ponder…what does it mean to feel unified in the information era? I see how technology connects us to old friends, family and like-minded others but is it really possible to create unity through technology? I have witnessed the most connected movement in my lifetime, the Obama campaign. I sit stunned by the capacity of the vast array of outreach tools available through technology and yet still wonder if the ability to unify, connect and move a massive country like the United States was “for real”.

I guess only time will tell. The collective energy that is stirring in our country has my mind in action and in question of what is possible and probable.

Happy Veteran’s Day…and thank you to all of our veterans on this rainy, overcast day in lovely Seattle. I look forward to sharing the world of Supported Employment with you through yet another modality of our collective connectedness.

Art Experience in Italy Crew!

This email was sent out yesterday to people who supported a group of talented artists experiencing Down Syndrome (Lupita Cano of Seattle, Clara Link of Tacoma, and Dylan Kuehl of Olympia) which traveled to Italy October 27-November 3, 2008 for the art experience of a lifetime. 

“The Art Experience in Italy crew thanks you!

Our group, with your support, had a personally and professionally poignant experience in Italy. We flew to Rome and traveled extremely well together. We had a lovely welcome dinner in Rome that first evening, and slept well. The next day, on an adventure to see the Pantheon, we were sidetracked by a 1.5 million student demonstration protesting recent cuts in education funding, which shut down Rome, but not us! We still made our train to Orvieto.

Once in the countryside, Luigi showed up with our van, and we traveled (me driving!) through the winding roads of the Italian countryside to Civita di Bagnoregio. We were welcomed to the town with open arms and a dinner cooked over a wood fire in a 3000 year old grotto/cave/restaurant by Maria and Sandro. Tony Costa Heywood our host joined us in the fantastic meal. The rest of our week consisted of grocery shopping in Bagnoregio at the butcher, the pasta maker (they made ravioli especially for us!), the bread maker, the fruit and veggie shop, and all the other old-town shops. We cooked and ate together in our houses in Civita, and ventured out to Orvieto and Todi for art and sightseeing experiences in the van.

The weather was volatile the night we arrived in Civita, a wicked but exciting lighting and thunderstorm passed over the town. We had fog, rain, hail, and ample sunlight overall. We experienced the many different moods of old Italy.Personally, we all experienced what it means to be artists in a land which celebrates its artists. Many conversations went long into the night, and during our meals together we forged a new understanding of what it means to support each other in our artistic pursuits. Everyone realized the importance of art in public experience, and we are all now even more fully dedicated to inspiring and supporting not only ourselves but others in the pursuit of exploration and self-expression!

We will be digesting the experience and creating new art in the next several months. We will be producing a video, a short book, and public presentations to share with you the poignancy of the experience. Stay tuned…

The Great Conference Theme Search!

That is right, WiSe is searching for the big idea for the 32nd Employment Conference in Ellensburg this June.  You can enter your idea by going here, and we have similar links on our main web page http://www.theinitiative.ws as well as the People Working Wiki http://peopleworking.wikispaces.com.  As you think about the theme for this year’s Conference, please let a few thoughts guide your creativity:

• Employment for people with developmental disabilities is our primary focus.
• Employers and employment success will be emphasized in this year’s conference.
• The Employment Conference connects diverse communities across the state under the banner of employment equity.
• We are looking for the conference theme or title, not a logo or artwork.

The entries will be evaluated an a winner chosen by December 19th, 2008.  Keep an eye on our Blog, web page, or the People Working Wiki for information about the 32nd Annual Employment Conference theme!  Click here to go to the survey.