Governor Brownback Signs SB 210

This morning InterHab staff and members along with Representatives Pat Colloton, Barbara Ballard, Bob Bethell and Jerry Henry attended the ceremonial signing of Senate Bill 210!

Push Day 2011: A Powerful & Productive Day!

It was a windy, cloudy,  blustery spring day in the Capitol city yesterday, but you wouldn't know it from the hundreds of energetic, cheerful, and enthusiastic participants at Push Day!  We kicked the day off with a victory lap around the Capitol.  What were we celebrating?  The completion of our efforts to "Walk Around the World"!  After completing the walk, participants gathered back at the rally site to hear from a variety of speakers.  We heard from many special guest speakers including Representative Jerry Henry, Representative Bob Bethell, InterHab Board President & Executive Director of JCDS, Maury Thompson.  We also heard from Kathy Lobb, Self Advocacy Coalition of Kansas, who spoke to the needs of adequate funding and service for persons with developmental disabilities.  Ron Pasmore, President/CEO of KETCH, also rallied the crowd on critical employment issues facing Kansans with developmental disabilities.

At the end of the rally InterHab staff announced the final total for miles completed on behalf of the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World" statewide effort.  Early efforts indicated that we would surpass our goal, but all participants and event organizers alike were surprised and pleased to learn that we collectively completed 128,188 miles on behalf of Invisible Kansans.

This overwhelming figure is reflective of the interest, enthusiasm and passion that people across the state of Kansas have for issues affecting Kansans with developmental disabilities.  It is also reflective of years of effort put forth to raise awareness of the challenges that exist for Invisible Kansans and the Kansas DD support system.  Thank you to all of you who have become such powerful and effective advocates for this cause.

As a result of your collective efforts to host events in your communities for the last month and for bringing hundreds of participants to yesterday's rally, we got tons of coverage for Push Day!  Check out the pictures and footage below:

Walk around the capitol

Over 600 people just walked 1 mile around the perimeter of the capitol!

Location:Capitol

Getting ready for Push Day 2011!!!

People are already here!!!

Pre-Push Day Update!

We are pleased to announce that, as of this afternoon, we have collectively walked more than 80,000 miles for the Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World!  That means we not only met our goal of completing 24,902 miles, we exceeded it - in fact, we 'walked around the world' more than three times!

This is such an amazing accomplishment!  We look forward to celebrating your hard work tomorrow at our Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World Push Day Rally at the Capitol.  This rally is free and open to the public.  You can learn more about the rally at www.pushday2011.eventbrite.com

If you are unable to attend tomorrow, be sure to check out this blog and our facebook page for updates throughout the day!  We'll do our best to keep you up-to-date throughout the day.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: We Have Walked Around the World!

It’s been two weeks since our last update on the progress of our efforts to “Walk Around the World” and we’re pleased to announce that we have exceeded all expectations of reaching this goal.  

Over the past two weeks we have received numerous reports from organizations that have held Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World events and our numbers have soared!  In addition to community events, we’ve had multiple track teams, schools, Walk Kansas participants and even a group of hundreds of marathon runners contribute miles to the Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World.  As a result, we have not only met our goal of 24,902 miles (the circumference of the earth) we’ve exceeded it!  Currently, more than 67,000 miles have been completed – that means we’ve walked around the world twice on behalf of Invisible Kansans!

And the good news is, there’s no sign of us stopping!  This week many more organizations will host Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World events in their community.  Hundreds more individuals will continue to submit miles on behalf of Invisible Kansans.  And on Wednesday, April 27^th nearly a thousand people will gather together to complete one more mile for children and adults with developmental disabilities who are waiting for services. 

Wednesday, April 27^th marks the annual Push Day Rally.  Push Day is an event in which thousands of advocates gather outside the Capitol in Topeka in support of issues affecting Kansans with developmental disabilities.  InterHab members, individuals with developmental disabilities and their family members create one of the largest presences in the Statehouse each year, helping to send a strong message to legislators about the importance of issues affecting Kansans with developmental disabilities.  Push Day is open to the public and all are welcome to join.  Below is a brief schedule of events.  

2011 Walk a Mile in My Shoes : Walk Around the World Push Day Rally 

9:30am: Participants arrive and gather on the South side of Capitol

10:00am: Walk Around the Capitol

11:30am: Rally Speeches

12:00pm: Lunch & Live Music

1:00pm: Visit Legislators 

You can  learn more about this exciting event at
 www.pushday2011.eventbrite.com

SB 210: Take a Moment to Say "Thank You"!

On Monday, April 18th Governor Brownback approved passage of SB 210, signing it into law.  The bill makes it possible to pursue additional federal funding for Kansans with developmental disabilities.  This is a landmark victory for members of InterHab and all advocates who educated our state leaders to enact this bill.

Please take a moment today to thank Governor Browback for signing SB 210, and encourage him to keep Kansans with developmental disabilities among his top priorities.

Send a thank you message directly to the governor:

http://www.capwiz.com/interhab/issues/alert/?alertid=42442566&type=SW

Update on Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World

Tremendous efforts to make the "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World" a huge success continue.  We've received mileage logs from hundreds of indivudals and April is booming with "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World" events across the state! Just yesterday ACT of South Central Kansas held a massive rally at the Sedgwick County zoo and got great coverage from KSN in Wichita.  Check out the story below!

Below are just a few upcoming "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World" events:
April 14th: Clay Center, KS sponsored by Big Lakes Developmental Center
April 16th: Garden City, KS sponsored by Mosaic
April 17th: Arkansas City, KS sponsored by Twin Rivers Developmental Supports
April 18th: Manhattan, KS sponsored by Big Lakes Developmental Center
April 23rd: Wellington, KS sponsored by Futures Unlimited

If you would like to contribute miles to our goal of walking 24,902 miles - the circumference of the Earth - please submit your completed miles at www.invsiblekansans.com.  If you're interested in participating in the events above, please contact eroberts@interhab.org for details.  All "Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World" efforts raise awareness for Kansans with developmental disabilities who are waiting for services.  Currently more than 4,500 children and adults  with developmental disabilities are waiting for services.

Kansas Award of Excellence in Direct Support 2011

Kansans Mobilizing for Workforce Change & the Kansas College of Direct Support will make a $250 award to five exemplary direct support professionals (DSPs) who make a difference in the lives of the people with developmental disabilities they support.

Who is eligible?  Any DSP who...

• works with an individual with an intellectual and/or developmental disability
• is in good standing with their employer
• is employed in Kansas

*Note: Supervisors are not considered to be DSPs.

Who can make nominations?

• Representatives of any service provider funded by SRS
• Maximum of three nominations per organization will be accepted
• Self-advocates, family members or their representatives

Learn more about this exciting opportunity and download the nomination form.  

Entries due by May 21st.  Awards will be made in June 2011.

Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World - Halfway There!

We are more than halfway to reaching our goal to Walk Around the World!  As of today, hundreds of individuals with developmental disabilities, their family members, DD professionals and other community advocates have walked more than 13,000 miles for the Walk a Mile in My Shoes campaign!

We are right on track to reaching our overall goal of walking, running or bicycling 24,902 miles - the circumference of the Earth.  And we're about halfway to our deadline too!  As you know, we'll culminate our Walk a Mile in My Shoes: Walk Around the World campaign at the Push Day Rally on April 27th.  Push Day is our annual rally that takes place on the lawn of the Kansas State Capitol.  For this event, thousands of people gather at the Capitol to send a strong message to legislators about the importance of issues facing Kansans with developmental disabilities.

So let's keep up the great work so we can reach our goal by April 27th!  Your tremendous efforts help raise awareness for all issues affecting Kansans with developmental disabilities, including more than 4,500 children and adults with developmental disabilities who are waiting for services.

If you have completed miles on behalf of Kansans with developmental disabilities, let us know!  You can log your miles at www.invisiblekansans.com