A conference for and by self- advocates in Prince George
What can a group of self- advocates who are passionate about learning and connecting dream up?
The Self Advocate Caucus of Prince George and Self Advocate Peer Liaison Penny Soderena- Sutton worked incredibly hard to pull off an interesting and inspiring two day conference on May 13th and 14th called “Follow Your Dreams”.
More than 70 self- advocates from Prince George, Quesnel, Fort St John and Prince Rupert took part in a number of interesting sessions:
- Shelley DeCoste from Kelowna held a Town Hall and spoke passionately about her goal to change the word Disability to Diversability,
- Penny Soderena presented on Rights,
- David Wahlund, a life coach from Prince George, presented on the 10 Keys to Success,
- The self- advocates from ESATTA (Empowering Self Advocates to Take Action) facilitated a World Café and presented the BC Self Advocacy Foundation’s awareness campaign No More Barriers. I was honored to be invited to do a session of Laughter Yoga and sit on a panel to speak about people following their dreams.
Attendees enjoyed lots of delicious food and snacks provided by the hard working kitchen caterers at AiMHi (AiMHi is the organization that supports the Self Advocates group.)
People had lots of things to say as they sang the praises of the two day conference. Most notably – the staff who were supporting the group did a beautiful job of being present in a quiet and intuitive way. People had time to dream, think and figure out the kinds of things they would like to do to live out their dreams.
I was struck by how the group relaxed, enjoyed and learned through the 2 days. People were sharing ideas, working hard and doing lots of dreaming for their futures!
Congratulations to everyone – it was a lot of work but it paid off!
By Shelley Nessman
Express yourself, Build your network, Find your voice 