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| Title: ABLE TO CHOOSE Campaign Impacts the Commonwealth of Virginia |
| Description The ABLE TO CHOOSE public awareness campaign, www.abletochoose.org, was officially launched February 11, 2009, at the General Assembly in Richmond, Virginia. This ground breaking campaign encourages the Commonwealth of Virginia to make all aspects of community life inclusive and welcoming to people with disabilities. Positioned as one of the state’s major educational outreach initiatives, ABLE TO CHOOSE was strategically released the day after “crossover” – the halfway point in this year’s 46 day General Assembly session. The event launch brought over two years of disability research and public opinion polling to fruition, as the campaign, funded in part by the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities (VBPD), was introduced for the first time to legislators, the general public, and the media. As part of the day’s celebration, which reached over 200 individuals, ABLE TO CHOOSE representatives hosted a morning coffee break for legislators, offering only one choice – black coffee, no cream, no sugar, and no lattes – as a friendly reminder that everyday options for persons with disabilities in Virginia are still limited. The campaign asked legislators and the general public to imagine how they’d feel if they visited a coffee shop or restaurant and were offered few choices. This unimaginable situation, involving something as simple as coffee, represents the reality for many people with disabilities who have limited choices in more important matters – such as where they live and the services that they receive. Throughout the day, ABLE TO CHOOSE representatives echoed this theme while delivering lunch to legislators, consisting of a menu with only one choice, item #46, to represent Virginia’s standing as 46th among all states for community-based services for people with disabilities. The day’s events, along with the launch as a whole, were designed to inspire the Commonwealth to learn more about the importance of ensuring availability of community supports that make us all “able to choose” how we live. The official launch of the campaign also included an opportunity to debut the highly anticipated ABLE TO CHOOSE public service announcement, featuring Stephanie Thomas, a fashion designer and radio personality with a disability. The release of the public service announcement and official launch set into motion a series of additional outreach opportunities, community events, press coverage, online activity, and other events taking place throughout 2009. ABLE TO CHOOSE encourages all Virginians to get involved: o Register your support for civil rights and equal opportunity for people with disabilities at www.abletochoose.org. o View the ABLE TO CHOOSE public service announcement and share it with at least ten of your friends and contacts. o Interact with the ABLE TO CHOOSE campaign on social networks such as Facebook, Flickr, YouTube, and Twitter. Join these groups, leave comments, post pictures, and invite others to interact with ABLE TO CHOOSE. o Read the featured stories and disability facts at www.abletochoose.org. Pass them on! With your support, the ABLE TO CHOOSE campaign will effectively demonstrate that people with disabilities of all types can and do live successfully in communities of their own choice when individually appropriate services and supports are available. Take Action Today: Toll Free Voice/TTY: 800-846-4464 or takeaction@abletochoose.org. |
“My heart pounded as I walked up Belmont Avenue,” recalls Rose Williams. “There I stood once again in front of George Rogers Clark School. I had always longed to go back to my elementary roots being the first physically challenged student in a regular class.”
Williams, now a published author and motivational speaker, saw her recent invitation to return to Clark School as both “wonderful and ironic.”
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| Able to Choose A public awareness campaign funded in part by Virginia Board for People with Disabilities |
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Toll Free Voice/TTY: 800-846-4464 Info@VBPD.virginia.gov Copyright 2009 |
