[Access] Fwd: [Access-l] Equual Access membership invitation

[Mary Otten]

For those folks who are not on the access-l UUA list serv, or for those
of you who are but have not yet responded to the invitation to join the
newly formed Equual Access organization, an affiliate of the UUA, I
wanted to pass along this invitation  forwarded from the national
listserv. Please consider joining and contributing  as you feel called
to do. 

Mary


We would like to invite you to join us on an exciting new endeavor. A
group
of us have been working for a year now to form Equual Access, an
affinity
group of Unitarian Universalists with physical, sensory, mental health,
and
intellectual disabilities, and our allies. Our goal is to promote
equality
and access for UUs with disabilities. We have created by-laws, mission
and
vision statements, and elected officers. (These are posted on
Access-L at uua.org, and discuss in detail our organizational structure
and
proposed identity caucuses.) 

We now invite your membership, participation, and support in Equual
Access.
We welcome your involvement in the birth of this new, transformative,
and
potentially powerful organization -- whether your skills and interests
are
more conceptual (leadership, organizational development, recruitment,
etc)
or more concrete (organizing an annotated bibliography of recommended
books
on disability, functioning as a resource on forming accessibility
committees; creating and promoting hospital kits that assist hard of
hearing
people communicate during hospital stays, etc). If all you can do at
this
time is offer financial support, we will appreciate that, also. 

Just imagine what Equual Access can accomplish! We can create an
atmosphere
of acceptance and openness to those of us with disabilities; we can
advocate
for each other and support each other; we can develop and adopt
policies
which do not discriminate against those of us with disabilities; we can
help
create leadership opportunities for people with disabilities; we can
educate
UUs on the social justice implications of ableism and other linked
oppressions; and we can affirm that the spiritual needs of
congregational
members and friends with disabilities are recognized and addressed. Why
wouldn't you want to be a part of that?

At the bottom of this letter is a simple membership form. Cut and paste
and
complete the form and send it back to ACCESS at UUA.ORG and as you become
a
member, please also let us know the level of leadership and support you
are
able to provide at this time. 

Please become a member of Equual Access, and let us know how you will
help
us eliminate the barriers which prevent the full participation of UUs
with
disabilities in the life of our faith community. If not you, then who?

If you are coming to General Assembly in Fort Lauderdale join us on
Friday,
June 27 at 12:15pm in the Convention Center, Room 124-125 (we have an
ad in
the GA Program.)

Yours in faith,
The Equual Access Leadership group
--Arthur Tackman, President
--Devorah Greenstein, Vice President
--Mary Otten, Secretary
--Amanda Schuber, Treasurer
--Caron Wells, Chair Right Relations Committee
--Barbara Meyers, Disability Consultant
--Carolyn Cartland, Disability Consultant




Membership information:

1.  Copy the information below,
2.  paste it into an email using your own email address, 
3.  complete the information, 
4.  and send it to access at uua.org


Today's date

Your name (first, middle, last) with any prefixes or suffixes you use

Your address (street, city, state, zip)

Home or cell phone number

Email address you prefer

Your UU congregation (if any)

Do you self-identify as a person with a disability? 
(would you like to share information about this?)

Do you self-identify as an ally to people with disabilities?
(would you like to share information about whether you're family member
of a
person with a disability, friend, etc.)

Would you like to give your energy to helping Equual Access?
(how would you like to be involved?)




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