Attending the NCIL Conference

            Attending the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) conference was a life changing experience. I was excited to attend the conference because I have a desire to work in the independent living field one day and I love the DC area. When I arrived at the conference, I was a little overwhelmed with all the people who were there. For those who know me, know that is strange because I am usually very social. Shortly after, I met some awesome people from another CIL and was excited to see that the IL movement is bigger than our local center. One of my favorite speakers of the week was Senator Duckworth. I was so excited to see someone who is in the Senate being a great advocate for people with disabilities. Her story of perseverance and the need to educate her colleagues on disability issues is refreshing. It goes to show that we have more work cut out for us.  If you ever have the opportunity to listen to her story, DO IT!

         Another life changing event was the march to the capital and the rally. It was awesome to be a part of something that will go down in history. Hearing the people chant and carry their different signs shows that there is so much that needs to be changed in society for people with disabilities. I loved hearing the people that were passing by in their cars honking in support of us. Attending the rally was amazing because I heard some of the legislatures support what we were advocating for. I believe many people think everything has to be a fight with the government and to see some of them support us was awesome. Some of the senators told us that there are other people in the government that do not support our independence. I think that this was the point when I realized that what we were doing was important.

               
            The other great opportunity was the time that we had to spend with Randy Forbes’ legislative aide. One of the things that was very refreshing is that he actually took the time and listened to our concerns. He was very engaging and asked questions when he did not understand what we were talking about. One of the main points that we talked about was the lack of transportation for the community of people with disabilities. We could see that he really wanted to understand what we were talking and said that he took for granted his own transportation.

        Mostly, I am grateful for was the opportunity to get to know the staff and the other participants that went with us. The three of us had the opportunity to get really close and share some life stories that encouraged us. Some of the conversations that we had dealt with some issues that I have been facing in my personal life and I thought I was the only one that ever faced those issues. I think community is great and it is a necessity for independent living.