A month or so before I broke my arm, I got a call asking if I wanted to be an intern as a Youth Fellow for a non-profit called Able SC.
Able SC’s mission is “To create greater access and opportunities for independence through empowering individuals with disabilities and promoting community inclusion.” There were two options, the 5-week program or the 10-week program. I originally chose the 10-week program, but since I was going to be recovering, I asked to switch to the 5-week program that began on July 8th and ended August 8th.
On my first day, I met 5 other people, Carrie, Tiffany, Brady, Patrick, and Will that either started for the 10-week program or were also on their first day. Able has two offices, one in Columbia and Greenville. I worked from the Greenville office with Carrie and Tiffany, Brady, Patrick, and Will were at the Columbia office. During this 5 week program, I would be assisting with a yearly event Able does call SC Youth Leadership Forum (YLF). “YLF is a four day, three-night leadership-intensive experience. Juniors, seniors, and recent high school graduates have the opportunity to stay overnight on a college campus, learn about independent living and advocacy in a safe and supportive setting, and collaborate with other young adults from around the state.” Coincidentally, this year YLF was being hosted at Lander University. As a Youth Fellow during YLF, I assisted with revising, leading lessons that some of the Fellows had already been working on, and being a “counselor” to the delegates (delegate is a representative chosen to attend the SC YLF because of their leadership ability). The topic of the lessons was: Right to Parent Act, Self-Contained Classrooms, Supported Decision Making, and Inspiration Porn. Aside from the lessons we had special guests such as the Cokleys, a power couple in the disability community and LeDerick Horne, a motivational speaker and spoken word poet with a learning disability.
The experience at YLF brung up so many emotions. It was overwhelming, enlightening and a wake-up call. I learned that the rights that I have now being disabled have only been a thing for 29 years. That’s not long at all when you think about it. I learned that if I would’ve had a baby before the year of 2017, they could’ve taken my baby away just because of my disability. I’ve been in school learning about everybody else’s history and not even realizing that I have my own. My overall taking from YLF was it was a different kind of wokeness I never realized I needed.
Other than YLF, I recorded a podcast on dating with a disability, learned about disability rights, the role that certain employees play at Able, and met friends that I know I can always count and relate to.
Every week, we got critiqued by our supervisors and I loved that. I kept a note of things that I need to improve in and things that I had down pact. I learn of what it was like to be in an office environment, to work as a team, to be a role model, and most importantly what having a disability pride truly means. The fight for people with disabilities is soooo far from being over. Until the day I leave here, I continue to be a part of the advocacy, awareness and equal rights. #DisabilityPride
#stillRising 