Participants in Opportunity
Partners’ brain
injury program, TBI Metro Services, made a New Year’s resolution
as a group to be more involved in the community. After making their
resolution, the difficult part began: What could they do to become
more involved in their community?
The group bounced ideas off one another such as writing letters to
area malls to request doors be made more accessible, taking part in
community events, or joining an adaptive recreation bowling league.
They chose to write a letter to the State Capitol.
The next question was, “What
should the letter accomplish?”
Jeff Nachbar from the Minnesota Brain Injury Association spoke to
participants about advocacy. He instructed participants on how to write
to their elected officials and provided them with an outline that took
group members through the letter-writing process, step by step. The
outline suggested writing an introduction, including a description
of current problems and possible solutions, and concluding with a thank
you.
After Nachbar provided
the tools participants needed to write to their senators and representatives,
narrowing down issues they wanted changed became a challenge. Based
on Nachbar’s suggestions,
group members chose two issues: Medical Assistance (MA) income and
asset standards increase for people with disabilities (a bill supported
by Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities) and transportation
concerns. They then split up into two teams to follow through on
each issue.
The transportation group highlighted concerns such as bus stops not
always being pedestrian-friendly. Some stops do not have sidewalks
and others do not have traffic control for pedestrians. The group working
on MA income and asset standard increases focused on current MA qualifications
and reasons for change.
The group members researched who their lawmakers were by using the
Minnesota Legislature Web site. Participants also made phone calls
to Metro Mobility to research issues such as weekend rides. The two
groups practiced together preparing what they would say when meeting
with legislators.
TBI staff contacted representatives
to arrange meetings. On April 12, group members met with Rep. Jean
Wagenius in a State Office Building hallway during a committee break.
Rep. Sandy Peterson also spoke with group members and offered to
help organize a meeting with the Met Council and to work on transportation
concerns. She told TBI group members they were the third group this
session to speak with her regarding transportation and encouraged
them to contact her when the session ended.
There were two rallies the same day, and the group attended both:
one in the Rotunda put on by Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with
Disabilities, and another for transportation on the Capitol steps.
The TBI group members
were empowered by the process. “It took
many steps to get there, but we did it,” said program participant
Joanne Weise.
John Popko was asked
if he enjoyed meeting with the legislators. “Fine,” he
said, and when asked if he would do it again, responded with a thumbs
up.
Kris Hanson added: “You learn to hurry up and wait, and the
true meaning of patience.”![]()
Angela Rose is a Community
Integration Service (CIS) instructor for TBI Metro Services, a division
of Opportunity Partners. More information is available at www.opportunitypartners.org
