Able Tales Newsletter

Vermont SICL members Harriet Hall and Janet White attend 2002 National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) conference in Washington, D.C.

National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) hosts an annual conference that is attended by people from around the country. This year, Vermont SILC members Harriet Hall and Janet White traveled to Washington, D.C. to represent Vermont and participate in the 2002 conference. Following is Harriet's story.

On June 11, 2002, Janet White and myself met at the Burlington Airport to start our journey to Washington, D.C. Over lunch, we got to know one another.

Security at Burlington Airport was tight. I was asked to take off my shoes. No problem, I love to go barefoot. Although I have flown many times before, I have never been asked to take off my shoes. We boarded our plane at 2:00 p.m., right on time. After getting settled on the plane, the captain came over the loud speaker and said that there was a problem with the plane. We all had to get off the plane and go through security again. We waited for three hours and then they let us board the plane again.

After arriving at Washington Dulles airport, we got a wheelchair, and a young lady assisted us. She ran with Janet in the wheelchair and told me to hip-hop along until we reached the taxi stand.

Washington was 98 degrees, hot and humid. When we arrived at the hotel, we thought a nice cup of coffee would be refreshing. Little did we know it was going to cost $3.50 for a cup of coffee. We relaxed by having a salad and a cup of soup. We met several people from many different states.

On June 12, 2002, we went to the general conference meeting. We were informed on the purpose of negotiation. Negotiation is a means of getting what you want from others. It is designed to reach an agreement when you and the other side have some interests that are shared, and others that are opposed. Negotiations are used to explore whether you can satisfy your interest better through the process of back and forth communication aimed at reaching an agreement than you can by pursuing your best alternative to a negotiated agreement.

Following are the seven criteria for assessing the success of a negotiation:

1) Better result than other alternatives available to you.
2) Satisfies legitimate interest and underlying concerns of the parties.
3) Options are viable and can be implemented.
4) Neither side is "taken."
5) The agreement is durable and enjoys support of constituencies and the communities.
6) The process is efficient.
7) Process improves or at least does not damage the working relationship among the parties.

This prepared us for the following day to go to the capital and speak to our Congressmen.

June 13, 2002 was such an exciting day for me. We lined up for the march to the capital. Janet carried the sign to represent Vermont. I had a large colorful sign that read "Nursing Homes are not a home - Nursing Homes will have to go." We chanted many sayings such as "What do you want?" "FREEDOM," we answered.

It began to rain hard. The paint on my sign ran all over me. I was dressed in white and it made me look like a rainbow. It continued to rain and I was dripping wet.

We ate lunch in the rain. We had a rally on the hill. We shouted out many chants about freedom for individuals with disabilities. There were many speakers that spoke to the group.

Justin Dart was one of the speakers. In 1998 I won the Unsung Hero Award from Justin Dart through the AmeriCorps program. I had a moment that I introduced myself to him. I started to cry because it meant so much to me to meet him. He has done so much for people with disabilities, and helped get legislation passed that really made a difference. I have met two presidents and many famous people in my life, but none that was as important to me as Mr. Justin Dart. God bless him.

Soaking wet and dripping with different colored paint, we went into the White House. We went to see Bernie Sanders. We met briefly with him and spent some time with his chief executive. We asked him to support the MICASSA and Rehabilitation Act, Ticket to Work program, and transportation. We asked him to vote against the ADA Notification Act. We also went to Patrick Leahy and Jim Jeffords' offices with the same requests, although we were not able to see them. We are still corresponding with each of them to get things accomplished.

On June 14, 2002, I went to my first workshop which was on transportation. There was a lot of discussion on how to obtain funding for transportation. They passed out materials and numbers of directors to call.

My second workshop was on Civil Rights/ADA Notification Act. We mainly went over current legislation.

In the afternoon was the NCIL Annual Meeting. The winners of the Regional Representatives were announced. There were speeches of candidates for the election of officers. Reports were heard from the President, Executive Director, Vice President, and Treasurer. Then the results of the elections were announced.

After a long day of meetings, we enjoyed a multi-cultural event. We had Native American people drumming and dancing for us. Many joined in and had a great time. They told stories about their customs and answered questions. We also enjoyed buffalo meat, flat fried bread, corn casserole, fresh vegetables, and some maple syrup and biscuits and rice pudding.

On June 15, 2002, there were more workshops, including Housing, MICASSA, Rehab Act - Take the Initiative, Invest in Freedom, Ticket to Work, and the Work Incentive Improvement Act. At the end of the day, we had a social event with great music, fun, and dancing. Everyone had a great time.

June 16, 2002, was the NCIL Board meeting. They welcomed new board members. They reviewed the conference which had been a large success. They appointed people to different committees and talked about the coming year and different projects that they were going to accomplish.

I hope to get a chance to go to the NCIL Conference again. It was a great learning experience.