Summit to foster leadership in young people with disabilities

Once in a lifetime an opportunity presents itself that can forever positively alter a person's future.

That prospect is a reality this year for young adults with disabilities between the ages of 17-24.

The Statewide Independent Living Council of Illinois (SILC) is sponsoring the Illinois Youth with Disabilities Leadership Summit July 27-30 at the University of Illinois, Champaign-Urbana.

According to Gerard Broeker, executive director of SILC, "The Youth Summit is important because young people with disabilities learn about the struggle that individuals with disabilities have gone through in order to make the advances toward equality that we enjoy today.

"It is also important because there is still a lot of work to be done making society understand how people with disabilities can contribute if we are given equal opportunities."

The summit is free for those selected to attend, and personal assistants are on hand to assist with activities of daily living.

A variety of workshops are offered to foster leadership qualities and self advocacy.

Tara Dunning, financial manager of SILC and coordinator of the summit, explained why. "Several young people have gone on to attend college and taken great responsibility for their own lives," she said. "Many alumni have returned to the summit as mentors. They are instrumental in teaching the young leaders that they can make a difference in their own lives and that the summit is one opportunity for them to get the information that they need.

"The networking and relationship-building aspect of the summit, which occurs naturally, is extremely important because all too often people with disabilities feel alone or isolated. The summit presents an excellent opportunity for young people who may be the only person in their school to have a disability to see that there are many others like them who are dealing with the same difficulties."

This year, the Youth with Disabilities Leadership Summit will have Michael A. Winter as the keynote speaker.

Winter, a wheelchair user, is the director of the Office of Civil Rights for the U.S. Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C.

He was born and raised in Chicago and attended segregated schools for children with disabilities.

Winter is the quintessential advocate and my lifelong friend. He's been the director of the Berkeley, Calif., Center for Independent Living, which made its debut in 1972.

The deadline for applying to the summit is May 30. Applications are available in Braille, large print, and diskette.

For further information, contact Tara Dunning at (217) 744-7777 (voice/TTY) or www.silcofillinois.org.

Don't let this wonderful opportunity pass you by.

Contact Valerie Brew-Parrish: Val4info@Comcast.net