I Want to Start a Movement: A Place Where Everyone Is Needed
If you’ve ever read at least two of my blog posts, you’d know I grew up in a big family; I am the oldest of nine. I don’t remember a time when I wasn’t needed by someone. Throughout my entire life, I’ve been contributing to the overall welfare of my family. When I look at group homes today, I am more than a little concerned that we have reduced the role of the residents in the homes we operate to a guest status. A ‘guest’ is someone you serve rather than someone who actively contributes and participates in various roles and responsibilities. I am equally concerned that many see sheltered work as better than working a job alongside the rest of us.
Over my 40+ years in the human services industry I can look back and see how the shift occurred in our field. At one point, we stopped expecting people with disabilities to achieve, to grow up, and become more independent. It was the same time in history that we decided safety was more important than learning, and simultaneously the choice for aimlessness became more common. Jobs for individuals with developmental disabilities became an optional goal to help people pursue even when the person we supported wanted one!
As we’re coming up on a new decade, we need to mobilize new conversations. Are we holding people back from a normal life by keeping them from being needed in life? By taking care of their every need, are we disrupting their opportunities to learn and further their independence? How has keeping someone safe stopped them from becoming competent to do for themselves? How has doing for someone kept them from the joy of contributing to the greater good and serving others? How has sheltering someone prevented them from delivering a valuable service?
At KenCrest, we are asking everyone to consider authentic inclusion as our highest goal because we all have the equal opportunity to serve. We all know that December is known as the season of giving. Let’s make one of the greatest gifts that we can give to the people we support the joy of being able to give, too.
