Heartland Self-Advocacy Resource Network Three years of making self- advocacy even greater in the Midwest!

How did this project happen? A project funded by the United States Administration on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to increase the ways state self-advocacy groups work together to make each other stronger! AIDD wanted to create partnerships between states so we could learn from one another and help each other grow. Our states are Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska.

Ways that our states have worked together Webinars that are hosted by each state to share with each other what they have learned, ideas to make self-advocacy stronger and connect with people outside our state. ATTEND EACH OTHER’S CONFERENCES! Look who we have here today! Leadership Training: Last year we all worked together to learn about leadership so we could bring it back to our states to help more self- advocates become leaders!

What can we do with self-advocates nationally? The HSRN has collaborated with the national Self Advocates Becoming Empowered (SABE) organization to share information from our 4 states for the National Self Advocacy Resource and Technical Assistance Center. Self-advocate leaders from all our states and supporters also attend a variety of conferences to present and share lessons learned and successes from the HSRN project. We have a HSRN website and Facebook page which are seen by self- advocates from all over the country.

This is our last year of the HSRN project… …BUT! We all have become friends and support each other and will continue to learn from each other and grow self- advocacy in Missouri, Iowa, Kansas and Nebraska! Get to know the self-advocates that are here from other states while you are here at the conference! Raise your hand if you are visiting us!

Let’s meet our friends from our partner states! Iowa Nebraska Kansas Missouri

Leadership What are the types of activities you have been working on as a part of your self-advocacy work in the past year? What are the priorities you developed after our leadership training when we all met together in August 2016 in Kansas City? How has this impacted the work you are doing and planning to do for the future of self-advocacy in your state?

Working together the past 3 years! How has your participation in a regional project impacted you work in self-advocacy? What do you feel like are your biggest outcomes from partnering with other states in our region?

We need to reach more young people with disabilities in our states! How are you engaging youth to further our movement?

A few questions from the audience for our panel…. What are you working on that you would like help with?

THANK YOU! Please visit www.heartlandselfadvocacy.org