Community & Self The impact of self-direction
...even if the good of the community coincides with that of the individual, it is clearly a greater and more perfect thing to achieve and preserve that of a community; for while it is desirable to secure what is good in the case of an individual, to do so in the case of a people or a state is something finer and more sublime. Ethics Aristotle 1. Political Animals
If these dreamers are liberated, if they are brought back into the arms of society, they become the architects of the new community; a community which has a new capacity to support everyone's needs and interactions. Judith Snow Circles of Community - Snow, adapted by Duffy 2. Community- builders
There are eight degrees of charity, one higher than the other. The highest degree, exceeded by none, is that of the person who assists a poor Jew by providing him with a gift or loan or by accepting him into a business partnership or by helping him find employment - in a word, by putting him where he can dispense with other people's aid. With reference to such aid, it is said, “You shall strengthen him, be he a stranger or a settler, he shall live with you” (Lev. 25:35) Mishneh Torah: SeedsMaimonides 3. Dignity & Respect
Only the absolute identification of justice and love makes the coexistence possible of compassion and gratitude on the one hand, and on the other, of respect for the dignity of affliction in the afflicted - a respect felt by the sufferer himself and the others. It has to be recognised that no kindness can go further than justice without constituting a fault under a false appearance of kindness. Simone Weil Forms of the Implicit Love of God 4. Contribution
1. Right to Independent Living I can get the support I need to be an independent citizen. 2. Right to an Individual Budget I know how much money I can use for my support. 3. Right to Self-Determination I have the authority, support or representation to make my own decisions. 4. Right to Accessibility I can understand the rules and systems and be able to get help easily. 5. Right to Flexible Funding I can use my money flexibly and creatively. 6. Accountability Principle I should tell people how I used my money and anything I’ve learnt. 7. Capacity Principle Give me enough help, but not too much; I’ve got something to contribute too. Principles of self-directed support