March 5, 2014
March 29: A Day for Awareness
March is National Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month. The Arc Greater Twin Cities, The Arc Minnesota and chapters nationwide invite you to join us March 29 to help raise awareness about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD).
What should you do? Simply make plans to go out Saturday, March 29. That’s all. Plan a day out and about with friends and family or by yourself enjoying the things you like to do. And, in the process help raise awareness and generate some conversation about people with intellectual and developmental disabilities during Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.
This one-day movement will serve to harness our collective power to gain allies, foster understanding, dispel myths and encourage people without disabilities to recognize that we’re not so different after all.
Year round, The Arc works to promote and protect the rights of people with I/DD to live, learn, work and play as valued and contributing members of their communities. We fight for legislation to remove barriers to full participation and inclusion and have been successful on many fronts. But sometimes the barrier has nothing to do with the width of a doorway or an employer’s hiring practices. Sometimes the barrier is as subtle as a nervous glance from an uninformed person in line with you at the market.
This March 29, let’s start breaking down those social barriers once and for all. This is your chance to personally help raise awareness about people with I/DD just by being yourself and participating in the things you enjoy alongside others in your community with and without disabilities. If you are a person with I/DD, make plans to hit the movies, a restaurant, Arc’s Value Village or your local shopping center for a day out and maybe spark some conversation in the process. Or, if you are a friend or family member of a person with I/DD, make plans to enjoy a fun activity together in public and take the opportunity to show others that we’re all not so different after all.
Spread the word and share your experiences using the hashtag #DDAware on social media. Follow us online at www.facebook.com/TheArcGreaterTwinCities or www.twitter.com/TheArcGreaterTC.
Want to do more? Support The Arc Greater Twin Cities with a tax deductible donation or by donating your gently used clothing and household items at one of our four Arc’s Value Village Thrift Stores & Donation Centers, open seven days a week. Sales generate over half of The Arc’s operating budget, providing critical programs and services for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families right here in the seven-county metro area. Or, you can volunteer at Arc’s Value Village Thrift Stores & Donation Centers or with The Arc Greater Twin Cities. And, you can go on record showing your support for people with disabilities and their families by becoming a member of The Arc.
Thank you for all you do!