[Community-service] emergency and disaster volunteers

[Darian Smith]

Hi all,
  the term "advocating for myself" came up  a couple of times  here on this thread. 
 I would agree that this is important  thing to know how to do.
 My eustion is, just what do people on this  list think  it means?   If you find yourself using  it, what are you hoping  to get across to other people who want to help out at the red cross or food pantry or something like that?
 
  Thanks, Darian.
 
On Sep 19, 2013, at 12:05 PM, Everett Gavel <everett at everettgavel.com> wrote:

> Hi Denise, and all,
> 
> I love the fact that they won't let us do certain things, when we can at times do them better than someone else whose only supposedly 'better' qualification is sight. Sighted world or not, some people are still not better, just because they can see. It is convenient, though, I'll give that.
> 
> I'm part of the Emergency & Disaster Planning group here at our local Independence Center. Apparently, right now, our IC is the only IC in Colorado that has specifically hired someone to work with the city & governments regionally, regarding evacuations of the disabled and such things that go along with the field. This all came about due to some issues with evacuations last year during the Waldo Canyon Fire. So our guy has contacts with our region's newest FEMA reps and all that fun stuff. Because this region's rep recently got hired to be the head over the nation's FEMA people who work with disability orgs and the like. So it's fun right now. We might actually be able to make significant steps forward with the eyebrows that got raised after last year's disaster.
> 
> In regards to the Red Cross, several years ago I went down to the local Red Cross office after talking a couple of times on the phone. The phone calls went very well and I explained how I would be happy to do phone work, computer work, and even help with the newsletter. When I got there in-person, I believe my blindness changed things, though I can't prove it. The woman in charge talked a bit, took my contact info, marked down the areas I was interested in and willing to help with, and we parted ways. Though I called her once after that, I've never heard back from her at all. She put me off on someone else in charge of the newsletter supposedly, but I never heard back from either, and the big problem with all this is that I did not push it. I let it fall by the curbside, and that was my mistake. So in truth it's more on me than on them, as I did not advocate well for myself, nor push the issue, when it comes right down to it.
> 
> Denise, please tell Adam I said hello -- and I hope you both are enjoying life these days. ;-)
> 
> 
> Strive On!
> Everett
> 
> 
> ----- original message ----- Well, on the first aid with the Red Cross, they didn?t believe I could do it but, my friend Lisa and I just advocated for ourselves and it worked. There were, however, as you said in your recent post, those jobs for which I trained what Red Cross never let me do, even though, I knew I could do them, such as working in a hurricane shelter. So, sometimes it?s good and sometimes it?s bad for blind folks.
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Community-service mailing list
> Community-service at nfbnet.org
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/community-service_nfbnet.org
> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for Community-service:
> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/community-service_nfbnet.org/dsmithnfb%40gmail.com