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<p class="MsoNormal">Natalie, sounds interesting. I nominate you and Kristen to attend along with anybody else who would like to go of course.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Carolyn and I will be on an airplane Wednesday headed to Panama, so I guess we will not attend this meeting.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">My first questions would be “who would be the angel who pushes this forward” and “where does the money come from”? Without well-thought-out answers to these questions, nothing much is likely to happen. Color me a skeptic, but then that’s
 who I am. I would love it if this actually succeeded.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">John<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b>From:</b> NFBO-Linn-benton <nfbo-linn-benton-bounces@nfbnet.org>
<b>On Behalf Of </b>Natalie Charbonneau via NFBO-Linn-benton<br>
<b>Sent:</b> Wednesday, January 8, 2020 2:20 PM<br>
<b>To:</b> 'NFB of Oregon Linn-Benton Chapter List' <nfbo-linn-benton@nfbnet.org><br>
<b>Cc:</b> natalieccharbonneau@gmail.com<br>
<b>Subject:</b> [NFBO-Linn-benton] FW: Corvallis Disability Empowerment Center<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">This was fwded to me by Avery, passing it along as it sounds like a great opportunity for us to be involved in.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt">Begin forwarded message:<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:12.0pt"><b>From:</b> Allison Hobgood <<a href="mailto:ahobgood@willamette.edu">ahobgood@willamette.edu</a>><br>
<b>Date:</b> January 7, 2020 at 12:34:09 PM PST<br>
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<b>Cc:</b> Abby Mulcahy <<a href="mailto:abby.cmlc@gmail.com">abby.cmlc@gmail.com</a>><br>
<b>Subject:</b> <b>Corvallis Disability Empowerment Center</b><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We hope you will join us on January 15, 2020<b> </b>for some preliminary, collaborative conversation about establishing
 a Disability Empowerment Center in Corvallis (working title). The Center is a burgeoning concept, and we would love your help in crystalizing the stakes, vision, need, and shape of such an organization. Loosely, the Center aims to be a <i>formal cultural and
 community space created both by and for people with disabilities and their allies</i>. More on the Center’s basic premise and possibilities follow below.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Please come to a strategic think tank session on Wednesday, January 15, 2020 from 5:30-7:00pm at the Corvallis
 Multicultural Literacy Center </span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">(2638 NW Jackson Ave, near OSU’s campus and on the bus line). The meeting will be scent free.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Please RSVP by January 9, 2020, and also let us know of any access accommodations you might need.</span></b><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The purpose of these initial conversations is to gather key stakeholders to begin to parse how this idea can come
 to fruition. There are many resources around town already supporting people with disabilities and creating disability community. The goal of the Center is to enhance those initiatives, partner with organizational entities that might not have the ability to
 centralize disability in the work they do, and proudly establish a space in Corvallis explicitly dedicated to disability culture and community building. Please note: this is <i>not</i> a fundraising event. It is an informal chance to come together and gather
 collective wisdom about how an organization like this one might contribute to disability justice, equity, and world-building. </span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">The CDEC might function in myriad ways. No doubt there are more:</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a generative place of self-discovery where disabled
 people can explore all the facets of their complex identities from gender to race to sexuality to nationality</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a robust cultural and community center that emblematizes,
 cultivates, and supports disability pride and invites people into disability identity and allyship</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a safe space for coalition, community building, and
 social connection that brings together diverse populations for whom disability is a component of their life experience</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a powerful site that centers disabled people and
 is a place off of society’s margins that they can actively claim and shape as their own</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as an innovative educational site for peer-to-peer programing
 on topics as wide-ranging as gender, sex/uality, work, education, family, carework, housing, access, and healthcare navigation</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as an influential community presence that educates people
 about ableism and changes social misperceptions about people with disabilities</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a publicly visible, go-to disability resource repository—both
 materially and online—that can help users identify and navigate discrete support systems</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a key linchpin linking existing diverse mid-valley
 organizations that support people with disabilities</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:0in;margin-left:.5in;margin-bottom:.0001pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a visionary organization identifying, strategizing
 about, and filling support gaps in our community</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p style="mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:8.0pt;margin-left:.5in;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt">
<span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:Symbol">·</span><span style="font-size:7.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">       </span><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">as a strategic partner in networking, connecting, and
 training community stakeholders invested in disability access and equity</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">We hope you will join us on January 15. If you cannot and/or have suggestions about folks who should attend, please
 send that info along. It is very important that the Center (and its genesis) incorporate as diverse a group of disabled people and their allies as possible. We want to ensure that everyone is represented and has a place at the table as we formulate this plan
 further.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Thanks, and looking forward to hearing from you!</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">In solidarity,</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom:8.0pt;mso-line-height-alt:11.75pt"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Times New Roman",serif">Allison Hobgood and Abby Mulcahy</span><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">-- <o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Dr. Allison P. Hobgood<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">she/her<br>
Associate Professor<br>
English Department; Women's and Gender Studies Program<br>
Willamette University<br>
900 State Street<br>
Salem, Oregon 97301<br>
<a href="mailto:ahobgood@willamette.edu" target="_blank">ahobgood@willamette.edu</a><br>
c: 404-825-4524<br>
w: 503-370-6211<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.willamette.edu/cla/english/faculty/hobgood/index.html" target="_blank">http://www.willamette.edu/cla/english/faculty/hobgood/index.html</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Author of<i> Passionate Playgoing in Early Modern England</i>,<o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/drama-and-theatre-general-interest/passionate-playgoing-early-modern-england?format=HB" target="_blank">http://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/arts-theatre-culture/drama-and-theatre-general-interest/passionate-playgoing-early-modern-england?format=HB</a><o:p></o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal">Co-editor of<i> Recovering Disability in Early Modern England</i>,
<a href="https://ohiostatepress.org/index.htm?books/book%20pages/Hobgood%20Recovering.html" target="_blank">
https://ohiostatepress.org/index.htm?books/book%20pages/Hobgood%20Recovering.html</a>  <o:p></o:p></p>
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