MANSFIELD — Four trained advocates from Richland Newhope’s Project STIR were in attendance Thursday as Richland County commissioners proclaimed March as Developmental Disabilities Awareness Month.
Project STIR (Steps Toward Independence and Responsibility) offers a range of community-based training and technical assistance related to self-advocacy, self-determination, and inclusion for citizens with developmental disabilities.
Troy Smith, manager of community education for Newhope, said the local STIR program was developed using a curriculum developed in the early 2000s at the University of North Carolina Institute for Developmental Disabilities.
“This curriculum obviously is to teach about advocacy and helping the students and the older adults to learn how to stand up for their rights,” Smith said.
The train-the-trainer program provides Newhope clients training on a statewide level in cities like Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati so they can return home to work to assist others.
“They’re there for three days. They stay the night. They eat meals together. They review the curriculum together in the evenings, as well,” said Smith, who said the curriculum can be taught to anyone from age 14 to 99.
“We have a wide range of ages that we can teach this curriculum to and it’s nice because you can adapt it to everyone’s cognitive ability,” Smith said.
One of the trained advocates told commissioners that before he participated in Project STIR that he didn’t feel he knew how to speak out.
“I was nervous about doing the program in the beginning. But once I did the program, I feel like I have accomplished something and I really want to move forward with that,” he said.
Another advocate said she program encourages everyone to speak up for themselves, “no matter if you are disabled or not,” including those trying to bully someone.
(Below is a PDF showing the proclamation the Richland County Board of Commissioners issued Thursday designating March as Development Disabilities Awareness Month.)
Commissioner Darrell Banks, who read the proclamation signed by all three commissioners, thanked the advocates for coming, joined by Smith and Newhope Supt. Michele Giess
“You are doing a good job in serving the community and you have our gratitude for doing what you are doing. You should be very proud of yourselves,” he said.
Giess returned the praise.
“We appreciate the commissioners for your support for our agency through the years.
What we do for people is very important in our community. We serve almost 1,500 people. So our reach is pretty wide and we can’t do that without our partnerships and support we get from you folks and others in our community,” she said.