The United Spinal Association Advocacy Department would like to thank you all for helping us reach our goals over this past year! Below is a list to sum up all that was accomplished thanks to your dedication and hard work for the disability community. We are excited to work with you all this upcoming year to continue advancing change and awareness!
Our National Grassroots Advocacy Network is growing
- We are excited to announce that our Grassroots Advocacy Network has reached our goal of 2,000 registered advocates!
- We now have registered advocates in 430 out of 435 Congressional Districts.
We held in-person and virtual events
- Our first Joint Model Systems Virtual Advocacy Day took place in March, with approximately 60 advocates holding 30 meetings with their Members of Congress and staff.
- In June, we held our extremely successful Roll on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., with approximately 100 advocates visiting 160 Congressional offices.
- We presented to various groups, chapters, and podcasts about the Advocacy Program and held monthly Advocacy Live virtual meetings with advocates from across the country.
- Our 12 Meet an Advocate Live Streams highlighted the work of guest advocates from all over the United States.
Our new webpage launched
- Our new Advocacy Program webpage is the place to find our action alerts, policy spotlight, info on our working groups and events, and all our resources.
- Module 1: Why Advocacy? of the online advocacy curriculum was created and is available on the website.
- A State & Local Advocacy Menu is also available on the website.
- We created and hosted a United Spinal Advocacy Twitter Chat. Also, we welcomed almost 200 new followers on the United Spinal Association Advocacy Network Facebook page.
You now have five Working Groups to choose from
- We added two working groups to our Advocacy Program to make five working groups in total that meet monthly:
- Care Support (January 2023)
- Accessible Transportation (June 2023)
- Accessible Parking
- Outdoor Access
- Emergency Preparedness
The working group members started compiling information on personal experiences, resources, and suggestions on various topics, creating seven resources for the disability community that are available on the Advocacy Program webpage.
- June – Beach Access and Mobility (Outdoor Access)
- July – Hurricane Preparedness (Emergency Preparedness)
- August – Finding and Hiring PCAs (Care Support)
- September – Accessible Camping (Outdoor Access)
- October – Wildfire Preparedness (Emergency Preparedness)
- November – What We Want Our Caregivers to Know (Care Support)
- December – Winter Activities/Recreation (Outdoor Access)
Thank you for helping to make 2023 a great success! What will we accomplish together in 2024.
If you are interested in participating in one of United Spinal’s Working Groups, please fill out this online form. Also, please join our Grassroots Advocacy Network. Contact our Community Support team for more information about all United Spinal’s chapters and programs. Join us by signing up for a free membership. To support our mission, donate here.
