Tonight was the second planning meet for the Washington County forum "Keeping the Boat Afloat." On April 11 citizens are invited to meet with key personnel, elected officials, and agency representatives for a facilitated discussion about how we can all collaborate during tough economic times to help families with kids with disabilities continue to get the services they need. My part is to open the meeting with a presentation that in 15 minutes explains the service delivery system and lay the foundation for the group's discussion. I teach a class on the service delivery system quarterly (that is why I was asked) but that class is 3.5 hours long....and I have no idea how I am going to distill it down into 15 minutes.
The group I am working with is great. These are people I have never worked with before so it's not my usual cast of characters. I find that I am challenged in new ways, re-establishing credibility and a knowledge base, and figuring out how to stay out of the political fray. Most of the people on the team are parents of kids with disabilities. Truly humbling. They come to the table with a kind of raw life experience that I will never have. And I totally respect them for it.
So we have about two more weeks to go - we are into the final details (name tags, sign in sheets, coffee etc.) and putting together the rest of the experts on the panel. For my small group I am paired with one of the Washington County Commissioners - which should be fun - because my Aloha programs are in his district. I look forward to working with him.
It feels good to be involved in something proactive during this time of potential cuts. Washington County has a reputation for it's grass roots efforts to respond to citizens and I think now more than ever people need to come together in creative ways to solve problems and share resources. If I had to write my own obituary it would be the kind of thing I would want to be remembered for,
Anyway - missed jits tonight because of it - but will be there tomorrow with bells on. :-)
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