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Rachel’s Advocacy Journey

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hipcilTALKS Rachel’s Advocacy Journey featuring Rachel Adams Duffy.

Hello everyone, my name is Rachel and I am so glad to be here today. I am speaking for hip the heightened Independence and progress program. It is such an honor to be here sharing my advocating journey with this program today and I’m so grateful to have this opportunity. My hope with sharing this talk is allowing it to be shared to where other individuals see it. Where it shared as a message of appreciation and hopefulness for the future for other people that have disabilities.

I have been an advocate for myself since July of 2018 and my journey started actually because of a phone call. I knew that I wanted to speak to this social worker of a program that I attended after high school. I knew I had it in me to speak up to know that I wanted to talk to her and with that I am myself made the phone call as scary and as nervous as I was to do it, I made that phone call and that’s how my advocating journey began. I’m so beyond proud of that now some of the opportunities that I’ve been given.

I’ve spoken to a school that’s actually located in Oakland New Jersey I spoke for their student transition education program which solely focuses on job employment opportunities getting people’s voices heard out in the community within with the support of people behind them. The sole focus of that program is after before the graduation after the program is over. The sole fact of the program initially is for the individuals themselves to be able to speak up for themselves and advocate for themselves in the best way possible so they get the opportunities that they do deserve which in turn is an incredible thing because I was one of those students that was offered incredible opportunities because of that program and again I’m beyond grateful for that. That program really shaped me for who I am today and I can say if it wasn’t for that program. After I graduated high school I would not be sitting here right now recording this video so I’m very much grateful for that program and for what they offered me and what I was giving.

Lastly, I would like to say that I’m now apart of Access for All for Saddle Brook New Jersey. I would also like to say thank you to this program and for allowing me to come in today speak for hip and their program and organization and it was such an honor to have this opportunity to be here today. Thank you.