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Statewide Meeting
By Jane Anderson
On December 6th self-advocates gathered at Jeff's Catering in Brewer to vote on both, changes in the SUFU bylaws, and to adopt "Articles of Incorporation". Bylaws are the rules that a group uses to manage its affairs, and Articles of Incorporation is a legal document that tells the name of an organization and what kind of work they do. SUFU is on the way to more independence, and part of the process to get its 501c3, non-profit status, was to add more information in the bylaws about how the organization will be run, and to create the legal document called Articles of Incorporation.
Forty-seven of the forty-eight self advocates at the meeting voted to accept the bylaw changes. Papers can now be filed with the United States government to make SUFU a legally recognized non-profit group.
The Developmental Disabilities Council, Disability Rights Center, DHHS Office of Adults with Cognitive and Physical Disabilities, and Maine Association of Community Providers are all groups that work on issues that are important to people with disabilities. SUFU calls them "sister organizations." We invited them to come share information with self-advocates. We divided into groups and people from each organization came to each group and told us about the kind of work their organization does. They asked self-advocates for feedback, and each group had a person to take notes. We shared information with them about things in our lives we want to change, issues around working, choosing where we want to live, and about self-determination and choosing how our funding dollars are spent.
I enjoyed meeting new people; everyone had the chance to network in person and see the faces of the people they hear about but have not met in person.
