Read about SUFU’s History by monthly summary updates.
1993 September: With support from ANCOR, Paige
Barton begins holding monthly meeting for self advocates.
1993 October: Maine’s Self Advocacy Network begins.
Laurie Kimball is hired and starts talking to people around the state
about self advocacy.
1993 November: Maine’s first Statewide Speaking for
Ourselves Conference brings 300 Self Advocates and
Supporters to Portland.
1994 January: The Project Advisory Panel holds its first
retreat in Orono. Members talk about self advocacy and
their dreams for a self advocacy network.
1994 March/April: The Network holds a Leadership
Retreat for 100 self advocates and supporters at the Black
Bear Inn in Orono. The group talks about self advocacy and
how to get it going in Maine. Some of the basic material we
use about self advocacy in Maine is from this retreat.
1994 July: Two representatives attend the National Self
Advocates Becoming Empowered conference in Alexandria,
VA.
1994 November: The Advisory Panel holds a retreat at
Sunday River and writes a position statement which
demands the state close all of its institutions.
1994 November: Maine’s Speaking for Ourselves
Conference welcomes 430 self advocates and supporters to
Sunday River. The position statement demanding the
closure of Maine’s institutions is read to an ovation from
participants and Department representatives.
1995 June: Region One Self Advocates sponsor the first
regional self advocacy conference, in Presque Isle.
1995 Maine and New Hampshire Self Advocates join forces
to plan a 1997 Northern New England Conference.
1995 Fall: An advisors network begins, to support friends
of self advocacy to learn about advising and help
supporters stay in touch. Advisors meet quarterly
throughout the year for an exchange of information and
ideas.
1995 November: Over 430 people come to the November
Speaking for Ourselves Conference at Sunday River.
1996 February: The Advisory Panel and Officers for
Speaking for Ourselves meet to discuss the future of self
advocacy in Maine. They join forces and incorporate as
Speaking Up For Us of Maine.
1996 Spring: Regions Two, Four, Five and Six each hold a
region wide event, bringing self advocates from their areas
together.
1996 Spring: Pineland Center closes. There are more than
20 local self advocacy groups in Maine.
1996 May: The Board and advisors for Speaking Up For Us
meet to plan what to do for the future of self advocacy in
Maine.
1996 June: The initial grant to support Maine’s Self
Advocacy Network comes to an end. The group is poised to
find a fiscal agent and hire its own advisors.
1996 Fall: The Second Self Advocates Becoming
Empowered National Conference is Planned for Tulsa, OK.
Maine sends two representatives in the fall.
1996 – 1997: Speaking Up For Us flounders without the
support to carry out its goals. Local groups disintegrate and
members lose touch with each other.
1997 January: Leaders clamor for support at the
Legislative Awareness Day in Augusta.
1997 Spring: Speaking Up For Us is unraveling. Without
the appropriate support, members have taken shortcuts,
trust has been lost and the Board is no longer meeting. The
Maine DD Council, Maine Disability Rights Center and the
Project for Supported Living work with Speaking Up For Us
and their allies to begin to put together a plan to rebuild
the group.
1997 July: The Board meets for the first time in over a
year. Goals and objectives are identified; members are
elected; and an action plan created to get back on track.
1997 Fall: A contract is signed for the Project for
Supported Living to provide fiscal and administrative
support to Speaking Up For Us.
1997 – 1998: The Board meets quarterly and the officers
meet at least monthly throughout the year.
By laws are rewritten and adopted.
The group is reincorporated.
The Board is rebuilt.
Representatives attend the National TASH
conference in Boston
Eight representatives attend the National People
First Conference in Anchorage Alaska.
Maine presents at a TASH New England
conference on self determination in Newport, RI.
1998 June: The Board holds its annual retreat in Bangor.
New goals and objectives are developed and an action plan
put in place.
1998 September: Board representatives attend and
volunteer at the Advocates in Action conference in RI.
1998 October: A Statewide conference ‘Tools for Taking
Charge’ is once again held at Sunday River for over 250
self advocates and supporters.
1998 November: Self advocates hire a second advisor,
part time, Gayna Cook
1998 Autumn: Speaking Up For Us representatives help
form the SABE Regional Leadership network, which will
meet twice a year to share ideas and brainstorm grassroots
strategies.
1998 December: SUFU presents at TASH in Seattle about
rebuilding our group.
1999 January: The Board holds a training for new
members and a Board meeting in Bangor.
1999 Spring: SUFU representatives attend the SABE
Regional Leadership Retreat.
1999 May: The Board holds an annual planning meeting to
determine its goals for the coming year, which are
incorporated into the 1999 – 2000 contract
1999 June: Region One host ‘We Want To Work’ Regional
meeting hosting speakers from Social Security, Department
of Labor, Personal Services of Aroostook, Job Coach
Director, and Adult Education as well as self advocates
from around the County
1999 August: Self advocacy leader Paige Barton Dies.
1999 September: BDS continues employment of Dixie
Leavitt as liaison to SUFU for the Office of Consumer Affairs
1999 September: Representatives attend and present at
the Advocacate in Action conference in Rhode Island.
1999 October: Over 250 people attend the annual SUFU
conference ‘I’m talking are you listening’ at Sunday River.
Participants come from all over New England. The first
Paige Barton Award is given to Dixie Leavitt
1999 December: SUFU presents at the annual TASH
conference in Chicago.
2000 January: SUFU holds a training for new Board
members and continues with quarterly meetings to keep
things going.
2000 February: Conference planning begins for the year
2000.
2000 Spring: Several self advocates and supporters
attend People First of New Hampshire’s 10 Anniversary
Conference Celebration ‘Harmony Through The Arts’.
2000 May: SUFU holds its annual retreat for two days in
Blue Hill. Goals and Objectives are developed for the
coming year.
2000 May: SUFU collaborates with Maine Parent
Federation and other parent groups to apply for two family
support grants to increase opportunities for training and
education for self advocates and their families.
2000 July: Funding through BDS allows self advocates to
hire Dixie Leavitt
2000 September: Almost 20 SUFU members and
supporters attend national self advocacy conference, Ride
the Wave, in Providence, RI. One group presents a
workshop on overcoming the challenges of community
living.
2000 September: Seventh annual Speaking Up for Us
Conference, Choosing for Ourselves, is attended by 350
People.
2000 December: Self advocates present at TASH in Miami
on Person Centered Planning.
2001 January: Kristin Aiello from the Disability Rights
Center shares information about voting rights of individuals
with a diagnosis of mental illness under guardianship.
2001 February: SUFU holds a statewide ‘Voting Rights’
Rally speakers share why they want to keep their
constitutional right to vote.
Video of Voting Rights Rally: https://youtu.be/2oOFP0B8Oy8
2001 February: SUFU office moves out of BDS to new
space at Uplift in Gardiner.
2001 April: Self advocate leaders meet with States
Attorney General Steven Rowe
2001 September: SUFU Board hires new parttime Project
Coordinator, Jodie Benvie.
2001 September: Four self-advocates present at the
annual direct service conference on what self–advocacy
supporters need to know about attending conferences.
2001 October: Laurie Kimball resigns after eight years as
SUFU’s Project Director. SUFU is undergoing the first of
many changes to come.
2001 October: SUFU’s “Speaking Up and Speaking Out ‘
Conference is held in Bethel Maine with over 400 self
advocates and supporters attend.
2001 November: Officers attend SABE regional meeting in
Lake Sunnapee, NH with selfadvocacy groups from New
England and NY.
2002 January: Maine Public Broadcasting Network
premiers “Picture This,” a documentary about the lives of
people with developmental disabilities. Two SUFU members
are profiled in this program.
2002 February: Resource library opens at Gardiner office.
2002 February: SUFU members write letters and testify
before the legislature to oppose budget cuts to BDS.
2002 April: Three self advocates speak at the first annual
Community Inclusion Conference, sharing their experiences
of inclusion.
2002 April: DDC (Developmental Disabilities Council) hires
a consultant and grant writer to develop business plan and
apply for grants for SUFU.
2002 May: Officers attend SABE regional meeting in Lake
Sunnapee, NH with selfadvocacy groups from NE and NY.
SUFU begins partnership with Alpha One to work on a grant
to teach people about the Americans with Disabilities Act.
2002 June: Planning meeting is held to determine goals
and objectives for coming fiscal year. Members engage in
long term visioning for the coming five years. Partnership
with Disability Rights Center (DRC) is strengthened through
working on issues of employment and guardianship. DDAC (
Developmental Disabilities Advisory Committee) is formed
to guide DRC in their work with people with developmental
disabilities.
2002 August: Members of SUFU & BDS begin to meet in
regions 1 & 2 to share ideas & improve BDS services.
2002 September: Fifteen self advocates and supporters
attend national SABE conference, “Shuffle off to Buffalo” in
Buffalo, NY. Six selfadvocates present two workshops, “A
Voting Rights Story from Maine” and “A Place to Hang My
Hat,” a workshop on how to live independently in different
settings.
2002 September: Five self advocates, along with SUFU
advisors, attend DRC 25th anniversary celebration.
2002 September: Three SUFU members participated in a
focus group for one of the Olmstead (Technical Advisory
Group) TAG groups on community inclusion and personcentered residential support.
2002 September: SUFU board invites representative from
Senator Collins office to talk about voting and concerns of
people with disabilities.
2002 October: Over 400 people attended the annual
SUFU conference, “You & Me Equals Community.” SUFU
members present a variety of workshops, including the first
presentation of “ADA Rights in the Community.”
2002 October: SUFU Project Director position increases to
full time as a result of increased funding from
Developmental Disabilities Council.
2002 November: Twelve self advocates attend the second
annual Community Inclusion conference at which SUFU
members present two workshops: “How to Become Part of
a Spiritual Community,” and “Access Can Lead to
Inclusion,” a workshop which helps supporters increase
independence and inclusion for the people they support.
SUFU member Marie Fearon wins the annual David D.
Gregory Community Inclusion Award, presented by
Commissioner Lynn Duby at this conference.
2002 November: SUFU sends three officers and another
member to meet with SABE Region 8 self advocates in New
Hampshire for 3 days.
2002 December: Eight self advocates and supporters
attend the national TASH conference in Boston. Three
members present on independence and guardianship to 30.
2003 January: A panel of 3 self advocates present and
facilitate discussions with a group of middle school students
& high school students in Caribou on issues of similarities
and differences between people with and without
disabilities.
2003 January: Nearly a dozen self advocates give
testimony to the legislature & over 25 send written
testimony.
2003 January: SUFU officers meet with Lu Zeph to discuss
possible collaboration & how to strengthen relationship.
2003 February: Self advocates from Region 5 collaborate
with BDS representatives to hold a forum about upcoming
budget cuts. Participants share concerns about the services
they most fear loosing.
2003 February: George O’Donnell one of the founders of
the Houlton Peer Group passes on. Funding provided by
CCI to publish FYI from SUFU: What Self Advocates Need
to Know About Self Advocacy. A project George had started
in 1998.
2003 March: SUFU works with DRC & BDS to form EATC
(Employment Alternatives Transition Council). The DD
Council & CCI later join this effort.
2003 March: SUFU speaks out in favor of closing
Aroostook Residential Center and supporting people to
move into the community.
2003 March: SUFU terminates service with grant
writer/consultant. No grants have been applied for and the
organizational plan is still incomplete.
2003 March: SUFU’s training booklet on self advocacy is
published through funding from CCI.
2003 April: A SUFU member who has been on the
Olmstead Roadmap for Change presents the Roadmap with
2 other Olmstead members to 40 selfadvocates & gets
feedback from participants.
2003 April: SUFU gets a $3000 mini-grant from the
national Project Vote and the Kennedy Foundation. Two
selfadvocates, an advisor and a state legislator go to
Oklahoma to be trained in Project Vote.
2003 April: As a part of EATC, members of Speaking Up
For Us pass a resolution on work, stating the importance of
finding and learning to do jobs they like, in the community
when preferred, and to have help doing this.
2003 April: Four SUFU members attend SABE Region 8
Conference in NH to network with and learn from other
states.
2003 May: Two members of Project Vote team go to
Washington DC to share the VotingRights story from Maine
and to support the right to vote for people with guardians
all over the country.
2003 June: SABE is impressed with SUFU’s voting rights
story from Maine and pays for the rights to share the story
with others.
2003 June: SUFU supports board member from Region 6
to start a new selfadvocacy group in Bath and gives
support to an existing group in Brunswick to reenergize
and plan for the future.
2003 June: Gardiner’s self advocacy group works with
groups in Lewiston and St. Albans to host a selfadvocacy
celebration for Regions 3 & 4. Over 75 people attend this
event at Uplift in Gardiner with a cookout (with local
legislators working the grill) and a dance. Selfadvocacy
speakers Chandra Murphy and Emily Fish speak on ‘How to
Turn Anger Into Focusing on Getting What You Need’ and
‘Using Humor to Deal with Tough Situations.’
2003 June: Three self advocates and three supporters
attend a 3 – day Community Inclusion workshop in Topsham.
SUFU members join Inclusion Teams in different parts of
the state to increase acceptance and inclusion of people
with disabilities in their communities.
2003 June: SUFU offers support to residents of Aroostook
Residential Center (ARC) who will be transitioning into the
community during the coming year. SUFU members’ ideas
for successful integration into the community are shared
with management at the ARC.
2003 July: Northern Maine Peer Groups loose $10,000
grant. Self advocates write letters to BDS to get funding
back.
2003 August: Project Vote Team presents about the
importance of voting, how to register and make decisions
on candidates and issues to audiences in Augusta and
Farmington.
2003 October: Nearly 300 self advocates and supporters
come together September 30 – October 2, 2003 to celebrate 10 years of self advocacy.
“March to Maine” Guests from Rhode Island’s Advocates in Action help with technical
aspects of the event. Representative Pat Colwell gives
keynote speech.
2004 April: Jodi Benvie announce she will resign to pursue
other interests. Mary Schneckenburger is hired as the new
Project Director.
2004 April: Co chair Kelly Baston and former chair Sherry
Howes attend a Massachusetts self advocacy board retreat
in Rome Maine to facilitate.
2004 May: SUFU holds it’s annual board retreat to plan
goals and objectives for the 20042005 fiscal year. The
board’s focus will be on self determination.
2004 June: Self advocates from Machias and Calais unite
to start a self advocacy group in Washington County.
2004 July: SUFU is too big for PSL we choose a new fiscal
agent, Disability Rights Center
2004 September: Self advocates lose a former four term
President to the Presque Isle Peer Group, Derrick Curry
2004 October: Self advocates Tracy Hancock and Michelle
Harvey present on Exploitation in Massachusetts at MASS
Annual Conference
2004 October: Nine self advocates and supporters attend
Lakes Region Self Advocacy group in Concord New
Hampshire to attend People First of New Hampshire’s 20th
anniversary celebration
2004 October: Self advocates attend “We the People” in
Rhode Island a voting focused conference
2004 October: SUFU host it’s annual conference at the
Grand Summit in Bethel for 250 self advocates and
supporters “ Changes”
2004 November: Officer unite with officers and self
advocates from New England at Mt. Sunapee NH for SABER8
2004 December: 10 Self advocates and Supports attend
the DRC Celebration
2004 January: Self advocates from Bangor KFI unite to
start a self advocacy group bimonthly
2005 February: Self advocates attend budget hearings
and testify in opposition, attend a Maine Can Do Better
Rally
2005 February: Officers and advisors meet with Kim Moody
of the DRC to address concerns about SUFU.
2005 February: Colin Lilley one of the County’s first self
advocates passes on too young.
2005 April: SUFU struggles with concerns of management
and makes a tough decision to remove their Director
2005 May: The board decides they will hire another
advisor, the person will not be a director.
2005 July: Julie Moulton is hired as a supporter for regions
four and six
2005 October: SUFU host the 2005 Conference “Dreams”
2006 January: SUFU joins key New England self
advocates and Directors of Developmental Disabilities
Service in Westborough Mass to come to the table and
share ideas.
2006 February: SUFU hosts a statewide training to
educate self advocates and supporters on “Identifying and
Preventing Exploitation.
2006 March: Board members vote, the decision there will
be two regional self advocacy events. SUFU will not host a
conference at the Grand Summit for 2006.
2006 May: Seven self advocates and supporters attend
Atlanta Georgia self advocacy conference hosted by People
First of Georgia and organized by Southern Collaborative
(Region 6 and 9 of SABE).
SUFU Board Of Directors changes fiscal year to align
with Federal Fiscal Year.
2006 September: Self advocates host a Southern
Regional Event in Auburn approximately 130 self advocates
and supporters attend the ‘Road to Self Direction’
2006 October: Self advocates host a Northern Regional
Event in Presque Isle, approximately 125 self advocates
and supporters attend the ‘Let Me In’ event and Timmie
Hafford, first winner of the Marcia Rosen Award, makes a
guest appearance.
2006 December: SUFU members approve reinstatement
of ‘Articles of Incorporation’, approve amendments to SUFU
Bylaws, adopt a ‘Conflict of Interest’ policy; all steps
towards SUFU obtaining 501(c)3 status
2007 January: SUFU receives funding from DHHS to train
self advocates in prevention of exploitation.
2007 January: NEAT representatives meet with New
England state DD Directors in Marlborough Mass.
2007 January: SUFU and DHHS partner to train self
advocates in preparing for a natural disaster or pandemic
on an individual level. SUFU develops a checklist for non
literate people.
2007 January: Long standing SUFU ally and former SUFU
Project Director Laurie Kimball is hired as a DHHS training
coordinator, this reinforces SUFU’s close relationship with
DHHS.
2007 March/April: In region one and two local self
advocacy groups are on the increase for the first time since
2003. Local self advocacy groups meet in: Presque Isle,
Houlton, Danforth, Patten, Lincoln, Bangor and Machias.
2007 April: Self advocates and other interested parties
meet with the Portland Press Herald Editorial Board in
regard the offensive use of the “R” word in an editorial.
2007 May: SUFU joins allies in support of LD 1790
“Respectful Language Bill” and 1907 a bill to expand “Class
member” rights to include all people served by ‘The
Departments’ Adult Services.
2007 June: Through joint efforts, SUFU/DHHS/DRC has
made Exploitation training available in each of the six SUFU
regions.
2007 September: Region One and Two Self Advocates
host a Northern Regional Event, “North Star”, for
approximately 100 self advocates and supports.
2007 October: Dixie Leavitt retires after seven years.
SUFU bids farewell to Dixie at the Southern Regional Event
in Bethel.
2007 November: SUFU welcomes new advisor Irene
Mailhot to the Augusta office.
2008 August: Presque Isle Peer Group, one of Maine’s
first, unites and invites the community to celebrate their
15th anniversary. Over 20 people attend a rainy Barbcue.
2008 September: Three self advocates and supports
attend a three day self SABE conference in Indianapolis.
2008 October: SUFU host a 15th anniversary conference
‘Building Bridges’ in Bangor for 200 self advocates and
supporters.
2008 December: The Governor’s office announces a 10%
curtailment. SUFU members poised for another year of
budget woes and legislative hearing.
2009 January: SUFU celebrates becoming an independent
organization! We keep the ongoing support of our ally and
fiscal agent the DRC.
To Be Continued….
