Julie Marks '08 and Deanna McManus '06 Networking

The premier meeting of networking group for young professionals with disabilities was held this week in Rochester. And among this group of up-and-comers? Two Partners Grads (of course!) Click here to see the article from the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle!

Mike Smith Class of '08: Not Just One...But 2 Interviews!

YouTube - Sabrina Dhammi interviews Mike Smith of FAIR for Channel 13 in Albany. Mike wrote the bill that has recently passed in NY with John Gilmore of the Autism Action Network and Austism Speaks.

And another interview with Phil Bayly also of Channel 13. (Mike is actually the chairman of the Foundation for Autism Information and Research, Inc.)

Partners in the Media: Jim Swart '04

The advocacy and support Jim Swart '04 provides for fathers of kids with disabilities through his job at NY Parent to Parent is featured in an article in The Leader Herald! Click here to view the article!

And Happy Fathers' Day!

Partners in the Media: Julie Buick '06

Partners grad, Julie Buick '06, is interviewed by YNN in Rochester about the Autism Insurance Bill. Click here to view the story!

Tina Fitzgerald Class of '05

Tina Fitzgerald and her husband Rick

Tina Fitzgerald from the Class of 2005 puts her Partners training and her social work background to work for people with disabilities.

Since graduating from Partners Tina has worked as a Medicaid Service Coordinator and later for Americorps until health needs forced her from the workforce.

But her health has not kept Tina from disability advocacy.

Last year Tina and her husband Rick trained to be Election Inspectors and Tina completed further training to become an Election Machine Technician. They worked both the primary and general elections in 2010 in their town of Mattydale.

Tina is Vice President of Disabled in Action, an advocacy group made up of people with a variety of disabilities and people without disabilities. With this organization Tina has organized and participated in many initiatives:

• Advocacy with participants in the Consumer Directed Program with participation from the ACLU to develop oversight for caregivers that is respectful of individuals' civil rights.
• Advocacy with the local paratransit program through recent budget cuts and fare raises to maintain (not lose) current routes and to streamline the application and assessment processes.
• Hosting forums to allow politicians and people with disabilities to dialog about their positions and their needs.
• Recruiting advocates.

Tina is involved in the CNY Community of Practice and is working on compiling a Survival Guide for people with disabilities who are being forced to live with fewer service coordination supports in the current budget crunch. She hopes to make accessing community supports in her region easier for people.

In February Tina was interviewed for The Post-Standard by reporter Sean Kirsh for the article, Unshoveled Sidewalks: Syracuse flunks the 'walkability' test.

While working for Americorp this past March Tina organized a coat drive through One Warm Coat. Over 100 coats were collected for the Salvation Army.

This week Tina and DIA, along with other disability groups and local unions will hold an "Informational Picket Line" at the Federal Building in Syracuse. They will be protesting local lawmakers' efforts to replace Medicare and Medicaid with voucher programs. These program changes will cause hardship for people with disabilities.

"I pull out my Partners training A LOT!! Partners is very empowering.

Partners taught me how to wield my strength as a self-advocate beyond my friends and acquaintances. Partners gave me a lot of confidence!"

Helene Fallon, Class of '06

Helene Fallon and Arne Duncan, US Secretary of Education

Helene is a another very active Partners Grad!

In her "day job" Helene is the Training Coordinator for the Long Island Parent Center and also the Training Coordinator for the Long Island Advocacy Center.

And in her "spare" time??

Helene co-facilitates NYS Communities of Practice for Family, School and Community Collaboration. This COP includes many stakeholders including the NYS Education Department and works to support outcomes for children.

She is very involved in Communites of Practice and one of 14 Activity Leaders from around the country for the IDEA Partnership where she represents families. In this role she participated in the Office of Special Education Programs' Thought Leader Forum on Education from Cradle to College and Career in Washington DC last week. This workgroup included stakeholders from around the country and the results of this forum will be reported to the US Department of Education.

Since graduating from Partners in 2006, Helene started the Long Island chapter of the Learning Disabilities Association and she is their Executive Director and on LDA's statewide board.

She was also instrumental in starting the Long Island Community of Practice 3 years ago. The organization was started to bring the not-for-profit organizations of the region together to share resources and disseminate information about each others' events (they have a list-serv that goes to >15,000 people!) The organization also hosts Long Island Regional TRAID (for assistive technology) and hosts free, inclusive recreation events for children with disabilities and their families on the East End of Long Island.

Helene is also on the NYS Task Force for Higher Education and Systems Change working on teacher preparation especially in the area of including families in educational planning and implementation.

Helene teaches a class for graduate students at Long Island University called Schools, Collaboration and Consultation.

"I had had a number of trainings and experiences before I went to Partners,

but it is Partners that made me able to do the work that I do!"