Come join me on HAPPINESS HEALS on CRAFTY

CRAFTY create, believe, make, do, craft

AnnMarie Cunniff AnnMarie Cunniff has invited you to join HAPPINESS HEALS on CRAFTY   Mastermind group for HIT, artists of all genre teachers of yoga,meditation,social workers,counselors,and others to build a blueprint of a Day Program for adults with physical or mental disabilities. This group is creating, financing and implementing a "blueprint" for a Day Program for "high functioning" adults on disability, looking for recovery a… Created By: AnnMarie Cunniff Check out HAPPINESS HEALS on CRAFTY: http://crafty1.ning.com/group/happinessheals?xgi=c8rkH1L About CRAFTY Share craft ideas and projects. Help to teach persons or families of persons with disabilities to find a craft to help in their recovery. Blogs Events Discussions Groups Music Photos Videos   To control which emails you receive on CRAFTY, click here

The NAMI HelpLine Needs Your Support

$10 helps provide booklet and fact sheet information by mail to one of the thousands of people who otherwise would not have access; $25 ensures training for one of the more than 30 volunteer HelpLine associates; $35 assists in helping NAMI expand HelpLine Spanish-language services to the many who encounter great barriers and even greater stigma; $50 helps assure the availability of over 75 HelpLine fact sheets and brochures; $100 aids NAMI in adding additional HelpLine associate stations. NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-NAMI Friend, today we are writing to ask for your help in supporting the NAMI HelpLine. Here's an actual email from just one of the many true stories of help and support provided by the NAMI HelpLine: Dear HelpLine: My boss recently found out that I have bipolar disorder, and harassed me constantly. He made jokes about my mental illness in front of the other employees, and he said that I made mistakes all the time. Yesterday, when I showed up for work, he told me I was fired because I wasn't competent. I have had excellent performance reviews, and there is nothing negative in my personnel files. Please help me. I don't know what to do. Are there any laws to protect me? John A. Thanks to the dedication and hard work of NAMI HelpLine volunteers and staff, John was able to get the help he needed. The NAMI HelpLine alerted John to the fact that he was protected by the Americans with Disabilities Act, which prohibits employers from discriminating against qualified individuals with a physical or mental impairment. In John's case, he was clearly discriminated against. But he wouldn't have been able to get the information he needed without your support. A few days later the NAMI HelpLine heard back... I had no idea that the ADA covered my situation, and that there are government agencies that can assist me. Thank you all so much! People with mental illness sometimes have nowhere to turn, and it is comforting to know that the NAMI HelpLine is there to help us. God bless you. John A. National Alliance on Mental Illness 2107 Wilson Blvd. ~ Suite 300 Arlington, VA 22201 For fastest unsubscribe results follow these instructions: 1.) Log in to your NAMI.org account by clicking here 2.) Select "mySubscriptions" from the tabs underneath the "myNAMI" graphic 3.) Uncheck the box next to "I would like to receive general e-mail updates from NAMI" 4.) Click "Save Changes" at the bottom of the page 5.) You will then be unsubscribed immediately If you were unable to complete the fast unsubscribe, please email: webmaster@nami.org Please do not reply to this email (it will go to an unattended mailbox.) If you have any questions, concerns, or comments about this email, please send an email to webmaster@nami.org.

ABLE AND WILLING

Image via Wikipedia

I spent a good deal of my day today researching opportunities for people with disabilities. It is necessary for me to gain knowledge about what resources are available to businesses to train and hire persons with disabilities. I am in the early stages of creating a business that is to become a place for persons with disabilities, to use their artistic skills to make a living either by working for another company or becoming Entrepreneurs and creating their own product or business. Along the way today I ran across some really great web sites. I was very much taken with this particular web site called "Able and Willing" an untapped pool of talent. There are some wonderful stories about mentoring and internships. It gives me hope when I found people willing to make the world a better place for those with disabilities. Check out the video on that site, it's really inspirational.

Persons whose disabilities are not visible are finding it so difficult, STILL to be around people in the workplace that don't treat them as peers. It is really important to help all people find employment and the more resources we offer to employees and employers that accommodate and accept everyone, the closer we are to accepting all people as equals across the board. Too many people are wasting their time on the business of others and not paying attention to what is going on around them. These are the "kind" of people that are unaware how difficult, but awe inspiring, it is to see someone with a disability maintain job performance equal to theirs. We all must learn to become more aware of what is around us and to become more accepting of everyone.