Advocacy program

Camphill Village is on the verge of launching some crucial advocacy efforts, aimed at getting the attention and support of our local and state political representatives. We need your help and no one is better equipped than YOU to speak to the great services and meaningful life the Village provides for adults with developmental disabilities. We need your stories to help educate state agencies and lawmakers on the importance and accomplishments of Camphill Village.

Please contact Nancy Lewis, Camphill Village board member and mother of a villager, to find out how you can help and get involved. Send her an email at nlewis@camphillvillage.org, and use “Advocacy” as your subject.

An open letter from Nancy Lewis:

 

Villagers, Family members, Friends, Board Members, Coworkers – We are all advocates, because we love Camphill Village. If you are connected in these ways, you probably talk about Camphill Village every day. You can help with letter-writing, speaking to groups, widening our social media contacts, and more. Ideas are welcome!

 

This past year, we have learned that it is very important for others to understand Camphill Village and to hear why it is important to us. Legislators and officials from OPWDD are especially eager to learn about Camphill Village because they are the people who make funding and policy decisions. Since Camphill Village is a bit different from the larger programs that serve people with developmental disabilities, we can help these decision-makers understand why so many villagers have chosen to call Camphill Village home.

 

Until recently, people who live at Camphill Village kept a fairly low profile in the community and in the state. That is compatible with the idea of life-sharing – we go to and fro in the communities around Camphill Village as small family groups, and we fit easily into our surroundings. We have lots of friends and champions, but we aren’t in the habit of asking them to write letters or speak for us. Many of our friends do not know that Camphill Village is part of a large world-wide network of Camphill places.

 

Things have changed! In recent months, friends and families have conducted a series of very effective (and helpful) letter-writing campaigns. We write from the heart, as family members and close friends. We have written to legislators around the state and to the folks at OPWDD. We are learning to tell our stories to show the wider world why small “farmstead” programs are exactly right for some people. Our letters have been very much appreciated.

 

Please join us in this important work.

 

Best wishes,

Nancy