The Saskatchewan Association for Community Living has supported people who have intellectual disabilities to find their voice through the Self-Advocacy Action Group for over a decade.  The members of the group travelled around Saskatchewan, Canada, and even to Germany to discuss and promote the concept of Self-Advocacy.  As it is a movement guided directly by Self-Advocates, it maintains an authentic message that people of all abilities have a voice, deserve respect, and can make important decisions about their lives, while communicating on any level they are able to.  It is an empowering and important practice to keep educating people about disabilities, particularly when the lesson is coming from a group who embraces their 'disabilities'. 

Members of the Self-Advocacy Action Group came up with a new initiative when they met for a retreat in March of this year: The I CAN Movement, which stands for Individual & Collective Advocacy Network.  We want to open up the group and invite everyone to be a part of it! We keep hearing stories about people across the province feeling isolated, not having opportunities to meet new people and we want to change that.  We believe in the power of connecting and we recognize that if a person has a strong circle of support, they tend to have a better quality of life.  We want everyone to have a safe place to talk about their lives, to challenge barriers in their communities and to improve awareness of disability issues.  

Who can be a part of the I CAN Movement?

Everyone!

• We believe in inclusion- all abilities are welcome! 
• We are based in Saskatchewan, but would love to have allies and members from across Canada or the world.

How can you help us?

• Be a good friend
• Believe that each person has value, valid opinions and worth.
• Challenge systemic barriers to improve everyone's quality of life.
• Be an ambassador for change.
• Empower yourself, find your voice and encourage others to do the same.
• Get to know people who have a different background than you.
• If you have questions about disabilities or how to interact with people who have disabilities, please ask us.  We love to educate the public and view it as an opportunity to connect with people.
• Let us know what is working/not working for people with disabilities in your communities.  Sharing ideas helps us all grow.
• Choose your level of involvement.  We always want to focus on making sure everyone feels comfortable.
• We are a program of the Saskatchewan Association for Community Living, a non-profit organization and funding helps us spread our message, find more members and build a stronger network.

What will we do?

• Keep in touch.
• Meet at a local and provincial level.  Fund development especially helps us connect people, as we would like for everyone to be able to meet - we don't want cost to be a barrier.
• Be mentors to people who need support in finding a new job, a new place to live, a new direction in life.  People who have already walked that path have the best insight.
• Network, network, network.
• Promote inclusion by living it! 

We want to ensure that everyone has a voice, feels included and has a strong community behind them.  Join us!

For more information contact Self-Advocacy Coordinator Dallas Tetarenko at (306) 220-9280.