Members of the Arizona Direct Care Worker Association (ADCWA) and other direct care workers and program leaders worked on developing their advocacy skills and their state association at a personal empowerment workshop in Tucson on June 4.
Vera Salter, the chair of the DCA’s board of directors, led the day-long Power Me workshop, following the same general outline she uses on the first day of the Voices Institute’s week-long National Leadership Program.
“The purpose of the workshop was to bring together direct care workers in the community and teach them how to access their own ability, to teach them that they had a voice and how they might best use that to advocate for themselves and for the association,” says ADCWA Program Manager Kathy Wilson.
“It’s very creative in getting them to think about themselves and draw pictures of their experiences – to be able to express themselves and then share that with somebody else. Crayons were involved, so that’s always a fun thing,” she adds.
Twenty-five people attended, including 17 members of the association. They came from various settings, from home care to group homes for adults to assisted living. “They said in the feedback that they felt valued for the work that they do, they gained insights into accessing their own personal power, and they liked the active interaction between the participants – the ability to participate and not just sit and be talked to,” says Wilson.
Attendees also spent time developing priorities for the association. Several volunteered to be involved in a leadership circle for the association. “We plan to form that leadership circle and access those leaders to help us build the association and bring in new members,” says Wilson.
A grant from La Posada Foundation, a fund associated with a local continuing care retirement community, allowed the association to pay participants $80 each for their time. “That really speaks to our mission of being able to value the members, by acknowledging that it’s difficult for them to take a day off work to attend such a thing,” says Wilson. “Eighty dollars helps them to be able to afford to go.”
Elise Nakhnikian
Communications Director
Direct Care Alliance
