Turnstone Celebrates Disability Awareness Month with "First, People" Campaign and Video
FORT WAYNE, IN (March 02, 2021) – Hoosiers across the state will be celebrating Disability Awareness Month this March. For over 30 years, the Governor’s Council for People with Disabilities has recognized this month to increase awareness and promote independence, integration, and inclusion of all people with disabilities. Turnstone will join in the celebration with a campaign titled, “First, People”, highlighting the value of inclusive community and shared human experiences.
After a year of isolation and quarantine, “First, People,” will emphasize the need for community, specifically the integration of people with disabilities in communities. Turnstone hopes to convey that the first step in creating more diverse communities is to listen to people’s stories and take part in conversations.
The “First, People” campaign is a nod to the best-practice use of “people-first language” and is intended to showcase simple ways we can show more respect towards individuals of all abilities. Throughout March, profiles of Turnstone-affiliated community members, Deborah, Clif, Eliana, Maggie, Cole, K.C., and Tyler will be posted on Turnstone’s website. These profiles will highlight the importance of inclusive community from each of their perspectives.
“First, People,” will finish at the end of the month with the release of a featured video. The video will be resource for the community that shares how simple modifications to our words and actions can show respect for people with disabilities.
“Inclusion and equality should be a basic principal for all of us, but we can easily miss this when we focus on differences instead of commonalities, even when its done subconsciously,” said Turnstone CEO Mike Mushett. “Disability Awareness Month gives us the chance to bring to the forefront the conversation about the richness diversity, including disability, adds to our community.”
With 12.5% of Allen County’s population having some form of a self-identified disability1, this month creates a platform to inform the other 87.5% of our community that having a disability is just another way of experiencing the world.
All of the “First, People” conversations, as well as the campaign video, will be shared on Turnstone’s website, www.turnstone.org/firstpeople, and Turnstone’s social media profiles on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn.
1 Brucker, D., Dame, E., Al Kurabi, F., et al. (2020). 2019 state report for COUNTY-LEVEL Data: Prevalence. March 01, 2021