Welcome back to my blog and sorry for the delay - I appreciate all of your patience (it's the lack of sun, you know, and then the sudden appearance of it that makes me want to write!). My Mother's former adult family home Romanian owner used to say, "Sharon, we carry the sunshine in our hearts" Bless her - so great to have found her for my Mother's last days.
The Fair - great to have the fair up on Broadway and Pine, but, perhaps another location that is more disAbility friendly and individual rooms for more privacy for individual visits with providers would be much preferable. I was really happy to see such a diverse group of providers, including more people of color staffing booths (I still feel that there needs to be a lot more of these groups at these events, including staff who are behind the tables who are people of color so that we can reach out to more people of color. Also, great to see people with disAbilities represented (big improvement), including a woman playing an organ (though perhaps it would be better to have this in a separate room as the loud noise can become distracting) and the MS Society. It would be great if we could have more groups that staff tables focused on people with disAbilites, as well, but I feel that we're moving in the right direction and this is positive change. Also, great to see PSOLOC (Puget Sound Older Lesbians Organizing for Change) and to meet some of their members at the event. Also, great to see SAGE/Senior Services at the fair and it was a pleasure to meet the director of PFLAG. However, the acoustics for the event were not good, it was not disAbility accessible and the signs were very very confusing. Also, the dance event didn't work too well for me because all of the participants who arrived to dance were all in their early 20s were obviously strong athletes and this can be intimidating for people who are older and/or have physical disAbilities. I would have preferred it if more of the people staffing tables could have been sitting at the tables more consistently, particularly Seattle Counseling Services, as there is such a high level of untreated substance abuse and mental health issues that the community is dealing with, and so much stigma when it comes to acknowledging this as well as actually following through with seeking help. As a suggestion, maybe there could be more dance classes offered, e.g. beginners, intermediate, advanced, and also done in a separate room instead of the main area. Also, some gentle yoga classes would be great. Also, how about some self-esteem building presentations. I don't know about everyone else, but, I'm more interested in going to presentations in which we can participate by responding to questions by the presenter. Also, how about having a presentation on empowerment on lbtq empowerment and maybe one on art therapy so we can expand the fair a little.
I'd also like to see more outreach to younger women as it seems to be almost always middle aged and older women at these events, and, after all, we are all part of the same family.
Overall, great job, and very nice with how it finished with the start of the Dyke March.
Thank you so much Ingrid!
No comments:
Post a Comment