#AdvocacyMatters: Staying Connected

September 2, 2022 / #AdvocacyMatters

Our work is only effective if firmly rooted in the realities and lived experiences of the communities we serve. By regularly engaging with advocates and those on the front lines of this fight towards true equity, each step forward can affect real change. Broad outreach efforts, in-person and remote opportunities, and targeted survey work ensure the picture used to shape this work most accurately reflects the world around us.

We engage in-person. While the COVID-19 pandemic impacted our ability to connect with our communities in face-to-face settings, we are now able to resume these pivotal opportunities in safe and effective ways. Earlier this summer, we connected with Spanish-speaking communities in the Toledo area to ensure they were fully aware of the resources available to them. Our in-person voter outreach is picking up ahead of this November’s election. And, in just two weeks, we’ll host the first ever Southeast Ohio Job and Disability Resource Fair in Marietta… organized in partnership with allied organizations from Ohio and West Virginia.

We engage through data. Each year, we develop surveys that collect information from a wide sample of Ohioans with disabilities to learn about the issues and barriers impacting their lives. This information is used to inform and shape our organization’s “Goals and Objectives” for the coming year, providing a blueprint to ensure our work is appropriate and effective.

We engage virtually. Meeting people where they are, not where we want them to be, is pivotal in creating and maintaining meaningful channels of communication. With robust external communications efforts via our website (disabilityrightsohio.org), Facebook (@DisabilityRightsOhio), Twitter (@DisabilityRtsOH), Instagram (@disabilityrightsohio), and email (click here to be added to our mailing list), we’re able to reach across our state and directly into the communities we serve.

Broad and comprehensive engagement is critical in refining what we do and understanding who we do it for. It isn’t always easy but because we all believe that #AdvocacyMatters, the impact on our mission is always worth it.