Hi everyone! I am wrapping up my fifth week with the Center for Disability Empowerment, and we are now halfway through the Summer Fellowship! These past five weeks have gone by so quickly, but have been filled with valuable learning experiences and personal and professional growth. I have become much more confident in my own skills and voice at work, and have gained a much better understanding of the inner workings of the nonprofit world. I am looking forward to continuing to grow and develop, both personally and professionally, during the second half of the Fellowship!

In CDE news, we are now just one week out from the 35th Anniversary Celebration of the ADA that I have been helping plan for the last five weeks. I feel really good about the work we’ve done so far and I am excited to see everything come together next Friday. I think the Celebration event will be a great way to come together as a community and focus on something positive. With all the uncertainty, hate, and divisiveness in the world and in our communities right now, it is important to remember to not take for granted how far we’ve come and to continue to fight to protect what we have now. 

Jackie, Sue and I have been working on tying up any loose ends with event organization. We have finally got in contact with all of our sponsors about attendance, which was a huge relief and something I was struggling to get responses for. I have also been really focusing on volunteer coordination this past week, and I think that we have a thorough good plan and a good team joining us that will help the event run smoothly. We are in a good place right now with the planning, and will just be focusing on making some final touches next week before the event on Friday evening!

Until next week, 

Rachael McCague