April is National Volunteer Month, and to celebrate our outstanding volunteers, IDignity hosted a get-together at Azalea Lodge in Mead Botanical Gardens! We were able to share our love and gratitude for our volunteers’ dedication to IDignity’s mission, compassion, and generosity. Volunteers celebrated the night with good food, great company, and lots of laughs. Check out the photo gallery below!
Thank you to every single volunteer; you are the heart of IDignity!
Black History Month – Barb's Story
It’s important to know where you come from to know where you are going.🫱🏽🫲🏾 Sharing client stories allows everyone to appreciate and celebrate the richness of Black history as well as individual accomplishments. Accomplishments like Barb and Ernies’. Barb had NEVER had an ID but needed it desperately to obtain her medication and receive health care. With the help of her friend Ernie, the two came to IDignity, where Attonery Sharlene was able to assist them in obtaining a court-ordered name change to get Barb her FL ID. Barb described the feeling of obtaining her documents poetically, “It’s like being a brand new person. It’s like being reborn.”
Quote from American tennis player Arthur Ashe.
Black History Month – Charlene’s Story
Happy Black History Month💚💛❤️ IDignity is proud to embrace the diversity of our clients and supporters alike. So, as we embark upon this month, we are celebrating by sharing client stories and their successes. Successes like Charlene’s who came to IDignity for her New York City birth certificate. She needed it to start a second job. New York City birth certificates often take several weeks to arrive – but Charlene knew what she wanted and remained persistent. When her birth certificate came in, she told us that getting another job wasn’t her only goal. She wants to go back to school and become an accountant. Congratulations, Charlene, go make history! 🎉
Quote by entrepreneur, philanthropist, and activist Madam C. J. Walker.
Disability Pride Month 2023!
This month is Disability Pride Month. According to the Pew Research Center, there are 42.5 million Americans with disabilities, and in July, we celebrate all those who live with disability and take pride in their strength and determination.
As communications coordinator of IDignity, I frequently interact with clients. In these interactions, I have the honor to see the positivity of so many individuals who are down on their luck but continue to move forward, including those who live with a disability, and come to IDignity for services. I see the positivity and strength of people like Karelyn who, with underlying medical conditions, was unable to work during COVID, or Glen who is blind in one eye, or Juliano who, after suffering two strokes and being told he would never walk again, relies heavily on a wheelchair. Each one of these individuals has had their lives changed because of their disability, but each can feel proud of the steps they have taken to better their life by utilizing IDignity’s services. When I speak with clients I try to remind them of one important thing – that they took the step to come to us. That they are the ones who are working to change their life, and they should take pride in that. Similarly, in having a disability, it is important we push aside the fear and shame we may have learned over our lives, and take pride in the steps we have taken. No one said it better than Laura Hershey, in a passage from her poem “You Get Proud By Practicing.“
No matter if a disability is invisible or easily spotted, it does not change our common ground – we are all human. So, let’s treat each other as such.
If you look at the picture of me, Olivia, you likely would think that I am a healthy and able-bodied Gen-Zer. You would be correct. I AM healthy. But I am also disabled. I have narcolepsy, a sleeping disorder that causes extreme bouts of fatigue and even hallucinations. This disability alters my life greatly. I have felt shame from it, this disability that is completely out of my control. But I have learned to live with it, I have learned to live with it with PRIDE. I am lucky in this aspect because while July is Disability Pride Month, it does not mean every person with a disability has found their disability pride. But we can help them get there. So I ask, as a disabled individual, as an IDignity team member, as a HUMAN, that this month we remember to treat everyone with the respect and compassion with which we wish to be treated.
Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month 2023
May is Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month!
And while it may be the end of the month, we know that the celebration of AAPI doesn’t have to end just because May is ending.
To celebrate and pay tribute to this month IDignity wants to share some facts and fun about APPI month!
“Asian/Pacific encompasses all of the Asian continent and the Pacific islands of Melanesia (New Guinea, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji and the Solomon Islands), Micronesia (Marianas, Guam, Wake Island, Palau, Marshall Islands, Kiribati, Nauru and the Federated States of Micronesia) and Polynesia (New Zealand, Hawaiian Islands, Rotuma, Midway Islands, Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Tuvalu, Cook Islands, French Polynesia and Easter Island).” — asianpacificheritage.gov
AAPI have become more visible in the film industry. For example, in 2021 Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was released, debuting Marvel’s first Asian superhero. — history.com
AsianPacificHeritage.gov has great recommendations for media you can consume to learn more about the AAPI who are instrumental to America’s history and beyond.
While this barely scratches the surface of what there is to celebrate during AAPI Heritage Month, it is a great place to start. To help celebrate (whether it’s in May or not) be sure to share the stories of AAPI and challenge yourself to learn more!
Happy Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month!
