Renewal....

I just returned from what my staff call "the APRIL conference in October".  In this case, APRIL refers to the Association of Programs for Rural Independent Living.  I try to make sure that at least one of our 3Rivers team makes it to this conference every year.  For new staff, it opens up a world of peer mentoring, literally; for "old geezers" like me, it's a time for renewal.  A chance to see old friends, meet new friends, and renew my energy, focus and mission.  This year was no different. Well, except that everyone kept asking that dreaded question.. what the heck is going on in Kansas.  I have no answer for that one folks.  But i can answer what's right in the Independent Living world.  The youth portion of the conference was high energy, the geezers maybe finally realized that technology is their friend and a powerful tool and, perhaps best of all, our overall focus was how to train individuals in the Disability Community to become leaders in their communities.  This is a big deal!   I'll keep you posted on the new training and ideas as we get ready to roll them out.  

Here's this year's conference attendees... Jeanie; our Independent Living Specialist (ILS) for our Native American IL program, Molly; ILS in our Wamego office, me and Erica Christie, Director of our Community Services Department.  Till next time......   Audrey Schremmer, Exec. Director.