When I got into work this morning, I had a voicemail telling me that there would be a march/rally in support of the Pennsylvania Adult Protection Act.
In PA, if you're a child with disabilities or an elderly person, there is a system in place to protect you. If you are between the ages of 19 and 59 there is nothing. The Adult Protection Law is supposed to protect adults with disabilities but it's not funded. Visions was rallying and marching to make the governor sit up and take notice and appropriate some funds to pay for a hotline (for a start).
I went with a group from work and we met in the People's Plaza in downtown Philadelphia. That stone there in the bottom right of the photo has the first ammendment of the constitution on it.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances
We were exercising our First Amendment rights today and peaceably assembling and speaking our minds. It was a first for most of our group and they had a hard time getting into the chanting. But they loved getting a t shirt (with a red slash through the word "abuse") and being part of the crowd. There were about 100 people there and two local news cameras.
One of the guys said "was this fun?". I said "no, but it made me feel good inside, how about you?" He felt pretty good, too. It was a gorgeous sunny day. Warm but not hot and it felt good to step out of my little world and help stand up for a cause I believe in.
Welcome to my November 2.
4 comments:
Is this related to the recent abuse/kidnapping of mentally disabled adults in, I think, Philly? I thought of you when I saw that on the news, wondered if you or your agency would end up intersecting with the case in any way. The things people do.
Amy,
It is in a way. The latest case is just the most public. We were involved but are not supposed to talk about it. There's too much in the news already. Let's just say it is an ugly situation.
Way to build good karma!
"Was this fun?" I love the way you answered him. And I love that his emotional vocabulary was expanded. Something can make you feel good without being "fun." What a concept!
Thank you for standing up for the defenseless. Hugs and gratitude.
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