Do you have any goals of your own for 2010?

How important are your goals to you?

Who can help you reach your goals?

I will try and answer these questions with my blog entry!

With the beginning of a New Year I always try and set goals for myself for the New Year. We should always have dreams and goals for our lives. And it is important that we own them or we will have a hard time reaching them.  

It is important that goals are what we want for our lives and not what others want for us. If they are not important to us than we are spinning our wheels and getting no where. We should set goals for every area of our lives - such as work, play, health and money.  

Some times because we have disabilities we don’t think about setting our own goals and reaching them because we are waiting on someone to give us permission to set goals and achieve them.  

There are some people we can talk to so that we can set goals and achieve them, such as our parents, other family members, case managers, direct support workers, other professionals, our co-workers, and people who we know and trust. 

In some of these areas I have not done so well, but 2010 is another year to set goals again and achieve them.

With work I am going to write more blogs and set goals so that I can help more people than this year.  

I hope you too set some goals, and wish you the best in achieving them! 
Wishing you a very Happy New Year!

Betty Williams
The Arc of Indiana, Consumer Education and Training Coordinator
President, Self-Advocates of Indiana

I am very pleased to introduce an exciting new voice to our movement, Michelle Fisher. 

Michelle is the host of “A View from My Window,” an audio cast that is now a regular feature on The Arc of Indiana web site. 

Michelle is a talented young woman who does not let her disability define her, while at the same time accepting it as part of her - just like her sparkling personality. 

Michelle’s show will feature interviews and discussions with self-advocates, families, professionals, and policy makers.  We hope you will find this ongoing dialogue interesting, informative, engaging and sometimes just fun.   

I think you will find that this will be something you want to listen to regularly. 

Thanks, Michelle, for making The Arc part of your life, and for sharing your perspective - that unique view from your window - with our listeners.

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There is less than TWO DAYS to start or complete your holiday shopping on The Arc of Indiana’s online auction, Holiday Shopping through The Arc.   The auction will close and bidding will end on December 2nd at 8:00 p.m.  The highest bid wins!

There are many wonderful items in this year’s online auction, including a Phil Simms hand autographed jersey: https://www.cmarket.com/auction/item/Item.action?id=100826791

How The Arc came by the jersey makes for an interesting story, and shows the generosity of Phil Simms - one of the greatest quarterbacks in the history of the league with numerous titles including two time Super Bowl winner, two time Pro Bowl selection, 1987 Super Bowl MVP and 1985 Pro Bowl MVP.

So here is the inside scoop … While attending The Arc US Conference in Pittsburgh in November, folks from Indiana who had gathered in the hotel lobby noticed Phil Simms walking by (most likely in town for the upcoming Steelers game.)  Deb Seman, Executive Director of Arc Opportunities, local chapter of The Arc in LaGrange County, did not hesitate to walk right up  and say, “Are You Phil Simms?  Would you mind giving us your autograph for an auction to help people with developmental disabilities?”

Mr. Simms replied, “Oh, I can do something better for you than that!  Here is my cell phone number.  Text me tomorrow and I promise I will send something.”

Well, Jill Vaught, The Arc of Indiana’s Director of Organizational Advancement (and staff person responsible for the auction), was thrilled.
She followed up with (the world’s longest) text message the following day, and the next day Mr. Simms had overnighted the signed jersey. 

So there’s the inside scoop … now that you know, wouldn’t owning that signed jersey be even more fun?  But, if sports wear is not your thing, there is plenty more to check out, and still time to place your bid!

Just go to:  Holiday Shopping through The Arc.

Special thanks to Phil Simms for his generosity, and to Deb Seman for her gumption!