A record number 21 members of Rosewood Services, along with four sponsors, participated in the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas Conference last weekend, July 5-7, in Wichita. The amount of Rosewood representation eclipsed last year’s participation record by four. This year’s theme for SACK Conference was “Reach for the Stars.”
As the theme implies, half the contingent of Rosewood SACK Conference members ambitiously achieved new goals by attending the conference for the first time. Attending their inaugural conference for Kansans with disabilities were Rosewood’s Rylee Ankenman, Chris Devine, Ella Haberman, Codie Hardie, Beth Mattocks, Mary Minear, Curtis Schneweis, Caitlyn Stinger, Jeannie Triplett, and Jim Wonsetler. They were joined by Rosewood’s veteran conference attendees Charles Bortz, Darren Brown, David Edwardson, Rae Griffin, Shaun Ledesma, Michael Manka, Cole Morin, Kim Reynolds, Ivan Smith, and Josh Trimmer. Also attending were Rosewood SACK Conference sponsors Frankie Pelster and Tonya Burton, along with staff and the wife-husband team of Tahcoa and Patrick Strachan.
“The camaraderie for our veteran conference goers helping to acclimate our new attendees this year warmed my heart,” said Pelster. “The vets helped the newcomers get where they needed to go, introduced them to new people, and went out of the way to ensure their first conference was a positive experience.”
Rosewood’s Kurtis Coleman traveled independently to the conference, arriving a day early where he volunteered by helping SACK Conference staff and members, alike. He even served as a panelist at one of the break-out sessions.
“Kurtis usually travels with us, but I was impressed to see him spread his wings and he did his own bit of reaching for the stars,” explained Pelster. “Throughout the conference, he did an amazing job of being hospitable and helpful to so many people.”
For the second consecutive year, the SACK Conference was held at Drury Plaza Hotel, Broadview, and provided an opportunity for people with developmental disabilities to meet, share and learn from each other, as well as learn from experts in the field. Participants of this year’s annual conference had opportunity to choose from 12 workshops during four learning sessions that were held last Saturday. Additionally, all got to participate in the “Art As Therapy” session and they had the opportunity to listen to three keynote speakers talk about “Reaching for the Stars.”
Most of Rosewood’s SACK Conference attendees are members of Rosewood Miracle Workers AKTION Club. However, serving as the Club’s sponsor, Pelster said AKTION Club membership is not a requirement of someone to attend SACK Conference.
“Some of our folks we took this year are not active members of our AKTION Club, but they are people in our agency who are making good strides and doing positive things. They indicated to me that they wanted to experience SACK Conference, so together, we made that happen. I wouldn’t want them to miss the opportunity. The conference is a such a great place where our self-advocates can organically meet other people and create friendships from that one encounter.”
Another positive development from the conference this year was that Tahcoa Strachan was nominated and received the “Barbara Bishop Support Staff of the Year Award.” The award is voted on by all the SACK Conference attendees.
“I was overjoyed and super proud of Tahcoa because she is my daughter,” said Pelster, “but also because she has been helping me to staff this event for a lot of years. She does a wonderful job of enhancing the experience for our conference goers. She has earned that award by gaining the respect and friendship of the conference members over the years.”
Pelster commended her other conference staff, as well. Tonya Burton went above and beyond by creating Rosewood awards for attendees from this year’s conference that will be handed out this summer. Patrick Strachan stepped in as a replacement staff member and is now encouraged to train and help as natural support for future events. And there were plenty of other positive effects from this year’s conference as explained by Pelster.
“Curtis found his advocacy voice; Jim learned a lesson in perseverance; at 77-years-old, Ella is a dynamo; Beth is literally making tremendous strides; Codie is a super-awesome all-around good guy...there’s just so many positive stories we now have from attending this year’s conference,” explained Pelster. “It’s an enormous amount of work to plan and attend the conference, but that effort is worth every minute that it takes because of the positive experiences and friendships made.
“I have already received requests from people who want to go back next year. That conference will be in June; we only have 11 months to plan!”
