Judith Snow Part 1 of 3

In the spring of 2009, Citizen Advocacy of Atlanta & DeKalb was privileged to host international speaker and author Judith Snow. Judith, who is described as a social inventor and advocate for inclusion (communities that welcome a wide diversity of people), happens to be a woman who has been isolated and segregated in her own life.

In our discussions, Judith, and her guest Gobor Podor, used words like; love, acceptance, relationship, accommodation, and community- all terms that are very familiar to the citizen advocacy world, yet they continue to be the words that we find ourselves and citizen advocates grappling with the most. Grapple as we must, we believe and often see, through the commitment of ordinary people, that these words can and do become reality.

Through personal citizen advocacy relationships ordinary citizens can be empowered to change, for the better, the life experiences of people who have been excluded from ordinary community life. We believe that involved, caring, unpaid people can counter the indifference and sterility of systems responses to people viewed as devalued. We believe that one ordinary citizen can uncover the gifts and capacities of an individual who has never been given the opportunity to contribute. We believe that real community happens when one person voluntarily and sacrificially invites another person to share in their world and opens the door for all to see.

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Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Judith Snow
• Citizen Advocacy
• Inclusion
• Disability