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Arc Michigan Conference
Bay City,
Michigan
Double Tree
Hotel
June 14 - 18,
200 |
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2008 Arc Michigan Conference Photos |
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Nicholas, Dohn Hoyle
and Abby |
Nicholas Krishnan and Abby
Loy
Sarah
Townsend and Nicholas Krishnan |
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Meet the Presenters
Keynote
Speakers |
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 Norman
Kunc is an educational consultant, family therapist, and
disability rights advocate from British Columbia, Canada. He
has spent the last twenty years working to ensure that
people with disabilities are able to take their rightful
place in schools, workplaces, and communities. Norman and
his wife Emma travel throughout the world to talk with
school districts, human service agencies, employers, and
advocacy groups. Born with cerebral palsy, Norman attended a
segregated school for children with physical disabilities.
At age 13, he was integrated into a regular school. From
there he completed an honors degree in Humanities at York
University. He then completed a Master of Science degree in
Family Therapy at the University of Guelph. Norman is a
lecturer with the Principal's center at the Harvard Graduate
School of Education, as well as an associate of The
Facilitated Communication Institute at Syracuse University. |
 Nicholas
Krishnan is sixteen years old and a student at Avondale
High School. He is actively involved with the Marching Band,
Swim Team, and Track Team. In his spare time, Nicholas
enjoys giving lectures for future teachers and world
drumming activities. Nicholas has been accepted to the
Berklee College of Music and will be studying the marimba
this summer. Nicholas was assisted by his mother, Shari
Krishnan, a registered nurse, a graduate of Michigan's
Partners in Policymaking, the Nurse in Washington Internship
Program and Michigan's Education Policy Fellowship Program |
 Abby
Loy will be a senior at Brighton High School this fall.
She started her formal education in Montessori school and
has attended only regular education classes in the public
school system. She has earned her Varsity letter as a member
of the marching and wind symphony bands. Her interests are
dancing, playing the clarinet, biking, swimming and
academics. Abby is pursuing a career in child care and
participates in the Child Care (LATEC) program in high
school. Her favorite volunteer efforts are as a summer camp
counselor and giving presentations to educators, physicians
and decision makers. Abby was assisted by her mother LuAnn
Loy who, along with her father, Mike, worked to ensure a
quality education for all three of their children. LuAnn is
a graduate of the first class of Michigan's Partners in
Policymaking Program, serves as a member of the Community
Advisory Council of the Developmental Disabilities Institute
at Wayne State University and as Vice President of the
Livingston Educational Service Agency's Board of Education.
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Sherri Boyd currently
serves as the Project Coordinator for Michigan Partners for
Freedom and Project director for Michigan Alliance for
Families at The Arc Michigan. In the recent past, she was
the Executive Director of The Arc Livingston. From
1989-2000, she worked in the mental health system as a
direct care worker, home manager, supports coordinator and
supported living coordinator. Sherri has a Masters in Social
Work from Wayne State University. |
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Pat Carver
has 40 years experience in
disability rights and advocacy. She is establishing
Community Drive Inc., a knowledge based practice dedicated
to helping build circles of support or personal
networks. Carver believes that creating support circles and
strengthening individual capacities to create community is
needed now more than ever. |
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Beth Durkee
is the Director of Services
for People with Developmental Disabilities at Allegan County
Community Mental Health. She has over 20 years of
experience assisting people to become more included in their
communities including the development of supported
employment, supported living, micro-enterprise, and
individual budgets. Over 100 people with developmental
disabilities are working in Allegan County. More than
twenty have their own business. |
Scott Heinzman
has spent most of his adult life engaged in
advocacy and activism in areas of social justice,
environmental sanity and disability rights. He is married
with two children. Scott facilitated the personal assistance
independent living skills course at the Great Lakes CIL. He
recently completed a “Train the Trainers” series conducted
by PHI for personal assistance supervision. Scott Co-chairs
the group PLAID (People of Livonia Addressing Issues of
Diversity), a group he helped found in 1992. He is a state
organizer for the disability rights group ADAPT and sits on
the Board of Directors for the Michigan Quality Community
Care Council. |
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Deborah Hemgesberg
provides Social Security,
Medicaid, and other entitlements advocacy. She is also our
local Work Incentives Planning and Assistance (WIPA)
Community Work Incentives Coordinator (CWIC). |
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Diana Kern
joins NEW as the Director of the BoardConnect® program with
a commitment to board governance and strong nonprofits. She
has served on numerous boards and is involved in nonprofit
fundraising. She received the Randolph W. White Memorial
Award for Community Service in 2003 for her dedication to
serving the housing community. She has been a lobbyist for
the National Apartment Association in Washington, D.C. on
affordable housing topics and is a certified trainer with
the Institute of Real Estate Management. She currently
serves on the Humane Society of Huron Valley Board, is a
peer counselor for breast cancer survivors, and participates
in the University of Michigan Family Centered Experience
Program. Diana comes to NEW after twenty-five years of
progressive advancement in real estate management with
McKinley (a national real estate investment firm) where she
supervised multi-million dollar budgets, and over 400
employees nationwide |
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Sandee Koski
is a parent of two children
fully included in school and community, one receives special
education support and services. She currently works for The
Arc Michigan - Michigan Alliance for Families. |
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Lisa Lepine, J.D.
attended law school at the University of Detroit Mercy
School of Law. Prior to graduate school, she attended Wayne
State University and was awarded a Bachelor of Arts with a
major in Political Science and a minor in Russian Studies
and Language. She has been licensed to practice since 1998.
Throughout her years of practice, her focus has been estate
planning, with a specific emphasis on families who support
individuals and/or family members with special needs such as
developmental disabilities and/or mental illness. Currently,
Mrs. Lepine is the Associate Director of Arc Services of
Macomb, Inc. as well as also practitioner with a small
private practice. |
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Tom Lerchen
is the parent of two
daughters, Mackenzie and Elizabeth. Liz is 27 and has a
developmental disability. Tom is a member of the Arc
Michigan Board and has been actively involved with the state
and local chapters of Arc Michigan for 24 years. |
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Angela Martin
is a Specialist/Research
Assistant with the Developmental Disabilities Institute at
Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan. Ms. Martin has
a Master's Degree in Social Work with a concentration in
Community Practice and Social Action. She has experience in
family support resource development, and curriculum design
and training of programs on Self-Determination, Person
Centered Planning, and Leadership/Self-Advocacy.
Additionally, Ms. Martin brings a unique perspective of
being the sibling of a young adult with a developmental
disability. |
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Mark McWilliams
is
Director of Education Advocacy with Michigan Protection and
Advocacy Service (MPAS). MPAS is the protection and
advocacy agency serving individuals with disabilities in
Michigan; the MPAS Education Team provides individual and
systemic advocacy and training on education and children’s
issues through the state. Mark has worked with individuals
with disabilities in the protection and advocacy systems in
Michigan, California, and West Virginia since 1986. He
obtained his J.D. from the University of California Hastings
College of Law in 1985, is an active member of the Michigan
bar, and teaches Alternative Dispute Resolution at Thomas M.
Cooley Law School. He lives with his family in Eaton Rapids. |
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Kelly Orginski
is a parent of four boys, all
are fully included, one receives special education support
and service. She currently works for The Arc Michigan -
Michigan Alliance for Families and Association for Community
Advocacy. |
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Steve Plested
is the self-employment
coordinator for Career Concept, the employment division of
Allegan County Community Mental Health. Steve helps people
start new businesses and expand existing ones. He has a BS
in economics and 7 years’ experience in the banking and
finance industry. He also writes a financial column for a
local newspaper. Currently, he is assisting 23 business
owners at some stage of development. |
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Jean N. Solis,
MA, is the Director of Marketing and Development for
The Arc of Aurora, Colorado. She is an experienced educator
and was the project manager for Project Illumination, a
nationwide effort to shed light on the impact of sexual
violence against people with developmental disabilities.
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Darla J. Stuart
is the Executive Director for
The Arc of Aurora, Colorado. Darla has nearly 25 years
experience with individual and systems advocacy and was the
project supervisor for Project Illumination, a nationwide
effort to shed light on the impact of sexual violence
against people with developmental disabilities. |
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Ellen Sugrue Hyman Alward
is a consultant at The Arc
Michigan and at the Office of Long Term Care Supports and
Services at the Michigan Department of Community Health.
Ellen Sugrue Hyman is also an attorney who works in the area
of estate planning. Ellen is the author of the book “Hiring
and Managing Personal Assistants.” |
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Rob Wybrecht
was the first infant diagnosed with FAS in Michigan, in
1973. Having a diagnosis at birth has been extremely
helpful to both Rob and his parents. It helped his parents
think and parent differently. As he grew older, he wanted
to become part of the solution of the FASD puzzle. He has
been involved in the areas of prevention as well as
intervention. He has been featured on the video “Students
Like Me”. He served on the planning committee and was
presenter at the first conference by and for individuals
with FASD. He is also on the national Expert Panel for FASD
Center for Excellence, under SAMHSA and is the first
consumer to be on a national committee for FASD. |
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Children's Program |
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