Disabilities are different for everyone, and often you can’t even tell when someone has the same abilities as you . . . and sometimes you can.
When I was first asked to join the board of TACID, the board meeting time/day didn’t work for my schedule. When my schedule opened up years later I joined.
At my first board meeting I was asked to co-chair the breakfast fundraiser. They already had a chairman and I had already been to two of their fundraisers, so I thought “Why not?” I accepted. The next week the chairman was transferred to Seattle. I found myself chairman.
The Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities’ (TACID) mission is to promote the independence of individuals with disabilities through peer support, advocacy, and self-sufficiency programs. TACID empowers people with disabilities to utilize their strengths and abilities to create and enhance the lives they choose through programs, community, and volunteering.
Being chairman gave me the opportunity to get fully involved. I stayed on the board for two terms plus (a little over seven years). The major joy for me was working on the fundraising breakfast. Our team was me, fellow board member and Rotarian Dave Thomas, and outside consultant and fellow Rotarian Roy Kimbel. It was an honor to work with those two. We had a wonderful board of directors and a great financial advisory group as well. Raising money is rewarding . . . almost as rewarding as working and meeting the people you’re raising money for.
COVID-19 and the restrictions needed to combat it has made the job of helping people even harder than conventional fund raising.
“TACID, Tacoma Area Coalition of Individuals with Disabilities, provides programs and support services for adults experiencing an array of visible and invisible disabilities. Founded in 1980 by the Tacoma Council on Disabilities, Tacoma Association of the Deaf, The Pierce County Association of the Blind, and The MS Society, TACID was originally established to be a place where various groups could serve disabled adults living in Pierce County. Today, we provide programs and services that support the full spectrum of our participants with developmental, cognitive, sensory and behavioral health challenges, while also providing free facilities to 30 partner organizations that serve people with specific disabilities.”
For all that TACID does, please visit their website to see about who they are and the good they do – tacid.org/
“TACID’s mission is to promote the wellness, recovery and resilience of adults experiencing disabilities. In our work, we see the transformative effects of acceptance, inclusion and positive community. With hope and determination, we believe that everyone–no matter their ableness, color, race, ethnicity, sexual orientations, gender identity, and religious beliefs—deserves to experience acceptance, inclusion and positive community and to live a decent and meaningful life.” – TACID Staff and Board of Directors
Click here to register for the May 19th fundraiser – event.webinarjam.com/register/36/rpzrvsvm?blm_aid=19509
The views expressed in this article are the writer’s own.
