Designing Places of Inclusion

Some of the most thrilling moments of my life have been co-designing places and programs of inclusion.  It takes to research and involvement to create quality environments of inclusion- it's not merely as bureaucratic stroke of the pen.

I will never forget the legendary moment in Georgia when my colleagues included me in a discussion on how to spend budget dollars on innovative projects.  Gwen Skinner didn't have to invite the Office of Consumer Relations and Recovery Section to that table, but she knew the value of inclusion.  What would happen next with a discussion with the Georgia Mental Health Consumer Network turned out to bloom into something beautiful.  I had a friend that had great success with visiting friends homes during times of crisis to mitigate crisis; and that success turned into discussion of how that could be replicated.  This discussion followed with a call to Sherry Jenkins Tucker and she suggested something better.  She suggested we seek out Shery Mead and learn more about respite programs in the United States. 

Shery Mead is an amazing woman that understands the meaning of the word inclusion.  Power becomes equalized in the process of creating a crisis respite because people share in the responsibility of the innovation.  Like a potluck everybody brings some kind of expertise to the table.  Some crisis respites and include people from the community and may or may not be living with a condition. 

This element of not really knowing who is and who isn't the person living with a disability is a piece of true inclusion.  Environments of true inclusion also invites the stories of the people.  Those stories are equally valued.  One simply doesn't have to hide their struggle because their struggle is excepted and honored.  The challenge lies in programs get designed based on funding isolated to serve a specific group of people with a specific condition.  Programs can easily get sidetracked in designing real inclusive environments that speak to innovation , if they get wrapped up around this fact of life.  Designing places and programs of inclusion isn't easy, but is one of the most fulfilling challenges of our time.

To learn more about crisis respite style programs, visit www.gmhcn.org/wellnesscenter .