HAPPY 18th BIRTHDAY TO VOICES
October 2018
I am old enough, and been around long enough, to remember VOICES when she was just a baby. In her early days, it was up to the adults around her to carry her, to speak for her, and to nurture her. As she began to grow, she began to do some things on her own, develop her own identity, and find her own voice.
VOICES was able to make some good friends along the way, friends like Amy and Marie, Shimon and Amanda, Jainna, Irene, Shirley and Brad. Her friends were always there to look out for her, they laughed with her, cried with her. They were there when mistakes were made to be learned from, but also there to share in the successes that were to come from her hard work and advocacy.
As VOICES entered her teen years she started to mature, become stronger and more confident. She found her own voice and was able to start making her own decisions, set her own path. She got to a point where she started talking about moving out on her own, becoming independent, but was also wise enough to know she still needed some support from those that had raised her.
So here we are in 2013, VOICES is eighteen years old, with a bright future ahead, where the sky is the limit, and the possibilities endless. I look on now, and feel like a proud parent, who has now become an equal partner.
For as much as I tried to offer a bit of advice through the years, I have also been able to learn a great deal from the student.
Happy Birthday VOICES, you should be proud of what you’ve become!
Rob Humniski
Advisory Committee Member