Members of the ESATTA Cooperative support self-advocates to speak up for themselves and to take an active role in planning their own futures.
The Empowering Self-Advocates to Take Action (ESATTA) Cooperative supports people with disabilities to speak up for themselves and for others.
Their guiding statement is: “We encourage people to learn about their rights and how to voice their concerns. We believe self advocates can bridge the gap between ‘us’ and community by promoting diversity and inclusion for all.”
Started by a small group of people labelled with a developmental disability, ESATTA has been operating as a self-advocate-led business for the past 14 years.
In a lot of cases, people who have developmental disabilities are told what they need, rather than having a voice to say what they want. Changing this was the reason behind a two-day workshop called People Planning Together.
For the past two years, ESATTA has been working with CLBC to teach People Planning Together workshops across B.C. They have reached over 100 people who have attended events in Terrace, Kamloops, Victoria, Vancouver, Burnaby and Surrey.
The training is facilitated by people who also live with a label of developmental disability. During this training, participants spend time identifying the things that are important to them to be happy, healthy and safe. The things they identify are then used to help them plan what kinds of support they would like to receive to live the life they desire.
Ryan Groth, an ESATTA leader and co-founder, shared that this type of event is pivotal for people. “For a lot of people it’s a turning point,” says Ryan. “They go from people telling them what they need, to them telling people what they want.”
April, who is non-speaking, shared her experience attending People Planning Together, “I got to share a lot of ideas with my staff and friends at the workshop. I was able to let people know more about me and what I want to do in my life. I really enjoyed it!”
To learn more about the ESATTA Cooperative, their work and People Planning Together workshops, visit: www.esattacooperative.com
If you’re interested in participating in a People Planning Together workshop, email CLBC’s Community Engagement team at: CLBC.Connect@gov.bc.ca.
