fbpx

Election Day is November 8!

Make sure your vote counts! This year, all of our statewide offices are up for re-election. We’ve also had redistricting this year, which means big changes in many districts. Legislators who are re-elected will get to know new districts, and Hammer and NER will have upwards of 50+ new...

Read More

Phone-Banking to Save Medicaid

Written by: Frances Matejcek, Hammer Advocacy intern, Macalester College student Francis joined other volunteers from the “This Is Medicaid” campaign to call voters in key states to preserve Medicaid and oppose the proposed Medicaid cuts in the healthcare bill. The bill has since...

Read More

My Thoughts on Accessible Transportation

By Self-Advocate, Amber My name is Amber. I am 29 years old, and I have an intellectual disability. Because of this, I live in an apartment in Plymouth where I receive support from Hammer Residences. I am very independent and like to be active. I am a Special Olympics athlete, and I work as a...

Read More

Mayor for a Day: Alden’s Dream Come True

By Terriann Matejcek, Director of Advocacy & Volunteer Resources I first met Alden when he was a member of Hammer’s self-advocacy group “Power People.” Each meeting, he brought with him many local papers and spent time coming up with great ideas for how the group could promote better living...

Read More

My Life As a DSP

By Patience Zelee, Assistant Program Manager My name is Patience Zelee. I am a single parent of a six year old, and I have worked full-time as an Assistant Program Manager/Direct Support Professional (DSP) at Hammer Residences for seven years. I came to the U.S. from Liberia, West Africa, in 1998....

Read More

Celebrating the Successes in Advocacy

By Terriann Matejcek, Director of Advocacy & Volunteer Resources Often our work and our world are moving so fast that we forget to take time to celebrate. We forget to step back, take a breath and say “Wow. That really was something!” On Tuesday, June 10, legislators, family members,...

Read More

Happily Ever After

By Beth Fondell, Hammer Advocate, Volunteer & Former Board Member Everybody likes a good story, right? A “happily ever after” tale has a special appeal. As a fifth grader, it was the biography of Helen Keller that peaked my interest in the lives of people with disabilities. At the time, I had...

Read More