It is hard to believe that Angela and I, along with our fellow Board members, as well as many of our friends in the community, have served on the Board of NWDSA for almost five years now. When Sunday Sheeley left what was then the Northwest Down Syndrome Parent Support Group, and passed the torch to us, we had no idea that we would be where we are today. This year has been a watershed year with respect to the accomplishments we have achieved together. This year we celebrated:

• Our 8th Buddy Walk;
• The first “All Born In” Inclusion Conference;
• Reciprocal Learning Community sessions;
• Open Arms Play Group second year;
• Club Upside;
• Advocacy work in parent education and genetic testing;
• Social events;
• Second edition of the New Parent Guide;
• Hispanic outreach and translation;
• Mini-grants for parent projects; and
• The updated NWDSA.org website.

But there are many things that remain to be done. In fact many serious challenges confront our community, including the ongoing battle to keep our children fully included in elementary, middle school, and high school, the lack of support for our teens and young adults with respect to receiving adequate training and educational opportunities, and the ongoing issue of unemployment and under employment for adults in our community. In addition, early prenatal testing for Down syndrome is moving faster than the ability of our medical community to present accurate, timely, and hopeful information for new parents. These are important challenges, and we need to collectively work together to address these issues in our local community.

A hopeful sign however, is the continuing support and growth we are experiencing. We are very pleased to announce another addition to the NWDSA Board of Directors. Christy Reese has joined the Board effective October 22, 2006. Christy and her husband Ken are the proud and loving parents of Dennis, their 2 1/2 year old beautiful son, who has Trisomy 21. Christy has worked for a number of years in the banking industry before having Dennis, and now she is at home with him. Christy and her family attend East Hill Church, spend time working on their house, and enjoy doing things together as a family. Christy and Ken are committed to having Dennis fully included in all aspects of life. Many of you already know Christy and Ken, or have recently met them through their extensive help with the 2005 and 2006 Buddy Walks. Please join me in welcoming Christy to the Board!

With this last letter of the year, I also wanted to take the opportunity to share with you some perspective on our group. We often our asked what our group is about – just what is the NWDSA? First of all, I must tell you what we are not. I know I speak for all of us who work on and with the NWDSA when I say we are not a social service agency, and we are not a service provider, or a clinic. What we are is a passionate group of dedicated parents who want to make a difference in the lives of our children, and we want to learn how to assist teens and adults with Down syndrome. Our goal is to help everyone live rich and satisfying lives, and we believe we can accomplish this by taking action, by challenging stereotypes, and by breaking down the artificial limits placed on people with Down syndrome. We are entrepreneurial in the sense of taking risks, and looking for avenues to push the envelope. But we do this in a sensitive and caring way, and we recognize differences of opinion, and also the role that professionals play in helping us in the journey.

The journey we call 2006 is almost at an end — and a new year awaits us. The year 2007 will bring with it some surprises, some victories, maybe even some defeats, but above all, I hope it presents us with opportunities to make a difference, with a chance to “rock our world,” and I hope we rise to the occasion.

We hope to see you all at the December social!

Take care,
Steven Holland
President