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Lowell Chapter Update
In the last update, Don Driscoll reported our success with the Stigma Awareness Campaign-yea! He also wrote about our search for a new issue campaign, and new office space. And finally, he noted that we needed to fill two vacant positions, from Lowell, on the Board of Directors. As Don mentioned, we are going through a lot of changes. As M-POWER sets a course toward re- organization and a new relationship with CHANGE, our chapter is taking a hard look at where we will fit in. Will we cease to be a chapter and become one of perhaps several local groups whose M-POWER members will become part of a Northeast Regional Chapter? As we have discussed this at meetings, we see pros and cons. We would become stronger as a regional group, and it would be nice to meet other consumers and work on campaigns together. But it will also mean that we may not be meeting with the same people as before, as some of us may join groups closer to where we live, and others may choose to serve on boards and committees rather than attend local meetings. During the next several months we will meet, individually, with Ann Stillman to talk about our future and to help in the planning of the future. In the meantime some of us have joined the Cross Disability Support Group at Tewksbury Hospital in their campaign to improve bathing facilities and cleanliness at the hospital. We attended a Valentine’s Day rally at the entrance to the hospital and heard about the conditions inside. The voices of clients of Dept. of Public Health and Dept. of Mental Health were moving, and it felt like old times to be with them. An account of this rally is on the front page of this issue. In March, we chose two long time Lowell Chapter members to fill the vacancies on our statewide Board. They are John Silva and Mary Jo Roche—Congratulations to you both! Because we are not to sure of what our future holds, plans to search for a new office site and meeting room are on hold right now.
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