Becoming a Self-Advocate

Star reached out to DRS in November of 2021 as she needed assistance fulfilling her Section 8 housing voucher before January 2022, as it was set to expire.

Star worked with a staff member, a Youth Transitions Specialist for DRS consumers ages 14 to 26. She did an amazing job searching for housing and her hard work paid off. She was able to find an apartment complex in Loveland that accepted her soon-to-expire Section 8 voucher. Disabled Resource Services assisted with a rental deposit so that she could get housed.

Star kept in contact with our staff member over the following months to help gain independent living skills. These included budgeting skills, along with an increase in personal management skills in the form of better coordination of her appointments and time management skills. She also learned how to advocate for herself.

Then in June, our staff member received an email with a subject of Phone Emergency.

Star was informed by her father, who was paying her phone bill, that since she was independent, she should start paying her own phone bill. She was very stressed about the situation, but still had a positive attitude about getting it figured out. She was hoping to get some financial assistance with the activation fee that would come with transferring to another phone service provider.

Based on what she’d learn by working with our staff member, she advocated for herself to local services and personal contacts. Our staff member received an email over the weekend that she had asked a family member to help her with a loan and was granted the support. Star and our staff member talked on Monday and she was excited to keep her phone service going.

Star exuded amazing advocacy skills, as well as great emotional control while working through finding funding to keep her phone active. In the end, she utilized her personal network to find the funds. Utilizing this resource brought her another level of independent living skills, as she is now responsible for paying off the personal loan that was made by the family member.