SELF-ADVOCATE SPOTLIGHT
On February 28, 2022, Michael Housel, a selfadvocate from Tifton, Georgia, gave a powerful and passionate speech at the State Capitol in Atlanta, Georgia, in support of Senate Bill 208. Mr. Housel is a founding member of Uniting for Change and is active in the Leadership Collective. His speech was part of a press conference organized by Sen. Sally Harrell where he stated:
SB 208 would compel Georgia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Developmental Disabilities to fully fund the NOW/ COMP waiver waitlist within five years, but is subject to available funding.
4
MAKING A DIFFERENCE MAGAZINE
Self-Advocate Michael Housel (right) with Pastor Don Mclauglin
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, it is my honor to be here at our State Capitol to speak to you today. Thank you, Sen. Harrell, for your hard work and dedication to all our friends and family to have the supports needed to live a life worth living… IN THE COMMUNITY. My name is Michael Housel, and I represent the Leadership Collective of Uniting for Change, a statewide, grassroots movement of self-advocates living all over our beautiful state of Georgia. We have hundreds of members from Atlanta to Valdosta, Athens to Columbus, and many other small towns like Tifton where I live. Senate Bill 208 is the lifeline that so many people I know need to live a life they love in the community with the people they choose in the places they want and with their wants and needs being the focus in their own homes. Right now, there are over 7,000 people like me that live waiting… on a list… the Medicaid waiver planning list. Some are in family homes that struggle to meet their needs, some are in hospitals, some are in nursing homes, some are in jails, some are in institutions. THIS IS NOT LIVING, THIS IS WAITING!
