Free Discussion About Perceptions of Disability at St. Helens Public Library

Tuesday, February 21, 2017 - 6:00pm


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 3, 2017

“Understanding Disability: Family and Community Stories” on March 16 as part of Oregon Humanities’ statewide Conversation Project.

St. Helens, Ore. – The disability community accounts for 12 percent of the U.S. population and almost 14 percent of the population of Oregon. All Oregonians are influenced by the disability community, whether as individuals with a disability or as family members, friends, or allies of someone with a disability.

This is the focus of “Understanding Disability: Family and Community Stories,” a free conversation with Jill Crawford Hurt on Thursday, March 16, at 7 p.m. at the St. Helens Public Library, 375 S. 18th Street. This program is hosted by the St. Helens Public Library and sponsored by Oregon Humanities. Participants in this conversation will look at what they know of the stories of their own family, friends, and colleagues and consider the sources of their perspectives. Whether these stories contain themes of pride, oppression, resistance, failure, or success, they offer us an opportunity to rethink our perceptions.

Hurt is a proud member of the disability community. As the second of three generations to share a hereditary neuropathy, she devotes her personal and professional life to disability advocacy. She holds a master of rehabilitation administration degree from the University of San Francisco. Her professional experience includes facilitating community advocacy and youth peer support activities and serving as director of a parent advocacy organization.

The St. Helens Public Library strives to be a place where intelligent conversation and debate happen and potentially inspire positive change.  Through the Conversation Project, Oregon Humanities offers free programs that engage community members in thoughtful, challenging conversations about ideas critical to our daily lives and our state's future.

Oregon Humanities (921 SW Washington, Suite 150, Portland, OR 97205) connects Oregonians to ideas that change lives and transform communities. More information about Oregon Humanities’ programs and publications, which include the Conversation Project, Think & Drink, Humanity in Perspective, Idea Lab, Public Program Grants, and Oregon Humanities magazine, can be found at oregonhumanities.org. Oregon Humanities is an independent, nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities and a partner of the Oregon Cultural Trust.

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For further information regarding this free community discussion, please contact Library Technician I Nicole Woodruff at 503-397-4544 or nicolew@ci.st-helens.or.us