VOR's 2023 Annual Meeting - Celebrating 40 Years
Our Annual Meeting will be held on June 11, 2023 (On Zoom)(All times Eastern)
11:30 am Open Meeting of the Board of Directors: This year’s program will open with a "State of the Organization" speeches from our President, Joanne St. Amand, our Treasurer, Larry Innis, and our Executive Director, Hugo Dwyer, as well as reports from our various committee chairs on their work through the past year.
12:30 pm Congressman Glenn Grothman (WI-6) Representative Grothman has introduced two bills in Congress that would protect sheltered workshops. The Workplace Choice and Flexibility for Individuals with Disabilities Act would amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to clarify the definition of competitive integrated employment. The Restoration of Employment Choice for Adults with Disabilities Act would amend the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 to ensure workplace choice and opportunity for young adults with disabilities. VOR supports both of these bills.
1:30 pm Illinois State Representative Charles (Charlie) Meier (108th District, IL General Assembly) Rep. Meier has been a strong supporter of the Murray Center, a state-operated ICF in Southern Illinois. He introduced three bills in the IL General Assembly this year to improve the reporting of incidents of abuse and neglect, initiate a demonstration program to determine the effectiveness of cameras in common areas of facilities for people with I/DD, and to require the state to perform unannounced annual inspections of all of its I/DD facilities.
2:30 pm Amy S. F. Lutz, PhD. Amy Lutz has been a friend to VOR for many years. She is a founding member and vice-president of the National Council on Severe Autism (NCSA). Amy S.F. Lutz's writing about severe autism has been featured on many platforms, including Psychology Today, The Atlantic, Slate, and Spectrum. Her first book, Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children, was published in 2014. Her second book, a collection of essays called We Walk: Life with Severe Autism, was published in 2020. We are anxiously awaiting the arrival of her new book, Chasing the Intact Mind - How the Severely Autistic and Intellectually Disabled Were Excluded from the Debates That Affect Them Most to be published in October.
3:30 pm Reports from the States – Every year, we present a forum for our members to submit reports on the State of Their State, to share information about laws, initiatives, and events in their state, both to inspire families in other states to improve their resources and to strategize with others to help preserve choice and a full array of residential and employment options for people with I/DD and autism.
We encourage all of our members to participate. Please submit your state’s report to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
5:00 pm Closing Ceremonies – Swearing in of the new Board of Directors, VOR Voice Award, and other events.
40th Anniversary Logo Designed by Starline / Freepik
