Hello my name is Jason Hahr. I am 37 years old and have a diagnosis of cerebral palsy or as it is more commonly known CP. I am extremely honored to have the opportunity to write a post for this blog. As the title says I will be talking about How the Inclusive Hive Community personifies what the words advocacy and advocate truly mean. However, before I start talking about what the Hive means to me, I thought I would start by defining what advocacy looks like to me.
I recently had a conversation with my dad about advocacy. Although the conversation did not center around those who are labeled by society as “disabled,” it reinforced my understanding of the concept of advocacy. Without getting into specifics, I will say that the conversation centered around a political issue. At the end of the conversation, we still saw things differently, but we had engaged in a form of advocacy. To me advocacy has multiple meanings. It can be defined as standing up for what you believe in, or, standing up for others to correct an injustice.
I believe the Hive and its founder Ms. Tonya Whitlock are accomplishing both forms of advocacy I discussed above. There is a great need for this type of advocacy in the “disability” community. The Hive will eventually give people with a variety of diagnoses the opportunity to live in a community that is not only designed to meet their needs, but they will also play a part in managing the community. However, people who are labeled as “disabled” will not be the only population that will benefit from this community. Ms. Whitlock and the members of the board realize that there is also a great need for veterans and people who have aged out of the foster care system to have not only somewhere to live, but also a place where they can develop a further sense of community.
I along with the other individuals involved with this project are well aware that it will take time before our overall goals can be reached but we all believe that this is something that needs to happen and there is no better time than now to make it happen. I truly believe, if you build it, they will come.
Follow this link to Jason’s site where he shares his thoughts on a variety of topics: