Programs for Youth

Open Doors Organization

Opening doors for people with disabilities

ODO EXPANDS ITS DIVERSITY EDUCATION PROGRAMS FOR YOUTH Nineteen girl scouts received the “More Alike than Different” badge at an awareness program organized by the Open Doors Organization as their peers, troop leaders and parents looked on. The awards ceremony held in Chicago was the culmination of months of awareness education that included an orientation, attendance at workshops, and completion of the Awareness Activity Workbook developed for the Girl Scouts by Open Doors. The program, since its inception in 2003, has reached 923 girl scouts; 239 of whom have completed the requirements and received their badges.

ODO was awarded the University of Illinois Chancellor’s Commitment to Diversity Award in 2004, as well as a program grant from the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation and Citigroup Foundation in recognition of its innovative approach to diversity awareness. The program, planned and presented almost entirely by people with disabilities, utilizes the arts, games, exhibits, interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities to teach scouts about disability issues, encourage them to examine their attitudes about disability, and enhance the social skills that encourage friendships between disabled and non-disabled youth.

ODO, long a leader in awareness training to businesses and corporations in the travel, hospitality and entertainment industries, has recently been invited to provide awareness training for the staff of the Chicago Children’s Museum.

HISTORY OF ODO's AWARENESS PROGRAM FOR GIRL SCOUTS The Open Doors Organization (ODO) was asked by the Girl Scouts of Chicago (GSC) for assistance in providing a disability awareness training for its members ages 8 to 14. In an innovative approach to diversity education ODO brought together artists, advocates, and volunteers from several major institutions including: Access Living, one of the oldest and most influential independent living center in the U.S.; the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, the top rated rehabilitation hospital in the country; and the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois-Chicago to present a city-wide disability awareness fair for youth.

The event featured arts, games, performances, exhibits, and other interactive activities offered by presenters who were people with disabilities. Ten booths and information stations were set up around different disability themes and issues. Through the presentations of artists, comedians, musicians, and storytellers participants learned about the significant contributions persons with disabilities have made to our society throughout history. In this program the youth were presented with situations that addressed matters of social discrimination, disability and diversity. Since a majority of the presenters were people with disabilities, participants also had the opportunity to see real life examples of the various careers and life paths that people with disabilities can choose.

The object of ODO’s program is to demystify the experience of disability, to increase the knowledge of young people about disability issues, to help participants recognize and change stigmatizing attitudes, and to enhance their skills in making friends with their disabled peers.

The program won the University of Illinois Chancellor's Committment to Diversity Award. The program has been expanded and repeated, has touched over 700 youth in the Chicago area. Successful in Chicago, it has led to interest from other Girl Scout organizations. ODO sees this program as a model for Girl Scout Councils and other youth-serving organizations across the country.

MARCH 2006 - The Open Doors Organization was the recipient of two $5000 program grants, one from the Million Dollar Round Table Foundation to support ODO’s on-going disability awareness training for the Chicago Girl Scouts organization, and the other from the Illinois Arts Council to help with the printing of an exhibition catalog for Humans Being: Disability in Contemporary Art, an exhibition at the Chicago Cultural Center from April 1 through June 30, 2006.

OCTOBER 22, and OCTOBER 29, 2005 - Girl Scouts were invited to attend one of two free performances of "Six Stories Up on Mt. Everest" at the Gallery 37 Storefront Theatre, 66 East Randolph, in downtown Chicago. Underwritten by a grant from the Chicago Community Trust Young Leader’s Fund, these performances were made available to the Girl Scouts of Chicago because the troops have been participants in recent programs offered by Open Doors Organization. One of the performers is an active member of the Girl Scouts.

The Six Stories Up series, in its seventh year, is an annual production of the Tellin’ Tales Theatre. This year’s theme was about: Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay, the first people to summit Mt. Everest, Amelia Earhart, Mahatma Gandhi, Harriet Tubman, who created the Underground Railroad, Ed Roberts, a disability activist and founder of the Independent Living Movement, Julie Krone, the first woman jockey to ride in and win the Belmont Stakes.

The Saturday performances started at 3:00pm and after the performance there was time for the audience to meet the cast and ask questions.

MAY 14, 2005 - Open Doors Organization held the Girl Scouts of Chicago Disability Awareness Fair, the annual event was the culmination of a series of programs ODO presented for the girl scouts that focused on the experience of disability.

Through the year girl scouts attended workshop and events that used games, exhibits, film, performance, interactive demonstrations and hands-on activities to learn about the various aspects of disability including disability history, culture and art, assistive devices, alternative forms of communications, and visible and non-visible disabilities.

Participation in the program was a way for members to earn an important Girl Scout honor; the “More Alike than Different” badge. ODO has been partnering with other disability groups and organizations in presenting these programs that have involved more than 600 girl scouts in a two year period. Plans are underway for another series of programs for the 2005-2006 school year.

THANK YOU to ODO's Program Director, Theresa Pacione, Gloria Shaffer, Program Manager of the Chicago Girl Scouts, and ODO's Advisory Board member Sheila Pacione for a fantastic year of programs leading up to the awarding of the Girl Scouts "More Alike Than Different" badge. CONGRATULATIONS to all of the young women who earned their badge.

FOR MORE INFORMATION REGERDING THESE EVENTS CALL THERESA PACIONE AT THE OPEN DOORS ORGANIZATION AT (773)388-8839.

ODO in collabortion with Youth Guidance, Access Living and the University of Illinois' Disabled Students Union hosted a training for school social workers and social work interns from Youth Guidance, as well as, administrative personnel from Girl Scouts of Chicago. The interactive training presented participants with a history of the disability rights movement, an overview of the Americans with Disabilities Act, and an awareness of inclusion at all levels in our society. Participants were given assessment tools and proactive intervention steps to use in their work with students with disabilities. Handouts were provided to use in their social work practice and participants recieved attendance credits toward professional development.

ARCHEWORKS, an alternative design school for graduate students, recently invited the Open Doors Organization’s program director, Theresa Pacione, to present to their students her experience of creating a disability awareness training programs for youth. Archework students come from a wide variety of disciplines and fields and work in teams with nonprofit partners to create design solutions for social problems. Projects for the 2004-05 school year center on the design of program and products for the education of young children about disability. Open Doors is also participating in the critique of the students’ final projects at the end of each semester.

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS-CHICAGO FELLOWSHIP AND INTERN PROGRAMS
Open Doors Organization has established fellowships and intern programs with the University of Illinois-Chicago whereby graduate students from the University’s Department. of Disability and Human Development receive a stipend from ODO through the University for tuition, books, and housing in return for their work at Open Doors.