About

In 2006, the Pennsylvania Developmental Disabilities Council (DDC) issued a request for proposals (RFP) “To fund a statewide grassroots advocacy training and technical assistance project that will provide information dissemination, coalition building, networking coordination, training, technical assistance, and consultation to people with developmental disabilities of all ages so that they may increase their capacity to create positive change within their communities and across Pennsylvania.”

Intrigued by the task that the Council had laid out, Ilene Shane, Executive Director of the Disabilities Rights Network of PA (DRN) joined together with consultants George Taylor and Terry Roth to submit a proposal. For more than thirty years, DRN has been the organization designated by the Commonwealth under the federal Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act to protect the rights of and advocate on behalf of individuals with developmental disabilities and their families and caregivers. George Taylor worked on a prior Council-funded program to provide support to grassroots organizations. Terry Roth is part of the Council-funded Policy Information Exchange (PIE) to inform the disability community about what’s happening in the policy-making arena and to inform policy makers about the work and interests of the disability community. Together they submitted a proposal.

Their proposal was selected by DDC and the Disability Advocacy Support Hub (DASH) opened its doors in April of 2007. Our goal is to assist disability advocacy groups make positive changes in their communities and across Pennsylvania. DASH is co-directed by George Taylor and Ilene Shane with the assistance of key staff Terry Roth. Other DRN staff and consultants round out the team, ensuring that DASH offers the depth and range of expertise needed to support advocacy groups of all sizes and of all types of disabilities.

DASH provides support for disability advocacy groups in Pennsylvania through:

  • educational training programs
  • technical assistance and consultation
  • networking and coalition building opportunities
  • intensive assistance to one new and developing organization each year
  • a listserv for peer advice and networking opportunities.