Webinar:
19th Annual California Memorial Project Remembrance Ceremony

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Disability Rights California’s Peer Self-Advocacy (PSA) program and the California Memorial Project (CMP) will hold its 19th annual Remembrance ceremony to honor and celebrate our peers who lived and died in California state hospitals without the recognition they deserved. We will acknowledge our peers who live in these institutions who are in danger of losing their lives and those who have lost their lives due to COVID-19. By sharing stories, poems, songs, artwork, cultural perspectives and a moment of silence, we will celebrate their lives so they are seen and heard - they are not to be forgotten.

About the webinar:

Over 45,000 people with mental health and developmental disabilities lived and died at California state institutions and were buried anonymously in mass or unmarked graves. There are 6,000 of our peers currently living in California state hospitals. Since they live in an institutional setting, many have died as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Come join us as we share stories, poems, songs, artwork, cultural perspectives and a moment of silence to honor our peers and celebrate their lives so they will no longer be overlooked or forgotten. Together we can break the cycle of disrespect and create hope and change for the future.

“Let no person ever again be removed from the community by reason of disability…”

CMP Committee Members & Presenters

Andy Imparato – Disability Rights California’s (DRC’s) Executive Director
Debi Davis – Disability Rights California’s Peer Self-Advocacy (PSA) Program
Darby Penney – Co-author, The Lives They Left Behind: Suitcases from a State Hospital Attic.
Etsegenet Makonnen Teodros – Peer Advocate and Former State Hospital Resident
Jonee Shady – Family member of a State Hospital Resident
Vanessa Ochoa – Disability Rights California’s Strategic Planning & Community Engagement (SPACE)
Pam Inaba –  Chair Emeritus of the LA County Client Coalition, Inc.
Mary Jensen – Disability Rights California’s Consumer Assistance, Payee Review & Investigations (CAPRI)
Vanessa Ramos – Peer Advocate and Cal Voices Board Member
Loule Gebremedhin – Disability Rights California’s Human Resources Department
Gabriel Taylor – Disability Rights California’s Legal Advocacy Unit
Robyn Gantsweg – Disability Rights California’s Peer Projects Manager with the Advocacy Collaborations Team (ACT)
Additional DRC Staff – to be announced

Artwork, Stories & Poems from our Peers with the collaboration of PSA program staff