People always talk about advocacy in action and supporting issues you truly believe in, but can you really make a difference?-- YES YOU CAN!As part of a series of 12 Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities Town Hall Forums, Courage Center St Croix will host an event Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2010, 6–8 p.m. This event will educate about the impacts from the 2009 legislative session, teach advocacy skills and explain how to make a difference in policy. Most importantly, it will give you the chance to speak directly to legislators about disability. Everyone will have the opportunity to talk to legislators face to face as they would in a committee hearing - telling their personal story.Its very important that we show the local legislators the important of the disability community and that they need to support us in these challenging economic times. Standing up and being counted plays a huge role, as does telling your story. We would like to encourage people to attend and also encourage friends, family, clients to also join you and tell their stories. The goal is that when the legislative session begins on February 4th, there is not a legislator in St Paul that has not heard from the disability community and is a newly converted disability expert and champion. This will help us fight off threats to Courage Center’s programs and services at the legislature in 2010. The event at Courage St Croix is also a great way to learn about the power of grassroots advocacy and build up to Courage Center’s annual Day at the Capitol on March 9 2010. We hope you join us for both and make a difference. ~ Christian Knights, Public Affairs associate