2019 Supported Living: Including Everyone Conference 

The Supported Living: Including Everyone Conference will feature a two-day workshop with David Pitonyak called the Importance of Belonging. Being connected to the people we love is critical to our emotional and physical well-being. Many people experiencing our services are sick from loneliness. This workshop is about ideas for moving beyond interventions and coverage to a system that supports enduring, freely chosen relationships. Such relationships are necessary for people to live more inclusively in the communities of their choice. This two-day workshop will include problem-solving with teams.

At the conclusion of the workshop, participants will have developed knowledge in the following areas:

• The impact of loneliness in the lives of people who experience disabilities, particularly as it relates to difficult behaviors;
• The importance of going home to the people we love as an important organizing strategy for helping people to develop relationships;
• Strategies for helping people who are lonely to develop enduring, freely chosen, positive relationships.
• Problem-solving strategies for times when relationships are unbalanced or slow in developing.

During the two-day workshop, attendees will be among the first to see video clips and vignettes featuring people living in their communities through Supported Living and other home and community-based supports.

On Wednesday, following a plated breakfast, there will be a panel with people that are successfully living in the communities of their choice through the Supported Living service. We will hear stories and see video vignettes that will be used to encourage people to consider using the Supported Living option. The panel discussion will also include a brief review of data collected regarding Supported Living and brainstorming activities to explore possible next steps to continue the growth of Supported Living in NC.

The conference will close with a keynote by David Pitonyak called Walking the Fire Road. The keynote is about treasures and mystery and an aging dog. Most of all, it is about finding that wild part of our nature, waiting in the deep woods. The part that inspires us to make the most of situations.

A block of rooms has been reserved at the Hilton Garden Inn Raliegh-Cary at a cost of $129 per night. Please contact the hotel for reservations.

Registration includes breakfast, lunch, snacks, and beverage service throughout each day of the conference.