Dayle McIntosh Center Partners with Able South Carolina to Bring Peer-to-Peer Support for Youth with Disabilities Coast-to-Coast
Anaheim, CA — Making a difference with connection and support is what makes the world go around laying a foundation for empowerment to go a long way. For the next generation of youth with disabilities, the Dayle McIntosh Center (DMC) DMC Youth Connect Program is thrilled to announce that geographical long distance can be crunched in space and time online providing a Peer-to-Peer Coast-to-Coast Opportunity with Able South Carolina (Able SC) Equip Program as a virtual outreach bridge across the miles from Anaheim, California to Greenville and Columbia, South Carolina through Zoom sessions on the first Saturdays of the month 11:00 a.m.-12 p.m. PST/2:00-3 p.m. EST starting in February 2025. This support opportunity will initially be between youth consumers from both of these organizations and their respective programs initially, but will be open to youth from other areas seeking support.
“The DMC Youth Connect Team is thrilled to collaborate with Able South Carolina! Both Centers share a passion to support youth with disabilities by providing the tools and resources they need to navigate the transition to adulthood. Our services also help youth build friendships and connect with their communities. It is essential to have that support available because becoming an adult can be complicated and it is reassuring to know that support is available in the community! Making friends and learning more about themselves, such as their strengths, is also a plus point.
For me, this passion stemmed from my experiences growing up as a person with Cerebral Palsy. As a young adult, I felt disconnected from peers and resources. Connecting with the Dayle McIntosh Center, Orange County’s Independent Living Center, helped me learn more about myself and the disability community, its culture, and its history. I felt a sense of belonging and gained many skills and strengths, which helped me became the individual I am today,” explains Nelly Gomez, DMC’s Lead Youth and Information Coordinator.
Video meeting platforms like Zoom have been made common by the COVID-19 pandemic. However, how we use technology is not just bridging distances. It is pulling together essential creative connective social gaps to marginalized groups in different and unique ways. For the highest at-risk group of people with disabilities, COVID is never over, especially those who are immunocompromised or who may be limited in access to connecting by traditional means based on limited resources. The Peer-to-Peer Coast-to-Coast Collaborative has purpose beyond powerful connection – the partnership provides powerful, meaningful, impactful opportunities essential for growing together with this digital connection platform. Sharing ideas from across the U.S., provides a seat at the table giving a lift to voices from both coasts in a shared experience setting of belonging and learning.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics In 2022–23, the number of students up through the age of 21 who received special education and/or related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) was 7.5 million, or the equivalent of 15 percent of all public school students. When youth age into the “transitional” youth-to-adult phase, quite often necessary support wanes unless provided by Independent Living Centers or specific individual programs. Most youth are limited to connection with their local peers only, unless attending a regional or national conference, which is what makes this unique digital collaboration so powerful in uniting both coasts youth peers with disabilities to grow awareness as well as important connective relationships.
In addition to the purposeful effort of the Peer-to-Peer Coast to Coast collaboration of strengthening such ties through peer networks, the essential human need is to lessen isolation, prepare for independent living, and support advocacy efforts all in an accessible safe space. This provides the gateway to be open, share and connect where encouragement, learning and inclusion will grow the next generation of disability community leaders as they develop pride and confidence.
“The Equip program at Able SC is incredibly excited to be a part of this initiative to bring together the youth served by our collective Center for Independent Living’s. One of our core values at Equip is to create a community of youth with disabilities working together to complete our goals and with this partnership, we will be able to create a productive network of people for our members to build relationships with and explore what disability, school, jobs, towns, and life are like outside of South Carolina. A lot of our members are always looking for new opportunities to make friends and providing an accessible, virtual space to connect with new people 3000 miles away means new ways to transform and grow, work towards our goals of leadership, and be ready for independent living. We would like to thank Dayle McIntosh Center for their willingness to work with us on this and create a peer-led, safe space,” states Able SC’s Equip Program Coordinator, Isabelle Borduas.
Common shared goals can strengthen bonds not only between youth, but between Independent Living Centers. DMC, now entering its 48th year as Orange County’s only Independent Living Center was founded on finding common ground and bringing important resources together in collaboration. DMC’s determined grassroots founders never strayed from creating connections across the entire U.S., which is how the organization came to be. Expansive outreach efforts have been with DMC since the beginning.
“Peer support is a mandatory core service for all Centers for Independent Living across the nation—and it’s also the heart of both the Independent Living Movement and the Dayle McIntosh Center. The IL movement and our Center alike began with a small but determined group of people with disabilities who united to share their experiences. They discovered the power of their collective voices, affirming that their opinions mattered and that they deserved equal opportunities, resources, and independence, shares DMC’s Executive Director, Brittany Zazueta. “Peer support is when one person with a disability connects with another person or group of other people with disabilities to offer guidance, understanding, and encouragement while navigating challenges, barriers, or situations related to living with a disability. What makes peer support so unique is that it doesn’t require shared disabilities or identical lived experiences—just a shared empathy and a commitment to uplifting one another,” she explains noting that this connection provides limitless opportunities which could lead to collective advocacy, and possibly driving both systemic and youth-led change.
DMC’s Youth Connect Program operates year-round helping youth in transition through a variety of educational and informative program service areas creating access and independence, targeting specific goals and positive outcomes. Additionally, the program hosts an annual summer youth academy and provides youth essential planning for ages 14-24.
“The more we are connected, the better it is! Our collaboration with Able South Carolina is impactful because not it not only provides opportunities for youth, but it helps highlight the idea that support can take many forms. By working together, we can create spaces where youth feel uplifted, communities become more inclusive, and the connections we encourage can lead to lasting change,” summarizes Gomez.
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For more information on DMC’s programs and services, including Peer-to-Peer, Coast-to-Coast DMC Youth Connect Program collaborative call directly at 714-621-3300 or contact online
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