The CACTI Blog: DISCAPAZ - Experiences in the Borderlands Sept. 20, 2023 DISCAPAZ: Disability Experience in the Borderlands” is a research project using artistic and creative expression. As DISCAPZ fellows, our responsibility was to assist community members in developing digital mixed-media experiences that reflected their experiences as individuals with a disability living on the Arizona-Sonora border. Read more Image
ICYMI: Regular AHCCCS Renewals Began April 1, 2023 Aug. 31, 2023 As of April 1, 2023, AHCCCS began disenrolling members who no longer meet eligibility criteria. All AHCCCS and KidsCare members now need to follow the regular process for renewal. Read more Image
Leadership Transition Aug. 28, 2023 Wendy Parent-Johnson, PhD, the executive director of the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities, recently announced that she will be transitioning away from the University of Arizona in September 2023. Read more Image
Help to Start Again: Kingman Prison Project Connects People with Disabilities to Accessible Resources Aug. 23, 2023 One of the biggest challenges of the criminal justice system is how to re-integrate people into public life after they have served their sentence in jail or prison. Among the most important tasks upon one’s release is finding a steady job. This process is difficult enough, but it can be especially difficult for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities (I/DD). Read more Image
The CACTI Blog: Building Community Through Health and Wellness Aug. 22, 2023 ArtWorks is an outreach program through the University of Arizona that functions as an art studio and day program where artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities between the age of 22 and 70 work together in a setting that respects diversity, advocates for new learning styles, and integrates life skills. Read more Image
Sonoran Center’s Joshua Drywater Attends Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder Summit Aug. 18, 2023 In June 2023, Joshua Drywater, Sonoran Center Program Manager for Native Initiatives, attended the Louisiana Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders (FASD) Summit. The summit was an educational workshop in New Orleans, Louisiana hosted by the Human Development Center at Louisiana State University.  Read more Image
The CACTI Blog: COVID-19, Limitations of the Healthcare System and its Treatment of the Disabled Community Aug. 16, 2023 During the 2020-2021 school year, I had the experience of being a disability policy fellow with the Sonoran Center for Excellence in Disabilities. Read more Image
Helping Native Youth Succeed through Family and Community Engagement Aug. 9, 2023 This March 15th virtual dialogue hosted by the White House—which included Sonoran Center's elder advisor Treva Roanhorse, administrative affiliate Jim Warne, and Native youth leader Anya Carillo as panelists—provided perspectives from Native individuals (including youth) on the values of community-driven solutions in supporting Native students with disabilities. Read more Image
Access Is Opportunity: ARSOBO’s Wheelchair Donations Helping Rural Communities July 31, 2023 Among ongoing activities in northern Mexico, two notable international donations of RoughRider wheelchairs took place recently: one in the Busoga region of Uganda, and the other to the Pascua Yaqui Tribe in Southern Arizona. Read more Image