About AACT

Albertans Advocating for Change Together (AACT) is an Alberta self-advocacy network of people with developmental disabilities and their allies. The idea for the group came from the 2009 Self-Advocacy Summit. We are a united Alberta network that learns about issues and advocates passionately for positive change in society.

The group has met to talk about what we will do and how we will work together. We will use this website to keep people up-to-date about the network. Here is our logo. It shows one hand for each region all working together.

AACT's vision is a better world in which everyone is accepted.

Who can be part of AACT? Self-advocates and self-advocacy groups can be part of AACT. It costs $15/year to get everything in the mail (Paper member) or only $5/year to get everything by email (Email member). Members get a membership card, newsletters and personal invitations to AACT events, such as the Self-Advocacy Summits and annual general meetings. Click here for the membership form.

Who runs AACT? We have a Council made up of two self-advocate representatives from each region. Each region decides how it picks its representatives. At least six representatives and three regions must be at a meeting for decisions to be made. Anyone can come to Council meetings, but only the representatives can vote.

The representatives must talk to groups and self-advocates in their region to find out what is happening and what they think. They must be prepared for meetings.

AACT may have committees work on activities like communication and workshops. Sometimes members volunteer to work on an action together. We also use our meetings to take action. See our AISH page for a video we made about the cost of meds on AISH.

Each meeting has two co-chairs from different regions. The co-chairs run the meeting.

The Council meets at least four times each year. We use video-conferencing when we can not all be in one place.  

• Our next Council meeting is planned for October 19 at 1 pm on Zoom.

What does AACT do? We talk to the government to make sure self-advocate voices are heard. We also share what groups around Alberta do to put self-advocacy in action. Right now AACT representatives are part of a PDD self-advocate advisory group. We talk with the government about what people want and how we can work together.

We also write letters about issues that are important to us. Transportation is one of those issues. We sent letters to the Alberta Minister of Transportation to say how cuts to bus service in Alberta affect people who do not drive or have a car. This affects people with disabilities, seniors and other people who are poor.

We will need money and support to meet and make plans. We will also need money and support for newsletters and our website. We are a registered Society. 

 
You can contact AACT at alberta.act@gmail.com.
AACT
3420 Underwood Place NW
Calgary, AB  T2N 4G7 

 

Here is what we have done since we started:

2014 Highlights

We are very excited about the Self-Advocacy Summit we held on June 13 - 15, 2014. It was free for up to 200 self-advocates and their supporters. Participants had a great time seeing old friends, meeting new people and learning from each other.


We want to know what you liked best about the Summit.

Follow us on Twitter @AlbertaACT.

 

2015 Activities

This year we put in a proposal to the government to help self-advocacy groups learn to make videos using cell phones and other devices and free or cheap video-editing apps. Videos are a good way for groups to show what they do, talk about important issues and get new members. They did not give us an answer about our proposal.

AACT does not get a regular grant from the government to do its work. We have to raise money through memberships and fundraising. We had a 50/50 draw for up to $1500 (if we sold all the tickets) on September 30, 2015. It helped pay for us to have a face-to-face meeting of the AACT Council.

2016 Activities

This year we started a list of speakers who will talk to self-advocacy groups. You can contact anyone on the list to see if they will speak to your group. We also started a feature in our newsletters called "Tips for Self-Advocacy Groups" to help all of our self-advocacy groups be stronger by learning from each other. 

2017 Activities

This year we are planning another Self-Advocacy Summit for October 1 - 3,2018 at Deer Valley Meadows Camp near Alix in Central Alberta. We invite you to speak at the Summit. Tell us what you want to talk about:

2018 Activities

AACT took part in the PDD Review!  Click here to read what AACT sent to the PDD Review panel based on what self-advocates said at the Self-Advocacy Summit.

We hosted a Self-Advocacy Summit October 1 - 3, 2018 at Deer Valley Meadows Camp near Alix in Central Alberta. Our theme was "Listen. Learn. Take Action!"About 120 self-advocates and allies came and talked with members of the Premier's Council on the Status of Persons with Disabilities, the PDD Review Team and the Disability Advocate's office. We identified lots of issues and came up with good ideas to make things better for people with disabilities. AACT will share these good ideas with the government. Check out our newsletter for the Summit story with photos.

2019 Activities

When the 2020 budget came out from the Alberta government, they de-indexed AISH and other social assistance to poor people. This means that after they agreed last year to raise AISH with the cost of living each year, they changed their mind and will not increase it. We wrote a letter to the Minister of Community & Social Services to protest this change. We sent copies to lots of our ally organizations. Click here to see our letter.

We hope you will write letters to let the government know how de-indexing affects you and what your living expenses are like now. Let them know how your costs are going up and how it affects you. Also contact your MLA and ask to meet. Click here for what you can do to prepare to have a good meeting with government.

AACT sent its final report on the Summit to the Community and Social Services Ministry of Alberta, who helped us with the Summit. We sent copies of the report to  regional self-advocacy groups. You can read the whole report or just the parts you want to read on our Summit page. If you want your own copy of the report, ask for it at alberta.act@gmail.com.

We have just started planning on the next Self-Advocacy Summit.  We do not yet know when it will be. We are looking for your ideas as to what we should do or talk about at the next Summit. Please send your ideas to us at alberta.act@gmail.com.