On July 19th, 2023, I was invited to be a part of The Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council’s September federal fly-in located in Washington, DC.

I was humbled and excited for this opportunity. I had been to D.C. on an eighth-grade trip once before, so it had been a while! Plus, this was a new opportunity within itself because I have never advocated in D.C. before, so it was really cool getting to advocate at the federal level.

The fly-in was scheduled for September 13-14, 2023. I was flying from Columbus, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. I had to be at Columbus airport extremely early because my flight departed Columbus airport at 6:20 a.m. on the 13th.

I hadn’t flown in a plane since 2013, so getting to fly to D.C. was exciting but also nerve-wracking, as I have read in the past about airlines damaging wheelchairs. This is why I opted to take one of my manual wheelchairs with me instead of the main power chair I use every day. Thankfully, the chair was not damaged, and the flight went very smoothly.

Something else unique about this trip is that I learned how to use Uber for the first time! I live in a very small rural area, and we don’t have Uber, so that was completely new. Considering I had my manual wheelchair with me and can easily break the chair apart, it worked out quite well!

Then, from the airport, the Uber took me to my hotel in D.C. The Marriott Marquis Washington D.C. Which was absolutely stunning! Such a beautiful hotel! Our rooms weren’t ready for a while, so I did some sightseeing and stopped at the Starbucks in the hotel for a pumpkin spice latte and a sandwich.

At 12:30 p.m., we went to the 4th floor of the hotel to a room called The Cherry Blossom Room and had lunch to kick off the first part of the event. It was so nice to see friends I already knew and make new friends.

After we ate lunch, we did an icebreaker of 3 truths and a lie. This was so much fun. And a great way for all of us to connect.

Our first speaker was from the National Association of Councils on
Developmental Disabilities. She had an awesome presentation on how to speak to legislators and their staff that was very insightful and engaging. During the last 20 minutes of her presentation, she decided to do a role-play with us.

The presenter first asked someone out of the audience to nominate someone to play the role of a senator. Someone in the audience spoke up and said, “I think Kelsi Weaver should be the senator!” Suddenly, all eyes in the room were on me, and I instantly became embarrassed. However, I decided to play along into the fun and went up to the front of the room.

My next set of instructions were to pick someone from the audience to be my legislative aid and another person to be my scheduler. It was hard to pick because everyone in the room was great, but I picked two advocates who I have known of before this experience and am quite fond of.

Then, the presenter had someone pick a group out of the audience out of the groups traveling with us to be the group trying to meet with the senator for that day.

She gave us tips on how to best connect with the legislator’s staff so we could meet with them to talk about the issue, but also having the end goal of hopefully getting a picture with the legislator.

Getting a picture helps with networking and being able to share more about the issue on social media.

There were also other presenters from The Ohio Provider Resources Association,
The Ohio Association of County Boards of D.D., and The American Association of People with Disabilities. All presentations were very informative!

Then, after all the presentations were over, you all took a break and then reconvened for the legislative meeting review, where we see which legislators (or the staff member) we would be meeting with.

How they made this work was each advocate had three meetings each. My meetings were with Congresswoman Joyce Beatty’s office, Congressman Bill Johnson’s office and Senator Sherrod Brown’s office.

The staff I met with was very kind and respectful and seemed generally interested in learning from us and hear what we have to say, which I really appreciated because I know they get a lot of meetings with people who all want them to help create change.

I was in D.C. advocating for The SSI Savings Penalty Elimination Act, which was recently introduced by Senator Sherrod Brown of Ohio and Senator Bill Cassidy from Louisiana.

This legislation would raise the SSI asset limit, which is currently only $ 2,000 for a single person and $ 3,000 for a couple, to $10,000 if the legislation is passed. (If you want to learn more, read this great article from the Arc.)

This is extremely important for people with disabilities because so many of us depend on support like SSI to be able to get the equipment we need. For example, in my life, I’m a wheelchair user, and I also have a wheelchair-accessible van. If I did not have that support, I would not be able to get the equipment I need.

I’m currently a college senior and on track to graduate this May. It has always been a goal of mine to have a career that I love! Currently now, you’re only allowed to save up to $2000. Even if I had 2001 dollars in my bank account, I would lose everything! If this legislation came out, I would be able to have a competitive job and have my dream career. Of course, my goal is to ultimately get employment once I get out of school. However, it is something I have thought about how I am going to balance my career and still keep the benefits that I need.

It was an incredible experience getting to be on Capitol Hill, and it’s a feeling I don’t even think I could describe to you in words. However, as soon as I knew it, our time was up in D.C., and I had to head back to the airport.

I went back to the hotel to get my luggage, and the Uber takes me back to the airport when I get a text that my flight has been delayed.

I had to wait at the airport for a while, but I made the best out of it! Reliving all the experiences that just happened in my head.

Suddenly, a group of other people who did the fly-in with us also arrived at the airport, and we all started talking. Then I see somebody who’s not in our group but looks extremely familiar talking to someone else in our group.

“That’s Congresswoman Joyce Beatty!” Someone from our group said. I was so surprised.

I asked for a photograph she was very gracious to me, and we chatted for a minute. I asked her if she would support the legislation, and she said, “Absolutely, you have a lot of people on your side.” Only to find out she was on my flight home to Ohio!

I truly believe everything happens for a reason, and that day was no exception!

I want to thank the Ohio Developmental Disabilities Council and LMK Advocacy for this incredible opportunity! It was incredible.

I also want to thank a special friend and mentor who suggested my name when the opportunity came up to go to D.C. Thank you so much for thinking of me!