“It (Disability Awareness Month) means that people with developmental disabilities should be given the same opportunities that are enjoyed by everyone else.”

Mark has been with The Arc of the Quad Cities Area for just over one year. After living in the Chicago North Suburbs, Mark was looking for an agency that could support his independence that was near the Iowa border. His parents had moved to North Liberty in 2021 and his brother lives in Muscatine, Iowa. Realizing that crossing state lines would interrupt his care, he found a happy medium at The Arc of the Quad Cities Area. Mark is close with his family and living geographically closer has made it easier to keep it that way.

Mark uses a chair for his mobility and needs assistance for his care, transfers, getting dressed, etc. because of Cerebral Palsy. So finding an agency that could fit his needs was paramount. One of the services that attracted Mark was the Assistive Technology (AT) department. Before leaving his prior agency, his chair needed repair which impaired his daily activities as this prior provider did not have an in-house AT department to help him fix his chair. Knowing that The Arc has that service in-house means Mark won’t experience lags in routine chair maintenance and with peace of mind he won’t lose his only modality of transportation and independence.

Despite his challenges, Mark manages a full life in his community and enjoys spending time outside, cheering on the Cubs, and anything to do with baseball or football. Mark was also on the honor roll in school and has just been nominated to The Arc’s Board of Directors. Says Michael Glanz, The Arc’s Executive Director, “Mark has proven himself as a strong self-advocate and will be a great resource for the Board.”

What does this year’s Disability Awareness Month mean to Mark? “It means that people with developmental disabilities should be given the same opportunities that are enjoyed by everyone else.” Continues Mark, “I am glad I was born after 1990 because of the conditions for people like me before the Adults with Disabilities Act (ADA) was implemented. We were most likely put in nursing homes.”

Mark enjoys a full life in the community because of his self-advocacy and for the advocacy of so many others before him who together have worked to build a strong inclusive society that benefits all.