Have a Respectful Halloween

 

As Dignity & Respect Month draws to an end, we want to wish you a very Happy Halloween. Let us celebrate the last day of Dignity & Respect month by letting the lessons we have learned inform the season. Make sure you use Halloween as an opportunity to practice the Dignity & Respect tips. Just follow these short rules for a more respectful Halloween:

1. Respect the rights of those who do not want to take part

2. Be grateful for any treats by saying “Thank you.”

3. Do not play tricks on people like spraying someone with shaving cream or silly string – these can be frightening or even accidentally dangerous

4. Vandalism and throwing objects like eggs, toilet paper, and flour – can result in a fine or even a prison sentence

5. Make sure your costume does not exploit stereotypes or insult groups or people for a gag

6. Respect your body by not overindulging in sweets

Happy Halloween everyone!

Celebrating Former Dignity & Respect Champions: Alan Jones

 

 

As we continue to take time to remember past Dignity & Respect champions, let us honor
Alan Jones, June 2010 Dignity & Respect honoree for his work  as a prevention counselor with the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

In the early ‘90s, Alan Jones lost more than 160 clients and friends during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis. During a time when families were abandoning their own who had been diagnosed, Jones was there to lend support during their darkest days. He was inspired by the struggles people faced when battling AIDS, and took on many personal emotional obstacles as he lost hundreds of AIDS patients that he worked with on a daily basis. Jones stood by them in the face of the powerful and negative stigma that surrounded the disease, and said that while that stigma has somewhat subsided, it still exists, preventing many people from getting tested.

Jones’ work at PATF on Penn Avenue in East Liberty includes providing free counseling, free testing, and lending support to a diverse group of people – each facing a different situation. No matter what situation people face as they come to PATF to get tested, Jones said each and every one of them should be treated with dignity and respect in the face of fear and human struggles.

If you would like to nominate a Dignity & Respect Champion, visit us here. Let us continue to recognize everyone who works tirelessly for inclusion!

Strong Women, Strong Girls

Strong Women, Strong Girls encourages and mentors girls with its national school program, and this October they are teaming up with the Dignity & Respect Campaign for Dignity & Respect Month!

This year’s Cultural Sensitivity lesson utilizes the D&R campaign and the pledge as its cornerstone. This means 1,400 girls participating in SWSG across the country will be learning about the D&R campaign, taking the pledge and bringing home information about the campaign. They are strongly encouraging our college mentors to do the Cultural Sensitivity lesson/pledge the week of October 24^th and will be hosting a live-streaming event to get the word out!

Strong Women, Strong Girls college mentors in Pittsburgh will be conducting the Cultural Sensitivity lesson and Dignity & Respect pledge the week of October 24th. This event will be available live via web-streaming, so check out some of the events and videos at:

http://video.magpi.net/videos/livestreams/page1/

This special presentation by Charlie Batch and moderated by Maureen Pedzwater will be followed by a Q & A session and will stream from 9:30 – 10:00 a.m. (EST). At 9:30 a.m. the program will begin with introductions of Dr. William Kinavey, Superintendent of Steel Valley School District and Dr. Linda Hippert, Executive Director of the Allegheny Intermediate.  At 9:32 a.m., each remote school participating though videoconference will introduce their school.

Join us for this event, and join us all week long as we encourage girls of all ages to stand up for Dignity & Respect!

Celebrating Former Dignity & Respect Champions: Leonard Carter

 

As we continue to take time to remember past Dignity & Respect champions, let us honor
Leonard Carter, May 2010 Dignity & Respect honoree for his work  as a coach and teacher. Leonard Carter wants to create a gigantic circle of respect as he prepares a generation of children for life through his football coaching and music teaching. “I teach them a lot about the Golden Rule, to treat other people the way you want to be treated, and that is your responsibility – even if others are not treating you with respect,” he said. “If we all operated that way, we’d live in a much happier world.”

Carter works every day to create an environment of inclusion for children as he is a music teacher at Conroy Education Center and also as a football coach at Peabody High School in East Liberty. Carter, the recipient of the Dignity and Respect Campaign Champion Award for the month of May, was nominated by Arlene Petite, who said he provides opportunities for all students to learn music and life lessons at the highest level possible. Carter lives his life in a way that directly represents the Dignity and Respect Campaign’s mission – to achieve cultural and behavioral change in lives, organizations, and communities by ensuring that inclusion is at the core of what people do each day.

If you would like to nominate a Dignity & Respect Champion, visit us here. Let us continue to recognize everyone who works tirelessly for inclusion!

Lend a Hand!

 

The Dignity & Respect Campaign recognizes October, Dignity & Respect Month, by practicing Tip 29 Lend a Hand, with two community projects on Saturday, October 22 -- Lawrenceville Community Clean-up and Downtown Beautification Project.

Join us for the Lawrenceville Community Clean-up from 9:00 am to 12:00 pm. We will be working during those hours to make Lawrenceville a clean, safe, and attractive neighborhood. Volunteers will be provided with gloves, garbage bags, and various tools and will travel throughout the community to clean up priority sites.

The Downtown Beautification Project will be held from 10:00 am to 2:00 pm. The goal of the project is to find properties in various neighborhoods that could use a quick “beautification” treatment and help reshape Downtown. If you want be part of this transformative effort, please come down!

We are looking for volunteers on these projects. Click here to sign up for Lawrenceville Community Cleanup, and here for the Downtown Beautification Project. See you there!

National Breast Cancer Awareness Month

 

October is Dignity & Respect Month but it is also National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Breast cancer impacts the lives of almost 1.3 million women annually and is the most prevalent cancer in the world today. While the causes of breast cancer are unknown, let us use this month to change the tide of this disease. Here are a few things you can do courtesy of Susan G. Komen for the Cure:

1. Know your risk
• Talk to your family to learn about your family health history
• Talk to your doctor about your personal risk of breast cancer

2. Get screened
• Ask your doctor which screening tests are right for you if you are at higher risk
• Have a mammogram every year starting at age 40 if you are at average risk
• Have a clinical breast exam at least every 3 years starting at 20, and every year starting at 40

3. Know what is normal for you and see your health care provider right away if you notice any of these breast changes:

• Lump, hard knot or thickening
• Swelling, warmth, redness or darkening
• Change in the size or shape of the breast
• Dimpling or puckering of the skin
• Itchy, scaly sore or rash on the nipple
• Pulling in of your nipple or other parts of the breast
• Nipple discharge that starts suddenly
• New pain in one spot that doesn't go away

4. Make healthy lifestyle choices
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Add exercise into your routine
• Limit alcohol intake

Show yourself respect by protecting your health. Find out more information about this disease and its treatment, click here.

Recognizing Former Dignity & Respect Champions: Nieves Stiker

As we continue to take time to remember past Dignity & Respect champions, let us honor Nieves Stiker, March 2010’s winner her work in empowering women and changing lives.

During her daily work, Stiker connects with women in tough situations in the New Choices/New Options program, which is a state-wide career development program designed to help single parents and displaced homemakers. Stiker also helps to provide free literacy programs to adults through the Community Education Center, which currently serves 400 people.

Stiker lives her life in a way that directly represents the Dignity and Respect Campaign’s mission – to achieve cultural and behavioral change in lives, organizations, and communities by ensuring that inclusion is at the core of what people do each day. Stiker said that while she works to break down barriers women face, she feels that it is a privilege to be a part of their lives just as they are looking to make a positive change.

If you would like to nominate a Dignity & Respect Champion, visit us here. Let us continue to recognize everyone who works tirelessly for inclusion!

Celebrate Gay & Lesbian History Month!

October is also Gay & Lesbian History Month! What will you be doing to promote a message of Dignity & Respect for the LGBT Community? Share it with us! And in the meantime, learn more about this background of this celebration courtesy of Equality Forum:

In 1994, Rodney Wilson, a Missouri high school teacher, believed a month should be dedicated to the celebration and teaching of gay and lesbian history, and gathered other teachers and community leaders. They selected October because public schools are in session and existing traditions, such as Coming Out Day (October 11), occur that month.

Gay and Lesbian History Month was endorsed by GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the National Education Association, and other national organizations. In 2006, Equality Forum assumed responsibility for providing content, promotion and resources for LGBT History Month.

The LGBT community is the only community worldwide that is not taught its history at home, in public schools or in religious institutions. LGBT History Month provides role models, builds community and makes the civil rights statement of our extraordinary national and international contributions.

To find out how you can participate, check out some interesting ideas here.

Announcing September’s Dignity & Respect Champion: Everett McElveen

 

This month we recognize Everett McElveen, president and CEO of Life'sWork, as the September Dignity & Respect Champion of Greater Pittsburgh.

Life'sWork is a nonprofit organization that provides opportunity, employment, and independence to individuals with disabilities and other barriers to employment. Life'sWork began in 1927 and assists more than 2,000 individuals each year.

Everett, who lives in Ohio Township with his wife, has been with Life'sWork for seven years.  He said his job frequently reminds him how blessed he is. He feels that it is important for able-bodied and able-minded people to be grateful for what they have.  He also believes that treating others with dignity and respect is important to our daily lives because we are all one and the same.

If you would like to nominate a Dignity & Respect Champion, visit us here. Let us continue to recognize everyone who works tirelessly for inclusion!