The recently launched issue of the Institute’s Impact magazine resulted in swift action for author Patti Menzel.
Menzel’s article shared her personal experiences with loneliness as someone with autism and how changing her living arrangements has made a positive difference in her sense of belonging in her community.
“Everybody here has their own apartment. We have a community room with events like yoga, energy healing, music, and muscle conditioning. Or somebody will come and perform a concert or get our input on how to spend grant money in our town because our voices matter,” she wrote.
“And here’s the thing: you don’t have to go to any of them. There’s zero pressure, and that is what makes me go to them. It’s so easy and positive, and it’s something you reach for; it’s not something you’re pushed into. You know, autistic people aren’t designed to fit in. We’re designed to belong, and that’s different, because we’re different.”
After sharing her article with the management team at her apartment complex, Menzel has been invited to join the board of the Newton Community Development Foundation, the non-profit organization that owns and manages six affordable housing communities, including the 55-plus property where Menzel lives. She expects to begin by fall.
“They have a representative board member from each property, which is a great way to support and guide leadership,” she said. “And leadership is so important in creating culture.”
She said she hopes to help keep staff and resident morale high as she serves on the board, letting staff know what’s working and why it makes the community better.
“It feels wonderful to have put something out there that others respond to in such a positive way,” she said about contributing to Impact. “They looked through the words to the feelings behind them and can say they’ve been recognized for doing a great job in creating a positive living environment. That’s what I love—they understand that I appreciate them. They can feel the love and sense the gratitude. That’s what’s so often missing, and writing the article was like planting a seed and hoping others see the bloom of all their efforts to create a community here.”
For nearly 40 years, Impact has bridged disability research and practice, exploring topics of interest to people with intellectual, developmental, and other disabilities; to those who support them directly; and to others whose work aims to improve their independence and their lives.
Though the board position caught Menzel by surprise, she said she was moved by the opportunity and grateful that she had a platform like Impact through which she could share her ideas. That those ideas were recognized outside of the disability community and in her broader living community, she said, made it even more meaningful.
“I’ve just been living here about eight months, so I feel this is a real honor.”
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