Last month, Iowa lost a great disability champion when Michael “Mike” Hoenig passed away after a long battle with cancer. During his 33-year career at the Center for Disabilities and Development (CDD), Iowa’s UCEDD, Mike was a relentless advocate for Iowans with disabilities as he contributed his experience and expertise to many different programs and projects. And through his life’s work, he taught many people with disabilities, especially young people, to develop and build their own advocacy skills.
Joining CDD in 1993, just three years after the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and six years before the landmark Olmstead Decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, Mike participated in a wide range of projects that contributed to systems change in Iowa to assure Iowans with disabilities were able to live full, independent lives in the communities of their choice.
During his tenure at CDD, Mike contributed to multiple projects funded by the UCEDD’s long-standing Disability and Health grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. He worked on the interagency Prevention of Disabilities Policy Council, the Community Access Project to assess ADA compliance statewide, and the series of health provider trainings, “Assuring Access to Quality Health Care for Persons with Disabilities.” His foundational efforts helped build the Heartland Self-Advocacy Resources Network (HSRN), a regional Midwest collaborative to support self-advocacy growth. HSRN created the biennial SOAR (Seeking Opportunities for an Advocacy Revolution) Conference, which initially brought together self-advocates with intellectual and developmental disabilities from Iowa, Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska, to exchange ideas and learn from each other about advocacy. SOAR has grown to include self-advocates from South Dakota, Colorado, and Wyoming. Mike also coordinated the Conner Training Connection program, which provides support for individuals moving from facilities to community living through Iowa’s Money Follows the Person program, and he wrote about their journeys in the Possibilities in Education and Training quarterly newsletter.
Though he retired after 29 years of service to CDD, Mike never stopped working. He continued to support Iowa’s Youth Leadership Academy, a summer program to foster young people with disabilities who want to develop leadership skills. He also continued to serve as a lead trainer in the UCEDD's healthcare provider training program, through which he reached thousands of pre-service and practicing professionals, sharing his lived experience so generously to emphasize to learners the importance of person-centered care. His post-retirement commitments also included serving on the Iowa Developmental Disabilities Council and the Iowa Commission for the Blind.
Mike worked tirelessly as an advocate, a mentor, a role model, a writer, a teacher, and a leader. He was a wonderful co-worker and friend. And while we miss him dearly, we cherish our memories of time spent working with Mike, sharing a meal or a cup of good coffee with him, listening to him emcee a special event, hearing him celebrate a win by his St. Louis Cardinals, or hearing him laugh out loud when something touched his king-sized funny bone.
Read Mike’s obituary here: https://www.dignitymemorial.com/obituaries/davenport-ia/michael-hoenig-12978828
ID: A person (Mike Hoenig) seated on a green outdoor spring rider shaped like a rocking animal in a sunny park, wearing a light short-sleeve shirt and dark jeans, with trees and a playground in the background.
