Community Impact: Katie's AIDB Perdido Beach Blog
Katie Willingham, Community Impact Coordinator
WOW!! Early in August I had the deepest honor to share space with some amazing people. The prevention team of the 6:52 Project Foundation teamed up with the Alabama Institute for Deaf and Blind (AIDB) to hold a conference for the clients, parents, caregivers, teachers and staff of AIDB. The meeting was held at Perdido Beach Resort in Orange Beach, Alabama, it was a nice hotel on the beach with comfortable surroundings that made the conference all the more enjoyable.
I had never before known anyone deaf or blind and I was amazed by these inspiring people, their strength, their lives, their thoughts, their determination, and their beautiful smiles. We were so excited to host this event and couldn't wait to meet everyone and teach them about communicable diseases and how to stay safe from them.
The first day of the conference we didn't have a workshop so it was a good time for networking and meeting people, but the second day our founder and CEO Warren A. O’Meara-Dates spoke at the morning plenary, and afterwards we held two workshops. Warren led the meeting together with Tom Robertson, our prevention team director, with a little assistance from the audience participants. We drew for prizes but everyone got some 6:52 swag and we all had a great time together.
After the workshops, we were able to unwind by the pool, I met some more friends there from AIDB. I couldn't help but to be awed by them, they didn't let any obstacle get in their way, and though they didn't have the benefit of sight or sound they accomplished anything they wanted, and with an alluring smile, they had such beautiful souls.
All in all it was an amazing and rewarding experience to spend some time with such wonderful and inspirational people. I'm so happy to know that we'll be back together again next year as the 6:52 Project plans to help sponsor the conference into the future as we forge our partnership together with our friends at AIDB, a partnership we all look forward to.