I have been attempting to write this newsletter for weeks. Upheaval in my life and those close to mine had left a fog of surrealness surrounding me. Then, the election news I woke up to on November 6 left me reeling in a new way. Added to the feelings of grief and worry I was carrying before were fears for myself, for those I know, and for those beloveds I’ve never met. When healthcare and human rights are placed upon Shakey ground, it can be hard to keep your balance.
These heavy feelings can cause the depression and anxiety that many of us constantly carry to loom larger over our lives. For others, new weights may cause them to experience these mental health disabilities for the first time. For the individual, it can be hard to know where to turn and to whom you can connect. For congregations, it’s critical to be supportive of people with mental health disabilities through accessible and inclusive practices.
Please join us this Thursday at 12pm eastern to learn about the Unitarian Universalist Mental Health Network from its President, Rev. Barbara F. Meyers. She will tell us about the various projects of UUMHN, its resources, and how congregations can increase accessibility and inclusion for people with mental health or emotional disabilities. Attendees will be able to ask questions and share their own thoughts on the topic during the latter part of the webinar. Whether you are a lay leader, religious professional, and/or a disabled UU, you are welcome!
Have a question for an accessibility expert? Since starting my position, I have fielded a wide array of accessibility and inclusion questions from congregations across the country. However, the answers I provide remain in our email and 1-on-1 Zoom conversations. In order to make answers available to all, we will be trying out an “ask the accessibility expert” blog in the coming months. Email your questions to Accessibility@uua.org and stay tuned to the UPLIFT Access Newsletter and blog for monthly answers that will help congregations increase accessibility for their disabled members and guests.
Gretchen Maune (she/they)
Accessibility Resources Coordinator
Image Description: Gretchen Maune is a white elder millennial with long dark hair holding a white cane with a black handle.
As Accessibility Resources Coordinator, Gretchen provides virtual resources for Unitarian Universalist congregational and organizational leaders to create spaces, events, programs and communities which are accessible and inclusive to disabled participants. [learn more]
UPLIFT Access Resource Webinars
Join us for our next Uplift Access Resource Webinar on Thursday, November 21 at 12pm-1:30pm ET / 11am CT / 10am MT / 9am PT
Caring for Ourselves and Our Congregants with Mental Health Disabilities, A Conversation with Rev. Barbara F. Meyers
Rev. Barbara F. Meyers is a Unitarian Universalist community minister with a mental health ministry based in Fremont, California. She is assistant director of the Life Reaching Across to Life peer support center, the author of a mental health curriculum for congregations, the book “Held – Showing Up for each Other’s Mental Health” Skinner House Books, 2020, and an editor of the book Emotional CPR – Assisting People Through Emotional Distress National Empowerment Center, 2024. She is the President of the Unitarian Universalist Mental Health Network.
She served on the UUA’s Accessibility Committee beginning in 2005, and was active in the creation of EqUUal Access. She served on the UUMA’s Task Force on Disability in 2017-2018. She was active in the creation of the AIM program to make congregations accessible and inclusive of disability.
Provide Hurricane Relief
- Donate to the UUA’s Disaster Relief Fund
- New Disabled South Mutual Aid: Donate to directly support Disabled victims of Hurricane Helene and Hurricane Milton
UPLIFT Trans and Nonbinary+ Gatherings
Starting their fifth year of programming, UPLIFT Trans and Nonbinary+ events include gathering spaces, pastoral care, and more! Check out their page for further information.
Accessible Publications from Skinner House
Skinner House Audiobooks are NOW AVAILABLE through Libro.fm and other channels!
- Searching for Solid Ground: A Memoir by Reggie Harris, with Linda Hansell
- Spilling the Light by Julián Jamaica Soto (coming soon!)
- Swinging on the Garden Gate: A Memoir of Bisexuality and Spirit by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew
- Trusting Change: Finding Our Way Through Personal and Global Transformation by Karen Hering
- The Release: Creativity and Freedom After the Writing Is Done, by Elizabeth Jarrett Andrew, late November)
- Authentic Selves: Celebrating Trans and Nonbinary People and Their Families, by Peggy Gillespie, 2024-2025 Common Read, late October
- Mistakes and Miracles: Congregations on the Road to Multiculturalism by Nancy Palmer Jones and Karin Lin
- Incantations for Rest: Poems, Meditations, and Other Magic by Atena O. Danner
- Why Can’t I Fix It: The Questions We Ask When We Love Someone with Addiction by Nathan Detering
- A Fire at the Center: Solidarity, Whiteness, and Becoming a Water Protector by Karen Van Fossan
- The Tending Years: Understanding Your Child’s Earliest Rituals by J.L. Shattuck