Orleans Hub wins photo award from NYSARC

Self Advocates in Arc were featured in March

ALBION – They were pictured in a group, holding T-shirts that say, “SELF ADVOCATE All Stars.” The group planned to raise their profile this year, marching in parades and doing car washes.

Orleans Hub featured the Self Advocates on March 13, 2014. That photo was entered by The Arc of Orleans County in a state-wide contest and it won third place.

NYSARC, Inc., the state-wide association of member ARC organizations, recognizes news organizations each year for articles and photos about people with disabilities.

Jonathan Doherty, the Self Advocate’s fund-raising chairman, arranged for the Orleans Hub to come take the photo last March. He was one of the founding members of the Advocates in 2006, when the group launched a mission to eliminate the “R-word.”

Darlene Golson, community relations manager for The Arc, is pictured with Tom Rivers, editor of Orleans Hub.

The Self Advocates were able to convince county legislators to take a stand in May 2010. The Legislature passed an official county resolution, telling local, state and federal governments to no longer use the word “retarded” in describing people with developmental disabilities. The R-word is a “vicious slang” that is insulting and hurtful to people with developmental disabilities and their families, legislators said in their resolution four years ago.

The honor from NYSARC is the first journalism award won by Orleans Hub since we started on April 2, 2013. We won the Entrepreneurial Excellence award from the Orleans County Chamber of Commerce in 2013.