Awareness Is Just the Start: Key Takeaways from Awareness 2025

Awareness Is the Key to Change Conference 2025 brought together a powerful crew of advocates, families, and professionals, all united in the fight for disability rights.
 

We opened with a keynote from Samuel Bachelor, principal of Memphis Virtual Adult High School, who grounded us in the reality of educational exclusion and the urgency of meaningful adult learning. (www.memphisvirtualadulths.org)

From there, we heard hard truths about conservatorship, transition services, aging and waiver navigation, and mental health response. So many "aha" moments and strategies to carry back to our communities. Thank you for braving the storm and sharing your time and expertise! Shout-out to our incredible vendors for showcasing game-changing resources. Special thanks to Donna Nasso and Hope Church for hosting us and to the students from the Avon Lenox High School Choir for lifting the room with their voices and their presence. Thank you to everyone who braved the storm to be part of something real.

 

Awareness is just the start. Change is coming, and this community is leading the way. Who's ready to keep this momentum going?

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Learn more about conference sessions below.

 

Conservatorship & Guardianship

What happens when you can’t speak for yourself?

 

Judge Kathleen Gomes brought years of probate bench experience, breaking down how conservatorship plays out in real people’s lives. (www.probate.shelbycountytn.gov)

 (Disability Rights TN: www.disabilityrightstn.org/resources/conservatorship-guardianship

 

Attorneys Danielle Woods and Dawna Snipes followed with stories from the legal frontlines: families in crisis, adults with disabilities navigating courtrooms, and the ways support can help or harm. (https://woodstn.net/) For those who’ve lived it or are living it now, this session held weight. And for the rest of us, it offered a way to listen better.

 

What's one change you'd like to see in the conservatorship system? Let us know!

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Transitioning / Employment

Employment is a human right. It's our job to break down barriers.

 

With years of experience supporting job seekers with disabilities and pushing institutions to properly serve students with disabilities, Patrick Krolik from the University of Memphis Institute on Disability (www.memphis.edu/umid) and Triniti Holden from the Tennessee Department of Human Services (www.tn.gov/humanservices/ds/vocational-rehabilitation.html) gave us a wealth of knowledge and inspiration.

 

They offered us an honest look at the systemic gaps that leave too many students with disabilities behind. The stats are sobering, but these two are all about solutions.

 

 

Waiver Funding & Aging with Disability

If you've ever tried to navigate waiver funding or aging services, you know that the struggle is REAL. The system assumes you have a lot of time, internet, and resources. For too many, that's not reality.

 

Ashley Brown from BlueCare walked us through what it actually takes to get help, the hoops families jump through just to access basic support, and what happens when you hit a wall. (https://bluecare.bcbst.com/

 

Sarah Hardin brought clarity from the Aging Commission: the waitlists, the disconnects between policy and reality that leave people stranded, and the empowerment of having one person who knows how to navigate it with you. (www.agingcommission.org/

 

Gerre Currie highlighted something that doesn’t get said enough: that housing, banking, and aging all intersect. As an advocate for financial literacy, she reminded us that without access to essential financial tools, other support systems can fall apart. (https://risememphis.org/

 

This session highlighted the frustrations but also the dedication of individuals within these systems who are committed to helping others.

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Mental Health Matters

This session was a powerful reality check. When a mental health crisis hits, where does effective help truly begin? This session confronted that head-on.

 

We heard compelling insights from Officer Nigel Payne, who leads Crisis Intervention Training at the MPD Academy. Drawing on 13 years with the department, he shared the stark consequences faced by individuals and families when systems aren't equipped for a compassionate, informed response, underscoring the critical importance of the CIT approach he champions.

 

Charles Winton Jr., Program Director at The Oaks at Lakeside and President of the West Tennessee Counseling Association, brought deep clinical and community perspective. He spoke with undeniable passion about building pathways to real healing, and he challenged approaches that default to punishment over trauma-informed care. (https://lakesidebhs.com/programs/the-oaks-at-lakeside/

 

Their combined views illuminated a difficult truth: services remain critically underfunded and fragmented. Too often, families are left isolated, navigating a complex and insufficient system precisely when support is most vital. It drove home the point that meaningful change requires confronting these issues and demanding better coordination of resources.

 

What would a compassionate mental health response look like to you?