CFAC Voices
In this series, two consumers reflect on their service as part of the Consumer & Family Advisory Committee and the impact their service has made on them and the agency during this time.
Jamestown woman shares from her experiences to help others
JAMESTOWN – When Robin Hamilton, a member of the Guilford Center’s Consumer & Family Advisory Committee, speaks about services and how the changes at the state level trickle down into the community, she knows first-hand. Not as a professional or even as an advocate, although she’s both of these. Most importantly, Hamilton knows because she’s navigated the system, felt the pain and learned where the needs are.
Hamilton is also a consumer of mental health services and is diagnosed with major depression with psychotic features. Each of these roles help her to bring meaningful input to the Committee.
“Serving on the CFAC has been an honor for me,” she says. “To be able to voice my opinion and not be looked at as just a consumer, but being looked at as a true voice is incredible.”
 Robin Hamilton talks with Ray Pysher, CFAC chair, as they review documents of the Local Business Plan |
A resident of Jamestown, Hamilton works at Destiny House where she is learning computer and customer service skills. She has been named Mental Health Advocate of the Year by the Mental Health Association in High Point, has addressed the Mental Health Association in North Carolina and even has spoken before the Center for Creative Leadership.
“It’s being able to let other consumers know that they have a voice too; they can open up and let their opinions be known,” says Hamilton, speaking on the best part of serving on the CFAC. “There’s still a lot of stigma out there so education about mental illness is a big thing for me.”
As a consumer, she’s also deeply concerned about how the divestiture of services from the agency will affect the consumer-therapist relationship.
“I had built my relationship with my therapist for two years and now I’ll have to go to Greensboro for services,” she said. “It’s a hard thing when you have built a relationship with somebody to start all over with someone else.
“As CFAC members, we need to make sure the services are there for everybody who needs them,” she says. “It’s my hope that the CFACs can help make sure that nobody gets stuck between the cracks; and that people receive the services they need.”
During the writing of the Local Business Plan in 2002, the CFAC members had to dedicate many long hours, learning the intricacies of the law’s requirements. But they persevered and logged the many hours without compensation.
“It’s been a very big time commitment but it’s been worth every minute of it,” says Hamilton, one of the CFAC’s original members. “Everybody’s been dedicated to spend the hours with it. We just do what we need to do.”
Nationally known self advocate makes her voice heard on CFAC
GREENSBORO – Lee McCraven of Greensboro is used to blazing trails. She was the among the first people with developmental disabilities in the state to buy her own home through a statewide initiative, “A Home of Your Own.” In addition, through her work with the Arc of Greensboro, she was recognized at the local, state and national levels, culminating in 1998 when she was named the 1998 Bill Sackter Citizen of the Year by the Arc of the United States.
 Lee McCraven reflects on her service with the Guilford Center's CFAC. |
Today, through her dedication and advocacy, McCraven works to blaze trails to help others with disabilities to achieve their dreams. She works as a self advocate for the Center for Developmental Disability’s Center for Developmental Learning.
A member of the Guilford Center’s CFAC, McCraven is also a consumer.
“The main issues for me on the committee are case management and services,” says McCraven. “People with developmental disabilities feel like their services are being taken away from them. It’s a confusing time for all of us.”
About her role in CFAC, she says, “I’m most proud that we have all worked together. There has not been a knockdown fight over anything. It’s a big role and a big process.”
In her job, McCraven has traveled all over the country to teach adults affected by DD on what they can do to self-advocate. “I’m trying to advocate for services not just for myself, but for thousands of others, and a lot of times, I get the door slammed in my face. But unless you have some type of developmental disability, you do not know the inside of a person who does."
Now, instead of getting the door slammed in her face, McCraven, like the other 11 CFAC members, have a seat at the table and will be heard.