Independence Starts Here: Flash Videos

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Disability Arts Festival Commercial

Independence Starts Here LogoThis is a commercial The Dream Alliance created for promotion of the Disability Arts Festival. This commercial will air in media outlets throughout the Philadelphia area.

 

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Interview with Rob Romain Videographer

photo of Rob Romani Rob is a busy guy, and a very talented and well-rounded artist. Actor, musician, teaches guitar, so The Dream Alliance figured he'd be the ideal candidate to videotape and capture preparation, rehearsals, and other exciting behind-the-scene aspects of the Independence Starts Here Festival. The Dream Alliance knew that recruiting Rob would not just provide us with some good footage and insight into all the bearings that turn this very large wheel, but bring with it, his zeal for the arts, creativity, and strong work ethic.

The Dream Alliance is an innovative and educational visual arts program, designed to showcase the creative talents of underserved populations including, but not limited too, individuals living with disability, and both the deaf and blind communities thru the powerful medium of video production and filmmaking.

View the interview with Rob Romani.(opens in a new browser window)

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View what Independence means to Rob Romani. (opens in a new browser window)

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Interview with Eliot Spindel Web Designer

photo of Eliot SpindelThe Dream Alliance was on location recently, visiting with Independence Starts Here’s web designer, Eliot Spindel. Eliot is a resident of Inglis House, a residential facility for individuals living with physical disabilities located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Eliot has never let his disability stand in the way of his passion for computer programming and web design. A tech junkie for most of his life, Eliot, graduated from the Brooklyn Campus of Long Island University with a degree in Political Science. He also obtained degrees as a paralegal from Georgetown University and Computer Science from AbiliTech. While living at Inglis House, Eliot has worked as the webmaster for Drink-Aide and The Sierra Group Inc. He was recruited by the Independence Starts Here to design the website and has worked with The Dream Alliance to integrate such features as, the animated logo and the videos found here on the home page.

View interview with Eliot Spindel.(opens in a new browser window)

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View what Independence means to Eliot Spindel.(opens in a new browser window)

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What Independence means to Gina Minter Videomaker

photograph of Gina MinterGina. Minter came to Inglis House 25 years ago and has been writing since the mid-seventies. Though she felt at the time that she knew nothing at all about writing, she was asked to join a poetry group at Inglis House. Initially, she began writing stories for children. She felt comfortable with the language that children use and wanted to share her experiences and feelings with them. She had friends in Florida who were teachers and began using some of her stories in class.

Among her other activities, Ms. Minter has been involved with pastoral care and frequently visits other residents who have been hospitalized. In this capacity, she also writes poetry for the all too frequent memorial services of friends and acquaintances. Poetry also allows Ms. Minter the means to express her own personal faith. A great deal of her poetry is imbued with religious themes. She has published one chapbook of poetry, Best Creations. Her poetry has appeared in Oak, Lines ‘n Rhymes, Poet’s Fantasy and The Philadelphia Tribune.

Ms. Minter was born at Hahnemann Hospital in Pennsylvania in 1948. At the time little was known about cerebral palsy, so as early as five or six years old she began explaining the condition to others. Her father put her on a horse in order to try to teach her how to sit up and balance her body. This began a lifelong love of horses. As a child she was involved in a variety of telethons for cerebral palsy and appeared with such personalities as Pearl Bailey, Roy Rogers and Dale Evans, Hopalong Cassidy and Sally Starr. In addition to horses, Ms. Minter enjoys music, nature and lecturing to others about CP.

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What Independence means to Stuart Sanderson Poet

photo of Stuart SandersonStuart Sanderson is a 52 year old man with cerebral palsy. Despite being raised by a family who tried to provide him with every opportunity to develop as a person, his inability to communicate verbally frequently made him feel like an outsider. He was able to master a communication board and later in life, access a computer by using a head stick. This gave him the chance to express himself in poetry. Mr. Sanderson’s own words, convey his experience best.

"After reading some poetry, I wonder why I couldn’t have written the poem myself because I knew what it meant and every word in it, too. I guess the words are in all of us. It is easier for some people to get the words out than others, but everybody has a poem in them. From my bed I can see trees outside my window. The wind moves the branches, they go swaying back and forth. Sometimes they bump into one another, as the gentle wind helps to provide the music. To me they are dancing with each other. Swaying back and forth, the best dancing I’ve seen. This is an everyday occurrence. If they don’t get tired of dancing, I won’t get tired of watching.

Poetry comes within one’s heart and touches everybody." Mr. Sanderson’s poetry has appeared in Poet’s Fantasy and Ariel (in which it was a contest winner). His essay "You Have to Live" was read at a PAACE conference and has been included in packets for education about disabilities distributed by Inglis House throughout the United States.

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What Independence means to Yvette Rogers Musician

photograph of Yvette RogersYvette Green has lived at Inglis House for three years. She is a paraplegic due to a spinal cord tumor diagnosed in May of 1998, at the age of forty four.

Yvette came to Inglis House in March of 2004. It has proven to be one of the best decisions she has ever made. She found lots of opportunities, which were very different from where she resided previously, where transportation was unreliable and limited. Inglis House provided a lot of things to get involved with on site, and if it wasn't on site the transportation was more reliable to get where I needed to go.

On a weekly basis Yvette stays very busy. She enrolled in Neumann College and is studying for her bachelor of arts degree, sings on the resident choir, is learning to play the piano, attends cooking class, attends a continuing education class, attends a weaving class, works in the computer lab teaching different workshops, attends the Poetry Workshop, exercises in Therapy a couple of times a week, and loves going on trips.

Yvette also is involved in the Amaryllis Theatre project where they have been practicing a show for the past year and a half for a performance on November 6th.

Yvette says, "it may seem that I’m involved in a lot of activities, but what matters is that I’m satisfied at the end of the day. Unequivocally, I am."

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