FROM THE DESK OF ANN COFFEY, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Hello, UCP employees, customers, families, board members, and community partners.
 
I am pleased to announce UCP Oregon’s Agency goals for the years 2020-2023:

• Life Enhancement: We envision a new service that supports quality of life for customers across their lifespan (babies, teens, adults and elderly) and across all aspects of their lives. 
• Funding and Fundraising: We envision diversification of UCP Oregon’s funding sources to become less dependent on government funding.
• Community Relationships and Education: We envision enhancing UCP Oregon’s “intentional education” efforts to better equip people and organizations on how to support, interact with and empower people who experience intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD). 
• Advocacy: We envision supporting UCP Oregon’s customers as they advocate for themselves and the disability community at the local and state levels.

 
These goals are customer-driven, and were created using the feedback from customer focus groups, UCP Oregon employees, UCP Oregon’s leadership team, and Board of Directors.
 
I’ve been employed by UCP since 2003, and been privileged to participate in strategic planning throughout the years. However, these goals are particularly near and dear to my heart, as they have incorporated customer feedback in a manner which supports UCP’s values of self-direction like never before. I look forward to supporting all of us to implement them in our work lives!


​Sincerely,

Ann Coffey, Executive Director

Congratulations to a UCP customer, Linda Akagi! Linda was accepted for her first research publication--Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) and Artificial Intelligence!

Linda Akagi, B.S., is a research assistant in the at the PSU Universal Design Lab, and experiences cerebral palsy and complex communication needs. Linda leads the AAC Design Council, a forum for people with complex communication needs to influence the direction of AAC technology and research. She is dedicated to helping serve children, teenagers, and adults obtain AAC systems and be inspired to change people’s expectations.

PS: Kudos, too, to Linda's UCP Employment Specialist (Alex Raines of UCP Oregon’s Employment Solutions), who assisted Linda to get her job at PSU.