STATEWIDE INDEPENDENT LIVING COUNCIL
June 24, 2026
2:00pm
Advocacy Committee Meeting
ZOOM

Members Attending: Andrew Harmon (Committee Chair), Ryan Donnelly, and Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre

Staff: Jennifer Beaulieu (NH SILC Assistant) 

Guests: Mo Baxley (GSIL, Advocacy Director) and Danielle Murphy (Applicant)

Committee Chair Andrew Harmon called the meeting to order at 2:10pm. 

Review of May Meeting Minutes
*Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre made a motion to approve the minutes.
Second: Ryan Donnelly
Discussion: There were questions on whether Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre could still vote due to being a non-voting member of the NH SILC. It was determined that because she was appointed to the committee, she can vote during the committee meeting. 
All in Favor: Yes	Abstaining: None
Motion Carried

Discussion of SPIL Objectives:
a.	Goal 1 Objectives
Andrew Harmon noted that he is going to table the discussion for Goal 1 because there are some action steps he needs to take.  He was able to reach out to some of the Part B vendors but didn’t have anything concrete to report on. 

b.	Objective 4.3 Presentation Progress Updates
Andrew Harmon moved on to talk about Goal 4.3. He asked where we were on this objective. Ryan Donnelly noted that he did reach out to Jeff Nelson at GSIL. He is GSIL’s new Director of the Community Empowerment Department. He is going to have another employee of his present at September’s Full SILC Meeting. Regarding the Area Agency benefits presenter, Andrew Harmon will reach out to Joshua Gehling after the meeting. Discussion ensued. He will also reach out to Kristin Venator to see if she is okay with presenting on benefits counseling during a Full SILC Meeting. He noted that he had some questions about the logistics for the workshop and asked whether it would be split into two parts or repeated for the two Fall Full SILC meetings. Ryan Donnelly noted that he thought the idea was to do it in two parts because we can’t fit the entire workshop into one meeting. The max amount of time that was allotted to the committee was 45 minutes for two meetings. Discussion ensued. Andrew Harmon mentioned having an overview at the first meeting and a more in-depth presentation in November. 

Ryan Donnelly noted the importance of confirming the structure for the two parts of the workshop. He noted how we could have GSIL and VR present for Part 1 and have Community Crossroads present for Part 2. He doesn’t know if it is possible to have a basic overview with all three of the presenters for Part 1 and then have a more in-depth presentation for Part 2. Andrew Harmon mentioned that he wonders if we will lose something if we just have one presenter for the second part. Ryan Donnelly mentioned that it might be a good idea to figure out and confirm the best structure for this workshop so we can get the presenters scheduled. Discussion ensued. Ryan Donnelly noted that he would suggest scheduling a meeting with Ryan Witterschein and a few committee members in the next couple of weeks. He noted that he would be happy to attend that meeting. Andrew Harmon mentioned that he will get in touch with Ryan Witterschein via email and carbon copy Ryan Donnelly.  

Discussion ensued on the advertisement for the benefits counseling sessions. Ryan Donnelly noted that he and Jennifer Beaulieu were working on a template for advertising on social media. The committee reviewed the advertising template. Committee members commented on how they liked that the ad was simple, to the point, and easy to share. Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre noted how the lighter green in the advertisement hurts her eyes a bit. She wonders if the lighter green text could be darker. There were questions about whether the ad meets the accessibility requirements for contrast. Jennifer Beaulieu mentioned that she did check the contrast and it meets the requirements. Jennifer Beaulieu noted that she could darken the green. She noted how she needs to check when the presentation is going to occur during the meeting. 

The committee discussed the social media post examples and the Union Leader’s Beyond the Barriers example. There were some typos with the social media post examples. There were some questions on whether screen readers can pick up all-cap words in the example for the Beyond the Barriers. Andrew Harmon mentioned that it depends on the screen reader, as well as the screen reader settings. Most screen readers read out the words even if they are in all caps.  

c.	Ad-hoc Committee Update
Andrew Harmon noted that we are still in a holding pattern with the goal 5 objectives. The housing ad-hoc committee was supposed to meet earlier this week but not everyone was able to attend so it was rescheduled for July 13th. 

Disability Round-Table Updates
Andrew Harmon moved on to give some updates on the Disability Roundtable. For people who don’t know, Mo Baxley and some individuals from the Council on Developmental Disabilities got a bunch of different organizations in the state together to try and be more proactive with the legislature. The group generally meets via ZOOM every other week. Recently the group has a couple of in-person meetings over the past three months so the group can formalize and get some work done while the legislature is off for the Summer. every two to three weeks so the group can formalize and get some work done while the legislature is off for the Summer. Andrew Harmon mentioned that one big thing that group is working on that he finds interesting are the candidate questions. The group tried to hit a whole bunch of different aspects including voting, inclusivity, transportation, etc. Mo Baxley mentioned how there were discussions about how to ask these questions to the governor candidates. She doesn’t think there is any incentive for Governor Ayotte to sit down with Cindy Warmington in the same room to ask these questions, but she thinks we can take these questions and ask the two candidates individually. 

Other Business
Andrew Harmon asked if everyone got the email that he forwarded regarding the Office of Special Education and the Office of Civil Rights moving from the Department of Education to the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Justice. He questions if there is anything we can do, but he wanted to at least bring attention to it to this group. Mo Baxley noted that she thinks the only thing we can do is to reach out to our federal delegation. Discussion ensued on possible implications and consequences of this change. 

Discussion ensued a bit on the Department of Justice’s reinterpretation of the Olmstead Decision. It was noted that ABLE NH has put out a good post on social media about the reinterpretation. 

Mo Baxley mentioned that disability pride is coming up. There is going to be a disability pride parade and festival at the NH State House on July 18th. The festival is from 10am to 1pm and the pride starts at 11am. There will also be tables for various disability-related organizations like GSIL, ABLE NH, etc. 

Summer Meeting Schedule
Andrew Harmon asked if the same time and date work for everyone still. The next meeting will be on July 22nd. The members in attendance mentioned they are available for  meeting. Ryan Donnelly noted that the ZOOM meeting invite has the prior scheduled time of 2:30pm instead of 2:00pm. Jennifer Beaulieu will update the time for the ZOOM meeting invite. 

Adjournment
Andrew Harmon noted that he would entertain a motion to adjourn. 
* Isadora Rodriguez-Legendre moved
Second: Andrew Harmon
Discussion: None
All in Favor: Yes	Abstaining: None
Motion Carried

Meeting adjourned at 2:56pm. 

Minutes Recorded by Jennifer Beaulieu.