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Special Olympics Mississippi Delegates Made Case of Impact and Need for Critical Funding on Capitol Hill

Special Olympics athletes, Program leaders, Unified Partners, and family members from 39 states and the District of Columbia converged on Capitol Hill on February 15 for Special Olympics’ 15th annual “Capitol Hill Day.”

Special Olympics athletes from across the nation held more than 250 face-to- face meetings with Members of Congress in both the House and Senate, challenging and inviting their elected officials to partner with them to achieve the goals of expanding Special Olympics Unified Sports and Unified Champion Schools programming throughout the US, and to end health care disparities and discrimination against persons with intellectual disabilities.

Special Olympics athletes, serving as self-advocates, educated lawmakers and their staff about the significant consequences that arise from the stigma and stereotypes faced by people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. They described how that impacts their lives in the areas of sports, health care and education. The goals of Capitol Hill Day were to effectively convey the high impact and cost-effectiveness of Special Olympics’ evidence-based programming that addresses these issues, to educate lawmakers and to secure continued support from legislators.

Representing Special Olympics Mississippi: Jason Smith, 4 time medalist; Chyrel Wallace, his aunt, Kenny Williamson, Special Olympics Mississippi Chairman of the Board, and Monica Daniels, Executive Director. Athlete Jason Smith shared with Tim Shriver, Chairman, Special Olympics, “this was a once in a lifetime experience for me, and I am so happy that I got to tell all of these people how much Special Olympics means to me. It has changed my life.”

“Participating in Capitol Hill Day and being a part of a true movement, that is Special Olympics, is an incredible honor. To be able to personally advocate for inclusion, access to health care, the importance of competition for all people with intellectual disabilities is to be a part of true culture change,” stated Monica Daniels, Executive Director.

In more than 4,400 Unified Champion Schools across the country, Special Olympics has trained and mobilized youth leaders and educators to create more inclusive schools by including students with intellectual disabilities in all aspects of school life. Students with and without intellectual disabilities are also playing and competing together, on the same team, through Special Olympics Unified Sports. These experiences are helping to increase acceptance of all abilities to classrooms across the country, and are reducing stigma and bullying.

Health exams, treatment and referrals (vision, hearing, dentistry, podiatry, and mobility), and education, including nutrition, are being provided to Special Olympics athletes at Games and competitions to ensure their health on the playing field. Thousands of volunteers, staff and clinical practitioners are providing essential health care that is otherwise often unavailable to people with intellectual disabilities due to the lack of trained health care providers and facilities. These volunteers are learning new skills that are helping the medical community to reach people with intellectual disabilities in their own communities with critical health care.

“No one can better articulate a vision for how America can become a more inclusive nation or demonstrate what it means to unite and come together than the athletes and Unified Partners of Special Olympics” said Tim Shriver, Chairman of Special Olympics. Shriver added, “We support the preservation of laws that guarantee the rights and full participation and integration of people with intellectual disabilities into our society.”

Tim Shriver, Chairman Special Olympics; Monica Daniels, Executive Director Special Olympics MS; Thad Cochran, US Senator; Jason Smith, athlete, Brandon; Kenny Williamson, Special Olympics MS Board Chair; Chyrel Wallace, family member, Brandon


Chyrel Wallace, family member, Brandon; Kenny Williamson, Special Olympics MS Board Chair; Jason Smith, athlete, Brandon; Greg Harper, US Representative; Monica Daniels, Executive Director Special Olympics MS

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