Q. I’m a member of a state association of parents of profoundly disabled children. We’re building a local coalition of people to support our bill to create a parent support network linked to the local Departments of Public Health. I’m supposed to reach out to the local chapter of social workers, the teachers union, the nurses association, the medical society, the local hospital and health center and local churches and synagogues. I’m really nervous that the parents’ voices will get drowned in a coalition with all these smart professionals who are used to telling us what we should do and how we should think.
A. You’re right to be protective of the parents’ role. However, organizing and running a diverse local coalition is a great opportunity for parents like you to develop leadership skills and confidence. It will be easier than you think because the professional groups you have listed are already quite used to being solicited to join a coalition to support another group’s policy campaign. If you can persuade them to get involved, and they determine that your campaign is in their direct self interest, they will be happy to yield the leadership of your campaign to you. They are already involved in their own priority policy campaigns and are pretty busy pushing their own stuff.
Who is Hecate?
Hecate is a Greek Goddess who served as a guide and coach at the crossroads of Hades, where after crossing the River Styx, Greek souls found themselves facing three choices: the Elysian Fields, abode of the great and heroic; the Fields of Asphodel, for all who had led a blameless but ordinary life; or to Tartarus, a sunless land of punishment for criminals.
Hecate's best known role in Greek mythology was guiding Persephone, the goddess of spring, on her annual journeys between Hades and Earth. In the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, Hecate is portrayed as a nurturing and protective guide for Persephone on those annual journeys.
