By: Asha Jones, Equip Leader
The Summer Series and the South Carolina Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) are summer programs offered by Able South Carolina in which young adults with disabilities can come together and learn about a variety of topics ranging from disability pride to self-advocacy and even independent living skills. Both of these events are free to youth with disabilities that meet the eligibility requirements and are wonderful opportunities to make new friends!
Equip Summer Series
Equip’s Summer Series is a week-long self-advocacy, disability pride, and skill development opportunity for youth with disabilities ages 13-28. This year’s Summer Series is from June 15 – 19, 2020 and will be in both Midlands (Columbia) and Upstate (Greenville) office locations. We will have sessions designed to build skills that assist young adults with all disabilities to increase their independence and cover topics such as healthy relationships, self-advocacy, disability pride and more!
To register for Summer Series, you must:
- Have a disability
- Be between the ages 13-28.
- Complete the registration form here
South Carolina Youth Leadership Forum (YLF)
YLF is a four-day, three night leadership intensive experience where youth with disabilities ages 15-23 are selected to stay overnight on a college campus and attend sessions centered around, you guessed it, Leadership! The goal of these sessions is to empower the attendees on topics such as self-advocacy, systems-advocacy, independent living and leadership skills. We aim to equip the youth with the knowledge to go out and become agents of change for themselves and their communities.
If you have already attended YLF and would like to use your skills to help others become better leaders, you can consider becoming part of the Peer Staff! As part of the staff, you will have the opportunity to support the delegates as they work on developing their skills throughout the week.
To apply to the YLF you must:
- Have a disability
- Live in South Carolina
- Be between the ages 15-23.
- Show Leadership potential
- Visit www.scylf.org and complete the application
Both the Equip Summer Series and the South Carolina Youth Leadership Forum are informative and fun experiences for young adults with disabilities to gather and engage in fellowship with one another, as well as build on those skills that assist them on their journey of independent living.