Why are the ‘Values of Inclusion’ (developed by Marsha Forest, Jack Pearpoint, John O’Brien and the Scottish Human Services) so important?
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- Everyone is born ‘in’
- All means All
- Everyone needs to be ‘in’
- Everyone needs to be ‘with’
- Everyone is ready
- Everyone needs support
- Everyone can communicate
- Everyone can learn
- Everyone can contribute
Together we are better
They act as a reminder to keep working on all the aspects in our society that will make our communities a better place to live, work and play for everyone. I use them to reflect on my way of being in the world, especially when I am challenged by other people and their attitudes. Consider ‘All means All’ – I am a part of the dance world, supporting my daughter, in competition dancing. Competition itself brings out a lot of personalities that do not work towards inclusion. Through these experiences I have reflected on my behaviour to include people I don’t agree with or like. I have had to find ways that I can still include these people without giving up on my values. It is challenging.
Today I was speaking to Judith Snow, a great advocate for Inclusion. She discussed with me some of her work around affordable housing, especially for people that are marginalised, socially and economically. I loved our discussion, the way our financial system works around housing, i.e. getting a mortgage, does not work for all people that are marginalised we need to find another way. We talked about a time, after the depression in the US and I remember in Australia about 25 years ago, people could get a loan to build a house that would be government guaranteed with a very small interest % on the repayments. This provided the opportunity for more people to own their own homes and could do so on low incomes or government supported incomes.
There are many people looking for ways to be more inclusive, it may take more time, effort and money in the short term, but I believe whole heartedly, it will serve us better in the long run.
