The Sunday before Independence Day, enjoy some beautiful sunshine by the river at scenic Orleigh Park in West End. We'll be socialising, serving up sausages for a small donation (veggie options too!) and, of course, making sure US citizens are prepared to vote in November. Bring your pups, kids and friends - Orleigh Park has excellent facilities:

• Accessible toilets
• Electric barbecue
• Bikeway
• Boat ramp
• Car park
• CityCycle
• Dog off-leash area with bubblers/taps/dog bowls
• Picnic areas
• Playgrounds (including one with inclusive Sway Fun play equipment)
• Table tennis tables (BYO racquets)
• Water (bubbler/drinking fountains)
• Wheelchair access
• Wi-Fi

See you there!

• 11AM Eastern Daylight Time
• 5PM Central European Time
• 11PM China Standard/HK Time

Guest Speakers:

Leslie Carpenter is a co-founder of Iowa Mental Health Advocacy, a lobbyist in the Iowa Legislature and an advocate for serious brain illnesses. She is a retired physical therapist who now works to improve the mental health treatment system. Leslie serves on the NAMI Iowa Board of Directors and teaches 3 of the NAMI Signature Programs, with her most recent emphasis on NAMI Provider Training. She provides advocacy presentations to a wide variety of audiences to help people to understand the causes of the mental health crisis, to humanize it and to share practical solutions. Leslie is leading an effort in the 6^th Judicial District in Iowa to create an AOT (Assisted Outpatient Treatment) Program in conjunction with Iowa’s first Civil Mental Health Court. She also serves on 2 advisory boards as a family member with lived experience, to help improve the treatment of people with serious brain illnesses in hospital and crisis settings. Leslie and her husband, Scott, have 2 adult children, one of whom lives with a severe Schizoaffective Disorder. Leslie and Scott received the Isabel Turner Award from the Iowa City Human Rights Commission in 2020 for their advocacy work. 

Dr. Randall White, DA Canada member 

Awarded the status of Distinguished Fellow by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) in 2021. As the sole recipient of this distinction for Western Canada, Dr. Randall is being recognized for his significant contributions to the psychiatric profession in a range of areas, including administration, teaching, scientific and scholarly publications, and clinical excellence. The status of Distinguished Fellow is the highest honour conferred by the APA upon its members.

Dr. White is the Medical Director of Community Mental Health in Vancouver, and the clinical director of the BC Psychosis Program at UBC Hospital. His clinical and research interests lie in the management of treatment-resistant psychotic disorders. Dr. White was first appointed to the UBC Department of Psychiatry in 2007, and was promoted to the rank of Clinical Professor in 2016. As a member of UBC clinical faculty, he has contributed extensively to both teaching and service activities, through which he has made a significant and positive impact on our undergraduate and postgraduate Psychiatry education programs. Annually, he actively participates in supervising medical students and residents, and delivers academic day seminars and other lectures on a wide range of topics such as Psychosis Clinical Decision Making, Preparation for Medical Practice, Psychotic Disorders in DSM 5, and Treatment Resistant Psychosis. As well, he has served as co-chair of an annual psychopharmacology conference, has produced CME for UBC CPD and Medscape.com, and is the recipient of a number of teaching awards and honours.

Additional Resources:

• Watch a short video about schizophrenia (6 minutes): https://www.youtube.com/watch?app=desktop&v=9DHKoBUZtq0&fbclid=IwAR2xlGt1NQzBGqmuovLNjt3V4EaKrJRgDpQ03Mqu32gSwZupuj2X7VYevtE
• Brief video introducing Agosognosia (3 minutes): https://www.treatmentadvocacycenter.org/key-issues/anosognosia 
• Sabah Muhammad's talk at NATCON (23 minutes): https://youtu.be/T8bTsFHHgBg
• Read "Difficult: Mothering Challenging Adult Children Through Conflict and Change," by Judith Smith https://www.difficultmothering.com/
  • (Appendix A) lists resources for Mothers and Adult Children:
    • AAA - Area Agency on Aging: https://eldercare.acl.gov/Public/Index.aspx
    • SAMHSA's National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
    • FindHelp: https://findhelp.org
    • NAMI: https://www.nami.org/Your-Journey/Individuals-with-Mental-Illness/Finding-a-Mental-Health-Professional

The importance of 2022 elections cannot be overstated. Every election will impact legislative efforts, including those discussed during this webinar. Your contribution will help us reach and assist voters across the globe who vote in states and districts where Democratic wins are imperative. Please consider donating. 

The Global Disability Caucus is dedicated to building a stronger Democrats Abroad! Our goals are to increase accessibility to information, events, and activities. We strive to create sensitivity to and awareness of disability issues.

In addition to Democrats Abroad members with disabilities, we welcome and encourage the involvement of supporters of our members and our messages! We hope to form an inclusive, diverse, active, and effective community that provides fulfilling experiences for all.

Please check the Global Disability Caucus Wiki-Page or the DemsAbroad Global Calendar to discover past events and future meeting dates for GDC events!

• 9 AM Eastern Daylight Time
• 3 PM Central European Time
• 9 PM China Standard Time

THE FUTURE IS ACCESSIBLE! 

Consider making a donation to help get out the VOTE in 2022. Please donate today: https://www.democratsabroad.org/dc-donations

Harmful narratives, including mis- and disinformation, are one of the greatest challenges facing Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) communities in today’s world. They are making communities less safe and trust in the election systems weaker. It is even tearing some families apart. To make matters worse, the issue of harmful narratives is often overlooked as it pertains to AAPI spaces – leaving AAPI communities at greater risk. 

Hear from Kyle Van Fleet, Strategic Communications Associate at Asian and Pacific Islander American Vote (APIAVote), who monitors mis- and disinformation as it pertains to AAPI communities and elections, democracy, anti-Asian hate, and other related topics, on how the problem of harmful narratives looks in and impacts AAPI communities, what is being done to confront this issue, and best practices to combat harmful narratives in your own feeds.

About the speaker:

Kyle Van Fleet (he/him/his) is the Strategic Communications Associate at APIAVote, where he leads the organization's efforts to monitor mis- and disinformation regarding democracy, elections, and harmful narratives impacting or originating from AAPI communities. Kyle also manages APIAVote's social media strategy and supports the organization's overall work on narrative change among other duties. Prior to joining APIAVote, Kyle worked as a Digital Research Associate monitoring mis- and disinformation at GQR during the 2020 election cycle. Kyle is a graduate of James Madison University and is an accomplished professional photographer.

Join New Yorkers Abroad for our Meet the Primary Candidates* panel discussion to hear from the candidates running in the New York 12th district!

This event is your chance to hear the Democratic candidates share their backgrounds, key issues, and their vision for the district. We will be asking candidates about issues that uniquely impact Americans abroad including taxation, financial access, the Social Security Windfall Elimination Provision, vaccine access, and Medicare portability. There will also be time for a Q&A session with an opportunity for attendees to ask questions. 

The New York 12th District has one of the largest concentrations of Democrats living abroad and our votes could be the margin of victory in this race.

WHEN:

• Thursday, July 7th
  • 1pm Eastern / 7pm CEST Click here for your local time

Add event to your calendar

NY Primary Ballots will be sent out starting July 9! Request yours TODAY if you haven't already at www.votefromabroad.org! 

This event is being co-hosted by the DA State Teams and the Taxation Task Force.

We are looking for New York 12th district voters living abroad to ask questions during the webinar. If you're a NY-12 voter and you're interested in participating, please drop us an email at [email protected] with your pre-submitted question!

Join the New Yorkers Abroad team on Slack and on Facebook.

*Democrats Abroad has not endorsed any candidate(s) and is committed to remaining neutral for the duration of the primary. ALL candidates for this race were invited to speak at this event.

Our Monthly Monday summer sessions are open to all. We provide a topic and optional resources to prepare for the discussion. 

At our summer meetings, we’ll also encourage all to consider with us which primary candidates will help us deliver on the issues we discuss. 

Sign up now and we’ll send you the event details closer to the event date.

RSVP below to join the discussion!

You can inform and mobilize members around the world to make progress and win in the midterms. The Fight for (at least) $15. Meaningful Medicare expansion. Student debt relief. Reparative justice. Climate change action. Voting rights. And more. Will you help America build back better and get out the vote for progress?  Please donate here.  Donate $1 (number of Congressional Progressive Caucus Senators) to $100 (number of CPC Representatives), perhaps an amount equal to the number of new members you want to join the CPC in November.  Thank you!

Our Monthly Monday summer sessions are open to all. We provide a topic and optional resources to prepare for the discussion. 

At our summer meetings, we’ll also encourage all to consider with us which primary candidates will help us deliver on the issues we discuss. 

Sign up now and we’ll send you the event details closer to the event date.

RSVP below to join the discussion!

You can inform and mobilize members around the world to make progress and win in the midterms. The Fight for (at least) $15. Meaningful Medicare expansion. Student debt relief. Reparative justice. Climate change action. Voting rights. And more. Will you help America build back better and get out the vote for progress?  Please donate here.  Donate $1 (number of Congressional Progressive Caucus Senators) to $100 (number of CPC Representatives), perhaps an amount equal to the number of new members you want to join the CPC in November.  Thank you!

Are you passionate about American abroad tax issues and have the skills or time to help?
The DA Taxation Task Force is hosting this volunteer information session to explain what's involved in being a volunteer and to answer any questions you might have about volunteering. Click here for an outline of volunteering opportunities for the TTF.

The DA TTF is a group of dedicated volunteers working towards fixing the tax code for Americans living abroad.

We have a number of volunteer positions available, from people with no experience who want to help out with social media, to subject matter experts that can help us lobby Congress - everyone and anyone is welcome to contribute!

Once you attend the info session, we encourage you to complete this application to the best of your ability. You will then be invited to a follow-up one-to-one 30 minute Zoom call to figure out which teams you fit into and to get you started.

Note: Attending an info session is optional, you do not need to attend to express interest in volunteering. Feel free to go ahead and fill in the application form here.

You can also express interest in volunteering by emailing [email protected] and including as much information as possible about your background and how you think you can help.

Please feel free to forward this event page to friends or family that you think might be interested in getting involved!

Scroll down and click on the dates below to RSVP and get connection details and reminders.

Did you know every eligible American living abroad can vote in U.S. elections? 

Was the last place you or your parent lived in the US the state of Georgia?

If you are 18 on or before January 5th you are allowed to vote in the runoff election. 

Do you have questions about how to vote? Click the chat bubble at the bottom of this screen and we can help you find the answers. 

But we get it. Sometimes you just want to speak to live person. 

Join us Tuesday & Thursday (noon-4pm January 5th & 7th. All time are listed as U.S. Eastern time. Our volunteers and standing by LIVE on Zoom to help answers questions you have about voting from abroad and curing your ballot.

How is it done on Zoom? You'll come into the main room and be paired 1:1 with a volunteer into a breakout room to ensure privacy and that you can get all your questions answered. It couldn't be easier. 

More information: The easiest way to request your ballot is at VoteFromAbroad.org. It takes just a few minutes to complete and send in your form to the US state where you last lived. The website will guide you step by step. In most cases it’s pretty simple. But if you’re new to voting abroad, or if you haven’t done it in a while, you may have additional questions. That’s why we’ll be here every Sunday until election day to help.

If you can’t make the 'office hours', you can always email us at [email protected] or send in your question through our online help bubble, and a volunteer will get back to you.

Here is a handy website to convert the time zone to yours wherever you are in the world.

Zoom Connection Details:

Zoom Link: https://zoom.us/j/91090344003
Meeting number: 910 9034 4003
PassWord: Vote2020

Tuesday & Thursday: Noon-4pm (U.S. Eastern)
January 5th and 7th