MOORHEAD - Danyia Dawson always knew she wanted to work with people with disabilities; it's just always been on her heart.
She went to school for sign language, but her passion changed when she had kids.
Her son Riley, 12, was born with autism, and her other son Connor, 8, is just beginning to grasp what that means.
Now that her kids are a little bit older, Danyia is back in school earning a social work degree at Minnesota State University Moorhead.
Danyia recently graduated from Partners in Policymaking, a Minnesota leadership training program designed for parents of young children with developmental disabilities, and now she is working harder than ever to advocate for Riley and others with disabilities.
ADVERTISEMENT
THEIR JOURNEY
When Riley was born, the doctors knew something wasn't right. After running some tests and finally putting the pieces together, he was officially diagnosed with autism, sensory disorder and hypertonia when he was 4 years old.
Even though Danyia said she and her husband, Kevin, weren't sure how to respond to the news at first, they quickly hopped on board to help Riley as much as they could.
"I honestly, through our journey, have found that it's brought me more of an awareness about everybody's challenges and everybody's abilities," she said. "I mean, he's got just as many challenges as I do and just as many abilities as I do."
Now that their younger son Connor's older, he's starting to ask questions about his brother and their family, something Danyia has been waiting for.
She said she wants advocating and helping others to just be part of their family.
"It's just who we are," she said. "It's just what we do, you know."
EVERYONE HAS A VOICE
ADVERTISEMENT
Partners in Policymaking is a nine-month training program that educates families and individuals with disabilities to find their voice and advocate for others, Danyia said.
Participants learn how to meet with local, state and federal policymakers to work together and discuss how different policies affect those with disabilities.
Between the program and raising her sons, Danyia said she's learned everyone has a voice and can advocate for others.
Danyia was blown away by how much she experienced during the program. She thought all she needed to be a social worker was schooling, but seeing others advocate for themselves had a huge impact on her.
"It was pretty amazing to see individuals advocate for themselves and fight and not let a policy, not let a politician, say no," she said.
Before starting the program, she thought individuals with disabilities didn't know what they wanted or what they needed. Now, she said, given the right support, everyone can have the same opportunities for growth and change.
BUILDING OPPORTUNITIES
The program completely changed how Danyia plans to advocate for others.
ADVERTISEMENT
Right now she's working on Farm in the Dell, a farm she and others will build around the needs of individuals with disabilities.
The group hasn't found a property yet for the farm, but Danyia said they are looking for land within a five- to 10-mile radius of Fargo-Moorhead.
The vision statement is "transforming disabilities into abilities by providing purposeful work and caring relationships in a loving, Christ-centered home," Danyia said.
She said it will be different from a group home in that they will figure out who the kids really are and what they want and need so the farm is built just for them. She hopes to get members in the Fargo-Moorhead community involved with the project soon.
Eventually Danyia said she hopes the farm, which is for children with disabilities to live on after school, will put on events like produce days and harvest days to get the community more involved.
"This is bigger than just these kids," she said. "We want this to become like a lifestyle for the community."
