History of Mississippi AHEAD

Sometime in 1998-- Supposedly, a meeting takes place at Mississippi State to discuss a state affiliate.

October 13, 2002-- Another meeting at Mississippi State, this time attended by those who remember being there: USM (Suzy Hebert), Ole Miss (Stacey Reycraft, Ardessa Minor, and Betty Puckett), Miss State (Julie Berry, Janis Thompson, and Dr. Debbie Baker), Meridian Community College (Kim McNeil), East Miss Community College (Brenda Wilson and Sheila Floria), Itawamba Community College (Audrey Kinard and Gloria McKinney) and Hinds Community College (Jamie Dickson and Carol Kelly). Committees are formed, plans are made, nothing happens afterward.

Late June 2006-- Stacey Reycraft, from Student Disability Services at the University of Mississippi, is having an unrelated conversation with Jean Ashmore, from the national Association on Higher Education and Disability (AHEAD). Jean makes an off-hand comment about the fact that Mississippi is one of only two states in the Southeastern region that does not have a state affiliate of AHEAD.

Early July 2006-- Several dozen emails are sent out to disability service or ADA offices at the 4-year, 2-year and private colleges and universities throughout the state in an attempt to gain support of a state affiliate.

Late July 2006--Suzy Hebert and Christina Butler from USM, Stacey Reycraft and Katie Johnson from Ole Miss, Vinson Ballard from Jackson State and Marnie Volkenant-Meuer from Mississippi State attend the annual AHEAD conference in San Diego California. A plan is hatched.

September 22, 2006--Stacey Reycraft and Debra West, SBCJC, make contact and discover both are attempting to create a state affiliate group. Debra has received a grant from the Mississippi Council on Developmental Disabilities to help with the creation of a state group - Project ACCESS. A beautiful relationship is born.

September 2006--The Planning Committee is complete and includes: Suzy Hebert and Christina Butler from USM, Stacey Reycraft and Katie Johnson from Ole Miss, Vinson Ballard from Jackson State and Marnie Volkenant-Meuer from Mississippi State, Kim McNeel from Meridian Community College, Jamy Dickson and Jim Boothe from Hinds Community College - Raymond, Debra West, Denise Walley and Michael Heindl from SBCJC, Iris Menge from Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, and Evelyn Washington from Coahoma Community College

September 2006-November 2006--Hundreds of emails are sent and telephone calls made in preparation of the first planning meeting to take place in November.

November 27, 2006--The first meeting of the Planning Committee takes place at Jackson State University. During this meeting, the committee has a conference call with Susan TePaske, director of Student Disability Services at the University of Memphis. Ms. TePaske helped in the creation of Tennessee AHEAD and answers many questions for us. Also, an organization name is decided, by-laws agreed upon; mission, accessibility and inclusion statements finalized; officers elected; committees formed; and future plans made.

January 2007--The Planning Committee submits its affiliate application to the national association and receives its Employer Identification Number (EIN).

January 2007-March 2007-- Hundreds more emails are sent and telephone calls made to prepare for the next stage of planning. The rest of the Executive Council is chosen.

March 20, 2007--Stacey Reycraft receives word from Jean Ashmore that Mississippi AHEAD's application to become an AHEAD state affiliate was approved by a unanimous vote of the AHEAD board.

March 27, 2007--The second meeting of the Planning Committee meets at SBCJC in Jackson. The completed Mississippi AHEAD Executive Council is in attendance. The Executive Board members are: Stacey Reycraft, the University of Mississippi, President; Vinson Ballard, Jackson State, Secretary; Kim McNeel, Meridian Community College, Treasurer; Jamy Dickson, Hinds Community College, Communications Committee Chair; Iris Menge, Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College, Membership Committee Chair; Michael Heindl, SBCJC, Project ACCESS rep; Dorothy Young, Project START (Dept. of Rehab), Outside Agency rep.; Kendrick Kennedy, USM, student rep; Patrick Cooper, Millsaps, Private School rep; Suzy Hebert, USM, 4-year university rep; and Evelyn Washington, Coahoma Community College, 2-year college rep.

Also in attendance are Marnie Volkenant-Meurer from Mississippi State, Jim Boothe from Hinds Community College, Debra West and Denise Walley from SBCJC and Christina Butler from USM.

Discussed during this meeting are future goals, promotional materials, and general governing issues.

June 19, 2007--The third meeting takes place in Jackson. Discussed are issues of membership benefits, strategic planning, and our first conference.

August 2, 2007--During this meeting, Charles Hughes from the ACCESS for All program at USM meets with us to discuss his project and ways in which we can collaborate.

In addition to the discussion with Charles, the planning for our first conference begins to take place and a conference committee is put together.

Also, those who attended the annual AHEAD conference in Charlotte, NC discuss their experiences. In particular Stacey Reycraft and Kim McNeel share with the group what they learned during the affiliate meetings at the conference. Such things as declaring non-profit status, getting insurance for the organization, and tips for ensuring fiscal success are discussed with the rest of the Executive Council members.

Stacey and Kim also tell the group that during the affiliate meeting in Charlotte, a special shout out was given by the national AHEAD organization to Mississippi AHEAD for being the only affiliate to have an Inclusion Statement included in its by-laws. All other affiliate groups were encouraged to include a similar statement in their by-laws and Mississippi AHEAD's inclusion statement was handed out to them as an excellent example.

September 2007-- Finally all of our hard work pays off and membership materials go out to over 500 people and organizations throughout the state of Mississippi. Shortly afterward, information about our first conference is mailed out as well.

October 18, 2007-- Members of the Executive Council meet at Eagle Ridge Conference Center in Raymond, MS to make final arrangements for Mississippi AHEAD's first conference.

October 19, 2007-- Mississippi AHEAD's 1st Annual conference, Sharing Our Strengths, takes place in Raymond MS. This is considered to be the day that Mississippi AHEAD was truly born.

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