Note to Monthly Meetings Regarding Helping Those Attending YM

Statement from Continuing Committee:

“This year at yearly meeting we are asking friends from each meeting to assist those from their meeting who have special needs related to differing abilities. It has been noted that the monthly meetings seek an appropriate role in assisting attenders at annual gathering with their differing abilities needs. This may include consulting with the Advocate about specific needs and how they are being addressed and identifying attenders from the local Meeting to provide assistance at the annual gathering. It has been noted that individuals from the person’s own Meeting are often better able to provide unobtrusive support.

There may be times when a Monthly Meeting will need assistance from the wide group. Sometimes those with special needs do not inform their monthly meetings of plans to attend the annual gathering. Prior to yearly meeting the registrars will send information to meetings about who is coming to IMYM from their meeting so that the meeting can figure out who might assist whom and what assistance may be needed from the IMYM via the advocate for Persons with Differing Abilities (Susan Wiley).”

In the words of the 2007 Registrar:

“Some Friends who come to the IMYM Gathering fail to mention that they have what these days are called “differing abilities” and will need some extra help once they arrive, perhaps in getting around, perhaps in hearing and such. Continuing Committee and the registrars are asking that home meetings help out in identifying these friends who may run into difficulties neither they nor we anticipate. We also hope that friends from monthly meetings will take special notice at IMYM to provide assistance to these people when they recognize it is needed, perhaps even to assign a helper ahead of time. To cope with this request, the registrars intend to send to each meeting a list of attendees from their meeting so that they can identify for us those friends who have particular needs. Susan Wiley, as the Advocate for persons with differing Abilities is ultimately the one to contact.”
Financial Assistance

Lack of funds should not prevent any member or active attender from attending the IMYM June gathering. Your attendance and participation in its life are what give the Yearly Meeting its strength of being. Therefore the Yearly Meeting maintains a scholarship fund that is funded by individual donations, the annual registration fee, and, as needed, the Yearly Meeting’s general fund. If your financial situation discourages you from attending the gathering, we strongly encourage you to reconsider on the basis of the following information.

The first place to go for scholarship help is the Monthly Meeting. Individuals and families who need financial assistance to attend the annual gathering should inform the designated person or committee in their home Meeting of the amount needed as soon as possible after registration information becomes available. Since Monthly Meetings differ as to how to go about applying, it is incumbent upon each meeting to publicize their own procedure for obtaining scholarship assistance, to be clear about what person or committee receives the applications. If the Monthly Meeting is able to offer scholarship aid for partial or full payment of registration, housing, and meals, it so notifies the applicant and provides the individual or family with a check in the amount the Meeting can provide. If the Meeting cannot fund the amount requested, they also provide the applicant with a letter asking that any remaining amount be made up from the IMYM Scholarship Fund.

As in other Yearly Meeting matters, each Monthly Meeting bears responsibility for informing Worship Groups and Preparative Meetings under its care about scholarship availability and for handling their applications.

Every effort will be made to keep scholarship information confidential.