ABOUT SACK

Lisa Barcus grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska. She has lived in Lawrence, Kansas for many years now, and has been employed at McDonald’s for twelve years. Lisa sits on the board of directors for the Arc of Douglas County. She is past President and current Vice President for the Self Advocates of Lawrence, (SAL). Lisa has been a successful Special Olympics weightlifter (she totaled 415 lbs. for deadlift, squat, and bench). She has completed the Kansas Leadership Center’s “My Leadership Edge'' program. Lisa is passionate about changing federal regulations that keep people with disabilities from getting married because they would lose valuable and necessary benefits.

My name is Yasmine Derritt and I was born in Kansas and grew up in Shawnee. My first job was at Price Chopper, sacking groceries. I was in Girls Night Out (GNO) for girls with special needs. I did the Youth Leadership Forum (YLF) for people with disabilities. I was in Job Olympics and got 2nd place in stuffing envelopes. I want to stand up for people with disabilities that are getting sex trafficked. I recently got a job at SACK. I work here now. I love getting to meet new people. At my dad’s church I work with elementary school kids. I love helping people find their voice; that can’t stand up for themselves or advocate for themselves. I also want to travel the world to give motivational speeches to help other people navigate through their lives too. I did “Cook with Friends” which is for people with disabilities. I will do “Miss Amazing” soon. I was in the fashion show for people with disabilities. Next summer I am planning on helping YLF for people with disabilities. I don’t think people are aware of people with disabilities getting their rights taken away and getting sex trafficked, because it’s easier to take advantage of someone with challenges. I have a hard time with that due to a personal experience I put myself in that wasn’t right. Thank goodness that nothing bad happened to me and I was safe that day. I like to be in nature. I live with my mom, 2 cats and one dog. My favorite color is pink, and I love Squishmallows. I love sunflower seeds. I like swimming in pools. I love thrift shopping with friends. I do not like shopping at the mall. I don’t like loud noises or fingernails scratching.

Robyn Herzog hails from Burlingame, Kansas. She has lived in Lawrence since 2006. She sits on the board for the Disability Rights Center of Kansas. Robyn is also a representative to the Kansas Commission on Disability Concerns. In addition, she sits on the Arc of Douglas County’s board of directors. Robyn has worked for a local child care provider for three years as a lead teacher. Robyn is passionate about changing federal law regarding subminimum wages for people with disabilities. She believes people should be paid equally for their time and that being paid in a “piece-rate” manner is unfair. Robyn has spoken to a lot of legislators about various bills she has supported, and also traveled to Washington, D.C. for a leadership conference. She has also completed “My Leadership Edge” training at the Kansas Leadership Center in Wichita.

I am from Olathe, Kansas. While I was in high school, I took a class called Interpersonal Skills (IPS). We would go out in the community and do fun things such as bowling, eat out, dances and Halloween parties. I graduated from Olathe Northwest High School in spring of 2019, then joined the Transition to Post Secondary Education (TPE) program at the University of Kansas in fall of 2019. TPE is a program where adults with intellectual disabilities experience the college life such as school, work and social. I graduated from the TPE program in spring of 2021. The TPE staff let me come back for an extra year because of COVID. When I was a senior in college, I was a peer mentor for the program. When I was a freshman in college one of my helpers and I worked with the Americans with Disabilities Act also known as the ADA. The ADA helped me get a key fob, so I could open doors around campus independently without any help. I still use it today. In college I went to a lot of social events with friends. My favorite event is Paws 4 Pups. My passion is to help people with any kind of disability and to advocate for them, so everyone with a disability can be treated like everyone else. I also work at AMC theaters -- they hire people with disabilities. The AMC I work at is in Olathe, Kansas. I also work at an art place that works with people with disabilities that do art. The place is in Overland Park, Kansas. We make art and sell it off a website. Lastly, I also volunteer at the Spencer Museum of Art on the KU campus in Lawrence, Kansas. I started at SACK in June of 2023.

Hi, my name is Shane Lewis. Here are some things I think you should know about me. I’m a member of the Woolly Farms Foundation. It’s a foundation for people with disabilities to help them find jobs in the community and grow as a young adult and be part of their own community. The mission statement: “Providing adults with diverse needs and abilities with the opportunity to reach their fullest potential by providing a supervised environment in which to strengthen independence, build relationships and grow.” Also, I participated in the Kansas Disability Caucus. I received an award for being a strong advocate for young adults and adults with disabilities. One of the reasons why I received that award was because I started a club in my high school called Chieftain Friends. It was a club for students with disabilities and regular students to have fun and get to know each other and help with homework. This club helped bridge the gap between regular students and students with disabilities. Do you know that even if you have a disability, you are still human, and you deserve friends too? Also, I believe in teaching people that having a disability is not weird, it’s wonderful. I am also a strong advocate for accessibility. The bank that I used to do my banking with did not have an accessible door entrance. I went to the bank and gave them a proposal on why they needed an accessible entrance for not just me, but also other people. They put in an accessible entrance. I graduated from the University of Central Missouri Thrive Program in May 2023. I started with SACK soon after that. I’m ready to continue to make changes in the disability community that will improve access for all people.

Phillip McGruder joined SACK in June of 2020. He is a Kansas City, KS native. Phillip graduated from Washington High School in 2010 and the University of Kansas in 2017. During Phillip’s time at the University of Kansas, he created the campus group “Believe Autism Matters” (BAM). BAM was created to bringing awareness and education about autism. He has also been a member of the Kansas Disability Caucus since January of 2021. Before Phillip arrived at SACK, he spent the last 2 years working for the Kansas City Chiefs. He currently works for them during the NFL season as an Event Services team member. Because of his personal experience with being on the spectrum, his focus is to support families with individuals on the autism spectrum and to work with community partners to build understanding and find ways to better support these individuals and families in the community.

Colin Olenick is SACK’s Legislative Liaison. He tracks the movement of legislation effecting people with intellectual and developmental disabilities in Kansas. He also provides testimony to the Kansas Legislature regarding the impact of proposed bills on Kansans with disabilities. Colin has been employed with SACK since 2018. Colin was Vice President for the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas (SACK) from 2007-2008. He was an Employment First presenter and founder of the Kansas Employment First Committee. He also participated in Kansas' Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental and related Disabilities (LEND) training program, which is a University of Kansas post-graduate program in which he shared his experience of having cerebral palsy, autism, and ADHD. Colin is an alumnus of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC); a graduate of the “My Leadership Edge” program. He was additionally a member of Kansas ADAPT from 2003-2007. Colin is also involved in the Transition work group, funded through the Administration on Community Living by way of a grant to University of Kansas. Previously, Colin was employed with Cinemark in Merriam, KS for 16 years. Colin currently lives in Olathe, KS with his cat, Elizabeth. Colin collects fire station patches from across the country and hopes to display them all someday.

One of my MANY passions include helping kids with autism as a para, which I did for multiple teaching internships while I did a post-high school 18-21 age special education program. Another one is music, conducting an orchestra (which I did for another one of my teaching internships at my 18-21 program), playing my cello, and even conducting along with music with my orchestra baton. I have autism and Tourette’s Syndrome, and I want other kids to know, special needs or not, that I’ve been through very similar situations, and/or that I can actually sympathize or empathize what other kids have to go through. Basically, I want to be an example. I feel we need more examples when it comes to teaching, relating to people, and that we need to have WAY better understanding with each other, and maybe some humor in there as well, because laughter truly is the best medicine and we need it. For example, actor Dan Aykroyd is on the autism spectrum and has a touch of Tourette’s. He had an obsession with both law enforcement and ghosts. So he combined the two together, wrote a story, then a script for a movie. Lo and behold, in 1984, a movie named Ghostbusters made its debut. Nothing stopped Aykroyd. Same thing for me: I just want to teach and help others in general. People with special needs, parents of someone with special needs, my friends, other’s friends, and then some.

Kelly Smith is a self-advocate currently employed at the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas. Her position as Plain Language Specialist allows her to both advocate and assist in the development of the use of plain language. Kelly is also the lead self-advocate on the “KS Believe” team and regularly presents on the intersection of violence and disability. Kelly also belongs to the local “Justice Matters” group, an interfaith, non-profit organization. In her free time Kelly enjoys spending quality time with her cat, Max.

Hi, my name is Karen Stone. Here are some things that you should know about me. I am 50-years-old. I live in Lawrence, Kansas. I did a walk for kids with cerebral palsy, and I also have had cerebral palsy all of my life. I also am a mother, and I have a son named Zachary. He’s 25-years-old lives in Wichita, Kansas. I am so excited for this job to help people with all types of disabilities!

Stephanie Sanford is the Advocacy Coordinator and Support Staff for the Self Advocate Coalition of Kansas (SACK). Stephanie began working for SACK in 2014 as the Self-Advocacy Coordinator and support staff for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Prior to working at SACK, Stephanie advocated for people with disabilities for more than 12 years while employed at Kansas independent living center agencies. Stephanie was raised by a single parent with a disability and has been a disability rights advocate her entire life.

Jaclyn Anderson, Project Coordinator, has been a member of the SACK team since August 2019. Jaclyn has worked in the disability field in one way or another for most of her life. She has been employed as a direct care provider, a case manager and IL Counselor, a program and waiver manager, and she also provided accommodations to students with disabilities in higher education for twelve years. Jaclyn got her undergraduate degree from KU and her Master’s in Rehabilitation Administration from Drake University. She lives in Lawrence with her teenage daughter and 3 cats.