- Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council
The Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC) announced a joint project with South Shore Community Action Council (SSCAC) through the Congressional Hunger Center’s Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program.
Hayleigh Rockenback, a 29th class Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellow, will work with the MDDC and SSCAC to assess food access needs and anti-hunger initiatives within the disability community, aiming to create strategies that alleviate food insecurity for self-advocates with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families living on the south shore. The Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship is a prestigious, 11-month program through the Congressional Hunger Center, a D.C. based organization dedicated to training leaders through anti-hunger, anti-poverty, and racial justice initiatives.
“We are honored to be selected as a host site for the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellows Program,” said MDDC Executive Director, Dan Shannon. “Working with our Director of Public Policy, Anna Krieger – an Emerson National Hunger Fellow alum – Hayleigh will examine a critical need in the disability community that is often overlooked when addressing poverty.”
“As a community action agency that fights poverty and hunger on the south shore, it is important that we understand the unique challenges faced by low income people - including individuals with developmental disabilities and their families - when it comes to food security and access,” said Lisa Spencer, SSCAC’s CEO. “Hayleigh’s work with the MDDC and our Director of Planning and Development, Nikki Galibois, will be a great contribution to our own community needs assessment.”
Hayleigh is a recent graduate of the University of Notre Dame where she majored in Sociology and minored in both public policy and Italian. During her time at Notre Dame, Hayleigh was a student affiliate at the Klau Center for Civil and Human Rights and a member of the Alpha Kappa Delta Sociology Honors Society. Her interest in sustainability and public policy also led her to write her senior capstone, a policy memo on water conservation in Arizona. Originally from Tucson, Arizona, Hayleigh’s passion for social justice stemmed from her culturally diverse upbringing and lived experience, leading her to a summer of service work in Camden, New Jersey. Her experience working at a nonprofit dedicated to environmental transformation through sustainability in food insecure neighborhoods, as well as her commitment to those suffering from drug and alcohol addiction ultimately became the catalyst for her dedication to breaking the cycle of injustice in the United States. Following the Bill Emerson National Hunger Fellowship, Hayleigh hopes to advocate for those on the margins and create meaningful change throughout the world.
About the Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council – The Massachusetts Developmental Disabilities Council (MDDC) is an independent agency funded by the federal government to work with the state of Massachusetts to better support people with developmental disabilities and their families. MDDC’s mission is to help people with developmental disabilities have opportunities to lead successful lives in their communities; by supporting inclusive education, greater employment opportunities, and the right to make choices about where, with whom, and how they live.
About South Shore Community Action Council - Founded in 1965, SSCAC fights poverty on the South Shore by working together with hundreds of community partners so all people, regardless of income, can live with dignity and realize their fullest potential. SSCAC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that assists over 25,000 low-income people of all ages on the South Shore, Cape Cod, and the Islands each year.
