The Arc Pikes Peak Region

🎬 Reminder: Include U.S.A. Free Movie Night is Next Week! 🍿

There’s still time to reserve your seat for an evening of connection, community, and fun!

Join The Arc Pikes Peak Region’s adult self-advocates of Include U.S.A. for a FREE Movie Night featuring Twisters on:

📅 Friday, June 12, 2026
🕔 5:00 PM – 8:00 PM
📍 10 N. Meade Ave., Colorado Springs, CO 80909

Enjoy a free movie, popcorn, candy, and drinks while spending time with friends and fellow self-advocates.

This event is free for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, but seating is limited, so reserve your spot today!

RSVP to Pete, Include U.S.A. Advisor
📞 719-434-5210
📧 [email protected]

We look forward to seeing you there!

We’re celebrating the passage of SB 125, a bipartisan bill that strengthens protections for students with disabilities and helps ensure they have equal access to education and the accommodations they need to succeed.

This is an important step forward for disability rights and educational equity in Colorado.

Read more about the bill and the advocates who helped make it happen in the article below. https://www.cpr.org/2026/05/29/disability-advocates-governor-student-accommodation-bill/?fbclid=IwY2xjawSL_OxleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZBAyMjIwMzkxNzg4MjAwODkyAAEeY5YzX2T49wLzr7P_amIOu4kvwJJaJcC6szddhe3vV6-7N_BDFnMtc1iNRKg_aem_DDSlojKiPAszcWPR9Fjlcg

Governor signs bill to protect students with disabilities despite reservations about funding The cost of the bill would be funded by gifts and donations, and Polis has concerns about tying civil rights to money that may not come.

Don't miss HCPF's Medicaid Work Requirements on Tuesday, June 2nd from 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on zoom. This session will explain what work requirements are; share what is known today; describe what this may mean for members, counties, providers, and communities; share what comes next; and how our partners can stay involved. HCPF will also collect questions from attendees. These questions will help inform future communication and engagements.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DfljiHW0SIOwbd5HBuxpeQ #/registration

Mark your calendars! Join us for our Medicaid Work Requirements Webinar on June 2 from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. MT.

We’ll share the latest updates and what they could mean for people in Colorado.

Register: hcpf.colorado.gov/events/medicaid-work-requirements-webinar

UPDATE: Due to weather, Guys' Night Out will take place at AMF Bowling (999 N Cir Dr). All registered participants have been contacted. See you tonight!

Don't miss out on your chance for FREE mini golf and friendship! Signups are closing soon. Join Guys' Night Out THIS Thursday from 5-7 pm at Gold Mine Mini Golf. This event is open to all men 18 and older with varying abilities. Sign up today by calling 719-434-4477 or visiting this link: https://thearcppr.org/events/guys-night-out-mini-golf/

Beck is a 23-year-old young man with an exciting life ahead of him! The transition into adulthood can be intimidating but it also is a time of excitement and joy. This THINK+change documentary will inspire and move you through Beck and his family’s story of creating a life of endless possibilities and finding success through
joy!

Fun Fact, Michele Williar is a DD Council member and committee co-chair.

📽 You can find this 18 minute documentary at
https://thinkchange.training/life-beyond-high-school/

Thank you THINK+change for creating this powerful documentary!

Image description: Below are images of a young man with short blonde hair looking over at another image of himself communicating with an older man using sign language. Behind him is an image of him as a child. Next to them are images of a woman with shoulder length brown hair, a man with short grey hair and a beard, a woman with long brown wavy hair and glasses, and a man with short black hair.

Don't miss out on your chance for FREE mini golf and friendship! Signups are closing soon. Join Guys' Night Out THIS Thursday from 5-7 pm at Gold Mine Mini Golf. This event is open to all men 18 and older with varying abilities. Sign up today by calling 719-434-4477 or visiting this link: https://thearcppr.org/events/guys-night-out-mini-golf/

📣 The Arc Pikes Peak Region is calling on our community to take action!

Students with disabilities deserve strong protections and equal access to education — especially as federal support continues to decline.

Colorado has the opportunity to lead by signing SB26-125 into law. Join us in urging Governor Polis to stand with students with disabilities and their families across our state.

Use the Action Alert below to make your voice heard 👇
https://secure.everyaction.com/Q_TvmcYYKUaZ-nfpxJoZoQ2?fbclid=IwY2xjawR7D7VleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFjcG14UkNPZ2tkOTNLVlBzc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHrizvooYpESRH9rSnLnMJamzozXuwpAqw7ayzRnc6OG_kiQQtmbMPt9Rkm6c_aem_kpJ2KolIXxmMJ3r_RshL3Q

Content warning: This post discusses su***de and mental health.

Did you know that roughly 40% of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) have mental health needs? Unfortunately, this serious issue is often overlooked and misunderstood. This Mental Health Awareness Month, we want to highlight this issue and do everything we can to better understand and be ready for when mental health crises arise. Read The Arc of the United States fact sheet about signs to look for and ways you can help. https://bit.ly/4dgcFuE

Join The Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) for a webinar on upcoming federal Medicaid work requirements (community engagement) and what they could mean for Health First Colorado members, providers, counties, and community partners.

📅 Tuesday, June 2, 2026
⏰ 2:30–3:30 p.m.
📍 Virtual via Zoom

Register in advance or at the start of the webinar: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DfljiHW0SIOwbd5HBuxpeQ #/registration

Learn what’s changing, what’s known so far, next steps, and how to stay involved. Live Spanish and ASL interpretation will be available, and a recording will be posted afterward.

When a slur becomes casual, exclusion can also slowly become casual.

HBO Max's Euphoria has used the R-word in 4 out of 6 episodes so far. In an article with Teen Vogue, The Arc of the United States CEO, Katy Neas, explains why this is so harmful, and how a show this influential doesn't get to claim ignorance. Read her new op-ed here: https://www.teenvogue.com/story/euphoria-season-3-r-slur-normalized-op-ed?fbclid=IwY2xjawR4MdRleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFBUVFnS0J6eG51T1l1NUNMc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHr4tMQOkQrdTrGMmOfE1mZMu1Qbzr_PAeVDh5bcC1tIcO_bGQjgdXQl5XPwT_aem_k0xH4qMr08TK52eJBGfz2Q

HBO Max HBO's Euphoria has used the R-word in 4 out of 5 episodes this season. Not as a plot point. Not as a lesson. Just casually, like it doesn't matter. It does matter. People with disabilities have spent their lives carrying the weight of that word. The bullying, the exclusion, and the message that they don't belong. A show this influential doesn't get to claim ignorance. Our CEO Katy Neas explains why. Read her new op-ed in Teen Vogue (link in comments).