Voices and Reflections
Stories, Ideas, and Perspectives
This section brings together writing from Inclusion Seekers and our partners on community life, disability, social isolation, and the relationships that shape stronger communities.
Alongside stories from local projects and learning experiences, we publish essays, reflections, and commentary from contributors and partner publications in the U.S. and internationally.
The goal is simple: to share practical ideas, real experiences, and broader conversations about connection, participation, and everyday community life
Find the stories that matter most to you. Search our blog.
Tim Vogt has spent his whole career providing support for people with disability labels. He thrived as the Executive Director of a legacy organization called Starfire in Cincinnati. Their work was highly regarded, but Tim began to wonder if it was actually delivering a full life to all the people being supported. His answer was deeply distressing, so he decided to transform the organization to do whatever would be needed to give people full lives in the community. This book is the story of that remarkable transition – the struggles, the complexity, and the emerging results. It is a leading-edge example of what can be done to reform and refresh hundreds of organizations so all of us can be full citizens together.
The Four Commitments | Part 4: Third Commitment – Find the Free Connections that Community Offers
If you gave me a million dollars, and I had to make a bet on whether the family of a person with a disability, or the person’s service workers,
Sharing The How | with Starfire Family Mentors
They thought community was geography. Then they extended one invitation, and everything changed.
The Four Commitments | Part 3: Create Something that Belongs to You & Your Neighborhood
As more and more families did projects, we got stronger around our “Four Commitments.” We all tried them on, almost like we would a new jacket.
The Four Commitments | Part 2: First Commitment – Discovering Your Community’s Gifts
Within two years of “saying yes” to doing a Family Project with Starfire, Carol had
Sharing The Why | with Starfire Family Mentors
They were lonely and buried in appointment cards. Then someone asked what their family loved to do and everything changed.
The Four Commitments | Part 1: A Structure for Innovation
When I stepped away in 2017 as Starfire’s Executive Director, I stepped into a request from the Board to focus on “Scale.”
Who holds your story?
Being known is critical to our well-being, says author and one of the best diversity thinkers, David Pitonyak.
Dream Big
Discovery is one of the best things about this job. When Starfire received Ohio Family Network funding from the Ohio Department of Developmental Disabilities two years ago
Q. What happens when you build community? Everything.
When we talk about the work of Starfire, we use the phrase “building community.” A lot. Half of Starfire’s staff have the actual job title of Community Builder.
