Hear My Story: Emily Kendall

Ordinary people creating extraordinary change is the story of upstanders Emily and Mark Kendall. The pair was honored with the Frank Gerson Award for Creativity at the 2024 Upstander Awards, and this conversation with Emily about the work she and her husband do on behalf of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) is important and moving.

“I was sitting with a mom who is a financial planner with one of the top, most reputable firms in the country, and she has a son that has Down syndrome and autism. She plans for a living and when I asked her, ‘What is your plan (for your son’s life after you’re gone)’ she said, ‘My plan is I can’t die.’” — Upstander Award winner Emily Kendall on why she co-founded EmpowerMe Living

The mission of EmpowerMe Living is to transform housing options for adults with IDD. Emily’s personal journey as the parent of a child with Down syndrome is what sparked this passion project. She’ll share how her son Luke’s diagnosis led her family to leverage their backgrounds in real estate and construction to create EmpowerMe Living. But there’s an even deeper connection that fuels Emily’s drive. She’ll open up about her grandfather’s experience as a WWII prisoner of war, and share how his story has shaped her commitment to uplifting the humanity in all people.

This episode is part of the Cynthia & Harold Guttman Family Center for Storytelling. Subscribe so you don’t miss an episode https://www.youtube.com/@holocaustandhumanity  

Our gratitude to Margaret & Michael Valentine for their ongoing support of this series.  

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Episode Resources

EmpowerMe Living https://www.empowermeliving.com/

Freestore Foodbank and the legacy of Frank Gerson

https://freestorefoodbank.org/meet-our-compassionate-founder/

Nominate an upstander, learn about your own character strengths and find out about all our upstander programming

https://www.holocaustandhumanity.org/upstander/

The National Down Syndrome Organization

https://ndss.org/about

Learn more about accessory dwelling units in the city of Cincinnati

https://www.cincinnati-oh.gov/planning/adus

Organizations EmpowerMe is partnering with:

The First Place Global Leadership Institute

https://firstplaceglobal.org/

The Autism Wellbeing Alliance

https://proofpositive.org/

Research from the VIA Institute on Character about character strengths in those with IDD

https://www.viacharacter.org/research/findings/character-strengths-and-disability

https://www.viacharacter.org/resources/books/character-strengths-and-abilities-within-disabilities

https://www.viacharacter.org/pdf/Disability%20-%20seminal%20practice%20%20statement%20paper%20-%20Niemiec%20Shogren%20%20Wehmeyer%20(2017).pdf

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