Transition to Adulthood Council (TAC)
Created in 2023, the Transition to Adulthood Council (TAC) is a youth advisory group made up of individuals with disabilities aged 18–26. The TAC provides leadership, mentorship, and advocacy opportunities for young adults with disabilities.
The main goals of the group are to help prepare young adults to transition to adult care, provide guidance for program development and service improvement, and to improve relationships between patients and health care professionals. This work focuses on advocacy and educating health care professionals through lived experience.
TAC members serve a term of two years. Using a "leader-learner" model, the newest TAC members are mentored by senior members who are serving in their second year. This model offers a unique opportunity for members to learn broad leadership and mentorship skills.
TAC Mission statement
We are the transition to adulthood council.
We believe in:
- Preparing disabled people for success and independence.
- Preparing young adults to transition to adult care and be in charge of their bodies and lives.
- Supporting one another and honoring diversity within the disability community.
The issues we spend the most time thinking about are:
- Advocacy: in general and in healthcare
- Educating healthcare professionals
- Intersectionality of different identities that offer multiple perspectives
We care about these issues because:
- They are important!
- We like to problem solve.
- We’ve experienced the problems firsthand.
Together, we will address these issues by:
- Creating trainings on accessibility, for multiple audiences.
- Creating materials and infographics to disseminate as widely as possible.
- Bringing awareness to disability to folks at all levels, to create a domino effect of understanding and inclusion.
We are especially good at this work because:
- We have lived experience and are mindful of ourselves and others.
Our hope for the future is:
- To make it easier for healthcare professionals to understand us!
- To be able to live the lives we want!
The power of stories
The TAC believes that lived experience is expertise. Therefore, storytelling is at the core of all TAC activities. The TAC centers and amplifies the voices of young adults with disabilities, whether members are presenting at conferences, teaching in a classroom, or advocating at the state capitol.
Below is a poem written by a TAC member during a workshop with the Northwest Narrative Medicine Collaborative:
The Shadow of Stigma
Stigma follows me like a heavy shadow that whispers assumptions into the ears of others.
It whispered to the urgent care nurse as I was being lifted into the ambulance, "Maybe she's faking this."
But I wasn't.
It whispered to the ER nurse as I struggled to maintain consciousness, "Maybe she just wants attention."
But I didn't.
It whispered to my friend who compared me to his ex, "Maybe she would hurt me if I gave her the chance."
But I refuse to.
I am not whispers.
I am flesh and soul.
Stigma may follow me, but I forge my own path.
-Maria Carolina Meyner, TAC Member 2025-2027
Current members
Ash Barton
Nevaeh Dewitt
Amber Ellis
Dan Jarvis-Holland
Audrey Kantor
Maria Carolina Meyner
Maryn Moreau
Yazmin Webb
Forrest Williams
Become a TAC member
Requirements
- Members must be between the ages of 18 – 26.
- Members have a disability.
- Members must live within 75 miles of the Portland Metro Area in Oregon.
- Members must be willing to attend approximately 6 meetings throughout the year. These meetings will include a mix of in-person and virtual.
The application will remain open until May 15, 2026. We will review applications on a rolling basis.
Contact us
If you would like to learn more about TAC, contact us at TAC@ohsu.edu