MEET THE STAFF

• Maris Burton

Maris Burton joined the staff in March, 1999. She had been the Executive Director of the Disability Action Center for 3 years prior to accepting the position as Council Director, also serving as the Center Director representative on the Council during her 3 yrs as Center Director, and served as the Secretary on the Executive Committee during her term on the Council.

Maris has been active with several boards in the Columbia area. She is on the Executive Committee of the SC Progressive Network, a coalition of individuals and agencies working to promote women’s rights, worker’s rights, environmental rights, human rights and of course, disability rights. She volunteers on the Executive Committee on the Board of The Brain Injury Alliance of SC, The Consumer Advocacy Council, (COCA) and is an active member of Food Not Bombs, a group that shares food with hungry people in Finlay park every Sunday from 1-2 pm at the fountain.

In her free time Maris takes part in the local music scene, visits museums, loves to read, takes long walks in the woods, and enjoys photographing nature and people. She lives with her sister in Columbia.

Maris has a brother and three sisters, one of whom is a breast cancer survivor and a recipient of mental health services.

• Natalie Derrick

Natalie Derrick is truly excited about her new position as the Executive Assistant at the South Carolina Independent Living Council.

Natalie lives in Chapin, South Carolina with her husband and their 6 children. The past 5 years she has been a stay at home mother. As most of you know, raising 6 children would certainly require you to be at home. Before deciding that home was where she needed to be, Natalie worked for Mid-Carolina Electric Cooperative for 12 years. She worked in the Customer Service and Marketing Department. Natalie’s years there made her who she is today. Natalie enjoys working with the public, she is a team player, and her marketing and customer service skills and knowledge will help Natalie with her position.

As Natalie said, she is truly excited about working with this organization. Natalie wants to make a difference helping people with disabilities. She has first hand experience with someone with a disability. Natalie certainly understands how hard it can be to overcome all the bumps in the road. One of her daughters was diagnosed with Frontal Lobe Epilepsy at the age of 4. Natalie and her family have been dealing with so many issues for the past 7 years. Her daughter has intractable seizures, has gone through many battles of finding the right medicine, been on a Ketogenic Diet, and had to have a surgical procedure in February 2004 to insert a Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS). Mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially it was draining for Natalie to watch her child go through this. Not to mention how hard itwas for her daughter at school. Natalie has to fight for her daughter’s rights and she wants and needs to know her daughter is being treated fairly and receives all the help she is qualified for. Natalie knew the VNS was going to work, she just did not know how long it would take. As of January of 2006, her daughter has been seizure free.

Natalie says she remembers reading the Sunday paper and seeing the ad for this position. She could not believe her eyes. Natalie immediately read about SCILC on the web site and knew this was something she wanted to do. Natalie is ready to learn all she can and is ready to educate herself and others about the rights of parents, consumers, family members or caregivers.

Natalie really does understand the difficulties people go through with disabilities and she looks forward to helping, communicating, recommending, finding the right resources, and sharing the knowledge.