Ronald Kimball, the executive
director of the Arc of Macomb County, says there’s “a long ways to go” before
people with disabilities reach an equal place in society but they have come a
long way during his 38-year career.
An open house celebrating Kimball’s
retirement is planned from 1:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 19 at the Arc’s
office in Clinton Township.
Kimball lives in Waterford with his
wife, Louise, and they have a son, Jay, 38, also of Waterford. His retirement is
effective Feb. 28.
“I truly loved working with people
with disabilities,” said Kimball, who became the Arc executive director in 1976.
“Helping them always has been the best part of my job.”
Kimball came to the Arc from
Goodwill Industries. During his tenure, the Arc has grown from about 40
employees to more than 170. Lisa P. Lepine, the current Arc deputy director,
will succeed Kimball.
“Ron has been a phenomenal mentor,
a wonderful teacher,” she said. “I have appreciated the years that I have
learned from him, and I look forward to his support for many more.”
Kimball said he was “probably going
to become a professional volunteer.”
As for people with disabilities, he
said: “We still have a long ways to go, but I actually have seen people with
disabilities come a long ways to become more assimilated in society.”
Kimball, 67, said it was critical
that people with disabilities gain greater access to jobs. “However, with the
way jobs have been in Michigan, it’s hard. We have had some success in getting
people jobs in the community with help from job coaches. After the individual
no longer needs a job coach, we follow up with the employer to see if there are
any difficulties. We will do what we can do to salvage a person’s job.”
Kimball said leaders in
southeastern Michigan must “do a much better job in finding transportation.”
He also said more independent
living arrangements are needed for those with disabilities. “They should have
their own places, condos, apartments and housemates and staff as needed.”
He recalled a case where a Monroe
woman worked with mental health officials and now her son lives in a home she
bought for him and a roommate.
“Now, Michael is doing great. It’s
amazing.”
Since the early 1970s, the Macomb-Oakland
Regional Center and others such as Kimball have worked to close all 12 state
institutions where people with disabilities or mental illness were housed and
moved into apartments, homes, or condos with caregivers, saving taxpayers
hundreds of millions of dollars.
However, many states, such as New
Jersey, still have state-operated institutions where it costs more than
$300,000 a year per person to care for one individual with a disability.
Jerry
Wolffe is the writer-in-residence/advocate-at-large at the Macomb-Oakland
Regional Center. He can be reached at (586) 263-8950.
