It can take years to find affordable, accessible housing

If you are younger than 62 and have a disability, the chances of realizing “there’s no place like home” for yourself are about as likely as drawing an inside straight in a casino.

“There is a two- to four-year waiting list for those under 62 who have a disability to find a place to live they can afford and is accessible,” said David Layne, one of 20 housing specialists in Michigan who tries to find those with disabilities and seniors appropriate places to live.

In the 1960s and 1970s when the Department of Housing and Urban Development created subsidized housing known as HUD 202, “seniors didn’t want the younger people with disabilities living in there,” said Layne. Under the federal program, 30 percent of a person’s gross income goes for rent.

“At one time, the homes had 5 percent of the units set aside for non-elderly with a disability and for a short period of time, there were 10 percent of the units for those under 62 and disabled,” he said. “And then it went to zero” because of protests by seniors who, ironically, didn’t want to live with those with disabilities even though many of them were disabled due to age or illness.

To live in subsidized housing rather than in a nursing homes saves taxpayers a fortune, according to the Kaiser Foundation. It found it about $2,300 a month to have a person with a disability living in HUD housing, or other community settings instead of the minimum $6,800 it costs taxpayers to place someone in a nursing home.

After finding resistance from seniors to living in subsidized housing or apartments with those with disabilities, HUD created the HUD 811 housing program for those who are disabled and under 62, Layne said. However, Congress “never funded 811s with the same vigor as they funded the 202s, leaving many hoping for the day when they can call a nice place their home.”

Meanwhile, many in Michigan and the nation who were younger and disabled still are in nursing homes or with their aging parents.

In 2012, Layne said Congress “finally significantly funded 811 housing.”

“Our hope is over the course of the next five years that thousands and thousands of units (will open up to the younger people with disabilities),” Layne said.

In Michigan alone, there are nearly 40,000 people living in nursing homes and 1.7 million nationwide.

During the past three years, Layne said transition programs in Michigan nonprofits such as MORC Inc. through Michigan Home & Community Based Services “have helped more than 4,000 people statewide move out of nursing homes.”

The Michigan State Housing Development Authority, Michigan Department of Community Health and the Michigan Disability Rights Commission, applied for 200 vouchers last year to move the disabled into their own homes but the grant request was denied.

There are 250,000 people in Michigan who are disabled and receive Supplemental Security Income and 45 percent of them live in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties, Layne said.

He predicted HUD soon will be asked by Michigan representatives for 150 vouchers for 811 housing with 75 being matched by MHSDA statewide.

But, he said, “we are just scratching the surface” in providing housing needs for the disabled.

“We will give vouchers first to those in institutions and those at risk of going into a nursing home when we get (the vouchers) them,” Layne said. “We won’t quit until we get them.”

He also said some American House assisted living facilities have decided to take people who are disabled and younger, some of their properties accepting those at age 55, others at age 62.

“American House has more than 200 Mi Choice clients in their properties in Oakland, Macomb, Wayne, Genesee, and Washtenaw counties, Layne said.

“They have been a wonderful partner and very caring for those with limited resources.”

But both the HUD 811 program and initial efforts of American House to provide homes for the younger adults with disabilities is not enough, Layne said. “The goal is to have enough affordable housing units so when care is needed, everyone including those with disabilities get to say, ‘there’s no place like home!’.”

Jerry Wolffe, the Disability Rights Advocate/Writer in Residence at MORC, Inc., can be reached at 586 263-8950.

Program offers disabled and seniors choice to leave nursing homes, live in own homes

FYI: To apply for the MI Choice Medicaid Waiver program, call 866-593-7413

A day after his 59^th wedding anniversary, Jack Masters left a nursing home to return to live with his wife, Sue.

This was after Masters spent some 10 months in a nursing home after having three strokes in 2011.

His transition back to his home on Harsens Island where he and his wife retired was possible due to funding from the Money Follows the Person/Nursing Facility Transition program via the Michigan Department of Community Health MI Choice Medicaid Waiver Program. The program provides home-care services for people who are seniors or disabled and are 18 or older and eligible for Medicaid. He and his wife manage those services via the Self-Determination option.

When asked what advice he would give to people considering leaving a nursing home, Masters, 84, said: “You will feel much better, make faster progress, and accomplish more because you will be where you belong.”

Many residents in this nation aren’t really where they belong.

There are some 16,639 nursing homes in the United States with 1.7 million residents. Many of them are disabled, including the 39,917 in Michigan in such homes, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation.

This program assists those who want to leave nursing homes to return to living in a community setting of their choice. This program helps “gets them started then helps to maintain them in the community,” said Marcia Marklin, the program manager of Home Care at the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, a nonprofit with offices in Auburn Hills and Clinton Township which provides services to seniors and those with disabilities.

When money from the federal or state government through Medicaid follows the person, “it creates housing options for the disabled, younger people and those with low incomes,” she said. “People should be able to choose where they live. This program helps to provide that choice.”

Michigan and 41 other states and the District of Columbia have implemented Money Follows the Person programs. From spring 2008 through December 2011, nearly 20,000 people have left nursing homes and returned home.

MORC alone has transitioned 157 people out of nursing homes into the community since 2005. A dedicated nursing facility team has been created to get some of the 10,051 people in Medicaid nursing home beds in Oakland, Macomb, St. Clair, Livingston, Washtenaw, and Macomb counties in their own homes or apartments with the daily care they need, said Marklin.

“The people we have helped transition are much happier, healthier and live a better quality of life,” she said.

Besides being 18 or older, MI Choice requires recipients to have a monthly income of $2,130 or less; $2,000 or less in assets (excludes one home, one car) and requiring nursing home level of care.

Caregivers are provided to do errands when people are moved out of nursing homes into places of their own as well as help with personal care, dressing, provide adult day care and other daily living tasks.

“We help support some people in the program who are 100 percent disabled and they have caregivers 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” said Marklin. “There’s sometimes a combination of paid workers and family members who are not paid.”

MORC, which started trying to move people into homes or apartments before the federal program began 21 years ago, receives annual funding of $8.7 million from MDCH for the MORC Home Care Inc. division.

Jerry Wolffe is the Disability Rights Advocate/Writer in Residence at MORC Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to people with disabilities in Oakland, Wayne and Macomb counties. He can be reached at 586 263 8950.

Lack of public transportation for disabled is inexcusable

It has always astounded and even angered me that the city and region -- the Motor City -- that put the world on wheels can't take a person who might use a wheelchair around the block on public transportation.
It is inexcusable. Lack of public transportation at reasonable cost stops people with disabilities from getting to jobs, places of entertainment or even to a friend's home for a visit.
Recently, I received an email from the mother of a 19-year-old man who has epilepsy and, therefore, can't drive because of his disability.
She said her son, who lives in Oakland County, needed a way to get to his part-tie job at 5:15 p.m. and she called the Paratransit service in  her area and workers there told her that Paratransit was only "to drive old people to doctor's appointments."
Well, shame on you. When this advocate and others started implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act shortly after President George H.W. Bush signed it into law on July 26, 1990, transportation needs were covered in the civil rights law.
Not only was there provisions for vans to take people with disabilities to work, to a movie theater or to a job, but it included retrofitting public bus systems so that wheelchair users can use the public buses. A lawsuit even had to be filed against the city of Detroit a few years ago because the wheelchair lifts on most of the buses didn't work. When the Department of Justice threatened to withhold federal funding to Detroit, the wheelchair lifts suddenly, as if someone waived a wand, got repaired and properly installed, but it is a continuing battle to keep them functional because of Detroit's financial crisis.
But things aren't rosy for everyone.
Local governments because of a lot of foolish reasons haven't followed the ADA and created a transportation system to allow those with disabilities to get where they want to go when they want to go there.
My heart feels for my young friend who can't afford to hire a cab. It's understandable. I worked with a gentleman once who was blind and he had to pay $40 a day for a cab to take him to a center for independent living in Sterling Heights in Macomb County to his home. Who can afford that?
For my teenage friend, a job is a big deal. It will give him a sense of pride, accomplishment and the chance to make new friends. These are critical variables in forming a healthy self-concept and happy life.
All the civil rights laws that have passed are about inclusion and equality. They are about helping people with disabilities move into the mainstream of society.
The jobless rate among the disabled in America is triple the rate for those who are temporarily able-bodied, according to U.S. Census data. I say TAB because we all are temporarily able-bodied for only so long until illness, an accident or age catch us and we become disabled in a way that a major daily activity such as walking, talking, hearing and caring for oneself is impaired.
I wish the solution to my friend's problem was as easy as picking up the phone and telling the folks at the Oakland County paratransit that Pat needs a ride to work and they would realize this is the humane and right thing to do.
When we, the 60 million people with disabilities in America, are more gainfully employed, our political leaders, Wall Street traders and economists won't have to worry that much about recessions let alone a depression such as the one that crippled America in the 1930s.
Those with disabilities will have billions of dollars to spend at retailers and my buck is just as good as your buck and it's good for me and businesses to spend it.
In addition, those who are disabled and work pay state, local and federal taxes as well as Social Security instead of receiving benefits from the federal or state governments in a complicated maze that starts at the Department of Health and Human Services and then money for programs to help the disabled participate in society winds its way down to states and then counties and then to local programs that assist them.
A better way would simply be for the feds to have the "money follow the person" and then my friend could afford to hire a cab or driver and not hear we don't drive people to work from an entity that was created to do just that.
I and others who are advocates for civil rights aren't going to look the other way, any more. We are learning how to pull the levers of power.
Sometimes, powerful civil rights movements start when a woman like Rosa Parks, a lady of color, sat down on a bus because she was tired and started the Montgomery bus boycott which changed America.
This just might be another case that starts off with a simple desire and turns into something major -- actually leading to transportation services in suburban regions for the disabled.
Hopefully, this case will turn out as it should with my friend packing a lunch and getting picked up at 5 p.m. or so in Clarkston by a paratransit van or local system and driven to his job in Ortonville by 5:15 p.m.

Hundreds to enjoy evening of dining and dancing at Shine prom at Kensington Church

As many as 400 people from Oakland County plan to attend the "Shine" prom starting at 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 3, at Kensington Community Church at 1825 East Square Lake Road in Troy.
Most of the participants, who will be 16 or older, have disabilities but dozens of volunteers have come forward from surrounding communities to help them have a good evening and a grand entrance.
At least 50 elementary school students will form an honor line with pompoms and flags and cheer as the guests are brought to the dance and enter the church for an evening of joy.
Each will be matched up with a buddy, said Julie Frei, who helped plan the event.
A shop that went out of business donated 80 prom dresses for the women to wear at the dance which is scheduled to end at 9 p.m. but is likely to go later as music is played by deejays Mike Murdy and Ricky Bledsoe.
Gentlemen will be dressed in their finest but can wear comfortable, casual clothes if they chose.
Before dancing begins, the guests will dine on gluten-free food with an option of a vegan plate. Main courses will include vegan pizza, grilled chicken, potatoes, mixed vegetables and desserts, said Frei.
"The goal is to have fun and develop a more positive attitude toward life," she added.
"The whole point of the evening is to show that people embrace the disability community," Frei said.
She said a campus director at Kensington church said, "We feel God is moving us with purpose in the direction of helping the disabled become a greater part of the mainstream of society."
-30-

Those with mental disabilities at greater risk if Medicaid not expanded

Expanding Medicaid to cover an estimated 500,000 Michigan residents without medical coverage can provide mental health care for thousands who without treatment could end up homeless, receiving expensive emergency rooms care or in prison, mental health experts say.

“It is sensible public policy to tap federal funds already set aside to expand preventive and life-saving health care under Medicaid,” said Mike Vizena, executive director, Michigan Association of Community Mental Health Boards.

Expansion represents the best single opportunity to improve access to behavioral health-care services for Michigan’s citizens most in need, he added.

Paul Tarr, a legislative liaison for the Department of Community Health, agreed.

“It is my belief Medicaid reform will definitely help people with mental and physical disabilities,” said Tarr.

Cuts to general fund support for mental health and substance use disorder services during the past decade “have resulted in a lack of access, reduction of services and creation of waiting lists for persons without Medicaid,” Vizena said.

As a result, he said persons with emerging mental health and substance use disorders are not seen for care and end up in emergency room and hospitals “where their cost of care is 20 times greater” than if they had Medicaid coverage.

“Far too often these citizens wind up in criminal justice proceedings, or, in some cases, become homeless places where they do not belong and where they will not receive the care they need,” he said.

Last month, a House subcommittee removed Gov. Snyder’s proposed Medicaid expansion from its budget and in mid-April a Senate subcommittee did the same. The bills are SB198 and HB4213. Lawmakers in the state House and Senate are facing a June 1 self-imposed deadline to finish the state budget.

Efforts are under way by Michigan hospitals, mental health care providers, physicians, the Detroit Regional Chamber, the Small Business Association of Michigan and the Michigan Business and Professional Association to lobby Republicans who oppose Medicaid expansion to change their minds.

Studies have shown Michigan could save $1 billion in healthcare health care expenditures if it expands Medicaid to people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

Michigan could receive $2 billion in federal funds during the next decade to finance those who become eligible for Medicaid such as the mentally ill. Snyder has said expanding Medicaid also will help some businesses with 50 provide coverage for workers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

 “The Michigan House of Representatives has supported this but the Senate, at this time, is worried about the federal government going to the extreme as far as its authority to cover costs of Medicaid reform,” said Tarr.

Cuts to general fund support for mental health and substance use disorder services during the past decade have resulted in a lack of access, reduction of services and creation of waiting lists for a person without private insurance or Medicaid, he noted.

 “In time, I think Michigan will reform Medicaid,” Tarr said. “I support Medicaid reform and the Senate needs time to let it seep like a good cup of tea.”

Last month, a House subcommittee removed Snyder’s proposed Medicaid expansion from its budget and in mid-April a Senate subcommittee did the same. The bills are SB198 and HB4213.

Vizena also said expanding Medicaid would:

n  Help local community hospitals. “If the Michigan Legislature does not support Medicaid expansion, lawmakers jeopardize the financial stability of local hospitals across the state.”

n  Provide health care for thousands of hard-working, low-income residents.

n  Require the federal government to cover the full cost of expansion through 2016, before gradually reducing funding to 90 percent by 2020.

n  Protect more than 300,000 of Michigan’s most vulnerable residents in the next year alone; decrease the rate of emergency room visits that drive up health care costs for everyone and save the state millions a year in state spending.

n  Possibly create 18,000 new health-care jobs and generate $2.1 billion in new economic activity in Michigan.

 “Expansion represents the best single opportunity to improve access to behavioral health-care services for Michigan’s citizens most in need,” Vizena said.

Jerry Wolffe is the Disability Rights Advocate/Writer in Residence at MORC Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to 5,100 people with disabilities in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties.

State Republicans urged to reform Medicaid to include those with mental disabilities

State Republicans are targets of groups trying to convince them to insert language into an appropriations bill to expand Medicaid under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to cover an estimated 500,000 low-income people in Michigan.

“The Michigan House of Representatives has supported this but the Senate, at this time, is worried about the federal government going to the extreme as far as its authority to cover costs of Medicaid reform,” said Paul Tarr, the former director of legislative affairs for the Michigan Department of Mental Health.

The group, Expand Medicaid, recently was formed to support expansion of Medicaid that provides medical care for those living below the federal poverty line. Expand Medicaid is a coalition of Michigan hospitals, mental health care providers and physicians.

Another coalition, the Michigan Universal Health Care Access Network, is circulating a petition aimed at changing attitudes of GOP lawmakers.

“Governor (Rick) Snyder supports it,” said Tarr, also a legislative liaison for the Department of Community Health. “People (but not enough) on both sides of the aisle support this (Medicaid reform).”

Cuts to general fund support for mental health and substance use disorder services during the past decade have resulted in a lack of access, reduction of services and creation of waiting lists for a person without private insurance or Medicaid.

“Snyder says expanding Medicaid is the best thing to do because it will provide prevention services,” said Tarr.

Some have been against expansion of Medicaid to cover those with mental disabilities because Medicaid reimbursement rates are too low, he added. “(But) the federal government has not reneged on its portion of Medicaid reimbursement but the state has, saying it doesn’t have sufficient funds.”

Tarr said: “In all fairness, the Legislature is looking at this. Lawmakers are waiting to see how this is going to unfold. If the reimbursement rate is below Medicare, then there will be a shortage of doctors.

“It is my belief it will definitely help people with mental and physical disabilities,” said Tarr who helped establish Michigan’s Medicaid system. “In time, I think Michigan will reform Medicaid. I support Medicaid reform and the Senate needs time to let it seep like a good cup of tea.”

Last month, a House subcommittee removed Snyder’s proposed Medicaid expansion from its budget and in mid-April a Senate subcommittee did the same. The bills are SB198 and HB4213.

Lawmakers in the state House and Senate are facing a June 1 self-imposed deadline to finish the state budget.

Some studies have shown, according to Crain’s Detroit Business, that Michigan could save nearly $1 billion in healthcare expenditures if it expands Medicaid to people with incomes up to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

If lawmakers approve Medicaid expansion, Michigan could receive $2 billion in federal funds during the next decade to finance those, including the mentally ill, who become eligible for Medicaid.

“Expansion represents the best single opportunity to improve access to behavioral health-care services for Michigan’s citizens most in need,” Vizena said.

Jerry Wolffe is the Disability Rights Advocate/writer in residence at MORC Inc., a nonprofit that provides services to 5,100 people with disabilities in Oakland, Macomb, and Wayne counties.

Voices of Disability: What kind of legacy will you leave when you die?

Voices of Disability: What kind of legacy will you leave when you die?: It's not by chance that each of the 7 billion people ended up on this planet called Earth in the distant ring of something called the Mi...

Voices of Disability: "Art from the Heart" created by those with disabil...

Voices of Disability: "Art from the Heart" created by those with disabil...: Some of the artwork created by people with disabilities served by an Auburn Hills nonprofit will be on sale on Thursday, April 25, at Club...

Voices of Disability: New state program to pay for autismtreatment for y...

Voices of Disability: New state program to pay for autismtreatment for y...: New state program to pay for autism treatment for young children For information on the Autism Waiver program, call (800) 341-2003 in...

Voices of Disability: MORC Receives new three-year accreditation

Voices of Disability: MORC Receives new three-year accreditation:   The Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, which provides services for 5,100 disabled people in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, has re...

MORC Receives new three-year accreditation

 

The Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, which provides services for 5,100 disabled people in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties, has received its fourth three-year accreditation from CARF, the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities, which is based in Tucson, Ariz.

 

The accreditation, which will extend through 2016, results from findings during CARF's on-site survey to MORC, which has offices in Auburn Hills and Clinton Township, in March 2013.  CARF is the nation's accreditation authority in the fields of medical rehabilitation, behavioral health, employment and community services and its accreditation represents the highest level of endorsement achievable.

 “MORC benefits from dynamic leadership at both the board and administrative level, which has positioned the organization as a leader both in the national and international arenas,” according to the CARF report.  "MORC has been a leader in developing cutting edge approaches, such as Gentle Teaching and the Center for Positive Living Supports." 

Gentle teaching is a method of developing trust between a person with a disability and a caregiver and makes it no longer necessary to use chemical, physical or mechanical restraints to control an individual's behavior, something advocates always considered abhorrent.

The report also goes on to praise MORC's long history of advocacy for persons with developmental disabilities, leadership in the deinstitutionalization movement, and the many innovative ways the organization promotes community inclusion in all aspects of its work.

 “We are proud and honored to receive this prestigious distinction of quality from CARF,” says MORC Executive Director Jerry Provencal.  “We look forward to continuing our work to enhance the lives, freedom and independence of individuals with disabilities throughout the world.”

MORC also is known internationally for developing innovative approaches to help people with disabilities live, work and play in the community.  MORC helped close all 12 institutions in Michigan and has also helped 54 nations, over a quarter of the world, close institutions.

For more information about MORC, please visit its web site at www.morcinc.org or call 586 263-8700.

New state program to pay for autism treatment for young children

For information on the Autism Waiver program, call (800) 341-2003 in Oakland County or 586-948-0222 in Macomb County.

By JERRY WOLFFE

A West Bloomfield woman spent $150,000 during the past year for treatments to help her 9-year-old son Cal who has autism.

“Not every family of a child with autism can afford such costs,” said Val Welling McFarland. “Some insurers will provide treatment (called Applied Behavioral Analysis) but not all.”

However, this changed for many of the thousands of children in Michigan born with autism. Autism has become almost an epidemic with one in every 88 newborns being diagnosed with the cognitive disorder.

On April 1, the state of Michigan started an “Autism Waiver” program which provides treatment at no cost for children diagnosed with autism who are between 18 months and six-years-old. The child, however, must be eligible for Medicaid or MiChild, a low-cost health coverage program for children under the age of 19.

The waiver program provides for the Applied Behavior Analysis, said Frances Groce, a psychologist and autism expert.

“It will give the parent of those with autism the opportunity to secure effective treatment that was financially out of reach before. This is time-intensive treatment and involves direct service to a child from a psychologist or parent or other expert.”

The first step in being accepted into the program is receiving a diagnosis of autism. Then the child is given a behavior assessment to determine the child’s needs, she said.

“We use tools to measure the social skills and communication abilities of the child. A lot of the children we originally get can’t attend school so they might, at first, be taught at home,” Groce said. “They still may go to school; but may be sent home early if unable to participate due to a challenging behavior, or only go to school for a partial day.”

There are clinics in Auburn Hills and Clinton Township operated by the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center where “the child with autism can receive treatment without any distractions and there’s one-to-one interaction between the clinician and the child.”

“Once progress is made we go into the child’s home and continue the process so that all the skills learned in the clinics transfer to the home and any other place the child might go,” Groce said.

One part of the process is “gentle teaching” techniques which help develop rapport and trust between the child with autism and the clinician. “Hugs are allowed as are pats on the back as well as verbal encouragement.”

“There’s lots of research that shows these methods are successful in improving someone with autism’s ability to communicate, form relationships and perform activities of daily living),” she said. If the programs are started early enough some children can be mainstreamed into public/private schools, and don’t need specialized classrooms or supports.”

Jerry Wolffe is the Disability Rights Advocate at MORC.Inc,. a nonprofit that serves 5,100 people with disabilities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties. He can be reached at 586-263-8950.

"Art from the Heart" created by those with disabilities, for sale to keep program alive

Some of the artwork created by people with disabilities served by an Auburn Hills nonprofit will be on sale on Thursday, April 25, at Club Venitian at 29310 John R Road in Madison Heights.

The event, sponsored by the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center which has offices in Clinton Township and Auburn Hills and serves 5,100 people with disabilities in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties, will be held from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. Tickets are $15 and include a pasta dinner.

Art on sale will include paintings, sculpture, jewelry and photographs, said Patty Sunisole,  Recreational Therapy Services Director at MORC.

About 70 percent of the money collected for sales will go to the artists with the remainder to be reinvested in the program to buy more art supplies,

“This program helps our consumers get in touch with the various talents they never knew they had,” Sunisole said.

Wolffe is the Disability Rights Advocate at MORC., Inc and can be reached at 586-263-8950.

What kind of legacy will you leave when you die?

It's not by chance that each of the 7 billion people ended up on this planet called Earth in the distant ring of something called the Milky Way galaxy.
From the instant we were created, we were given a specific purpose for our lives which are but a flicker in the scope of the 13 billion years scientists say the Universe has been around.
Our lives are but a day in millions of years so we must maximize what we accomplish.
Few achieve the status of self-actualized, a concept by a psychologist that means an individual became all of what she or he could be since the moment of birth.
My mother, Carol, was in the former Deaconess Hospital in downtown Detroit and I was starting to crown, or come out of the birth canal.
"The doctor is not here yet, so close your legs and wait about 20 minutes for him to show up," my mother, Carol, was told by a nurse.
Mother did so. In a few seconds, I, an unborn, felt the spirit of God come over me.
"It's been a bit long, Jerry (He knew my name before I was born), so you might not live. Do you want to be born on this planet?"
"Well, what kind of place is it?" I thought and God read my mind.
"Well, it's a planet where the dominant species is predatory and they are on the verge of enlightenment or self-destruction through weapons they created but are not spiritually developed enough to know not to use them."
"Well, maybe I can make a little bit of a difference," I said to the creator.
Time passed and I felt pain.
"It's come to the point where you will be born ... but with a birth injury and, as a result, you will be in pain for most of the days I will give you on Earth," He said.
"Well, the pain will keep me humble, reminding me I am alive for a short time and will think no man or woman is less than me," I said.
"Good," God said. "Do you want to be able to have a strong body and walk or talk?"
"It doesn't matter if my body is strong," I told God as I felt myself edging toward the light at the end of the birth canal. "But God I would like to be have a strong heart so I can withstand the sneers and bullying I might face because I will be different than most other humans."
"Well, Jerry, being disabled also will let you know the nature of the people you meet during your life. Those who come to help you if you fall or offer a helping hand in times of sorrow are good. Those who beat you, mock or bully you are evil and you must use the mind and heart I will instill in you to love them even if it is hard. Learn to love through tears.
"As for walking God, it's not that big a deal. I'd rather be able to talk but when I talk or write, please let me have something worthwhile to say and let my words eventually help others."
And, God granted my wish and I was born.
As time passed, I became a writer. I wrote my first "piece" when I was about eight years old while lying in a Harper Hospital bed waiting for a gurney to take my for a double surgery on my knees.
I was afraid and I put the fear on paper so the fear was outside of me.
I went to segregated orthopedic schools in the 1950s, mainstreamed myself at Osborn High School in Detroit when I was 14. Graduated from college with a Psychology degree and after being a teletypesetter for a stint I became a full-time writer at United Press International.
One night on the graveyard shift at UPI I thought about how earlier that day, July 26, 1990, President George H.W. Bush signed something called "The Americans with Disabilities Act."
Within a few months, I was picked by the Justice Department and EEOC to learn it by heart and make it work for the 60 million Americans with disabilities in America.
Along the way, my father, Vincent, saved me from spending my life in a state institution where people with disabilities were placed "for their own good." Dad, a combat World War II veteran and Detroit policeman who died 41 years ago, made sure I was tough to fight for what was right but gentle enough to be able to listen and develop compassion.
"No matter how smart you are, there's always someone smarter or better at something than you. Remember that and life will go well for you."
I once wrote a column for The Oakland Press that I would give all my material possessions to spend an hour on the front porch of our little bungalow on Detroit's Northeast side again and just have one more conversation with my father about things men talk about.
Now, after ending a 45-year career in the newspaper business, I have been reborn as a disability rights advocate for the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, a nonprofit that provides services for some 5,100 people with disabilities in Oakland, Macomb and Wayne counties.
I work with heroes.
MORC and other agencies helped close the 12 state institutions for the disabled and free the 13,000 people who were housed in them. Those with disabilities now live in group homes or apartments and have caregivers to help them get through the day, just as my service dog, Mr. Norton, helps me get around by pulling my wheelchair. I know he likes his job because his tail wags a lot and he watches me as closely as my parents did when I was a troubled kid growing up angry in America because in my soul I knew it was evil to discriminate against anyone.
So I have tried to make a difference with my columns by showing the innate integrity and dignity of those I write about who may have a disability or be swimming in troubled waters.
My legacy, perhaps, will be that I opened doors by using words to knock down stereotypes or gave speeches to thousands of people in the latter years of my life about civil rights for all.
I think I have lived nearly every day as though it were my last. I know when I kiss my wife, JoAnn, good-bye in the morning I make sure I tell her I love her. We need more love in this world and less stuff.
So, what will someone say in your eulogy when you're time is up?
He was a good man/woman? He made a lot of money? He became famous?
Let's hope it is more like "he/she brought a smile to the faces of those he met. Or, he/she sure made me feel special when he/she talked to me. I felt like he/she really cared and would do just about anything to help me on my journey, to leave my unique legacy."
So think about each moment you live and make the seconds count.
And when you die, the creator will welcome you into his/her arms and you shall both see and understand the wonders of the Universe which is far beyond the imagination of the smartest, quickest, richest or prettiest among us.