Chamber asks businesses to help nonprofits on Day of Giving

By Jerry Wolffe, The Macomb Daily

POSTED: 11/14/14, 2:39 PM EST |

The Sterling Heights Regional Chamber of Commerce & Industry has reached out to hundreds of businesses to make the National Day of Giving one that will help nonprofits throughout Macomb and Oakland counties.

The chamber sent emails to its 1,400 members, asking them to give gifts directly to nonprofits in celebration of Dec. 2, the “National Day of Giving,” said William Griffith, manager of the chamber’s Business Reliance Groups (BRAG).

Each nonprofit gets to list “five of its greatest needs” they would like to be fulfilled by chamber members, he said.

Nonprofits are to put their needs in written form, or a wish list, and hopefully send them to the chamber by Nov. 21, he said. Each nonprofit is to give contact information such as a name of a person and a telephone number that a business can contact to find out what a nonprofit desires.

“We will then send the responses to the businesses,” Griffith said. The businesses will buy what the nonprofits request and then arrange to deliver the gifts to the nonprofits.

Some of the nonprofits to be helped among the 70 include Kiwanis Clubs, MCREST, an association of churches that open its doors to give shelter to the needy; Shelby Community Foundation of Shelby Township which channels donations to needy businesses and families; the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center, Inc., of Clinton Township which provides services to those with disabilities and mental illness; Trinity Community Care of Shelby Township, a human services organization, and Families Against Narcotics of Macomb and Oakland counties, Griffith said in naming a few of the nonprofits.

The chamber met with a focus group of nonprofits in mid-November to figure out the details of how the businesses could help the nonprofits on the National Day of Giving, Griffith said.

“As many local businesses are looking for ways to give back during the holidays, this initiative will help to raise awareness of the many nonprofits in the area and their most critical needs to make the giving process easier,” said Lindsay Calcatera, MORC’s Manager, Development and Communication.

Griffith said it was fine if there were duplicate requests from nonprofits for the same item because “nonprofits have needs and we’re helping to fulfill them.”

“Companies can donate whatever they want,” he added. “They can even go to their employees and take up a collection for some of the requests so we really can make it a day of giving.”

Jerry Wolffe is the writer-in-residence, advocate-at-large at the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center. He can be reached at 586-263-8950.

Mr. President, Congress: People with disabilities need your help

The Hill

November 10, 2014, 11:00 am

By Barbara Merrill

http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/healthcare/223359-mr-president-congress-people-with-disabilities-need-your-help

The historically underfunded system of services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and the direct support workforce that is the backbone of home and community services are rarely mentioned in current policy debates in Washington, D.C.  But recent changes in federal and state government policies to expand health insurance coverage and address income inequality are increasingly resulting in a Hobson's Choice between quality services for the people with disabilities or doing right by our workforce.  This can be and should be addressed by the president and Congress.

(In Oakland County, Michigan alone, funding for the care of those with disabilities and mental illness for the 2014-15 fiscal year has been cut about $22 million. As a consequence, the most vulnerable people in our society will lose the help they need to survive -- Jerry Wolffe, voices of disability columnist)

Direct support workers are the cornerstone of our nation’s long-term care system, and the quality and stability of this workforce is of fundamental importance to the well-being of the millions with disabilities that rely on them for essential care, services and support. 

(In Michigan, the average pay for a direct-care worker is $9.06 an hour.--wolffe)

Unfortunately, insufficient Medicaid funding to providers across the country result in employee turnover rates currently ranging from 30 percent to 80 percent.  Furthermore, with demand for quality services only accelerating with an aging baby boomer population, meeting this need will be extremely difficult to achieve without a committed, stable and well-compensated direct support workforce — and elected officials who recognize this need. 

For nearly 15 years, the American Network of Community Options and Resources (ANCOR) under its National Advocacy Campaign has pushed to enhance the lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities by fighting to expand access to the resources needed to recruit, train and retain a highly qualified and sustainable workforce. We will not have a complete solution until Congress and the president acts.

(The Macomb-Oakland Regional Center of Clinton Township, Michigan began moving people out of state institutions 40 years ago into their own homes and apartments with community supports. However, all that could come apart if funding continues to be cut.--Wolffe)

Medicaid is essentially the sole source of funding for services for people with intellectual disabilities and the workforce that enables people to live and work in their communities. Commercial insurance is virtually unavailable and private payment is rare. Therefore Mr. President, Congress, we urge you to work with us to find solutions, and to take immediate action to revise federal Medicaid rules to ensure that payments to providers are sufficient to absorb the additional employer costs associated with the ACA, minimum wage increases, and other actions that increase compensation, benefits and training requirements for direct support workers.
By working together, your actions can lift up thousands of direct support workers across the country without diminishing or compromising essential community services for people with disabilities.

Merrill is vice president for Policy, and CEO-elect, of the American Network of Community Options and Resources, based in Alexandria, Virginia

Alliance to hold meetings in Oakland over increased drug abuse

By JERRY WOLFFE

Families Against Narcotics, in partnership with the Alliance of Coalitions for Healthy Communities, has launched a county-wide chapter which will offer meetings in six regions spread throughout the county. Four of the regions will hold their inaugural meetings this month with the theme "Not My Child." The Alliance and Families Against Narcotics work together to bring awareness of the growing problem of prescription drug and opiate misuse within Oakland County. They also will provide recovery and support resources for individuals and families struggling with addiction. A copy of a prescription drug misuse toolkit is available online at achcmi.org/solution/. Upcoming launch dates and locations for the ACHC Oakland County FAN region meetings: Southeast Region Troy, Royal Oak, Ferndale, Birmingham, Bloomfield, and surrounding cities Monday, November 17 from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Clawson Community Center 535 N. Main Street  in Clawson; Southwest Region South Lyon, Milford, Wixom, Walled Lake, Commerce, and surrounding cities Thursday, November 20 from 6:30 p.m. tio 8:30 p.m. New Hudson United Methodist Church 56730 Grand River Ave. in New Hudson; South-central Region Novi, Farmington, Southfield, West Bloomfield, and surrounding cities Wednesday, December 10 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Farmington Hills Library 32727 W. 12 Mile Road in Farmington Hills; Northeast Region Oxford, Lake Orion, Rochester Hills, Auburn Hills, and surrounding cities Thursday, December 11 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Orion Township Public Library 825 Joslyn Road in Lake Orion;  Media Contact:

Julie Brenner Executive Director Phone: 248-515-9628 Email address: jbrenner@achconline.org

A Justice for all people finds his destiny on High Court

By JERRY WOLFFE

“Jerry Wolffe,” I heard someone calling me repeatedly as I was on a field at what was to become the Miracle Field in Southfield where children with disabilities would be able to play baseball on an accessible field.

It was Richard Bernstein.

He came over to my wheelchair. “It’s so nice to meet you, Jerry,” he said. “You do such good work for those with disabilities with your column “Voices of Disabilities.”

I shook his hand and as I did this I noticed the dark clouds in the sky separated and the bright afternoon sun shone down on the both of us, kind of like a magic moment that we -- the journalist and the attorney, both with disabilities -- were going to do great things.

Well, the great thing happened on Nov. 4 when Bernstein was elected to an eight-year term as a Michigan Supreme Court Justice, becoming the first blind jurist to the Michigan high court.

Bernstein, who graduated with high honors from Northwestern, began a pro bono career the weeks after we met, suing for civil rights for people with disabilities, cases ranging from everything to make Detroit buses be equipped with proper wheelchair lifts to fighting for a visually impaired law student to get extra time under the Americans with Disabilities Act during the bar exam. That Southfield attorney, Jason Turkish, just won a case against Detroit Metropolitan Airport that reverses a decision that would have made it nearly impossible for those with disabilities to get some 900 feet from a dropoff spot to the entry of the McNamara Terminal.

Bernstein will fight for everyone, those with disabilities, seniors and the underdog in our society because he knows what it is like to have faced discrimination and beat it head on.

His slogan, “Justice is Blind,” is true and this Justice will bring the light of reason and fairness to Michigan’s highest court.

MORC Miles for Smiles race date set

ATTENTION FRIENDS! We are very excited to share that we have confirmed the 4th annual MORC Miles for Smiles 5K date. Mark your calendars! The event will be Saturday, May 2, 2015 will be the day! Details to follow.

Parents, children hurt by funding cuts

By JERRY WOLFFE

Becky Richey and her husband Jon have seen summer camp and respite eliminated for their teenage son and daughter who each have autism.

It hurts, Becky Richey said. She added, however, she understands the recent cutbacks in general funds by the Michigan Legislature leaves the nonprofits that serve those with disabilities or mental illness with no choice but to try and make the least painful cuts.

“You can’t cut ... funding for those with disabilities and expect them to do as well,” said Richey, 48, of Clarkston in reference to her son, Jacob, 16, and daughter, Hannah, 17.

“We as a country aren’t thinking about those in society who are most vulnerable.”

The Richey family lost respite and Scamp, a camp her teens could go to five days a week for five weeks during the summer. Jacob had gone to Scamp for 11 years but it is not likely next summer.

During camp which is held between 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., some 200 to 300 children with disabilities divide up into groups, get a “buddy,” and go boating, fishing, swimming, to the movie or on nature walks, Bechy said.

The family used to get 12 hours per week in respite, or six hours each child.

Those who are eligible for Medicaid are still getting respite, said Bechy, but her family doesn’t qualify for the federal program.

“We would look at how we would use respite to see what services our children needed to have the best possible life. Funding cuts will affect my children’s long-term development and socialization.”

She said respite was halted Sept. 1, or a month before the 2014-15 fiscal year began.

Jerry Wolffe is the writer-in-residence, advocate-at-large for the Macomb-Oakland Regional Center. He can be reached at 586 263 8950.