October 2014 Edition - Access Press

Honored volunteer, p 11

Volume 25, Number 10

www.accesspress.org

Michael Bjerkesett Plan Accessible housing needs are his needs life's calling and his lasting legacy morework

October 10, 2014 Nonprofit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Twin Cities. MN Permit No. 4766 Address Service Requested

by Jane McClure

by Access Press staff Saying it is too vague and lacks measureable goals, U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank has rejected Minnesota’s Olmstead Plan. This sends the planning cabinet and other state officials back to the table to produce a changed plan, better describing how people with disabilities will be integrated into the community.

The revised plan is due November 10.

In his latest ruling, which was issued September 18, Frank said the plan must demonstrate success in actually moving people into integrated settings, in line with the plan goals. He said that despite many revisions that the twoyear-old plan still has “significant shortfalls” and only makes “vague assurances” that steps will be taken. That is in line with what a number of disability rights advocates have said about the plan.

Every state is required to have an Olmstead Plan, thanks to a 1999 federal Olmstead Plan - p. 15

Countless people with disabilities have Michael J. Bjerkesett to thank for providing affordable, accessible housing options. Bjerkesett stepped down September 30 as the executive director of the National Handicap Housing Institute, Inc. He founded NHHI in 1975 for the express purpose of improving the independent lifestyles of persons with physical disabilities, specifically mobility impairments.

The nonprofit, which is considered one of the nation’s leading Retiring NHHI leader Mike Bjerkesett, left, and Steve Pacheaco are accessible housing developers, pictured at a recent “roast’ held in Bjerkesett’s honor.

Photo courtesy of NHHI has created more than 2,000 specialized housing units over the years. gotten, the stressful parts of the job have beNHHI has also provided design related sercome more so.” As a paraplegic, Bjerkesett said vices, marketing, consultation and property it takes more time to manage his health. management activities to other developers.

“My immediate plans for retirement are to NHHI has had a hand in developing barriertake a breath and do nothing for a while.” Addfree housing across the nation, including 20 ing that he planned to “do nothing until the first Minnesota buildings. NHHI has conducted resnowfall,” the affable Bjerkesett joked “That search on barrier-free housing design and decould happen any day now.” veloped architectural and product specification Bjerkesett is praised by colleagues and costandards that are functional and affordable, workers as someone who is passionate about for new and existing buildings. barrier-free housing and equal access. He is deAfter many years of leading NHHI, scribed as quiet, humble, hard-working and Bjerkesett is settling into retirement. “I really dedicated to finding housing access solutions. had mixed emotions about it,” he said. “This Bjerkesett is all about collaboration and workhas been part of my life for so long. On the ing together. other hand, I knew it was time. The older I’ve Michael Bjerkesett - p. 4

“My father said there were two kinds of people in the world: givers and takers. The takers may eat better, but the givers sleep better.”

— Marlo Thomas NEWS DIGEST

The Access Press Charlie Smith Award banquet is coming up.

Get those tickets and make silent auction donations while you still can.

Page 5 Learn about polling place access, absentee voting and more with our elections guide.

Page 3

Plan in advance

Rides to the Polls won’t be rolling for election

by Access Press staff

Getting to the polls on Tuesday, November 4 may take more planning than in the past for many Minnesotans with disabilities. The Rides to the Polls Coalition, which had been active for several years in providing accessible rides to general elections, isn’t hitting the road this year.

Rides to the Polls helped this voter get to her polling place a few years ago.

File photo

The coalition, which began providing rides in 2008, was made up of several disability service organizations. Most recently the coalition was organized through Courage Kenny with funding from Frey Foundation. That funding has ended.

No other provider was able to continue the service without funding, according to members of the Minnesota Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities (MN-CCD). The need for a new provider and funding was announced earlier this year at a MN-CCD gathering but no other group took on the task of lining up volunteers and vehicles, and promoting the service.

Throughout the state, low participation, rising fuel costs and lack of volunteers has put the brakes on other ride programs. Two of the last programs were in Rochester and St. Cloud areas. Neither sponsor has indicated that it is providing rides this November.

Jeff Narabrook of the Minnesota Secretary of State’s office confirmed that there is no disability community-specific Rides to the Polls program this year. “But there are other options if people plan ahead,” he said.

The Secretary of State’s office encourages voters who need transportation to the polling place to contact family, friends or neighbors. In some communities political parties provide rides.

State law prohibits persons transporting voters to the polls from indicting or persuading voters about their candidate or ballot selections on Election Day. That law includes political parties. A check with some parties active in Minnesota indicates that none provide accessible vehicles.

Paratransit services such as Metro Mobility, as well as dial-aNo rides to the poll - p. 3

Fall is beautiful but it creates breathing challenges for many.

Page 4 Find resources and information through our quarterly Directory of Organizations.

PP. 7-10 A successful merger of two longtime camps has brought more fun and more opportunities for campers, who have become “True Friends.”

Page 11

INSIDE Accessible Fun, pg 12 Events, pg 13 People & Places, pps 11 & 14 Radio Talking Book, pg 14 Regional News, pg 6

Pg 2 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

EDITOR’S DESK

Tim Benjamin All the signs of the upcoming winter are here: chilly nights, trees turning colors, leaves falling, school kids wearing long pants and hooded jackets. In our house, we brought up our winter clothes, took down the short-sleeved shirts and unpacked the winter blankets. The dog is enjoying being outside more, and the cat is starting to want to stay inside. I hope we can make it through Halloween without a major snowfall, even though snow anytime means a private paradise for my dog.

With all the talk in our community about the Olmstead Plan, I went to a meeting in late September of MN-CCD’s education subcommittee. Darlene Zangara, the new executive director of the Minnesota Olmstead Planning Committee, spoke about progress to date and her plans for finalizing the document. The Olmstead Plan is intended to provide a roadmap of choices and person-centered planning for people with disabilities. The plan will expand housing, work and educational opportunities, and ensure that individuals may participate in all the community activities they might choose. People will also have the supports

needed to prosper in their self-directed living environments.

Zangara has a huge responsibility. U.S. District Court Judge Donovan W. Frank requires the Olmstead Plan to meet the conditions for person-centered planning options that he had laid out in his ruling in the Jensen settlement. He expects increased community accessibility as well as measurable outcomes. The U.S. Supreme Court decreed in 1999 that people should be able to live in “the most integrated setting” appropriate to their needs. The “most integrated setting” requires, in Judge Frank’s ruling in the Jensen case, that the state provide “protections, supports, and services consistent with [each] person’s individualized needs, in the most integrated setting and where the individual does not object.” He also ruled that, “The Court is committed to ensure that the Settlement Agreement is not an empty promise or a meaningless gesture to placate individuals with disabilities…Justice requires no less.”

Creating this plan, while addressing the discriminatory practices that get in the way of its goals, while also ensuring measurable outcomes and good quality of life, are daunting tasks for Zangara and her assistant (Kristin Jorenby, who serves on the Access Press board of directors). Zangara’s office needs the continued involvement of the disability community as well as local government participation to make this civil

rights plan a useful, evolving document. I encourage Access Press readers to put your ideas together and convey them to the Olmstead Planning Committee.

One of their current challenges is to develop standards for measuring quality of life. It’s an ambiguous and subjective concept. How do you define it?

It’s unfortunate that in Minnesota’s upcoming election on November 4, there will be no Ride to the Polls program as in years past, when several organizations found philanthropic funding to help provide transportation for people with disabilities. I wonder if the Olmstead Plan will require state funding for some kind of ride to the polls.

The Access Press Charlie Smith Award Banquet is November 7. I hope you have all reserved a seat—or a table for your organization. It’s always a good time.

One of the best parts of the evening is the chance to spend time with colleagues from your own and other organizations and to talk about things other than work. For me, it’s a treat to get to know people I’ve always admired and to chat a bit about our everyday lives. For you more work-driven folks, there are also opportunities to explain your organizational agenda in a stress-free environment. However you choose to socialize, there are great people, there’s good food and drink, plus all kinds of fun stuff in our silent auction.

This year’s donations range from a tablet computer to a week in Montana in an accessible cabin. Please join the award winners for an epic event and an evening of fun.

We’ll talk next month. Enjoy these weeks of fall! ■

HISTORY NOTE

Blind advocacy group’s history is one of change

by Access Press staff Vision Loss Resources is marking 100 years’ service in 2014. The agency is an independent, nonprofit organization. It serves the Twin Cities area counties of Anoka, Carver, Chisago, Dakota, Hennepin, Isanti, Ramsey, Scott, Washington and Wright. Assistance is available at low or no cost to people living in the service area, with services provided by dedicated professionals or trained volunteers.

Vision Loss Resources offers a community services program that includes individual in-home assessments, life skills classes, support groups and peer counseling. The agency also provides training, education and consultation to other agencies, organizations, corporations and businesses on a variety of rehabilitation program and assistance through DeafBlind Services Minnesota are also offered.

The 1993 merger of the Minneapolis Society for the Blind and St. Paul Society for the Blind created Vision Loss Resources. The Minneapolis Society for the Blind was incorporated in March 1914, which is used as the centennial date. An initial focus for both societies was job creation and the opening of sheltered workshops including the manufacture of straw brooms.

Both societies worked and sometimes clashed with other advocacy groups. Disagreements over sheltered workshops, worker compensation and organizational governance dated back to the 1940s. In the 1970s people with blindness and low vision were swept up in a high-profile nationwide advocacy movement, led in part by then-National Federation of the Blind President Kenneth Jernigan. “What we after is a new concept of blindness,” Jernigan said in a 1973 Star Tribune article. “We are not prepared to be just good blind people.”

The article pointed out that the infighting surprised many outsiders. “The general public might think all of this is not like the blind,” the article stated. “And to at least some blind people, that’s part of the problem. A growing movement among the blind in Minnesota and the nation is aimed at changing what they consider to be a public attitude that the blind are helpless. They want more of a voice in the agencies that serve them.”

The “activist-blind movement” included demonstrations, lobbying and at times, sharp disagreements with agencies designed to provide assistance to blind and persons with low vision. The federation and the

Volume 25, Number 10 • Periodicals Imprint: Pending ISSN Advertising Sales Business Manager/Webmaster Michelle Hegarty Dawn Frederick 612-807-1078 Co-Founder/Publisher/Editor-in-Chief Cartoonist Co-Founder/Publisher Wm. A. Smith, Jr. (1990-1996) Charles F. Smith (1990-2001)

Scott Adams Executive Director Tim Benjamin Board of Directors Production Brigid Alseth, Steve Anderson, John Clark, Ellen Houghton with Presentation Images Managing Editor Kristin Jorenby, Elin Ohlsson, Halle O'Falvey, Jane McClure Distribution Carrie Salberg, Cheryl Vander Linden, Walt S. C. Distribution Seibert and Kay Willshire Editorial submissions and news releases on topics of interest to persons with disabilities, or persons serving those with disabilities, are welcomed. We reserve the right to edit all submissions. Editorial material does not necessarily reflect the view of the editor/publisher of Access Press.

Paid advertising is available at rates ranging from $12 to $28 per column inch, depending on size and frequency of run. Classified ads are $14, plus 65 cents per word over 12 words. News, display advertising and classified advertising deadline is routinely the 25th of the month. When the 25th falls on a weekend, deadline is the next Monday.

Access Press is a monthly tabloid newspaper published for persons with disabilities by Access Press, Ltd. Circulation is 11,000, distributed the 10th of each month through more than 200 locations statewide. Approximately 450 copies are mailed directly to individuals, including political, business, institutional and civic leaders. Subscriptions are available for $30/yr. Low-income, student and bulk subscriptions are available at discounted rates.

Application to mail at Periodicals Postage Prices is Pending at the St. Paul, MN 55121 facility. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Access Press at 161 St. Anthony Ave, Suite 901, St. Paul, MN 55103.

Inquiries and address changes should be directed to: Access Press; care of The Kelly Inn Offices; 161 St. Anthony Ave; #910; St. Paul, MN 55103; 651-644-2133; Fax: 651-644-2136; email: access@accesspress.org www.accesspress.org

Minneapolis society had lengthy legal disputes over board membership and representation. Those disputes continued into the 1980s.

Today, while groups may still disagree on some issues, all share the important goal of improving the lives of people with blindness and vision loss.

As part of its centennial celebration Vision Loss Resources’ clients, students, alumni, family and friends contributed original stories, essays and poems to a book, The Way We See It: A Fresh Look at Vision Loss. The anthology describes struggles and triumphs of people living with vision loss or blindness. The writers’ ability to come to terms with vision loss and dealing with adversity is celebrated while they all acknowledge their continued challenges, in humorous, frightening, heartwarming and challenging accounts.

To learn more about Vision Loss Resources or to purchase the book, go to http://visionlossresources.org ■ The History Note is a monthly column sponsored by the Minnesota Governor’s Council on Developmental Disabilities, www.mnddc.org or www.mncdd.org and www.partnersinpolicymaking.com

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

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Voters have the right to ask for assistance

by Access Press staff Assistance is available for people with disabilities who wish to go to a polling place on Election Day. However, getting into a polling place can be a challenge.

All polling places are required to be accessible to voters with disabilities. This includes clearly marked accessible doors, and curb cuts or ramps where necessary. A polling place is required to have at least one parking space for persons with disabilities clearly marked near the accessible entrance.

Counties, cities and townships are responsible for selecting polling place locations. If there are accessibility issues at a polling place, voters should notify their local election officials. That can be a county, city or township office, depending upon which unit of government oversees elections.

It is also appropriate to let a head election judge know if accessibility problems are found at a polling place and even to suggest what changes should be made. Sometimes in a precinct, ward or district, it is difficult to find a public building spot that has good access. If voters with disabilities have ideas on where to move a polling place to in the future, those suggestions should be submitted to local election officials.

Registered voters sign in to get a ballot. Unregistered voters sign in if they register at the polls. It’s OK to ask for assistance when signing in or registering. It is also legal for a registered voter to mark the proper name line with an X or use a signature stamp.

Voters with disabilities who can mark their own ballots should have a voting booth provided for them, in a spot where other voters cannot see their ballots.

This is typically done by placing a voting booth on a

table, so that a person using a wheelchair or needing to sit down can vote there.

A device called an AutoMark is available for voters with disabilities. It should be in the same general area as the voting booths, but placed in a way that gives privacy to voters.

The AutoMark can display the ballot in large print or with a high-contrast background. It can read the ballot to a voter through headphones. It allows voters to vote through a Braille keypad, touchscreen or sipand-puff device. It provides privacy and independence to voters who don’t use pens on their ballots. It is not, however, a ballot counter. Votes made through the AutoMark must still be placed in a polling place’s ballot counter or ballot box.

Ballot-marking devices like the AutoMark must be present in every polling place so that all individuals have the same opportunity for access and participation. In Minnesota, the exemption is for townships with fewer than 500 registered voters that are holding stand-alone township elections.

If help is needed marking a ballot, options are available. A voter can bring someone to the polling place for assistance. That helper or assistant can be anyone except an agent of the voter’s employer or union. Nor can a candidate for office be a helper at the polling place.

The Minnesota Secretary of State’s Office suggests that any individuals or organizations wanting to provide assistance to voters may consider creating safeAccessibility and voting - p. 5

Changes will help people with disabilities in voting Election Day is Tuesday November 4. Minnesotans will be voting for U.S. House and Senate, governor, Minnesota House members, state offices and in many communities, local officials. Some communities may have referendums or specific ballot questions.

People with disabilities have historically voted at lower rates than the general public. Inaccessible polling places, incorrect assumptions about the capacity of individuals to vote, and complexities in the voting process that creates unnecessary barriers for voters with disabilities can be deterrents to voting.

Voting is important. Everyone needs to have a say in choosing elected officials and weighing in on ballot questions. Every person with disabilities who casts a ballot sets the course for law and policy changes that affect every aspect of life.

Law changes help voters Minnesota recently made changes in law and rules that remove some unnecessary barriers and make it easier for people with disabilities to exercise the fundamental right to vote in elections.

Minnesota law allows individuals to register to vote online. Online voter registration makes it easier for individuals to register. Studies have shown that it increases voter turnout.

Voters who don’t wish to wait in long lines at a polling place can cast absentee ballots. Absentee voting is easier now because Minnesota has adopted “no excuse” absentee voting clause. Before, voters had to specific why they wished to vote absentee. Now no reason has to be stated to vote prior to Election Day. Voters with disabilities who were concerned about disclosing disability need not do so. Request an absentee ballot through the mail at: mnvotes.org Voters can also cast ballots in person at the local elections office between now and Election Day. Hours can vary from community to community. The website mnvotes.org can help voters find the correct place to vote absentee or the correct precinct location for Election Day. People who have moved since the last election can register at the polls. Minnesota’s same-day voter registration program was changed to expand the list of documents voters can use to register on Election Day. Voters use documents to prove identity and residency. For example, a voter can now show an old out-of-state driver’s license, in combination with an expanded list of

bills that list the voter’s current address, such as a banking, credit card or mortgage statement. For a full list of Election Day registration options, visit mnvotes.org In another important development, uncertainty regarding voting rights of people under guardianship was settled by the federal courts. The courts found that individuals under guardianship are presumed competent to vote and are able to register and vote unless the current guardianship order specifically revoked a ward’s right to vote. Anyone under guardianship should read the court’s guardianship order and talk with the guardian prior to voting. The Minnesota Disability Law Center/Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid can provide consultation on guardianship issues, at 1-800-

292-4150 (statewide) or 1-612-334-5970 (metro).

Election Day hotlines and voting information The Minnesota Disability Law Center/Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid runs a voter hotline on Election Day during the hours that the polls are open, 7 a.m. until 8 p.m. Anyone experiencing a problem voting or with a voting-related question, can call 1-800- 292-4150.

A second hotline for general voting-related problems on Election Day is 1-866-OUR-VOTE. An excellent resource for all election-related questions, forms and sample ballots, is the Minnesota Secretary of State’s website: www.mnvotes.org ■ This information was prepared by the Minnesota Disability Law Center/Mid-Minnesota Legal Aid.

No rides to the polls - from p. 1 ride and deviated-route services in non-urban areas, are not required to offer free transportation on Election Day. But other public transit providers, such as Metro Transit in the Twin Cities, must offer regular, fixed-route transit service free of charge on Election Day. This means planning ahead to see which regular bus routes stop closest to a polling place. It’s best to contact a transit provider in advance to check Election Day options.

Regular, fixed route transit is offered by bus, light rail and commuter in Minneapolis, St. Paul and other communities served by Metro Transit. In Maple Grove, service is provided by Maple Grove Transit.

In Apple Valley, Burnsville, Eagan, Rosemount, Savage and Lakeville Cedar Park & Ride, contact

Minnesota Valley Transit Authority. In Plymouth, service is provided by Plymouth MetroLink. Residents of Shakopee and Prior Lake can contact Shakopee Transit and Laker Lines. In Chanhassen, Chaska and Eden Prairie, the provider is Southwest Transit.

There are several fixed-route transit providers in Greater Minnesota communities including Duluth, Proctor, and Hermantown; East Grand Forks, La Crescent, Mankato and North Mankato, Moorhead and Dilworth, Rochester and St. Cloud, Waite Park, Sauk Rapids and Sartell.

An option to taking regular route transit is to vote absentee, by mail or by going to an elections office before Election Day. (See related story above.) ■

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FROM OUR COMMUNITY

Invisible disabilities can take your breath away

by Julie Mellum, President, Take Back the Air

“Invisible disabilities,” such as asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and chemical sensitivities chemical dependencies are soaring to unprecedented levels. So is discrimination surrounding these disabilities. In fact, discrimination itself is increasing and in ways, less apparent because some activities have become so popular.

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires remove of all barriers that could interfere with the access and enjoyment of public spaces, because physical barriers are discriminatory. But one major barrier is seldom addressed: toxic air, in the form of wood smoke, lawn chemicals, vehicle exhaust and fragrances that especially impact people with disabilities. How can this be happening? And why is it crucial that more people invoke the ADA for help?

• For one, cities are condoning and promoting recreational wood burning on private property and also in public spaces. Wood smoke presents a true physical barrier, just as cigarette smoke does, which resulted in the indoor tobacco bans. Edina High School, for example, sponsors an annual Homecoming woodburning bonfire that is 50 feet high on school grounds! To students and others with asthma, this is certainly discriminatory. The Minneapolis Lake of the Isles Residents’ Association also sponsors a “Family Skating Party” with a wood bonfire, even Michael Bjerkesett - from p. 1 His replacement at NHHI is Michael Semsch, who was director of property management for the nonprofit. Bjerkesett wishes his former colleagues well, but said it is best that he make a clean break with the organization. Not only did he step down as executive director, he and the old board of directors stepped down to make way for a new board.

though their association states on their website that they will provide “special access” if needed. On requesting that they switch to a gas bonfire to accommodate asthmatics, however, the option provided was “staying away” from the fire, as though the smoke blows only in one direction. To burn wood on the ice rink is like a restaurant with a “smoking section” that allows smoke to infiltrate the entire establishment.

• The number of mobile food trucks is increasing.

Nicollet Mall and Portland Avenue in Minneapolis now offer food trucks during work days that idle their engines and also cook with wood or charcoal, with noxious fumes permeating the streets and sidewalks.

• Restaurants everywhere seem to be cooking with wood now. In Edina alone there are at 12 new restaurants in the past several years at 50th and France, Centennial Lakes and Galleria, which are blanketing streets and sidewalks with caustic smoke.

• At Centennial Lakes Park, wood-burning restaurants are infusing walking paths and the skating rink with soot-filled air at all times of day in all seasons.

While the park is tobacco-free, wood burning is still allowed, which is inconsistent, because wood smoke contains hundreds of the same toxins that are in cigarette smoke. The park also systematically uses lawn chemicals which makes it hard to walk the

park and enjoy nature. The ducks can’t be happy, either.

• Worst of all, our public schools are heavy with scented air from the collective use of fragranced lotions, scented laundry products, hair gels and body washes among students, teachers and staff. While state teachers’ contracts suggest that teachers avoid using scented products, because students are suffering from more disabilities and behavioral disorders than ever, virtually no one is protecting the students—even when asthma is the number one reason for school absenteeism in Minnesota schools. The ADA requires schools to provide all students with a “safe” learning environment. To asthmatics and those with other disabilities, true clean air is a necessary, basic civil right that is being violated.

• Walking or biking neighborhoods can be difficult when laundry vents blast out many of the same fragrance chemicals that are also in wood smoke, vehicle exhaust and tobacco smoke. These include lead, mercury, benzene, formaldehyde, arsenic and more.

To stop discrimination that is crippling the lives of even those with invisible disabilities, we must utilize the ADA and press for better accommodation rights.

After all, what is more important than the ability to breathe clean air?

Learn more at www.takebacktheair.com ■

“I feel strongly that my replacement should not have me looking over his shoulders,” Bjerkesett said.

Joanne Rademacher, chief financial officer at NHHI, has worked with him for 23 years. “What a wonderful person to work for,” she said. “There’s not anyone in our buildings who didn’t love Mike and all he has done.”

NHHI’s partner organizations will also miss Bjerkesett. “We’re really going to miss the ‘Bjerk’,” said Stephen Vander Schaaf, president and chief executive officer of Accessible Space, Inc. “He’s provided so much leadership, on the local and national level.” Vander Schaaf praised Bjerkesett for his willingness to be innovative and to not back away from development challenges.

“It’s important to me that what we came up with at NHHI was never ‘our’ idea,” said Bjerkesett. “We never have seen ourselves as the be-all and end-all for housing for people with mobility limitations. We saw ourselves as adding an element to the range of options in the community.”

Bjerkesett also said his approach to developing barrier-free housing is to always try to learn something new from every project NHHI was involved in. “We were proud to do a better product every time we started a new project,” he said.

He is pleased to see building features once considered groundbreaking become standard in housing construction, “Since the 1980s we’ve seen major improvements in building accessibility,” he said. “It’s really nice to see, over time, building standards become more and more accessible.”

“It wasn’t unusual, years ago, to see many buildings where you couldn’t even get into the door,” he added.

Born into an Irish-Norwegian family, Bjerkesett spent his early years in Worthington. His family moved to Fridley when he was in grade school. He was a star athlete at Fridley High School. He played baseball and hockey, and was all-Skyline Conference and an all-state tackle on the Fridley Tigers football team.

Just after completing his sophomore year at Bemidji State University, Bjerkesett was headed home when the car he was riding in rolled. He went to North Memorial Medical Center for rehabilitation and then attended what was then Southwest Minnesota State College in Marshall. In a 2008 Access Press article, Bjerkesett said, “There were a lot of disabled [at Southwest] who had been in chairs a lot longer than me. They helped me a lot.”

After graduating with a degree in business administration and psychology, Bjerkesett went back to North Memorial as a rehabilitation program counselor.

In 1973 Bjerkesett left North Memorial to form the United Handicapped Federation and serve as its first executive director. The federation was a consortium of 19 disability advocacy groups, educating the public on a number of issues. He began NHHI in 1975, to develop accessible affordable housing for low-income adults with physical disabilities.

In 2006 Bjerkesett was nominated for the National Spinal Cord Injury Association Hall of Fame Award.

While noting he has a stack of books waiting to be read in retirement, Bjerkesett won’t disappear from the housing design scene. He plans to set up a website on accessible housing design, to offer expertise for free. “I’ve spent so much time on these issues over the years, it’s important to share and pass on information to others.” ■

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

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Last chance to get advance tickets, donate Reservations are due Friday, October 31 for the 2014 Charlie Smith Award Banquet. Hosted by Access Press, the banquet honors Minnesotans who provide outstanding service to Minnesota’s disability community.

This year’s Charlie Smith Award winners are Christine Marble and Wendy DeVore, founders of St. Paul-based Career Ventures, Inc. Please attend and honor their work with and for people with disabilities.

All of this year’s nominees will be honored with a special display.

The banquet is Friday, November 7 at the Minneapolis Airport Marriott, 2020 East American Blvd., Bloomington. Tickets can be purchased at the door but purchasing beforehand can provide savings of as much as $35 for an eight-person table. It can also ensure that groups can sit together.

Advance tickets are $45 per person or $325 for an eight-person table. That fee increases to $50 per person the day of the event.

Tickets can be purchased online, at www.accesspress.org/charlie-awards-registration/ Another option is to mail checks to Access Press, Attn: Dawn, 161 St. Anthony Ave. Suite 910, St. Paul, 55103. A third option is to call the office and do the transaction over the phone, at 651-644-2133.

Specify dinner choices when registering. This year’s options are Tuscan chicken, slow-roasted beef or vegetarian entrees. The full course, sit-down dinner includes dessert, coffee and water. Dinner and the award ceremony are at 7 p.m.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the start of the popular silent auction and pick-your-prize raffle. Many Accessibility and voting - from p. 3 guards to avoid any appearance of wrongdoing. This could include having two individuals provide assistance to voters together.

Any helper is to assist the voter and is not to influence how a person votes. It’s typical for a head judge to ask if the helper is assisting or trying to influence the voter. Influencing a voter is against the law.

People who help with ballot marking, whether they are election judges or volunteers who come to a polling place with one voter, have to follow state laws.

Helpers cannot share information on how someone has voted.

If a voter cannot communicate his or her choices, helpers cannot mark the ballot. If someone marks a ballot on a voter’s behalf, the voter can legally ask that the ballot be shown privately to an election judge, to confirm that the ballot is correctly marked.

A volunteer helper can only physically mark ballots on behalf of a maximum of three voters each election.

Helpers can provide other forms of assistance to an unlimited number of voters. There are specific regulations on voter assistance that affect group home and residential facility workers who help residents vote.

A voter can ask the head judge for help with ballot marking. Two election judges from different political parties will be assigned to help the voter mark a ballot. The same state laws apply to election judges as they do to volunteers.

Anyone who cannot physically enter a polling place can ask election judges to bring a ballot to their motor vehicle. Two election judges from different parties will bring voting materials to the voter. This is sometimes called “motor voting.”

Voters can watch an introduction to voting video series that demonstrate the use of accessible voting equipment such as the AutoMark, and what Minnesotans, including voters with disabilities, can expect on Election Day. The series is accessible through American Sign Language, captions and voiceovers. Text and Microsoft Word transcripts of audio content with video descriptions are also included.

This information is offered on the Commission on Deaf, Deafblind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans website. Watch or listen to the series of videos and get other information on upcoming workshops and information sessions, at http://tinyurl.com/votersvideo ■

nice donations have come in including gift cards, tickets, paintings, photos, an accessible cabin stay, a luxury bath basket and a mini-IPad and Surface. More donations are needed.

Donations for the silent and auction and raffle must be received at the office by 5 p.m. Friday, October 31, so there is time to prepare bid sheets. Call 651-6442133 if there are questions or if a donation is coming.

Items cannot be brought the night of the banquet.

A cash bar and social time, with music, are offered before the banquet and dinner. The Access Press, documentary on Disability and the Media, The Real Story, will be shown on a continuous feed. DVDs of the documentary will be for sale.

The deadline to be a banquet sponsor has passed but there is still time to be a table host. Please contact Dawn at 651-644-2133 or dawn@accesspress.org if there are questions able table hosting or silent auction and raffle donations.

2014 banquet sponsors are Editor-in-chief: Allina

Everyone enjoyed the 2013 Charlie Smith Awards Banquet.

File photo

Health/Courage Kenny Rehabilitation Institute, Axis Healthcare, IMED Mobility, In Home Health Care, National Handicapped Housing Institute (NHHI) and Medica. Handi Medical and True Friends are sponsors at the Proofreader level and Tamarack Habilitation Technologies Inc. is a Keyliner sponsor. ■

Pg 6 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

Care provider sentenced for fraud

REGIONAL NEWS Blind bus rider seeks info A dispute over data access with Metro Transit has involved a blind Twin Cities man. In November 2013 Robert Burks had a Metro Transit bus roll past him at the transit stop. When he questioned the bus driver, the driver called transit police and asked that he be removed from the bus. Burks wasn’t cited and was allowed to board another bus. Burks and Minnesota Disability Law Center then filed a complaint, and also complained to the Department of Human Rights. But they have been unable to get the bus video of Burks’ encounter with the bus driver.

Metro Transit has refused to release the video, stating that it is private personnel data. Metro Transit didn’t discipline the bus driver involved. The driver couldn’t articulate to transit police why he asked that Burks be taken off of his bus.

A judge agreed with Burks that the video should be released. But Metropolitan Council, which oversees Metro Transit, has appealed that decision. A similar legal dispute is going on between a Twin Cities television station and Metro Transit over another bus incident. Legal experts warn that claiming that private employee data trumps all other use for video taken in public sets a difficult precedent. ■ (Source: Star Tribune)

DARTS loses paratransit contract DARTS, a longtime provider of transit service to people with disabilities, lost its contract with the Metropolitan Council in September. The Dakota Countybased nonprofit was found to have falsified records and not done needed bus maintenance. The problems at DARTS angers some council Audit Committee members. “This is appalling,” said Steven Chavez, a Met Council member who represents Burnsville, Inver Grove Heights, South St. Paul and most of Eagan. “This is a huge breach of trust.”

DARTS has provided paratransit services for about 30 years. While no passengers were injured, the violations were serious enough to cause the contract termination. DARTS had a five-year, $8.7 million contract to operate 37 buses, and a $5.5 million contract covering 15 other vehicles. Both contracts will end Nov. 9 and other service providers will step in.

DARTS President and CEO Greg Konat apologized to the committee. He said DARTS has changed its practices.

The relationship between the Met Council and DARTS spans about three decades.

An audit found that on several occasions, DARTS staff changed records of when vehicles arrived to pick up passengers. Falsifying records resulted in inappropriate billings to customers, who are not required to pay fares when a ride is late by 30 minutes or more, the audit stated.

Also, buses were found to be poorly maintained, dirty and with safety hazards. Some wheelchair lifts didn’t work, and others had doors that were difficult or impossible to open. ■ (Source: Pioneer Press, Star Tribune)

A Medicaid-funded home care provider who operated two programs in Woodbury was sentenced in Ramsey District County Court to pay restitution totaling $20,791, serve 30 days in the Ramsey County Workhouse and forfeit any employment where he could access Medicaid funds. A jury last month found Charles Kwadzo Sokpa-Anku of Carelinks Home Care, Inc. guilty on three counts of Medicaid fraud.

He will also pay $300 in fines and serve five years’ probation upon release from the county jail.

Department of Human Services (DHS) Inspector General Jerry Kerber said the case represents a stepped-up effort to crack down on fraud against Minnesota’s programs that use public funds to purchase services. Using increased funding appropriated by the Minnesota Legislature, the department has also begun investigating child care providers who falsely bill the state for child care assistance funds.

“When providers fail to perform the job they are paid to do, they not only fail the program participants,

but they violate the public trust they promised to respect,” Kerber said in a statement to the court.

From 2009 through early 2011, Sokpa-Anku received Medicaid payments after submitting false claims for qualified professional services. Personal care services provided to a Medicaid recipient must be supervised by a qualified professional, who is a registered nurse, a licensed social worker, or a mental health professional, to ensure that the care provided by a personal care assistant is appropriate and complies with the individual care plan.

Sokpa-Anku’s company served as an intermediary between the person receiving care and DHS. Even though Sokpa-Anku attended training as a health care provider and was informed of the rules and regulations, he billed for services that were never provided, submitted false claims and failed to provide required documentation. ■ (Source: Minnesota DHS)

Concerns grow over public housing

Impasse on cable issues

Changes in the makeup of those who live in public housing is becoming a controversial issue in Minnesota. The Star Tribune recently featured Heights Manor, a Columbia Heights public housing project where senior citizen residents are concerned about the changing demographics of their community. More younger people with disabilities have moved in as allowed under federal housing guidelines. That has led to disagreements between residents. Older residents want building rules enforced. Younger residents with disabilities contend that they are being discriminated against by older residents. Seven elderly Heights residents were recently reprimanded for harassing younger residents Disability advocates noted that such disagreements may intensify as the state moves forward with plans to further desegregate housing for people with disabilities. It also is forcing changes for property owners.

The City of Columbia Heights, which owns Parkview Manor, is selling that building next year in part because the city can no longer afford to serve the growing number of people with disabilities in the building.

(Source: Star Tribune)

The longtime home of the television show “Disability Viewpoints” continues to be in doubt. Contract negotiations between service provider Comcast and the North Suburban Cable Commission have reached an impasse, so the debate between the two parties has been sent to an administrative law judge. The state Office of Administrative Hearings will conduct a public hearing. No date has been set.

According to the Pioneer Press, each party blames the other for the impasse. The commission oversees public access television programming in more than a dozen Twin Cities suburbs. Comcast and the commission are negotiating a new contract. Comcast wants to greatly cut the PEG or public education government programming fee it pays the commission. This would be allowable under current Federal Communications Commission rules, as there have been federal changes in what cable service providers have to help pay for.

But the suburban commission members and show producers, including the “Disability Viewpoints” crew, say that the cuts would all but wipe out the locallyproduced shows. ■ (Source: Pioneer Press)

Stolen bike is returned A Circle Pines man with disabilities has gotten his custom-built three-wheeled bicycle returned, after it was stolen. But community members had to then rally to repair Gary Ableiter’s only means of transportation.

Ableiter cannot drive and has difficulty walking, as a result of a car crash when he was five years old. A drunk driver hit a vehicle he was riding in. “For Mr. Ableiter this was a very significant quality of life crime. This is how he gets from point A to point B.

He rides all day long every day of the year,” said Centennial Lakes Police Administrative Sergeant Russell Blanck.

The bike was stole in August but was found last month. Employees at a Dunn Brothers coffee shop raised more than $500 to replace or repair the bike.

The bike was found in the possession of two juveniles, after police received a tip. At that point no charges were filed. ■ (Source: KARE 11 News)

BDC Management Co. is now accepting applications for our waiting lists at the following affordable communities Albright Townhomes Buffalo Court Apartments Elliot Park Apartments Evergreen Apartments Franklin Lane Apartments Hanover Townhomes Lincoln Place Apartments Olson Towne Homes Prairie Meadows Talmage Green Trinity Apartments Unity Place Vadnais Highlands Willow Apartments Woodland Court Apartments

Minneapolis Buffalo Minneapolis Hutchinson Anoka St. Paul Mahtomedi Minneapolis Eden Prairie Minneapolis Minneapolis Brooklyn Center Vadnais Heights Little Falls Park Rapids

(612) 824-6665 (763) 684-1907 (612) 338-3106 1-800-661-2501 (763) 427-7650 (651) 292-8497 (651) 653-0640 (612) 377-9015 (952) 941-5544 (612) 623-0247 (612) 721-2252 (763) 560-7563 (651) 653-0640 (320) 632-0980 1-888-332-9312

We are accepting applications for our large number of mobility impaired accessible units.

Please call us for more information.

1 BR 2 BR 2 BR 1 BR 1 & 2 BR 1 BR 2 BR 1 BR 2 & 3 BR 2 BR 1 BR (sr) 2 BR 3 BR 1 & 2 BR 1 BR

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

ADVOCACY Advocating Change Together (ACT) Arc Greater Twin Cities The Arc of Minnesota Association of Residential Resources in MN MCIL MN Consortium for Citizens with Disabilities MN Developmental Achievement-Center Assoc PACER Center, Inc. SEIU Healthcare Minnesota Take Back the Air

V-651-641-0297 V-952-920-0855 V-651-523-0823x115 V-651-291-1086 V-651-646-8342 V-952-818-8718 V-651-647-9200 V-952-838-9000 TF-855-282-3769 V-952-303-6218

TF-800-641-0059 F-952-920-1480 TF-800-582-5256 TTY-800-551-2211 F-651-603-2066 F-952-818-8719 F-651-647-9353 TTY-952-838-0190

V-651-645-7271 V-651-699-6050 V-763-754-2505

TTY-800-466-7722 TTY-651-695-5802 TF-888-255-6400

www.accessiblespace.org www.dungarvin.com www.marytinc.com

V-651-699-6050 V-763-754-2505 V-612-378-2742 V-651-641-0491x315 V-612-869-3995

TTY-651-695-5802 TF-888-255-6400 TTY-800-669-6442 F-651-645-2780 V-651-457-4756

www.dungarvin.com www.marytinc.com www.braininjurymn.org www.tandemresidential.com www.opportunitypartners.org

V/TTY-763-479-3555

F-763-479-2605

V-612-362-8454 V-651-699-6050 V-651-688-8808 V-763-754-2505 V-651-646-8342 V/TTY-612-729-7381 V-952-938-5511 V-952-988-4177 V-952-945-4952 V/TTY-507-345-7139

TTY-612-362-8422 TTY-651-695-5802 F-651-688-8892 TF-888-255-6400 F-651-603-2066 F-612-729-7382 TTY-952-930-4293 F-952-988-6728 F-952-922-6885 TF-888-676-6498

F-952-303-6468

www.selfadvocacy.org www.arcgreatertwincities.org www.thearcofminnesota.org www.arrm.org www.mcil-mn.org www.mnccd.org www.mndaca.org www.pacer.org www.UnitedCareWorkersMN.org www.takebacktheair.com

ASSISTED-LIVING PROGRAMS Accessible Space, Inc. (ASI) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Mary T. Inc. Assisted Living

BRAIN INJURY Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Mary T. Inc. Human Service Programs Minnesota Brain Injury Alliance Tandem Residential TBI Metro Services - Richfield & W. St. Paul

CHEMICAL HEALTH Vinland National Center

www.vinlandcenter.org

COMMUNITY LIVING DeafBlind Services Minnesota (DBSM) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Living Well Disability Services Mary T. Inc. Human Service Programs MCIL Metro Work Center, Inc Opportunity Partners Reach for Resources REM Minnesota S. MN Independent Living Enterprises & Services

www.dbsmllc.org www.dungarvin.com www.livingwell.org www.marytinc.com www.mcil-mn.org www.metroworkcenter.org www.opportunitypartners.org www.reachforresources.org www.remminnesota.org www.smilescil.org

CONSUMER-DIRECTED COMMUNITY SUPPORTS Community Involvement Programs (CIP) Lifeworks Services, Inc.

V-612-362-4437 TF-866-454-2732

TTY-651-365-3736

www.cipmn.org www.lifeworks.org

V-612-752-8100 V-612-331-4584

TTY-612-752-8019 F-612-353-6638

www.mrc-mn.org www.upstreamarts.org

V-651-641-0709 V-952-974-0339 V-612-353-4595x101 V-612-775-2569

F-651-641-0976 F-952-974-0307 V-612-353-4595x102

EDUCATION MRC - Minnesota Resource Center Upstream Arts

EMPLOYMENT/VOCATION Ally People Solutions Chrestomathy, Inc. Community Involvement Programs (CIP) Courage Kenny Rehabilition Institute

CONTINUED

www.allypeoplesolutions.org www.chrestomathyinc.org www.cipmn.org www.allinahealth.org/couragekenny

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Pg 8 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

EMPLOYMENT/VOCATION (CONTINUED) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC East Suburban Resources, Inc. Equip A Life (formerly Assistive Techology of MN) Fraser Transition Services Goodwill/Easter Seals Minnesota Kaposia Inc. Lifetrack - Minneapolis Lifetrack - St. Paul Lifeworks Services, Inc. Merrick, Inc. Metro Work Center, Inc. Midwest Special Services, Inc. Minnesota Diversified Industries (MDI) Opportunity Partners Partnership Resources, Inc. Partnership Resources, Inc. - Minneapolis Partnership Resources, Inc. - Older Adults Program ProAct Inc. Rise, Inc. TBI Metro Services - Richfield & W. St. Paul TSE, Inc. Work Incentives Connection

V-651-699-6050 V-651-351-0190 V-763-479-8239 V-612-767-5180 V-651-379-5800 V/TTY-651-224-6974 V-612-788-8855 V-651-227-8471 TF-866-454-2732 V-651-789-6231 V/TTY-612-729-7381 V-651-778-1000 V-651-999-8200 V-952-938-5511 V-952-925-1404 V-612-331-2075 V-952-746-6206 V-651-686-0405 V/TTY-763-786-8334 V-612-869-3995 V-651-489-2595 V-651-632-5113

TTY-651-695-5802 TF-866-535-8239 F-612-861-6050 F-651-379-5803 F-651-224-7249 F-612-788-8577 TTY-651-227-3779 TTY-651-365-3736 F-651-789-9960 F-612-729-7382 F-651-772-4352 F-651-999-8242 TTY-952-930-4293 F-952-925-6055 F-612-331-2887 F-952-746-6209 F-651-686-0312 F-763-786-0008 V-651-457-4756 F-651-489-0410 TF-800-976-6728

www.dungarvin.com www.esrworks.org www.equipalife.org www.fraser.org www.goodwilleasterseals.org www.kaposia.com www.lifetrack-mn.org www.lifetrack-mn.org www.lifeworks.org www.merrickinc.org www.metroworkcenter.org www.mwsservices.org www.mdi.org www.opportunitypartners.org www.partnershipresources.org www.partnershipresources.org www.partnershipresources.org www.proactinc.org www.rise.org www.opportunitypartners.org www.tse-inc.org www.mnworkincentives.com

V/TTY-651-361-7800 V-651-296-4018 V-651-201-2640

TTY-800-945-8913 TF-800-627-3529 TF-888-234-1267

www.disability.state.mn.us www.mncdd.org www.starprogram.state.mn.us

GOVERNMENT Minnesota State Council on Disability MN Gov. Council on Developmental Disabilities STAR Program

HEALTH CARE COORDINATION AXIS Healthcare

V-651-556-0887

F-651-556-0880

www.axishealth.com

TF-888-562-8000 V-800-266-2157 V-800-707-1711

TTY-800-627-3529 TTY-800-855-2880 TTY-800-688-2534

www.cornerstone-solutions.org www.medica.com www.ucare.org

V—763-502-1505 V-763-546-1000

F-763-502-6777 F-763-546-1018

www.breakthrucare.com www.inhomepersonalcare.com

HEALTH CARE PLANS Cornerstone Solutions Medica UCare

HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES Break-Thru Home Care, Inc. In Home Personal Care

CONTINUED

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

Pg 9

Buyers and sellers alike want someone with my expertise and contacts to search and list homes with accessibility.

HOME HEALTH CARE SERVICES (CONTINUED) Mary T. Inc. Home Health Care People Enhancing People (PEP) Rolling Acres Home Health

V-763-754-2505 V-763-586-0049 V-952-474-5974

TF-888-255-6400 F-651-234-0864 F-952-474-3652

www.marytinc.com www.pepeople.org www.rollingacreshomehealth.org

V-763-754-2505

TF-888-255-6400

www.marytinc.com

HOSPICE CARE Mary T. Inc. Human Services Programs

HOUSING-CONSTRUCTION/REMODELING AccessAbility Options, Inc. Accessibility Design Accessible Homes, LLC. Equal Access Homes, Inc. Equip A Life (formerly Assistive Techology of MN)

V-763-571-6789 V-952-925-0301 V-612-978-1054 V-651-249-7751 V-763-479-8239

F-800-632-0798 F-952-926-7712 F-651-554-3085 F-651-450-1330 Hibbing-218-741-9134

www.accessoptionsmn.com www.accessibilitydesign.com www.accessiblehomesllc.net www.EqualAccessHomes.com www.equipalife.org

V-651-645-7271 V-651-699-6050 V-612-879-2233 V-612-522-2500 V-651-639-9799 V-763-754-2505

TTY-800-466-7722 TTY-651-695-5802 TTY-612-879-8889 F-612-521-1577 F-651-639-9699 TF-888-255-6400

www.accessiblespace.org www.dungarvin.com www.fairviewebenezer.org www.housinglink.org www.nhhiaccessiblehousing.com www.marytinc.com

V-651-603-2015 V-763-479-8239 V/TTY-651-361-7800 V-952-838-9000 V-651-201-2640

TF-888-630-9793 TF-866-535-8239 TTY-800-945-8913 TTY-952-838-0190 TF-888-234-1267

www.adaminnesota.org www.equipalife.org www.disability.state.mn.us www.pacer.org www.starprogram.state.mn.us

V-651-294-0710

TF-800-886-7201

F-651-644-9137

V-612-334-5970

TF-800-292-4150

www.mndlc.org

F-651-644-0602 F—651-792-3867 F-952-920-0480 F-651-636-5746

www.handimedical.com www.keymedicalsupply.com www.libertyoxygen.com www.PhoenixMedical.org

HOUSING-RENTAL Accessible Space, Inc. (ASI) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Ebenezer Park Apartments HousingLink National Handicap Housing Institute, Inc Villas and Townhomes by Mary T. Inc.

INFORMATION AND REFERRAL RESOURCES ADA Minnesota; a program within MCIL Equip A Life (formerly Assistive Techology of MN) Minnesota State Council on Disability PACER Center, Inc. STAR Program

INSURANCE Lee F. Murphy Insurance Group

LEGAL MN Disability Law Center

MEDICAL SUPPLIES/EQUIPMENT Handi Medical Supply Key Medical Supply Liberty Oxygen & Medical Equipment Phoenix Medical Services Inc.

V-651-644-9770 V-651-792-3860 V-952-920-0460 V-651-636-0848

CONTINUED

Pg 10 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

MENTAL HEALTH Community Involvement Programs (CIP) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Fraser Lifetrack Resources - St. Paul National Alliance on Mental Illness of MN Vinland National Center

V-612-362-4434 V-651-699-6050 V-612-767-5180 V-651-227-8471 V-651-645-2948 V/TTY-763-479-3555

V-612-362-4452 TTY-651-695-5802 F-612-861-6050 TTY-651-227-3779 TF-888-NAMI-Helps F-763-479-2605

V-715-268-0175

TTY-715-268-0177

www.cipmn.org www.dungarvin.com www.fraser.org www.lifetrackresources.org www.namihelps.org www.vinlandcenter.org

PHYSICIANS Wound Healing Center

www.AmeryMedicalCenter.org

RECREATION-ADAPTIVE HOBBY/EXERCISE/SPORTS/ARTS Capable Partners Inc. Community Education Network on Disabilities Courage Kenny Rehabilition Institute Drama Interaction, 501(c)3 Mind Body Solutions Mixed Blood Theatre Company Simply ArtAble (formerly Simply Jane) Upstream Arts

V-763-439-1038 V-651-748-7437 V-612-775-2277 V-952-220-1676 V-952-473-3700 V-612-338-6131 V-612-354-3961 V-612-331-4584

www.capablepartners.org www.CENDMN.org 218-726-4762 www.allinahealth.org/couragekenny www.cokartscenter.com/opportunitypartnersprog.html www.mindbodysolutions.org www.mixedblood.com www.simplyjanestudio.com F-612-353-6638 www.upstreamarts.org

RECREATION-TRAVEL/CAMPING Camp Character Camp Winnebago Hammer Travel True Friends Ventures Travel Wilderness Inquiry

V-218-760-8442 V-507-724-2351 V-952-277-2458 V-952-852-0101 V-952-852-0107 V-612-676-9400

F-507-724-3786 TF-877-345-8599 TF-800-450-8376 TF-866-692-7400 TF-800-728-0719

info@familyfoundationsmn.com www.campwinnebago.org www.HammerTravel.org www.truefriends.org www.venturestravel.org www.wildernessinquiry.org

REHABILITATION (PHYSICAL, OCCUPATIONAL, SPEECH, AUDIOLOGY THERAPISTS) Courage Kenny Rehabilition Institute DeafBlind Services Minnesota (DBSM) Fraser Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare In Home Personal Care Lifetrack Resources - St. Paul

V-763-588-0811 V-612-362-8454 V-612-767-5180 V-651-291-2848 V-763-546-1000 V-651-227-8471

V-612-262-7979 TTY-612-362-8422 F-612-861-6050 TF-800-719-4040 F-763-546-1018 TTY-651-227-3779

www.allinahealth.org/couragekenny www.dbsm.org www.fraser.org www.gillettechildrens.org www.inhomepersonalcare.com www.lifetrackresources.org

F-651-645-2780 V-612-362-4417 TTY-651-695-5802 F-612-861-6050 F-651-688-8892 F-218-829-9726 TF-800-582-5260 TF-888-255-6400 F-952-474-3652 TTY-952-930-4293 F-651-227-6847 F-952-767-3351

www.capstoneservices.net www.cipmn.org www.dungarvin.com www.fraser.org www.livingwell.org www.lssmn.org www.lssmn.org www.marytinc.com www.mtolivetrollingacres.org www.opportunitypartners.org www.phoenixresidence.org www.restartincmn.org

RESIDENTIAL/GROUP HOME PROGRAMS Capstone Services, LLC Community Involvement Programs (CIP) Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Fraser Living Well Disability Services Lutheran Social Service of MN - Brainerd Lutheran Social Service of MN - St. Paul Mary T. Inc. Human Services Programs Mt. Olivet Rolling Acres Opportunity Partners Phoenix Residence Restart, Inc.

V-651-641-0042 x211 V-612-362-4403 V-651-699-6050 V-612-767-5180.

V-651-9688-8808 V-218-829-9214 V-651-642-5990 V-763-754-2505 V-952-474-5974 V-952-938-5511 V-651-227-7655 V-952-767-3350

SERVICE ANIMALS Can Do Canines V-763-331-3000 Helping Paws, Inc. V-952-988-9359 Pawsitive Perspectives Assistance Dogs (PawPADs)

F-763-331-3009 F-952-988-9296 V-952-226-2063

www.can-do-canines.org www.helpingpaws.org www.PawPADS.org

SKILLED NURSING FACILITIES Bethel Healthcare Community Ebenezer Care Center

V-651-224-2368 V-612-879-2262

F-651-224-1014 TTY-612-879-8889

V-612-623-3363 V-952-767-3350

F-612-331-9401 F-952-767-3351

V-763-479-8239 V-651-291-2848 V-763-755-1402 V-763-754-2505 V-952-838-9000 V-651-201-2640

TF-866-535-8239 TF-800-719-4040 TF-888-755-1402 TF-888-255-6400 TTY-952-838-0190 TF-888-234-1267

www.welcov.com www.fairviewebenezer.org

SOCIAL SERVICES Metro Meals On Wheels Restart, Inc.

www.meals-on-wheels.com www.restartincmn.org

TECHNOLOGY Equip A Life (formerly Assistive Techology of MN) Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare Marbesoft - Simtech Mary T. Assistive Technology PACER Center, Inc. STAR Program

www.equipalife.org www.gillettechildrens.org www.marblesoft.com www.marytinc.com www.pacer.org www.starprogram.state.mn.us

TRANSPORTATION RENTAL/SALES/MODIFICATION IMED Mobility

V-651-635-0655

TF-800-788-7479

V-612-871-2222 V-763-544-2880

F-612-872-0189 F-763-544-3612

V-651-556-0887 V-651-699-6050 V-763-479-8239 V-612-767-5180

F-651-556-0880 TTY-651-695-5802 Hibbing-218-741-9134 F-612-861-6050

www.imedmobility.com

VISION IMPAIRMENT Vision Loss Resources Volunteer Braille Services

www.visionlossresources.org www.vbsmn.org

WAIVER CASE MANAGEMENT AXIS Healthcare Dungarvin Minnesota, LLC Equip A Life (formerly Assistive Techology of MN) Fraser

www.axishealth.com www.dungarvin.com www.equipalife.org www.fraser.org

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10 Pg 11

Gillette wins grant

PEOPLE & PLACES

Lacey honored for service

Gillette Children’s Specialty Healthcare was awarded a three-year, $480,000 grant by the Minnesota Department of Health to identify and test models of pediatric care coordination. Gillette is the grant’s only recipient.

June Lacey, left, received her award from Julie Samec, Minnesota State Fair Administration Support Supervisor, at the 2014 Minnesota State Fair.

Care coordination will be enhanced at Gillette.

A ride on the water is a great way to spend a day at camp.

Photo courtesy of True Friends

Campers with disabilities experience True Friends Combining two legacy organizations has not only revitalized camping fun, but increased the amount of life-changing experiences available for campers with disabilities this summer. Camp Courage and Camp Friendship, along with three other Minnesota camps, now operate as True Friends. In their first summer season, True Friends welcomed has 1,841 campers, 301 volunteers and 253 seasonal staff members.

Senior Director of Camping, Chet Tschetter said camper numbers were up for the organization. “It’s been great summer, in fact, we served about 100 more campers than last year,” Tschetter said. “Nice weather and an exceptional summer crew made our first summer as True Friends really outstanding.”

The summer campers are only a portion of the nearly 4,000 children and adults with disabilities served each year by the organization. More than 200 sessions are offered, not only during summer camp, but winter camp, respite, travel, team building, horse riding and many other programs.

Classic summer camp activities including boating, tubing, swimming and recreation activities were modified to meet a wide range of ability levels. True Friends programming like the True Strides horse program, enVISION career sessions and Team Quest ropes and climbing courses to deliver the fun experiences campers of all abilities are looking for.

“I’ve never been surrounded by so many amazing people. This summer taught me so much and has given me memories that I will remember forever,” said Maria Schmidt, the nature leader at Camp Friendship.

As the seasons change, so do the opportunities to experience camp year round with Fall Family Camp at Camp Courage, respite weekends at Camp Friendship and Camp Eden Wood and winter camp at Camp Friendship and Camp Courage. Camp locations include Camp Courage near Maple Lake, Camp Friendship in Annandale, Camp Eden Wood in Eden Prairie, Camp New Hope near McGregor and Camp Courage North near Lake George. For more information visit www.TrueFriends.org or call 952-852-0101. ■

Photo courtesy of the Lacey family

Photo courtesy of gillettechildrens.org

The term, “care coordination” is a concept that involves delivering the right care and services at the right time to people who have complex medical needs. Gillette’s work will involve helping the Minnesota Department of Health define what that term means in relation to children who have complex medical needs whose care is being coordinated across multiple organizations.

“Care coordination is a hot topic in health care right now, but the term is under-defined and often misused,” said Holly Bronson, manager of Gillette’s statewide clinics. “This is especially true for care coordination between primary care and specialty care providers for children who have complex medical needs.”

Gillette will partner with four primary care clinics across Minnesota: Mankato Clinic; Sanford Bemidji Clinic; Fairview Range – Hibbing Clinic; and HealthEast Roselawn Clinic in St. Paul. These clinics represent certified medical homes and noncertified medical homes in urban and rural areas. Gillette will evaluate the effectiveness of various models of care coordination to discover how specialty care providers can best communicate, coordinate, and integrate care with its primary care partners. Once the results are in, Gillette will work with the Minnesota Department of Health to disseminate the findings across the state. ■

Listen for new voice in the morning Mark Vidas retired in September, after working for the Radio Talking Book since 1987. His voice was familiar as Vidas had worked as the evening broadcaster, the program coordinator, and for the last several years was the Monday through Friday morning broadcaster.

Until the new a.m. broadcaster was chosen, Radio Talking Book used a combination of other broadcasting staff, part-time and fill-in. On September 29, Michael LaFleur began as the new a.m. broadcaster, moving from his position as weekend evening broadcaster. The evening spot will now be filled by Brad Bronk. Vidas intends to continue with the Radio Talking Book as a volunteer, so listeners will still be hearing his voice on some of the weekly programming.

Diamond Hill Townhomes Diamond Hill Townhomes is a great property located near the Minneapolis International Airport. We have spacious two and three bedroom townhomes that are HUD subsidized and rent is 30% of the total household’s adjusted gross income.

Our Three Bedroom waiting list is closed. We are only accepting applications for our Two Bedroom accessible units.

We are always accepting applications for our large number of mobility impaired accessible units. Please contact us for more information.

We look forward to hearing from you!

Please call (612) 726-9341.

A longtime disability community volunteer was honored for 77 years’ service to the Minnesota State Fair. June Delores Lynne Lacey of Fergus Falls was given a plaque during the fair. Lacey does volunteer work despite dealing with lifelong disabilities. Severe arthritis, scoliosis, heart issues, loss of vision and a seizure disorder caused by a head injury don’t slow her down.

Lacey is well-known for a long list of volunteer activities, often participating with her daughter Joyce Lacey. June Lacey first began giving her time and talents to the fair in 1937, as she and her family would help in the education booth. Over the years, her volunteer fair tasks have involved driving Girl Scouts and 4-H winners to their respective locations, helping at the wheelchair drop-off site, and assisting at both the American Cancer Society and Arthritis Foundation booths.

Outside of the fair, Lacey co-founded Project Bear Hugs, which provides stuffed animals to nursing homes, children’s and veterans’ hospitals, shelters and disaster scenes. She has been a leader with the Midwest Walk and Roll for the Christopher and Dana Reeve Foundation. She volunteers with the MS Walk, 150 Bike Ride, MS Tram, MS Root Beer Float Days, Community MS Booths, 30/60 MS Bike Ride and Challenge Walk. She served on the steering committee for the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation Race for the Cure. Her other cancer-related volunteer work includes American Cancer Association Relay for Life, Golf for the Cure, Bike for the Cure and Shop for the Cure. She also helps with the Muscular Dystrophy Association Telethon. She serves meals at the Salvation Army and Union Gospel Mission, and helps with the annual Thanksgiving baskets and Christmas gifts. She is a Salvation Army bell ringer and knits scarves for the homeless.

In 2013 this busy volunteer even found time to enter her very own craft work in Creative Activities competition. She looks forward to continuing her tradition of volunteering at the fair each and every year.

■

Find more People & Places on page 14

Pg 12 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10 Play explores spinal cord injury

ACCESSIBLE FUN No more bullying October is National Bullying Prevention Month when students, schools, and communities come together to raise awareness and show support for those who have been bullied.

PACER’s National Bullying Prevention Center is raising awareness that bullying is a serious issue and people need to take action. It is now supported by hundreds of schools, countless students, major corporations and celebrities, and PACER’s efforts have spawned an international bullying prevention movement. One in three American children will be bullied this year, more than 13 million students in all. PACER considers bullying to be a serious community issue that impacts education, physical and emotional health, and the safety and well-being of students. Research shows that children who are bullied at school, in the community, or online are more likely to develop depression and anxiety disorders and the lasting effects can be tragic. Students are planning events and activities across the country to raise awareness and support their peers, including celebrations of Unity Day on Wednesday, Oct. 22. That’s when people will unite by wearing orange and making a widespread statement that bullying needs to end. To make it easier for individuals and organizations to hold events, PACER offers a free student event planning guide developed in partnership with Facebook.

FFI: KidsAgainstBullying.org, TeensAgainstBullying.org

The Fetching Ball Can Do Canines hosts its Fetching Ball fundraiser Sat. Nov. 15 at Mpls Marriott City Center, 30 S. 7th St, Mpls. Celebrate the organization’s 25th anniversary at the gala, which starts at 6 p.m. and includes a silent auction, dinner, program, live auction and entertainment.

Ticket prices vary from $35 per person to $1,500 for a table. FFI: www.fetchingball.com

Simply Jane/Simply ArtAble benefit Join Simply Jane/Simply ArtAble for a night filled with stories, music, and laughter, 7:30-9 p.m. Sat, Nov. 15.

Special guests include renowned author, storyteller and NPR commentator Kevin Kling, live jazz featuring Gondwana and vocals by Barbara Meyer. Beverages and hor d’oeuvres provided. There will also be a raffle and a book signing. Tickets for the Opening Doors for Art Accessibility fundraiser are $40. The benefit is at the Simply Jane/Simply ArtAble Studio, 5411 Nicollet Ave., Mpls. FFI: http://simplyjanestudio.com/

Mixed Blood Theatre presents Colossal. Performed in four 15-minute quarters with a half-time show, featuring a dance company, a drum corps, and a fully-padded cast, this production simultaneously celebrates and attacks our nation’s most popular form of theater: football. A star football player – a pro prospect, one of the most graceful runners in the world, and a man in love with a teammate – struggles to move forward in the wake of a catastrophic spinal cord injury. With a cast of two dozen men, and full contact choreography, this play about love, ability, and extraordinary feats of strength tackles definitions of masculinity and the male body as a vehicle for language, violence, and silent expression through dance, football, and disability.

Toby Forrest, a quadriplegic actor from Los Angeles, leads an ensemble that includes Stephen Yoakam, Ansa Akyea, Darius Dotsch, and two dozen others.

Colossal is a National New Play Network Rolling World Premiere, to be produced in a single year at the Olney Theatre Center, Mixed Blood Theatre, Dallas Theater Center, and Southern Repertory. The play will be staged at the Alan Page Auditorium at Mixed Blood Theatre, 1501 S. 4th St., Mpls. All performances Oct. 10–Nov. 9 use projected subtitles in English. The ADS and ASL shows are 7:30 p.m. Sat, Oct. 18. For tickets, choose between first-come, first-served, no-cost admission under Mixed Blood’s Radical Hospitality proToby Forrest gram, or guaranteed admission ($20). Any patron that self-identifies as hav- Photo courtesy of Mixed Blood Theatre ing a disability is eligible for a no-cost advance guaranteed reservation and for a free cab ride to and from the theatre. Call the box office for more information and to reserve these services.

FFI: 612-338-6131, boxoffice@mixedblood.com, http://www.mixedblood.com ■

Young Frankenstein

Dracula

The hilarious musical is staged by Lyric Arts Company, at Lyric Arts Main Street Stage, 420 E. Main Street, Anoka. ASL show is 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12. Tickets are $16-26; $5 discount for ASL seats. Seats for ASL patrons are held in reserve until two weeks prior to the show, then released to the general public. When ordering tickets, please indicate your need for seating in this section; if there are no reservations a week before the show, the interpretation will be canceled. FFI: 763-4221838, boxoffice@lyricarts.org, http://www.lyricarts.org

Youth Performance Company presents hilarious family Halloween fun at the Howard Conn Fine Arts Center, 1900 Nicollet Ave, Mpls. ASL and AD shows are 7:30 p.m.

Oct. 25. Tickets are $15, child/senior $12, $10 group.

VSA discount applies. FFI: 612-623-9080, www.youthperformanceco.org

Sweet Honey in the Rock: Forty & Fierce The Grammy-nominated a Capella ensemble performs at O’Shaughnessy Auditorium, College of St. Catherine, 2004 Randolph Ave., St. Paul. ASL show is 7:30 p.m.

Thu, Oct. 16. Tickets are $25-55, $4 discount for student/ senior, $2 discount for MPR member or military. FFI: 651690-6700, http://oshag.stkate.edu/event/sweet-honey

The Secret Lives of Coats The world premiere of a quirky musical about three coat check girls is staged by Red Eye Theater at the company’s facility at 15 W. 14th Street, Mpls. AD show is 7 p.m. Mon, Oct. 20.Tickets are pay as able (regular $10-20, $5-8 student online); Pre-paid $10 tickets also available. FFI: 612-870-0309 ext. 1; boxoffice@ redeyetheater.org, www.redeyetheater.org

Rainbow Crow SteppingStone Theatre presents the world premiere of a Lenape Native American story, at its theater at 55 Victoria St. N., St. Paul. AD show is 7 p.m. Fri, Oct. 24.

ASL show is 3 p.m. Sun, Oct. 26. Tickets are reduced to $10 access rate (regular $16; youth/senior 55+ $12). FFI: 651-225-9265; info@steppingstonetheatre.org, www.steppingstonetheatre.org

Seedfolks Inspiring stories that shape a community are the basis of a play presented by Children’s Theatre Company on its Cargill Stage, 2400 Third Ave. S., Mpls. AD and ASL shows are 7 p.m. Fri, Oct. 24. Tickets begin at $10. FFI: 612-874-0400; tickets@childrenstheatre.org, www.childrenstheatre.org

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Same Page | Same Stage White Space Poetry Project White Space Poetry Project artists will celebrates the release of the White Space Poetry Anthology, featuring the work of deaf and hearing poets, and White Space, an award-winning short film about a deaf poet making his debut at an open mic. T. Mychael Rambo emcees a night of poetry, film and music with Maya Washington, Raymond Luczak, Su Smallen, Khary Jackson, Sandy Beach, Kimberly Eridon, Haley Lasche, Ed Bock, and Meghan Maloney-Vinz with Herschel & the Detainees.

The event is 7-9:30 p.m. Wed, Oct. 29 at Intermedia Arts, 2822 Lyndale Ave. S., Mpls. ASL interpretation offered.

Ticket prices to be announced. FFI: www.intermedia arts.org/ or www.whitespacepoetryproject.com/

A Steady Rain The Guthrie presents an Odyssey Theatre Ensemble production at the Guthrie Theater, Dowling Studio, 818 2nd St. S., Mpls. The play is a gripping tale of duty, loyalty and survival. AD/ASL/Captioning are 1 p.m. Sat, Nov. 1. Tickets are reduced to $15 for AD/ASL, $20 for Captioning (regular $34-85). FFI: 612-377-2224, TTY 612-377-6626, www.guthrietheater.org/visit/ access_services.

More events information VSA Minnesota is at http://vsamn.org The website has a large calendar at in the upper right hand corner of its home page. For information on galleries and theater performances around the state join the Access to Performing Arts email list at access@vsamn.org or call VSA Minnesota, 612-332-3888 or statewide 800-801-3883 (voice/ TTY). To hear a weekly listing of accessible performances, call 612-332-3888 or 800-801-3883.

Another web events’ listing is http://c2net.org (c2: caption coalition, inc.), which does most of the captioned shows across the country. Facebook is another way to connect with performances. Sign up to connect with Audio Description Across Minnesota (http://tinyurl.com/ d34dzo2). Connect with ASL Interpreted and Captioned Performances across Minnesota on Facebook http:// tinyurl.com/FBcaption ■

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10 Pg 13

Learn about person-centered services

UPCOMING EVENTS Advocacy Roles of trustees explained People who serve as trustee for a family member with an intellectual or developmental disability, or who may become a trustee, can learn more about that role at a forum from The Arc Greater Twin Cities. Supplemental & Special Needs Trusts: Understanding the Role of Trustee is 6-8 p.m. Mon, Oct. 27 at Woodlake Lutheran Church, 7525 Oliver Ave. S., Richfield. The forum’s legal experts will explain overview of trusts, including the difference between a supplement needs trust and a special needs trust, pooled trusts, distributions and terms. The responsibilities of a trustee and filing taxes for a trust will also be covered. The forum is free for families who participate in The Arc’s Lifetime Assistance Program and $10 per family for others. Register by Mon, Oct. 20. Ask about accommodations. FFI: 952-915-3631, www.arcgreatertwincities.org

Youth and families AuSM hosts skillshops Parents, family members, caregivers, support staff, educators, therapists, individuals with autism, and anyone touched by autism can participate in the monthly 20142015 AuSM Skillshop. Get toilet training tips, learn about housing options, obtain nutrition strategies, learn how to reduce anxiety and much more. Cost for workshops ranges from $10 to $40. Join AuSM and save on fees. Participants must preregister. FFI: 651-647-1083, www.ausm.org Essay contest offered Lions Club International sponsors is sponsoring an essay contest for students with visual impairments. Students must be 11, 12 or 13 years of age on Nov. 15, Local prizes will be awarded as well as one grand prize winner of US $5,000. Deadline is Nov. 15. The contest theme is “Peace, Love and Understanding.”

The contest may be sponsored in a local school(s) or organized, sponsored youth group(s), or individuals may be sponsored as well. Essays must be no longer than 500 words in length, submitted in English, type-written in black ink and double-spaced. Each essay must be submitted with a completed entry form. FFI: Debra Wasserman, 507-332-2792, liondebra@charter.net Life with autism series The Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) hosts classes full of information, strategies and hope-filled stories through the Life with Autism Series (formally known as the Discovery Series). Classes are led by autism experts and parent speakers, covering a wide range of ages and issues, providing parents and caregivers much needed support. The series starts at 6:30 p.m. Wed, Oct. 29 with the Life with Autism: Intro to Autism class.

The class is designed for those in need of an overview of autism as well as practical tips on how to help individuals.

This is followed by classes focused on adolescents and adults. Classes are For parents, family members and caregivers. All classes are held at AuSM offices in St. Paul. FFI: 651-647-1083 ext. 19, www.ausm.org PACER offers workshops PACER Center is not only offering anti-bullying advice during October’s anti-bullying month, PACER offers many useful free or low-cost workshops and other resources for families of children with any kind of disabilities. Workshops are at PACER Center, 8161 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington, unless specified. Advance registration is required for all workshops. Check out PACER’s website and link to a bimonthly newsletter of workshops statewide that allows participants to pick and choose sessions catered to their needs. One upcoming free workshop is Understanding and Addressing Challenging Behaviors in Your Young Child, for parents of young children (ages birth to 5) with developmental delays or disabilities, and for professionals, 9-11 a.m.

Sat, Oct. 18 at PACER Center. Learn about the stages of development, as well as strategies to provide children with acceptable ways to have their needs met. Families will also have the opportunity to network with other parents of children with disabilities and developmental delays.

Another workshop is Hot Tips on the IEP: Is your child’s IEP individualized and appropriate? 6:30-8:30 p.m.

Tue, Oct. 21. Parents who participate in this hands-on workshop will learn how to use the valuable information on their child’s special education evaluation report to determine how well the Individualized Education Program (IEP) addresses the child’s unique needs. Parents attending must bring a copy of their child’s most recent school special education evaluation report and their child’s current IEP. This workshop is in Cambridge. FFI: 952-838-9000, 800-537-2237 (toll free), www.PACER.org

Having person-centered services is increasingly important for self-advocates and their families Helping individuals, families, and direct care staff to think in personcentered ways and create services that meet those needs, dreams, and desires is a priority. The Arc Minnesota and its local chapters statewide host “Person Centered Thinking: Putting YOU in Charge!” the 2014 annual conference, Sat. Nov. 15 at the Shoreview Community Center, 4580 Victoria St. N., Shoreview.

Conference registration fee is $75, including all conference workshops and presentations, lunch, and refreshments. All other meals are on your own. Tickets for the Saturday night awards banquet are $50 each.

“Whether you are a parent, family member, self-advocate, service provider, or partner of The Arc, you’ll be glad you joined us for this important conversation,” said Don Lavin, The Arc Minnesota Executive Director.

“You’ll leave with new skills and work alongside people who share your concerns. Together we will shape our own person-centered plans and work to ensure people in Minnesota have self-directed, inclusive lives. “ Keynote speaker is Anne Roehl, a leader in personcentered thinking and planning at the University of Minnesota’s Institute on Community Integration. Roehl has worked in a variety of settings supporting individuals and families impacted by disabilities. Although her formal education focused on disability studies, she says she’s learned the most from the people she’s served and from her young son who has autism.

During the keynote address, each table will have a person-centered thinking trainer to lead attendees through discussions and exercises. Learn what person-

centered thinking means and how it’s different from personcentered planning. In afternoon breakout sessions, participate in detailed exercises on the topics of employment, housing, problem-solving, rituals and routines, and creation of personcentered organizations.

Parent Jean Bender of St. Paul has benAnne Roehl efited from The Arc’s annual state conferences. ”I attend the conference every year. Besides the information I gain through different presentations, there are great opportunities to connect with other family members and people with disabilities to share both our struggles and success stories.

Caring for a family member with a disability can be difficult at times, but when I attend The Arc state conference, I get an energy boost. I come away with new ways of thinking, new friends, and renewed motivation.

I know many other families will benefit like I do if they attend.”

For a full conference agenda and to register, visit The Arc Minnesota website at www.arcmn.org. Contact Mike Gude with any questions at 651-604-8066 or mikeg@arcmn.org ■

Help students succeed PACER Center is offering the “Inspiring Possibilities Workshop Series,” a free three-part workshop series for students with disabilities and their families. All three workshops will be held from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. and advance registration is required. The first workshop, titled “Preparing for Success in Postsecondary Education,” is on Wed, Oct. 15 at the Fairview Community Center, 1910 County Rd. B. W., Roseville. Education and training after high school is an increasingly important part of becoming economically independent. Preparing for Employment: What Every Employer Wants You to Know, Thu, Oct. 30 at PACER Center, 8161 Normandale Blvd., Bloomington. Participants will learn how Smartphones, Smart Students, and Smart Ideas: How Your Smartphone Can be a Boost to Your Education, Career Readiness and Daily Life is Wed, Nov. 5 at PACER Center.

Smartphones can be used for more than just games and texting: they can also help organize one’s life, keep track of school work, and more. Participants will learn how smartphones can be a part of a larger strategy to increase independence, organization, and time management skills. FFI: 952-838-9000, 800-537-2237 (toll free), www.PACER.org

impaired. Life skills classes for people with low vision, card games, craft classes, book clubs, walking groups, dinners out, special outings and technology classes are among the offerings. Participants need to RVSP to participate. FFI: RSVP hotline 612-843-3439; activity phone 612-253-5155, www.visionlossresources.org

Information and assistance Vision loss group offers activities Vision Loss Resources offers free and low-cost activities in the Twin Cities for people who are blind or visually

Donations to our fundraiser not only help Access Press, they provide visibility for your organization or group.

We’re looking for art, gift items, jewelry, gift cards, certificates and more.

Please contact Dawn at (651)644-2133 or by email at dawn@accesspress.org if interested in donating an item.

MCIL offers classes, more The Metropolitan Center for Independent Living offers many life skills classes as well as fun outings and activities for people with disabilities. MCIL is located at 530 N. Robert Street. St Paul and most activities are there or start there. Classes and events are listed on the website, www.mcil-mn.org. Click on “Classes Groups and Sessions” for updated information or to print this calendar.

Please give two weeks’ notice if alternative format or other accommodations are needed. Events are free, accessible and mostly scent-free. FFI: 651-603-2030 Adult support groups offered Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) offers free support groups for adults with autism spectrum disorder.

Groups include those for adult family members, women with autism spectrum disorders and independent adults with autism. Groups meet monthly throughout 2014.

Groups meet monthly at the AuSM offices at 2380 Wycliff St. FFI: 651-647-1083 ext. 10, www.ausm.org ■

Pg 14 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

October Sampling

Radio Talking Book Weekend Program Books Your Personal World (Saturday at 1 p.m.) is airing Recover to Live, by Christopher Kennedy Lawford; For the Younger Set (Sunday at 11 a.m.) is airing Goblin Secrets, by William Alexander; Poetic Reflections (Sunday at noon) is airing This Day, by Wendell Berry and Aimless Love, by Billy Collins; The U.S. and Us (Sunday at 4 p.m.) is airing Potluck Supper with Meeting to Follow, by Andy Sturdevant.

Books available through Faribault Books broadcast on the Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network are available through the Minnesota Braille and Talking Book Library in Faribault Call 1-800722-0550, 9 a.m.- 4 p.m., Monday through Friday.

The catalog is online at www.mnbtbl.org, click on the link Search the Library Catalog. Persons living outside of Minnesota may obtain copies of books via inter-library loan by contacting their home state’s Network Library for the National Library Service.

Listen to the Minnesota Radio Talking Book, either live or archived programs from the previous week, on the Internet at www.mnssb.org/rtb. Call the Talking Book Library for a password to the site. To find more information about Minnesota Radio Talking Book Network events go to the Facebook site at http://tinyurl.com/ RadioTalkBook. Audio information about the daily book listings is also on NFB Newslines. Register for NFB Newslines by calling 651-539-1424.

Access Press is one of the publications featured at 9 p.m. Sundays on the program It Makes a Difference.

Chautauqua • Tuesday – Saturday 4 a.m.

Paleofantasy, Nonfiction by Marlene Zuk, 2014. 12 broadcasts. Begins October 28. Our nostalgic visions of an ideal evolutionary past in which we ate, lived, and reproduced as we were “meant to” fail to recognize that we were never perfectly suited to our environment. Evolution is about change, and every organism is full of trade-offs. Read by Marylyn Burridge.

Bookworm • Monday – Friday 11 a.m.

The Crane Wife, Fiction by Patrick Ness, 2014. 10 broadcasts. Begins October 13. George Duncan, owner of a small print shop, is awakened one night by a white

crane that had been shot through the wing. He removes the arrow and it flies away. The next morning, a woman comes to his shop asking for help with her artwork: cuttings from what look like slices of feathers. Read by Connie Jamison.

The Forever Girl, Fiction by Alexander McCall Smith, 2014. 11 broadcasts. Begins October 27. Amanda and David have raised their children in the close-knit community of ex-pats on Grand Cayman Island. It can be ideal for raising children but can be claustrophobic for adults.

There are myriad ways in which love shapes our lives.

Read by Judith Johannessen.

The Writer’s Voice • Monday – Friday 2 p.m.

The Second Chance Dog, Nonfiction by Jon Katz, 2013. Nine broadcasts. Begins October 15. When Jon met Maria, the only obstacle was her dog, Frieda, a ferocious Rottweiler-shepherd mix. He realized that to win over Maria, he’d need to gain the dog’s affection, too.

Read by Don Gerlach.

Mother of God, Nonfiction by Paul Rosolie, 2014. 11 broadcasts. Begins October 28. In the Madre de Dios region of Peru, the cloud forests fall into the lowland rain forest creating the most biodiverse place on the planet. In 2006, Paul Rosolie embarked on a journey to the western Amazon that would transform his life. Read by Andrea Bell.

Choice Reading • Monday – Friday 4 p.m.

Queen’s Gambit, Fiction by Elizabeth Freemantle, 2013. 15 broadcasts. Begins October 14. Widowed for the second time, Katherine Parr falls in love with Thomas Seymour. But Henry VIII wishes to marry her.

Aware of the fates of his previous wives, she becomes his sixth queen. Read by Eileen Barratt.

PM Report • Monday – Friday 8 p.m.

Bosnia’s Million Bones, Nonfiction by Christian Jennings, 2013. Nine broadcasts. Begins October 21. Identifying the remains of victims of the 1995 Srebrenica massacre was dubbed “the world’s greatest forensic puzzle.” In 2000, one DNA laboratory run by the International Commission on Missing Persons (ICMP) in Sarajevo set about cracking the code to this puzzle. Since then, this technology has also help Libya, Iraq, Chile, and others to identify their missing persons. V, L - Read by John Potts.

Night Journey • Monday – Friday 9 p.m.

You Disappear, Fiction by Christian Jungersen, 2014.

13 broadcasts. Begins October 15. Mia’s husband,

Frederik, is the headmaster of a private school who has been diagnosed with a brain tumor that is changing his personality. When millions of crowns are missing at the school, he is the obvious culprit. With his new personality, he doesn’t seem to care. L, S - Read by Myrna Smith.

Off the Shelf • Monday – Friday 10 p.m.

Alena, Fiction by Rachel Pastan, 2014. 12 broadcasts. Begins October 20. A young curator is offered a job by the founder of a cutting-edge art museum. The deceased chief curator had been his childhood friend and muse. The young curator quickly finds herself out of her depth. L - Read by Nikki LaLiberte.

Potpourri • Monday – Friday 11 p.m.

Priscilla, Nonfiction by Nicholas Shakespeare, 2014.

15 broadcasts. Begins October 13. The aunt Nicholas remembered was very different from the morally ambiguous woman who emerged from a trove of documents he discovered. L, S - Read by Natasha DeVoe. Good Night Owl • Monday – Friday midnight The Days of Anna Madrigal, Fiction by Armistead Maupin, 2014. Nine broadcasts. Begins October 14.

Anna Madrigal has constructed a family of supporters dating from years ago when she was a landlady at 28 Barbary Lane in San Francisco. Now she wants to attend to unfinished business from her youth. L, S - Read

by Mike Piscitelli.

2 A.M. at the Cat’s Pajamas, Fiction by Marie-Helene Bertino, 2014. Sven broadcasts. Begins October 27. It is the eve of Christmas Eve. After facing down mean-spirited classmates and rejection at school, nine-year-old Madeleine is determined to make her onstage debut as a jazz singer. L, S - Read by Sue McDonald.

After Midnight • Tuesday – Saturday 1 a.m.

Some Quiet Place, Fiction by Kelsey Sutton, 2013. 11 broadcasts. Begins October 15. Elizabeth doesn’t feel emotions – she sees them in human form. But all the emotions have given up on her except Fear, who torments her or plays her compassionate savior. Read by Cintra Godfrey.

Evening Stars, Fiction by Susan Mallery, 2014. 10 broadcasts. Begins October 30. Nina made a career out of being a caretaker. Now Nina realizes the control she once had is slipping through her fingers. Read by Janelle Mattson. ■

Abbreviations: V - violence, L – offensive language, S - sexual situations

PEOPLE & PLACES The Arc agencies win grant The Arc Greater Twin Cities, The Arc Southeastern Minnesota and The Arc Midstate have received a MNsure Outreach and Enrollment Grant in the amount of $164,843.

“Private and public health care is a critical service for children and adults with disabilities, and can be a very complex system to access. Many people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their families have struggled to get the health care they need,” said Steve Piekarski, The Arc Greater Twin Cities’ chief program officer. “Disability, cultural barriers and income level all lead to disparities in health care coverage. With this grant, we will create and deliver community outreach tools and resources that help individuals with disabilities and their families understand MNsure and remove access barriers to gaining health care. It is a great opportunity to help more Minnesotans with disabilities get affordable, comprehensive health care coverage.”

The Arc will partner with MNsure to reach and enroll uninsured and underinsured Minnesotans, particularly within those communities where health disparities exist. The Arc has a history of connecting with people with disabilities and their families, and will act as a resource about the state health insurance marketplace while encouraging enrollment for individuals and families in need of coverage.

MNsure has engaged a diverse range of organizations to promote enrollment through the marketplace and is issuing nearly $4.6 million in grants targeted to fund outreach and enrollment efforts from Sept. 1, 2014 until June 30, 2015. Goals for the MNsure grant program include assisting populations with barriers to coverage, building regional navigator resource and referral networks and educating uninsured Minnesotans about the importance of health insurance and how they can enroll through MNsure.

Since the launch of MNsure, 311,432 Minnesotans have enrolled and the number of uninsured Minnesotans fell by 40.6% to a record low. Open enrollment for 2015 coverage begins November 15, 2014. To request more information or set up an appointment with The Arc Greater Twin Cities, click “Ask An Advocate” at www.arcgreatertwincities.org or call (952) 920-0855.

To contact MNsure directly, call the MNsure Contact Center at 1-855-366-7873 or visit MNsure.org ■

October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10 Pg 15

Olmstead Plan - from p. 1 court decision. Olmstead plans are to spell out how people with disabilities can be integrated into their communities, in terms of housing, employment, transportation, education and other areas concerning quality of life.

Minnesota’s most recent effort to prepare a plan has taken more than two years. Gov. Mark Dayton ordered that work on the plan move ahead after the legal settlement over mistreatment of residents at the former Minnesota Extended Treatment Options facility in Cambridge. Finalizing a federally ordered Minnesota Olmstead plan was part of what is known as the Jensen settlement. The Jensen family was one of the families initially involved in the lawsuit, which grew to be a class action involving hundreds of people.

The latest version of the plan had been recommended for approval by a court monitor, so Frank’s actions came as a surprise to many observers. Department of Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson told the Star Tribune that she was “troubled and disappointed” that the court didn’t approve the plan. State officials have continued to move ahead with many aspects of the plan and contend that they are making progress toward the plan’s goals.

A cabinet with representations of eight state departments and agencies worked on the plan for many months and held listening sessions around Minnesota.

One issue Frank is raising is lack of specifics, including baseline data to determine whether goals are measurable and are being met. He also called out the state for not reporting accurate and updated numbers on its goals, including the number of disabled people who have moved from segregated settings to integrated settings.

Anyone wishing to track the plan’s progress, read related documents or attend upcoming meetings can visit: http://tinyurl.com/olmsteaddocument ■

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FOR RENT Lewis Park Apartments: Barrier-free housing with wheelchair users in mind. Section 8 subsidized. Oneand two-bedroom units. For more information on availability call 651-488-9923. St. Paul, MN. Equal Opportunity Housing.

Oak Park Village: We are accepting applications for the waiting list for one-bedroom wheelchair accessible apartments. Section 8 subsidized. Convenient St. Louis Park location. Call 952-935-9125 for information.

Equal Opportunity Housing.

Calvary Center Apts: 7650 Golden Valley Road, Golden Valley, MN. A Section 8 building now accepting applications for our waiting list. Call 9 am to 4 pm, Mon – Fri 763-546-4988 for an application.

Equal Opportunity Housing.

Holmes-Greenway Housing: One- and two-bedroom wheelchair-accessible apartments. Section 8 subsidized. Convenient SE Minneapolis location. Call 612378-0331 for availability information. Equal Opportunity Housing.

POWER of the DISABILITY VOTE!

Feel the

Be Counted on

November 4

Minnesota Disability Law Election Day Center/Legal Aid

Voter Hotline

1-800-292-4150

Pg 16 October 10, 2014 Volume 25, Number 10

Kent’s Accounting Service, LLC Kent Fordyce Certified QuickBooks Online Certified ProAdvisor 2014 2005-2013 6371 Bartlett Blvd Mound, MN 55364

Fax: 952-472-1458

612-889-2959

fordyce6@aol.com

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