Prairie Independent Living Resource Center, Inc

Prairie Independent Living Resource Center, Inc.

The Voice of PILR

Chris Owens, Editor

Jessica Hutchison, Design Layout

September 2015

Volume 14, Issue 3

Keep on Keepin’ on

By Chris Owens, Executive Director

In early August the Kansas Disability Caucus returned. Many staff and consumers from Centers for Independent Living attended. It was so awesome to meet up with colleagues/friends from across the state. It was like a big family reunion! Plus there were some terrific presentations that inspired us to continue along the road to full inclusion for people with disabilities. We celebrated the 25th anniversary of the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), but we also acknowledge that 100% access for us hasn’t happened and we have to keep on keepin’ on.

Gina McDonald’s presentation woke up my Advocacy spirit. Now I hope to wake up yours as well. We’ve often heard it said the ADA didn’t come with ADA police; we are the ADA police. That means we have to be aware of what’s going on in our communities; it means we have to be involved in what’s going on in our communities. How many of us sit on an ADA advisory board, are a member of a human relations board or a housing commission. Are any of us an elected official? Are we all registered to vote? Do we vote? Do we ever attend city council or county commission meetings? At the very least, the answer to two of these questions should be a resounding “YES”!

Our communities won’t miraculously change; we have to create change. If we encounter accessibility issues, we need to address them. Attend planning commission meetings; speak up telling them why sidewalks and curb cuts are important. Maybe you are a wheelchair user or a parent/grandparent of small children who ride in strollers. Perhaps you are a jogger or your children like to ride their bikes on sidewalks. The reasons for sidewalks are many but if you and I don’t speak up, contractors/builders will continue to create inaccessible communities.

How many of us attend church or other community events and can’t read the bulletins/programs because the print is too small? We need to speak up; let those in charge know there should also be large print for people with low vision. As baby boomers age, Macular Degeneration and other eye diseases will increase. That means more and more people will appreciate a larger font.

Maybe our vision is great but we don’t hear so well. Then we need to let ministers and community leaders know their churches or other organizations need to invest in assisted listening devices. After all, we are talking about our communities and all of us should be able to hear what’s being said.

In Reno County there is nowhere near enough affordable accessible housing. People need to be active members on the housing board. I have a feeling this isn’t unique to Hutchinson/Reno County. I’m betting this is an issue wherever you live. Get involved and help create the change you need to live, work and play in your community.

The ADA wasn’t passed because Congress and the President just decided it was a great idea. It was passed because thousands and thousands of Americans with and without disabilities worked tirelessly to make it happen. They gave of their time, money and willingness to fight for the civil rights for people with disabilities. The same is true today. If we don’t speak up about our needs, they will go unmet. We have to get involved; we have to advocate making our communities accessible for everyone. Otherwise all the progress that has been made over the past 25 years will begin to go away. We can’t let that happen. We are important members of our communities. In fact, our communities are not complete without us. I want to challenge each of us to begin to create change in our communities by getting involved. We have to keep on keepin’ on!!!

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

September 2015

8th Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

9th Low Vision Support Group, 1:30PM-3:00PM, 101 W. 1st, Hutchinson, KS

22nd Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

22nd PILR Board Meeting, 3:00PM-5:00PM, 17 S Main St, Hutchinson, KS

30th Low Vision/Disability Resource Fair, 10:00AM-2:00PM, 17 W 3rd, Pratt, KS

October 2015

13th Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

13th Pratt Disability Mentoring Day, 100 N Jackson, Pratt, KS

14th Low Vision Support Group, 1:30PM-3:00PM, 101 W. 1st, Hutchinson, KS

21st Hutch Disability Mentoring Day, 140 E. 30th Ave, Hutchinson KS

27th Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

27th PILR Board Meeting, 3:00PM-5:00PM, 17 S Main St, Hutchinson, KS

November 2015

10th Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

11th Veteran’s Day, All PILR locations Closed

24th Living Well with a Disability, 2:00PM-4:00PM, 400 S Main, Pratt, KS

26th Thanksgiving Holiday, All PILR locations closed

27th Thanksgiving Holiday, All PILR locations closed

Disability Mentoring Days

October is an exciting time for the students living with a disability in our communities. PILR partners with local business to provide our students with this opportunity. We have a number of students that continues to grow each day and we always need more businesses to partner with. If you would like to be a part of DMD and are in Pratt please contact Tasha at 620-672-9600 or . If you are in Hutch contact Roger at 620-663-3989 or . If you would like to help with DMD but don’t have a business you can sponsor a student for $25. The $25 scholarship will provide the breakfast food, food for the afternoon reception, and the reception speakers.

K-LOAN

PILR offers an Alternative Finance Program through K-LOAN…formally known as KATCO to our Consumers. Heather Jones has completed her training as the South Central Regional Loan Representative and is located in the Hutchinson Office. The program offers low interest Loans on a variety of Assistive Technology devices and equipment as well as recreational, sports, and much more! Contact Heather at extension 240 for more information.

DURABLE MEDICAL EQUIPMENT

Do you have health equipment you no longer need that could be useful to someone else? If so, consider donating it to PILR. Our consumers need wheelchairs, walkers, rollators, shower seats, CCTVs, video magnifiers, and canes. If you have any of those items you’d like to donate, please call 620-663-3989 or you may drop items off at 17 S Main, Hutchinson. Your donation will be greatly appreciated!

WE WOULD APPRECIATE A HELPING HAND!

As a non-profit 501(c) 3 organization, PILR relies on generous donations in order to provide services for our consumers. Donations made to PILR go towards providing services, youth projects, and assistance with purchasing equipment for people with disabilities including wheelchairs, ramps, home modifications, and other assistive devices to name a few. As PILR looks to the future, we could use your help to help others. Making your tax deductible donation is easy! You can do one of the following:

Visit our website at www.pilr.org and make a donation through PayPal

Mail your donation or bring it into the Hutchinson office

Name:

Address:

Telephone:

Please make your tax-deductible donation payable to Prairie Independent Living Resource Center, Inc. and send to:

Development Office

PILR

17 S. Main

Hutchinson, KS 67501

Support PILR through:

PayPal at www.pilr.org

Thank you!!!

A Trip worth Taking Part III

By Roger Frischenmeyer

Welcome back to the disability history time machine. When we last met people with disabilities were being treated pretty poorly because most people believed that if you had a disability you couldn’t contribute to the community. As you may remember, laws were made that banned people with disabilities from the colonies. Yet, they couldn’t totally eliminate people with disabilities from the colonies because there would always be new people born with disabilities, or people who became disabled because of accidents or illness. So, to deal with this, the town’s people would do 1 of 2 things. Either they would do what was called “warning out” which meant that they would tell you that you weren’t welcome in their town and you better move along, or they would “pass you on” which meant that they would load you in to a cart and drop you at the next town. It was also during this time that many people with disabilities and other “deviants” were forced in to poor houses where the living conditions were very harsh. By the 1840’s several institutions called training schools started springing up. Many were away from the towns and cities. It was thought, because many of the poets of that era wrote about getting back to clean living, that this would be helpful for the training of people with disabilities which is why most institutions were in the country. Though early institutions showed some promise of training people with disabilities to function in their communities, often, there were no opportunities for employment once the person with a disability got home so they would end up in a poor house or in jail. It was at this time that institutions focused less on education and more on warehousing people with disabilities to get them away from “normal” people. As we moved in to the 20th century, more and more people believed that society could be bettered, if those who could have children were controlled. The eugenics movement started in the United States and was taken to the extreme by Hitler when he killed 6 million Jews. Before he started killing the Jews, he killed more than 250,000 people with disabilities. Interestingly enough, While Hitler was trying to create the perfect human, believing that people with disabilities were inferior to him; the United States president was a person with a disability.

As we moved on in to the 20th century, people with disabilities began to get their voice. Come back next time to hear all about awesome people like Ed Roberts, Justin Dart, and of course independent living.

Job Club

The newest exciting news from those of us at PILR who are involved with employment issues is the development of our new job club. As employment is a major step in the journey to independence, all PILR staff and management are involved in one way or another. We have recently contracted with the EES folks at DCF to provide learning opportunities leading to employment for the folks they are working with and to assist them on the path to employment. PILR staff have been working hard to develop a meaningful and fun Job Club Curriculum and to work out the issues involved in providing placement services. Prairie Independent Living welcomes these consumers and we are looking forward to introducing them to our staff and our services and giving them the opportunity to become part of the PILR family.

What is going on in Dodge City?

Our little Dodge City PILR Office is becoming busy recently! We have been working on getting more referrals so that we can expand the Dodge City office and really reach out to possible consumers in the area. I still hear “What’s Prairie Independent Living Resource Center?”, “I didn’t even know you guys were down here!”, or “How long have you guys been around?” Many people in that area just don’t realize that we are there. That is why we are trying to get our names out there because the more people that know about us, the more people that we can help!

We currently are working on getting our information and booth together for the Community Health Fair hosted by Victory Electric. It will be held on September 19, 2015, at the Western State Bank Expo Center. It will be from 8 AM-12 PM. There will be lots of great resources at the fair this year so we encourage you to come out and see us and take advantage of the great health care opportunities available!

The Marketing Team is also getting together a Lunch & Learn that we will be hosting in Dodge City in November. This is a chance for local businesses and community leaders to learn more about PILR and what we have available. It will help the Dodge City Office really educate the public about what we offer.

We currently have three employees in the Dodge City Office. That includes: Sabrina, I&R Receptionist; Mignon, ILS/OIB; and Tasha, Service Coordinator/ILS/MFP. Our office is slowly, but surely, growing. I cannot wait to really get it going and show what Dodge City can really do!

Pratt Office Updates

Our Pratt PILR Office has been EXTREMELY busy these past few weeks. We have a Low Vision/Disability Resource Fair coming up on September 30, 2015, that we have been planning for; along with Disability Mentoring Day that will be held on October 13, 2015, in Pratt. Our Low Vision/Disability Resource Fair will be held at the Municipal Building. Disability Mentoring Day will be held at the First United Methodist Church again this year.

Besides our event planning, the Pratt staff has been quite busy in their outreach efforts in trying to expand the Pratt office and help more consumers! In August, we held a “Lunch & Learn” at the public library. We were able to offer information about what PILR does at this event. It was a great opportunity for us and we will be holding another one again next year! Some staff members also were able to participate in the local Relay for Life event that was held in Pratt in August. This was a great opportunity for all of us to give back to the community for a great cause.

Our Pratt office, as well as the other two offices, is full of staff members who are extremely passionate about what they do. There are some great people here, so I encourage you all to stop in and see us if you are ever in the area!