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Signs of Independence
June 2007
Click here to view previous
months of the Signs of Independence Newsletter
Mention of any product, service, or event in this newsletter does
not
constitute any endorsement or recommendation by OSCIL.
Signs of
Independence is made possible by the generosity of our
advertisers. OSCIL wishes to thank Lift & Care Systems, Inc.
and Michael Warner for sponsoring this edition of our newsletter. To
advertise your agency or services in the OSCIL newsletter, call
Susan at OSCIL.
OSCIL thanks
everyone who responded to our call for household items that could be
utilized by our consumers. We are in need of kitchen items such as
toasters, can openers, dishtowels, cookware, small microwaves and
toaster ovens as well as fans, hand vacuums, and lamps in good to
excellent condition. Please contact Lezlee at the OSCIL office.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Highlights of
OSCIL’s 19th Annual Meeting
OSCIL Scholarship
Winners
Election of Board of
Directors
OSCIL Volunteers Recognized
Avoiding Foreclosure
Paralysis Online Network
Home Access Seminar
Affordable Housing Update
Advocacy Newsletter
Low Vision Products
Sign Language Classes
Looking Ahead
The Rhode
Island Mentor Shared Living Program
Highlights of
OSCIL’s 19th Annual Meeting
OSCIL’s 19th
annual meeting and awards ceremony was held April 25th at
the Warwick Public Library. Board President Henry Tarlian reported
on some of our Center’s programs and accomplishments, noting that
over 6,000 individuals were served by OSCIL in the past fiscal year.
A total of 567
persons received direct, one-to-one services, a 10% increase from
last year – with the same number of staff. One reason for this
increase might be as a result of our RIPTA bus signage. Mr. Tarlian
noted that a high number of these referrals were from consumers who
were homeless or facing eviction - a reflection of the current
housing crisis in our state.
Noteworthy
highlights of 2006 include:
·
OSCIL’s housing advocate worked
with 65 consumers to
address goals to secure affordable, accessible housing.
·
Twenty-one individuals worked on goals to transition
out of nursing homes.
·
Our home modification and equipment program
gave 159 consumers the opportunity to live in homes that have been
made more accessible through the acquisition of assistive technology
or home modifications.
·
OSCIL received over 2,000 calls for information. There
were 160,000 visits to our Web site. Another 946 persons took part
in education/ outreach presentations. Two hundred twenty-eight
consumers received benefits planning and assistance.
·
OSCIL’s involvement with the Disability Vote
Project, including outreach and training on the new Automark voting
machine, encouraged consumers to get out and vote.
Guest Speaker Dr.
Raymond Mis gave an inspiring presentation, Blind-Sighted,
that had the audience’s rapt attention as they listened to the story
of his life’s journey to overcome barriers and adversity.
Dr. Mis is Chief of
the Gastroenterology Dept. at Kent County Memorial Hospital and was
voted one of Rhode Island Monthly magazine’s top docs in 2000
and again this year in 2007. He is legally blind and hearing
impaired as a result of a medical condition he developed at the
height of his career.
How did Dr. Mis get
through the difficult times and overcome these obstacles? He gave us
his definition of courage: being able to face your fears. And this
is just what he did - with determination, perseverance, the help of
devoted co-workers, and assistive technology to correct his vision
and hearing loss. Dr Mis is the first visually impaired
gastroenterologist to receive accreditation by the State of Rhode
Island and the RI Medical Society, paving the way for other
professionals with physical limitations.
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OSCIL Scholarship
Winners
OSCIL’s scholarship
committee had a difficult job this year selecting the recipients of
three $1,000 Catherine T. Murray Memorial Scholarship awards. We
thank the following committee members: Jack Walsh, John Howell,
Caldy Shire, Anne McDonald, Pat McCrone, and Lorna Ricci.
Congratulations to
the winners!
·
Christina Battista will be a senior at Rhode Island
College. She is majoring in psychology with a minor in sociology and
hopes to counsel persons with disabilities.
·
John-Paul Caparco has been accepted at Johnson
& Wales University and plans to study culinary nutrition. John-Paul
has diabetes and knows first-hand the importance of good nutrition
in managing diabetes.
·
Christina Labriola attends Plymouth State
University, majoring in special education with a minor in child
welfare and family studies. She hopes to help children overcome
barriers to education.
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Election of Board
of Directors
James Bateman, Lydia
LeFebvre, and John Nakowicz were reelected to the OSCIL Board of
Directors, joining Henry Tarlian, Stephanie Booth, Kristen Connors,
Richard DeGregorio, Mary Leeman, Jose Lobaton, Pat McCrone, Anne
McDonald, Rep. Eileen Naughton, and Susan Shapiro.
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OSCIL Volunteers
Recognized
On behalf of the
entire staff, Linda Bradley thanked the following dedicated
volunteers (our worker bees) for their valuable service to OSCIL:
Ruth Clark, Scott Fayerweather, Lillian Freeman, Pat McCrone, Tony
Ricci, Dylan Turner, and Alisa Ricci.
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Avoiding
Foreclosure
OSCIL is receiving
an increase in calls from persons at risk for foreclosure, and often
we get these calls just before foreclosure is scheduled. At this
point, it is too late to stop the process The subject of foreclosure
was covered in a recent article in the April 22 Providence
Journal by Christine Dunn entitled If foreclosure looms, get
the right help. Some of the information below is from this
article.
Help may be
available for people in danger of losing their homes to foreclosure,
but consumers must be careful to work with a HUD-approved counseling
agency. These are nonprofit agencies that charge little or no fees
for their services. They work with the lenders and owners to work
out a repayment plan, refinance, or possibly sell the property
before it goes into foreclosure.
Consumers must be
cautious of scams and fraudulent foreclosure advisors offering deals
too good to be true. Some of these fraudulent agencies charge high
fees and may convince homeowners to sign over homes to them or offer
cash payments to owners.
One HUD-approved
agency in Rhode Island is The Housing Network. John Nimmo of The
Housing Network has seen a drastic increase of homeowners seeking
foreclosure counseling. Two years ago, Nimmo saw 127 clients for
foreclosure counseling. In the last fiscal year, he counseled 515
persons at risk of foreclosure.
In general, it is
easier to help clients stay in their homes if help is obtained early
in the process before falling far behind in mortgage payments.
Homeowners should not ignore letters from lenders. Instead,
homeowners should immediately explain their circumstances to lenders
and contact a HUD-approved counseling agency. To find a HUD-approved
agency, call (800) 569-4287 Voice or (800) 877-8339 TTY. To contact
The Housing Network, call 521-1461.
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Paralysis Online
Network
The Paralysis
Resource Center, a program of the Christopher and Dana Reeve
Foundation, has recently created The Paralysis Community – a
first-of-its-kind, international online health and wellness
community for people living with all forms of paralysis and their
caregivers.
The Community,
located at
www.paralysis.org, will
allow registered members to take part in moderated discussion groups
and post personal blogs, enabling them to support one another. This
ad-free social networking site will help fulfill the Center’s
mission of providing vital information services to those living with
paralysis caused by spinal cord injury, MS, stroke, ALS, traumatic
brain injury or other diseases. It will also serve as an emotional
outlet – providing a support structure for members to share ideas
and solutions to common problems.
Membership is free,
but requires registration, including a valid email address that will
not be shared. To join, visit
www.paralysis.org.
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Home Access Seminar
·
How do I stay in my home and make it accessible?
What programs are out there to help me get started?
·
How do I find an affordable, accessible
apartment?
These are just some
of the questions addressed at OSCIL’s April 19th seminar
held at the Warwick Public library covering a spectrum of
alternatives to improve home access. Here are some of key points
made by the panel of experts:
Linda Bradley,
OSCIL’s Home Access Coordinator, emphasized the need to plan ahead
and to identify what needs to be done and then prioritize.
Homeowners not sure where to begin might request a home assessment
from a center for independent living.
OSCIL’s Home Access
Coordinator suggested incorporating universal design features when
remodeling or building. Not all modifications are major or
expensive. Doorknobs can be replaced with lever handles, for
example, or thresholds could be beveled. Special door hinges can add
an inch or two to a doorway opening. When replacing a refrigerator,
consider a side-by-side or a bottom freezer model. Place a microwave
at a height that makes it easy to use.
If you have
questions about universal design or need recommendations to make
your living environment more accessible, call the OSCIL office.
Why hire an
architect? How does one find a contractor? Architect Michael Warner
explained that architects are trained to solve problems in creative
ways within budgetary constraints and have knowledge of products and
resources. (OSCIL contracts with an architect on many of our home
modification projects.)
Additionally, Warner
stated that RI law requires contractors be licensed. Persons
interested in hiring contractors could ask neighbors for names,
should get multiple bids, and thoroughly check references. Use local
contractors, make certain the contractor is insured, and do not pay
a large percentage of the cost at the start of the project. Once a
contractor is hired, monitor each phase of the project, making sure
the plans are followed.
Panelist Richard
Catrambone noted that with falling home prices in Rhode Island,
renovating a ranch-style home, the most easy to modify, might be an
option for some.
Funding for home
renovations may come from various sources. Ramps or grab bars might
be covered under a state Medicaid waiver program. Veterans can
request funding from the VA hospital. Cities and towns often have
grants or low-interest/deferred loan programs. Check with your town
hall’s community development office or call OSCIL for assistance.
Some homeowners use
home equity loans to pay for home modifications. Seniors who no
longer have mortgages might consider a reverse mortgage. Rhode
Island Housing is the main resource for information about the pros
and cons of reverse mortgages. OSCIL has limited funding for home
modifications and assistive technology. There is a waiting list;
however, all are encouraged to call for home access information.
Panelist Harvey
Salvas from the Governor’s Commission on Disabilities said that most
private rentals are not covered under the Americans with
Disabilities Act. Renters with private landlords can ask for a
reasonable accommodation; however, the tenant may have to pay for
the alteration and in some cases, set aside funds to make changes
back to the original condition.
Under RI law, if the
modification improves the building, then the landlord cannot ask for
restoration funds. Adding grab bars or widening doorways are
considered improvements. In subsidized apartments, tenants can ask
management for reasonable accommodations such as widening doorways
or door openers.
OSCIL’s Housing
Advocate Hal Fayerweather noted that due to increasing demand and
limited supply, waiting lists for affordable apartments are very
long, averaging between one to five years. Planning ahead becomes
even more essential with such long waits. If you are uncertain if
you will be ready to move when your name comes up for an affordable
apartment, you have the right to turn down an apartment three times
and still remain on the waiting list. After declining three times,
your name is taken off the list and you must wait one year to
reapply.
OSCIL’s Housing
Advocate explained why some persons might wait longer than others
for apartments. In general, HUD policy states that out of four
available apartments, three apartments must be allocated to persons
in the very low-income bracket and one apartment will be given to
someone in the low-income bracket. For apartments exclusively for
persons 62 or older, there may be different eligibility criteria.
Consumers may call
the local HUD office at 277-8300 to request a Housing Resource Guide
with listings of subsidized housing sites throughout our state. The
booklet lists the income limits for low and very-low eligibility
guidelines. For online listings of subsidized rentals, visit
www.hud.gov or
www.rihousing.com. For
further assistance, call the OSCIL office.
Based on positive
feedback from the attendees at this seminar, OSCIL hopes to hold a
similar event at a later date.
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Affordable Housing
Update
Canonchet Cliffs I
and Canonchet Cliffs II on Main Street in Hope Valley are taking
applications for studio and one-bedroom apartments. These units are
for elderly and disabled persons who meet income eligibility
criteria. Some units are handicapped accessible. The buildings are
located behind Wood River Health Services. The estimated waiting
period is six months to one year. To request an application for
Canonchet Cliffs I, call 539-7490; to request an application for
Canonchet Cliffs II, call 539-2223.
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Advocacy Newsletter
The Rhode Island
Disability Vote Project is a coalition of people and organizations
within the disability community in Rhode Island with a goal to
increase voter registration and turnout. Its mission is to mobilize
the disability vote through building a nonpartisan voting bloc of
persons interested in disability issues. This coalition has an
informative email newsletter with updates about the Project, notices
about local disability events, and action alerts. If you wish to be
added to the newsletter email list, please send an email to
ampersand1@cox.net.
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Low Vision Products
In-Sight has
expanded its low vision products store. The store carries such items
as talking watches, talking clocks, writing guides, 20/20 pens,
large remote controls, large button phones, large print address
books, sewing equipment, and large face playing cards. The In-Sight
store is open Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. in
the lobby of the Warwick facility at 43 Jefferson Boulevard. To
check on the availability of a particular item, call 941-3322.
Sign Language
Classes
The RI School for
the Deaf offers sign language classes for
varying skill levels. An intensive summer session is being held July
16-20 from 9 to 4 for students new to learning ASL. The cost is $195
and the method is total immersion. For details, call 222-7433 voice
or visit
www.rideaf.net
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LOOKING AHEAD
OSCIL 2007
MEMBERSHIP DRIVE
If you have not renewed or
started your OSCIL membership, it is not too late. Members
receive our newsletter, an invitation to our annual meeting, and
mailings about upcoming events. The suggested tax-deductible
donations are as follows: $5 for persons who are unemployed or
retired and $25 for others. Membership is not necessary to
participate in OSCIL’s services. Please call Carol at the OSCIL
office for a membership form. If you have already renewed your
membership, we extend a sincere thank you for supporting our
programs and services through membership donations.
VSA ARTS SUMMER
ART AND MUSIC CLASSES
July 2 through August 6
6:00 – 8:00 p.m.
Independence Square in Pawtucket
For adults with developmental
disabilities. Pre-registration required. $30 donation requested.
For details, call VSA arts of RI at 725-0247 or email
programs@vsartsri.org.
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PUBLIC FORUMS
COMING WEEK OF JULY 23 – 27
During the week of July 23-27,
state agencies and community-based organizations will conduct
public forums across the state to identify the concerns of
people with disabilities and their families. OSCIL will be
hosting one forum at the Warwick Public Library on Thursday,
July 26, from 3:30 to 5:30. Times and dates of additional
forums will be announced in local newspapers. You may call the
RI Governor’s Commission on Disabilities at 462-0100 or visit
the Web site at
www.disabilities.ri.gov.
SUMMIT
ASSOCIATION SUMMER PICNIC
Sunday, August 5
11:00 – 4:00
Masonic Grounds on Long Street in Warwick
Summit Association of RI for
the Handicapped is inviting members, family and friends, as well
as prospective new members to enjoy picnic food, bingo,
swimming, and music by Vinnie Ames. The location is on a
Paratransit route. A $5 donation is requested for food. Please
RSVP if you plan to attend or wish to volunteer. Call 737-5100.
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SAVE THE DATES
STATEWIDE
INDEPENDENT LIVING CONFERENCE
Friday, September 21
8:00 - 3:30
Providence Marriott
RI
ASSOCIATION OF THE DEAF CONVENTION
October 12 and 13
15th Biennial Convention
Contact
riad2007chair@aol.com
OSCIL’S 20th
ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
April 17, 2008
West Valley Inn
West Warwick
Volunteers with event planning
experience are needed for the planning committee. Call Carol at the
OSCIL office.
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The Rhode
Island Mentor Shared Living Program
The Mentor Shared
Living Program opened its Rhode Island office in February of
2006 and is the only licensed agency in our state specializing
exclusively in shared living. (The Mentor Network operates in
over 30 states.) Shared living offers an alternative to group
home placement by providing quality, individual residential
choices. A mentor is an advocate, friend, caregiver, trusted
guide, independent contractor - an individual sharing his or her
home with an adult with a developmental disability.
Mentor Shared Living
rigorously screens and evaluates all providers and conducts an
in-depth matching process. Mentors are responsible to provide
for the health and well being of the individuals placed in their
homes, including personal care, meals, shelter, clothing,
transportation, community involvement, and religious
participation. Mentors receive a competitive tax-free daily
stipend and compensation for room and board, opportunities for
skill development, and 24-hour support. They represent a variety
of ethnic groups, skills, backgrounds, and family arrangements.
Mentor Shared Living is seeking mentors willing to share their
homes and hearts with an adult with a developmental disability.
To learn more, or if
you are 21 years of age or older, have access to reliable
transportation, an additional separate bedroom, and are ready to
make a commitment, call 732-0304 ext. 18. The office is located
at 535 Centerville Road, Suite 302, in Warwick.
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