by MAKE IT SOAR | Apr 21, 2015 | What's Happening
For Immediate Release:
SOAR Fox Cities, Inc. is fortunate enough to have been nominated for a Fox Cities Chamber 2015 Business Award in the category of Exemplary Marketing and/or Performance Award, Small Employer. In the past year, SOAR has gone through many transformations. Aside from changing the agency’s name to SOAR Fox Cities, Inc. in 2014, SOAR unveiled their new logo in March of 2015. SOAR is very grateful for the nomination of this award, and is very thankful to those who have helped SOAR reach new heights throughout this process. The winner of this award will be announced on Wednesday, June 10th.
by MAKE IT SOAR | Apr 20, 2015 | What's Happening
Leonardo da Vinci once said, “The noblest joy is the pleasure of understanding.” SOAR Fox Cities, Inc. has been working hard to create more understanding about disabilities in local businesses and adult groups. SOAR’s Community Education Program is intended to provide information and education to people of all ages about disabilities. Even though SOAR has been effective in educating youth about disabilities, SOAR is now putting extra effort into making sure businesses and all adult community members have a strong understanding of disabilities.
By educating more adults about disability awareness, SOAR hopes to develop empathy in stakeholders, business owners and employees in the community. This would hopefully help move to businesses creating more welcoming environments, and possibly opening doors to employment for those who live with disabilities. SOAR’s Adult Community Education Presentations consist of a 30 minute PowerPoint discussion. During this presentation, many different disability related topics are discussed. For example, attendees will learn details about Developmental Disabilities, Intellectual Disabilities, Autism Spectrum Disorder, Traumatic Brain Injury, respectful language, and helpful statistics. Focus is also put on attendees learning to understand the life of a parent or caregiver of someone who has a disability. Not many realize that it roughly costs an additional $17,000 per year to raise someone with Autism (cdc.gov). Businesses will also leave with an understanding of how they could benefit from focusing more on disabilities. For example, most do not know that the turnover rate for individuals with disabilities is 8%, compared to 45% for other workers (Employment First WI). Also, 87% of customers say they prefer shopping at stores and companies that employ people with disabilities (Siperstein). With more focus than ever before being put on people with disabilities being involved in the community, it is very important for community members to understand the life of someone who has a disability.
If you, your employer, or someone you know is interested in hosting a Disability Awareness Presentation, please contact Mitch Cornils, CSW at (920) 731-9831 x111 or [email protected]
by MAKE IT SOAR | Apr 8, 2015 | What's Happening
Please take a minute to help out the Fox Valley Advocacy Coalition. They are looking to gather information about the “experiences and needs of individuals serving as guardians in Outagamie County.” A work-group interested in improving the training and support of local guardians will be analyzing the surveys. Please access the survey via the online link below, or hard copy attached below. You can then mail the hard copy to (Fox Valley Advocacy Coalition, 820 W. College Ave, Appleton, WI 54914)
Let your voice be heard.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/Outagamie_Guardianship
Hard copy:
Guardianship Survey_Outagamie County
by MAKE IT SOAR | Mar 25, 2015 | What's Happening
There is still plenty of time for your voice to be heard on the topic of of the proposed state budget. If the proposed state budget passes as it is now, there would be a great impact on the disability community. In this proposed state budget, IRIS would be included in with Family Care, and individuals in the IRIS program may lose their right to choose who they want to hire for services.
Representative Amanda Stuck (D-Appleton) is holding a listening session on Wednesday, April 1, 2015 from 5:30-7:00 PM. This will take place at the Menasha Public Library – Company Room E – 44 First St. Menasha, WI 54952.
Attendees can feel free to voice all concerns, comments and questions regarding the 2015-2017 Biennial Budget Proposal from the Governor. Please take a look at the attached document to learn more about what is in the proposed budget.
Disability Rights Wisconsin – Budget Summary
by MAKE IT SOAR | Mar 11, 2015 | Advocacy
In regards to the proposed budget by the Governor, there are many options for parents, caregivers, advocates, and individuals living with disabilities to have their voice be heard. If you have not yet heard about the proposed changes to long term care in Wisconsin, they will impact many individuals who utilize any type of long term care services. Essentially, the proposed budget outlines the expansion of Family Care statewide, and the “rolling in” of the IRIS program into Family Care, according to Wisconsin Board for People with Developmental Disabilities (BPDD). Also according to BPDD, Family Care would change to include medical care. In IRIS, their 10,000 participants have the ability to choose how to spend their money on services such as bathing, cleaning, and others that allow them to live independently. There is also a projected cut of $19 million to the personal care program. While self-direction in Family Care can compare to the self-direction of IRIS, they are not the same. According to BPDD, in IRIS, each person is told how much they have in their budget, so that they know how much they can spend on long term care services. In Family Care, members usually are not told how much funding they have for long term care services, but are only told the budget they choose to self-direct. While IRIS members are able to self-direct all of their services, Family Care members have to work within the Resource Allocation Decision (RAD) guidelines, and work within those restrictions. Most Family Care members only choose to self-direct supportive home care. A large difference between the programs is the restrictions on who one can hire to provide services. In IRIS, there are not any restrictions on to who can provide services, besides a background check. For example, a family member could be hired as a service provider. In the Family Care program, a person has some flexibility in choosing providers in the ones you are self-directing, but usually limited to using providers in their MCO provider network for all services the individual is not self-directing.
Please remember that this is only a proposed budget, and nothing is finalized. All individuals have lots of options for their voices to be heard on this topic. For instance, there are multiple WI Legislature Joint Finance Committee Public Hearings coming up in March. At these meetings, all individuals have an opportunity to voice their opinions on the proposed state budget. The nearest one to the Fox Cities is at Brillion High School (W1101 County Road HR, Brillion WI 54110) from 10:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18th. Representative Steineke will also be holding listening sessions on the State Budget. These are on Tuesday, March 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Nichols Village Hall (N9065 Krull Rd. Nichols, WI 54130) and Monday, March 23 at 6:30 p.m. at the Howard Village Hall (2456 Glendale Ave. Howard, WI 54313). Also in attendance will be Representative Dave Steffen and Senator Rob Cowles. Also remember that it is possible to write, email, or call your legislature at any time. Writing a letter to the editor is also an effective way to educate the public and your representatives about your opinions regarding these matters.
SOAR Fox Cities has created a parent Facebook page where parents will be able to connect with each other online. This page is not anonymous, but private to those who are added to the group. For questions or comments regarding the proposed budget or if you wish to be added to the SOAR Fox Cities, parent page, please call Mitch Cornils at (920) 731-9831 x111 or email him at [email protected].
Sources:
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Disability Rights Wisconsin – Budget Summary
