Provider/Consumer Stories:

Disability & Civil Rights Advocate Ed Roberts “Father of Independent Living Movement” to be Iinducted Into California Hall of Fame

 CDCAN DISABILITY RIGHTS REPORT 
CALIFORNIA DISABILITY COMMUNITY ACTION NETWORK
#197-2011 – DECEMBER 7, 2011 – WEDNESDAY  

One of 10 Other Californians To Be Honored In December 8th Ceremony In Sacramento Hosted by Governor  Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Brown 

SACRAMENTO, CA (CDCAN)  [Last updated 12/07/2011 05:00 PM] -  The late Ed Roberts, revered by people with disabilities and seniors across the nation for his trail blazing work as a disability and civil rights leader, will be one of 10 Californians to be inducted in the California Hall of Fame, in a ceremony hosted by Governor Jerry Brown and First Lady Anne Brown on December 8th, 7:00 PM at the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium, 1515 J Street, a few blocks from the State Capitol.  Ed Roberts mother, Zona. is scheduled to be at the ceremony to accept the “Spirit of California” medal that all inductees receive, on behalf of her son.   Read the rest of this entry »

IHSS Consumer’s pride & solidarity

Click to see larger imageWhen Joey Rowland from San Luis Obispo heard about UDW’s efforts (and victory!) stopping the waste of taxpayer dollars on fingerprinting for timecards (passage of SB930), he wrote us the following email:

“Now this is the U.D.W. Union that makes me proud to be a member, and not only a member but a proud citizen of California governed by a caring man by the name of Mr. Brown. Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication! Know that I and everyone involved in the I.H.S.S. program is thankful for your loyalty, dedication, love, and time. Please keep up the great work, and I hope to hear more victories to come. Thank you from the very bottom of all our hearts especially mine.”

— Joey Rowland (Disabled citizen that receives IHSS services.)

Joey also sent us his tongue-in-cheek “visitors guide” artistic collage, shown below along with his comments: Read the rest of this entry »

Consumer Shares Poem “A Little Mixed Up” by Bart Beck

 
On Sunday morning a client of ours called in a panic because his caregiver had not arrived yet to take him to his appointment.  I recognized his voice since I had just spoken to him a few days prior; I reminded him that his appointment was for Monday and that a caregiver would be there to get him to his appt on time. He was very embarrassed,  I told him we all get mixed up on the days and that I do it myself quite often. Later I received a poem from this client via the caregiver that worked for him Monday.  The poem, “A Little Mixed Up” has been published on the internet, and is credited to LeBart Beck.  Our IHSS Consumer wanted me to read it.  It was so wonderful I thought it would be great to share it on our own website.  Here is the poem; ……

Read the rest of this entry »

Disabled Abandon Wheelchairs, Protest Medicaid Cuts

 True US History

By Rose Aguilar, AbundantHope.net
May 28, 2011 – 5:01:26 PM

 

When Sheela Gunn-Cushman decided to take part in a die-in at the California Republican Convention at the Hyatt Regency in Sacramento in March, she didn’t think it would change minds, but she believed that if attendees had to look into the eyes of people with disabilities, they might think twice about pushing for and supporting continued budget cuts.

“There wasn’t one person at that action that wasn’t disabled,” said Gunn-Cushman, a disability rights advocate who is blind and has a mild case of cerebral palsy. “We have all been hit hard by budget cuts.” Read the rest of this entry »

Family Caregivers Should be Thanked, Not Ridiculed

Kenneth Jones Huffington Post, March 21 2011

Kenneth Jones, IHSS Provider

I am a small businessman from California, a retired Air Force Reserve member and a lifelong Republican. I am also a single dad and an In Home Supportive Services (IHSS) home care provider for my 29-year-old daughter Barbara.

Our lives changed forever one dark night in 1996 when Barbara — then only 14 — was involved in a horrific accident caused by a drunk driver. While she survived, she had to have a portion of her brain removed. From that day on, she has been physically disabled and requires 24-hour constant care. Read the rest of this entry »

IHSS consumer John McCauley worried about future of program

– After years of cuts, county home care workers fear a replay

 
By Jason Hoppin – Santa Cruz Sentinel  Updated: 03/19/2011 04:38:46 PM PD
SANTA CRUZ – With cataracts and vision in one eye down to 10 percent, small tasks are hard for Live Oak resident John McCauley.
Washing machines confound him: They’re all digital now, no dials. And a trip to the grocery store is to rely on strangers to help find food, and tell him how much it costs.

That’s where Judy Hayes comes in, his longtime home health care worker. Hayes prepares meals – McCauley’s a fan of tuna sandwiches – and helps him out with chores, visiting several days a week. She brings Buddy, a 10-year-old terrier who lolls on the utility-grade carpet in McCauley’s low-income apartment. Read the rest of this entry »

Balancing the budget: Making the weak pay

by Ryan E. Smith, Contributing Writer 
March 1, 2011 Jewish Journal.com

Sylvia Mnuchen has spent her life fighting.

First it was cancer that attacked her skin, then her breast. More recently it has been an ailment that has kept her in a wheelchair, her feet swollen, her legs wrapped tight like a mummy.

But as a loyal Jewish Democrat and longtime advocate of social justice, she never thought she would find herself fighting Jerry Brown, a man she voted for three times for governor. Yet the 94-year-old is suddenly on the wrong side of Brown’s proposed budget cuts that would slash state spending by $12.5 billion, ripping a hole in numerous social service programs and eliminating others entirely.

Payouts for Medi-Cal, California’s version of Medicaid, would be reduced by $1.7 billion. The welfare-to-work program CalWORKs would be cut by $1.5 billion. Other programs assisting the elderly and disabled would be affected, too.

Legislators are working on a budget agreement with the governor and expect it to be ready for a vote early this month.

Brown has called it “a tough budget for tough times.” To Mnuchen and other social service advocates in the Jewish community, though, it would only make tough times tougher.

“It’s a terrible situation,” she said.   Read Full Story

IHSS Provider Terry Walker — “God has the last word”

Terry Walker, a homecare provider from Stanislaus County is face-to-face everyday with clients that will suffer terrible consequences if the cuts go through.  She also works in an institution for Alzheimer patients and knows what it is like when people are placed in these facilities.  She wants to let legislators know they are making a big mistake if they allow the proposed cuts to be implemented:  Read the rest of this entry »

IHSS Consumer Kelly Alameida Speaks Out

Kelly and her provider made the effort to travel to Sacramento from Placer County on January 27th to protest cuts to IHSS.  She talked with us near the steps of the capitol during the rally.  Here is what she had to say…

Read the rest of this entry »

Meet the Real People of IHSS — Contest Entry Winners and More…

Thanks to all of you for your outstanding entries in our “Share Your Story” contest. All of you have shown what homecare really means to UDW members and the people for whom they care. Read the rest of this entry »

The Seashore by Christie Kea Longmire

Contest Winning Essay –
My small hand took yours as we walked along the seashore.  What a pair we were in our matching Hawaiian dresses and tanned legs.  We’re still a pair, but now, it’s your frail hand that reaches to take mine.  We still walk together when you are able, but Hawaiian dresses have made way for comfy clothes and well, our legs are anything but tanned these days. Read the rest of this entry »

Veronica’s Incredible Development by Rosita Whittaker

Contest Winning Video –
This article is a brief outline of my daughter, Veronica’s incredible development throughout her life. Thanks to In-Home-Support-Services, I’ve been able to provide a loving home, pets, education and therapy, as well as encouragement, hope, love and inspiration. Read the rest of this entry »

It Takes a Village – and IHSS by Paul DeMuth

It Takes a Village and IHSS …
Contest Winning Photo!

Zoie was born August 16, 2000 weighing only 1lb. 10 oz.  She was in the NICU at Kaiser for 17 weeks.  We watched her in her incubator all those weeks telling God we would take her any way we could get her.  We said it with love and with all our hearts, but with a bit of naivety having no idea the road that lay ahead but trusting that He would see us through. Read the rest of this entry »

What price friendship? — by Sally Johnson

Sam and I have been friends for over 30 years.  About 20 years ago my company moved from the beautiful Sierra foothills to San Diego, and I asked him if he wanted to tag along as shoveling snow isn’t fun when you’re over 50.  Sam agreed, found us an apartment, and packed.  We agreed to help each other get established in our new city for a year before committing to continue this arrangement. Read the rest of this entry »

My Rock; 30 years of love by Randy Chew

SHE GIVES UP HER LIFE
SO THAT I MAY LIVE
SHE GIVES UP MORE
THAN ANYONE SHOULD GIVE

SHE WORKS LONG HOURS
PUTS IN 24/7
I LIVE IN HELL
SHE’S MY SLICE OF HEAVEN Read the rest of this entry »

The Beginning… by Robert Andrew Daniel

I remember the Beginning…

I remember when the Scourge descended, the Whip cracked, the Iron Bar crushed, and people wept in fear and sadness that they had never before known… Read the rest of this entry »

A mother’s story… by Claudia Tuckman

Hearing the words “your child has autism” is devastating.  Discovering your next child also shares the disability is heartbreaking.  Losing your home and everything you have worked so hard your entire life in a desperate attempt to help your children emerge from the dark world that engulfs them is a bearable loss if it means you can pay for more treatments that insurance doesn’t cover.  Read the rest of this entry »

For Bibi… by Lynda Labine

She is only different in the eyes of others.  I am attaching  a picture that represents the sweetness of my girl taken years ago but it is my favorite; the only school picture that turned out well.  I smiled at her and she smiled back and a miracle happened….my girl Bibi is 39 and severely Autistic….UDWA means so much to me….they have given me an outlet to tell my story.…IHSS literally saved our lives….without it my girl would be in jeopardy because she is a big girl and non-verbal….she is truly the love of my life and now I can share her with everyone!

Read the rest of this entry »

My Body Has Not Changed by Dominika Bednarska

I’m thirty years old preparing for a career, finishing a doctoral degree on scholarship and I don’t think I should have to leave the state or live in a nursing home or leave the state because I need support services. Here is a poem I wrote before I even heard about this contest. I hope it gets through to people. Read the rest of this entry »

My miracle daughter by Rosy Haskins

My name is Rosy Haskins Perez and I want to share the story of my beautiful, amazing daughter Mandy.  She is a happy 34 year old; a young lady who continues to bless everyone that knows her.  The IHSS program here in California has made it possible for me to be her full time care giver and because of that, we have been able to keep Mandy at home with us where she continues to improve.

At the young age of 17, Mandy was in a car accident and she suffered a broken collar bone, a punctured lung and most devastating of all, a traumatic brain injury, which put her in a coma for 3 months.  We were told by all of the neurologists that if she lived, she would be a vegetable.. We were told to put her in a nursing home and we were given no hope of recovery. Read the rest of this entry »

How can you put a price on love? by Kathleen Hartshorne

How can you put a price on love?  My amazing son sings all my songs by heart but can’t cross the street safely!  Stands up at a Celtic Women concert and blows kisses to the girls, but would accidentally burn down the kitchen if not watched.  This wonderful young man who would wander away and go into any house on the street, is my reason for living. He is the greatest joy I have ever known, and also the one who makes it impossible to work out of the house, or have any freedom like adults usually have.  I have made the sacrifices willingly and with great love and joy.  My life is caring for my son.  Everything else takes second place. Read the rest of this entry »

More than a Care Giver by Lisa Morris

As an IHSS provider I know that I’m more than just a “care-giver”.  And Linda (my client) is more than just a recipient. As well as not being able to do certain chores and errands without help, she really depends on my companionship as well.  Over the last four months I have become a friend to Linda.  Even the littlest things like, a hug, a kind word or just a smile means so much to her. She is so afraid she is going to “lose me” — as her only friend, I know it would devastate her already fragile mental state.  I realize that there is fraud that happens, but people like Linda are not the offenders.  They truly need help and I hope the help they are getting is not taken away from them.

I am proud to make a difference in someone’s life.

Back – read more provider & consumer stories 

Parent Advocate & Home Care Provider by Victor Moreno

My son is 28 years old and he was born with Cerebral Palsy.  He has had 8 operations throughout his lifetime.  He’s also wheelchair bound.  The importance of IHSS: A tremendous impact in my family for the following reasons:  As a father, husband and a provider I have been able to provide for my family and my son’s daily needs.  Working from home has also allowed me to make a little extra money by assisting other Consumers.  I am a professional who has used all my skills Read the rest of this entry »

The Promise by Mahnaz Firouzi

I promised her.  And so, we were happy that there was no fracture.  The next day when we visited the doctor he asked her; “What bothers you the most?”  She said “Living in a nursing home.  I want to take my last breath in my own home.”  The doctor also promised to do his best. Read the rest of this entry »

No institution please! by Betty Anthony

I have been raising my nonverbal autistic grandson and his bipolar brother since the one was 2 years old and the latter 5 years old.  My daughter had a breakdown and was not able to deal with them since she has her own disorders to deal with.  My husband and I took turns watching our grandson as he slept very little during those days.  We were like a tag team with one sleeping while the other was watching.  I could no longer keep up my antique and collectible business because I had no one to leave this child with. Read the rest of this entry »