Yo Mr. Cube,
I am writing to you with a heart-wrenching story. My company provides services to people with special needs. I have recently run across a beautiful sad 7 year old boy, with a serious developmental disability.
Recently, overnight, the boy’s caregiver died of pneumonia overnight. This left him in a state of grief with a disability that will not let him express himself at his young age in a constructive way.
The boy loves to dance and move, particularly to your music. It actually livens him up and calms him down. He would love nothing more than to dance all day. This boy is challenged not only by his disabilities, but having to go to school in a very urban environment which causes him to act out.
I have an idea to regain his beautiful smile, if you could take a little time out of your busy schedule to go get down with him at school, it would lift his spirits and leave memories that would last a lifetime.
As for me, I am 31 and I own my own business. I have a physical disability called Cerebral Palsy and have been going to college perusing a career and I deal with my own disability on a daily basis. I have lost people in my life before, role models, good friends, and yes, like this little boy, I have lost a few care-givers. There is no real description to the grief. Except to say, that you lost someone who has helped you out and you will never get a chance to see them or to talk to them again.
From your music and your lyrics, I know that you know about death and dying in the African American Community. In all my years of doing this type of work, I see no one better than you as a role model for this child.
Please help him,
Nicholas Feldman
Monday, November 22, 2010
Home Care Leads
One of my frustrations which I hope all my readers can help me with is how to find leads for my home care business.I really need to find people who can pay our rates and have a somewhat regular schedule. It's a lot to ask for, but if you could throw a few of these my way I would be really grateful.
Nick
Nick
Holiday Hell has Arrived
I hate the holidays. Too much family, too many expectations, and too much food. Not to mention the whole materialistic thing. I just don't understand why people won't stop believing in Santa Claus when in reality Santa Claus does not exist. And so...bleh!
My business seems to stop over the holidays. I've heard others say the same before. Traveling people everywhere. Kids, because there's no school. People get wacky because of the anxiety of it all.
That's all I've got to say about it.
My business seems to stop over the holidays. I've heard others say the same before. Traveling people everywhere. Kids, because there's no school. People get wacky because of the anxiety of it all.
That's all I've got to say about it.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Interesting...
The below article about Governor and the people in power is really cool... I like the author and his point of view.
The Governor’s Depraved Cuts To IHSS
By Jack Bragen
Thursday February 11, 2010
Arnold Swartzenegger, and his longtime hero Clint Eastwood, are finally getting their fondest wish, which is to rid the state of what they believe to be a mere nuisance: The coexistence of disabled people in the community. If at all possible, these two anti-disability activists would have anyone with a significant disability be forced to live in state institutions, and out of their sight.
Clint Eastwood, who Arnold once said was his childhood hero, has been known for years to be an anti-disability-rights activist. Numerous articles in “Ragged Edge Magazine” (no longer in print) have described his bigoted activities and his attitude toward disabled people.
Arnold, following in the beliefs of Clint, is the Governor and the one to which the voters have given authority. So far he has used this power to pencil out large parts of the In Home Supportive Services, and this has caused many disabled persons to go without the caregivers who have allowed living in the community.
My wife and I have been recipients of these services and were getting help with our dishes and laundry; this service made our existence much easier. Our mental health issues made it hard to wash the dishes and do laundry. If you have experience with mental health, you will understand this difficulty as well as how much some outside assistance helps.
We recently had the experience of being discontinued from IHSS, on the basis that we were not in imminent danger of going to a skilled nursing facility. While it will be a hardship for us to compensate for the absence of our workers, we do not expect to be institutionalized as a result. And that’s now the criteria of no longer receiving these services.
Most IHSS recipients have physical disabilities, not mental ones, and the services they receive, which include very basic care, are essential for them to continue living in their homes.
The social worker who reviewed my wife and I told us that the governor hopes to eliminate IHSS entirely. This would leave numerous disabled people in California without hope of continuing an independent and therefore tolerable existence.
Apparently Arnold believes that disabled people are scum, are freeloaders, and all ought to get a job or else disappear into an institution. Because he is a multimillionaire, he believes it makes him inherently superior, and he deems himself worthy to make such a judgment. Like many who have made fortunes in society, he seems to think he is better than everyone rather than the reality that he is blessed with good fortune.
Of course, the above paragraph involves “reading in” to Arnold and is not fact. It is my interpretation of this seemingly pompous man based on how I have seen him behave.
This is one reason why society is crumbling in our country: we have a small percentage of people who hoard most of the wealth, and who apparently can never get enough wealth and power to satisfy them. This group of people inflicts cruel acts on other human beings, and on the earth itself in the course of their quest for more. The extreme hoarding disrupts the fabric of the economy since the regular people, including those who work and produce things, cannot afford to pay for the basics.
The above paragraph might explain why the governor must cut benefits for people who are less fortunate, while he refuses to raise taxes on people who can well afford to pay something back after being blessed with the best, materialistically speaking, that society has to offer.
Jack Bragen is a Martinez resident.
The Governor’s Depraved Cuts To IHSS
By Jack Bragen
Thursday February 11, 2010
Arnold Swartzenegger, and his longtime hero Clint Eastwood, are finally getting their fondest wish, which is to rid the state of what they believe to be a mere nuisance: The coexistence of disabled people in the community. If at all possible, these two anti-disability activists would have anyone with a significant disability be forced to live in state institutions, and out of their sight.
Clint Eastwood, who Arnold once said was his childhood hero, has been known for years to be an anti-disability-rights activist. Numerous articles in “Ragged Edge Magazine” (no longer in print) have described his bigoted activities and his attitude toward disabled people.
Arnold, following in the beliefs of Clint, is the Governor and the one to which the voters have given authority. So far he has used this power to pencil out large parts of the In Home Supportive Services, and this has caused many disabled persons to go without the caregivers who have allowed living in the community.
My wife and I have been recipients of these services and were getting help with our dishes and laundry; this service made our existence much easier. Our mental health issues made it hard to wash the dishes and do laundry. If you have experience with mental health, you will understand this difficulty as well as how much some outside assistance helps.
We recently had the experience of being discontinued from IHSS, on the basis that we were not in imminent danger of going to a skilled nursing facility. While it will be a hardship for us to compensate for the absence of our workers, we do not expect to be institutionalized as a result. And that’s now the criteria of no longer receiving these services.
Most IHSS recipients have physical disabilities, not mental ones, and the services they receive, which include very basic care, are essential for them to continue living in their homes.
The social worker who reviewed my wife and I told us that the governor hopes to eliminate IHSS entirely. This would leave numerous disabled people in California without hope of continuing an independent and therefore tolerable existence.
Apparently Arnold believes that disabled people are scum, are freeloaders, and all ought to get a job or else disappear into an institution. Because he is a multimillionaire, he believes it makes him inherently superior, and he deems himself worthy to make such a judgment. Like many who have made fortunes in society, he seems to think he is better than everyone rather than the reality that he is blessed with good fortune.
Of course, the above paragraph involves “reading in” to Arnold and is not fact. It is my interpretation of this seemingly pompous man based on how I have seen him behave.
This is one reason why society is crumbling in our country: we have a small percentage of people who hoard most of the wealth, and who apparently can never get enough wealth and power to satisfy them. This group of people inflicts cruel acts on other human beings, and on the earth itself in the course of their quest for more. The extreme hoarding disrupts the fabric of the economy since the regular people, including those who work and produce things, cannot afford to pay for the basics.
The above paragraph might explain why the governor must cut benefits for people who are less fortunate, while he refuses to raise taxes on people who can well afford to pay something back after being blessed with the best, materialistically speaking, that society has to offer.
Jack Bragen is a Martinez resident.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Friends of Dare to Dream Meeting This Saturday 2PM
Friends of Dare to Dream Meeting
Saturday December 12th @ 2PM
1815 Blake St. Berkeley, CA 94704 (Between MLK and Grant)
Bus 15 or bus 9 will get you 2-3 blocks away
Possible agenda could include:
· Name change
· Mission statement
· Board election date
· Schedule next meeting
Please refrain from wearing scented products and please let Nick Feldman (daretodream94704@yahoo.com) know ahead of time if you are coming. You can also call at 415-407-9297 (cell phone, call between 9am and 9pm).
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Homecare Article
When the recession hit, my business was put through unbelievable turmoil here in California. Everyone started to file unemployment who had ever worked for me, and many laborious hours were put into filling out claims to EDD and other authorities. People started to apply for low income everything, from transportation, to welfare, to housing.
My insurance rates skyrocketed. My clients went from 28 to 8 and not to mention our contracts in California all got reduced by 3%. My profit margins went down by about 10%, but the most tragic part is that besides not getting new clients, the work ethic of everyone except for my very dedicated office staff, crumbled right before my eyes. People stopped showing up for work, people got sick and couldn’t show any medical documentation(probably because they didn’t have any medical insurance), then there are the people who apply to work for you, they promise you the moon, you hire them, and they give a big nothing.
After hearing the news of Friday that the unemployment rate for the country was 10.2%, this did not surprise me, but because I run a home health-care agency, I found it very coincidental that they were interviewing at an unemployment who happened to be a home health-care worker, and they said that this field was a “growing field”, but of course with CNN there are always questions as to the legitimacy of what they cover, and how they cover it. If this woman at the unemployment office, was only working four days a week as a homecare worker, then why didn’t she take on my shifts, and why was she was at the unemployment office when she already had a job. If she was such a good homecare worker, then why didn’t she pick up more hours with her agency, or go and find someone in need of homecare.
It can be said that I am just a disconnected person who owns a company, no but I choose to disagree. Not only am I the owner and director of a business, having dealt with homecare workers every single day of my life due to my cerebral palsy. I work with my business probably over 80 hours a week. I have to pay rent, bills, buy into my long term care and my health insurance, which I get through the state. Sometimes I feel like workers in the state of California have simply given up hope. They don’t want to work, or if they just want to work, they just want to work on their own terms and on their own schedule, and if they need to work, maybe the Governor will just pick up their tab. But the catch-22 is when they get their paychecks, they are stunned to see how much is taken out.
The trickledown effect of the almighty dollar can only be overpowered by one thing, the power of the people, because ultimately that is who it affects. In my business, when people don’t show up for work, people really do suffer. People who are children, and elderly, and people with mental disabilities, have to go without care. It would be nice to see the work ethic come back, to find people who do their job not just for the low wage, but because they truly care about the person. I never hear my staff ask when they call out of a job “What’s going to happen to Oliver, will he have to go without, will there be someone who can replace me?”
Besides the issue of the work ethic coming back in California, the other more critical issue is non-medical emergency response homecare services. This means that when someone has a non-medical emergency or their care providers cannot show up, that there is an on-demand service that people can call in their area that will respond, and take care of their needs. Let’s see California put some money into that.
My insurance rates skyrocketed. My clients went from 28 to 8 and not to mention our contracts in California all got reduced by 3%. My profit margins went down by about 10%, but the most tragic part is that besides not getting new clients, the work ethic of everyone except for my very dedicated office staff, crumbled right before my eyes. People stopped showing up for work, people got sick and couldn’t show any medical documentation(probably because they didn’t have any medical insurance), then there are the people who apply to work for you, they promise you the moon, you hire them, and they give a big nothing.
After hearing the news of Friday that the unemployment rate for the country was 10.2%, this did not surprise me, but because I run a home health-care agency, I found it very coincidental that they were interviewing at an unemployment who happened to be a home health-care worker, and they said that this field was a “growing field”, but of course with CNN there are always questions as to the legitimacy of what they cover, and how they cover it. If this woman at the unemployment office, was only working four days a week as a homecare worker, then why didn’t she take on my shifts, and why was she was at the unemployment office when she already had a job. If she was such a good homecare worker, then why didn’t she pick up more hours with her agency, or go and find someone in need of homecare.
It can be said that I am just a disconnected person who owns a company, no but I choose to disagree. Not only am I the owner and director of a business, having dealt with homecare workers every single day of my life due to my cerebral palsy. I work with my business probably over 80 hours a week. I have to pay rent, bills, buy into my long term care and my health insurance, which I get through the state. Sometimes I feel like workers in the state of California have simply given up hope. They don’t want to work, or if they just want to work, they just want to work on their own terms and on their own schedule, and if they need to work, maybe the Governor will just pick up their tab. But the catch-22 is when they get their paychecks, they are stunned to see how much is taken out.
The trickledown effect of the almighty dollar can only be overpowered by one thing, the power of the people, because ultimately that is who it affects. In my business, when people don’t show up for work, people really do suffer. People who are children, and elderly, and people with mental disabilities, have to go without care. It would be nice to see the work ethic come back, to find people who do their job not just for the low wage, but because they truly care about the person. I never hear my staff ask when they call out of a job “What’s going to happen to Oliver, will he have to go without, will there be someone who can replace me?”
Besides the issue of the work ethic coming back in California, the other more critical issue is non-medical emergency response homecare services. This means that when someone has a non-medical emergency or their care providers cannot show up, that there is an on-demand service that people can call in their area that will respond, and take care of their needs. Let’s see California put some money into that.
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