Holiday Shopping with The Arc – Online Auction Open!

November 18th, 2011 by

If you have holiday shopping to do, or if you just want to treat yourself, I have the perfect solution – Shopping With The Arc. Our online auction went live on Wednesday and will run until 8:00 pm on November 30.

If you haven’t checked it out yet, please go to www.biddingforgood.com/arcind.  We have a great  selection of items this year.

For the sports fan on your list we have several footballs signed by different players from the Indianapolis Colts.   We have basketballs signed by Gene Keady and Matt
Painter from Purdue and Brad Stevens from Butler.   And we have a baseball signed by New York Yankee hall of  famer Tino Martinez.

If you are looking for something for the Colts fan that has everything – we have a Colts blue Speedo signed by Pat McAfee. This is sure to get a chuckle when it’s unwrapped. We’ve sure been laughing around the office.

For a romantic holiday present, we have an evening in Indianapolis package complete with a carriage ride and gift certificate to St. Elmo’s. We also have several pieces of jewelry.

There are restaurant gift certificates, bird feeders and birdhouses, spa treatments, a hunter’s basket, artwork, travel vouchers and so much more. We truly do have something for everyone!

And new this year, you can purchase items to directly support individuals with disabilities and The Arc. Please check out the options under the Support The Arc tab. If you want to purchase one of these items instead of a gift for someone on your list, we will send that person a handwritten card with information about your thoughtfulness.

I always love watching the wonderful donations come in and getting the auction ready to go but it’s so much more than just a way to complete your holiday shopping. All of the money raised by the auction will be used to help individuals with disabilities and their families. This is truly a win/win. You get to sleep in the day after Thanksgiving and individuals with disabilities get a chance to live, work and play in their communities.

Thank you for supporting The Arc and have a happy and safe Thanksgiving.

Jill Vaught is The Arc of Indiana’s Director of Organizational Advancement



What Would Amy Do?

November 18th, 2011 by

What would Amy do?

Amy Cook Lurvey was known as the Godmother of special education. Throughout her working career she was a tireless advocate to make sure that all students received the same opportunities in school, whether the student had a disability, had a non-English native language, or was highly gifted or talented.

When Amy passed away a few years ago, I lost my special education mentor. I never really had to dive into education issues because Amy always told me what to do and pretty much what to say. I followed her lead and was glad to learn from someone who was so well respected in the hallways of the State House. So when Amy passed away, I felt like The Arc of Indiana needed to take charge of special education issues. We have come a long way as we have a very strong education committee led by a tremendous advocate and father, Jeff Huffman. Together we have developed a strong working relationship with Superintendent of Public Instruction, Dr. Tony Bennett.

Recently the Department of Education asked for The Arc’s position on an issue that may arise next session. Legislation is being considered to eliminate the bottom 5% of ISTEP scores from counting towards a teacher’s evaluation. I understand the concerns held by teachers and schools that a fair and equitable evaluation system must be developed. I understand that the evaluation may translate to a raise in salary and I will be the first to agree that many teachers are grossly underpaid for the important job they perform.

What I have a deep concern for is that people are willing to just “wipe away” students with disabilities and say they don’t count. Pioneers long before many of us fought hard to establish a Free and Appropriate Public Education for all students. They fought for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. They fought so that all students would matter and be counted and have the same opportunity for educational progress. Don’t we want all students to matter and be monitored for educational growth?

I will agree that some students with disabilities may not be able to pass the ISTEP – just as some students without disabilities will not be able to pass ISTEP. However, in a good school with good teachers, I am willing to bet that even those students who do not pass ISTEP have achieved some educational progress and growth. Why wouldn’t teachers and school want to be rewarded for that? What am I missing? If we allow students with disabilities to not count, then we will be rolling back the hands of time to a world that sent a different message to people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. A message that says, “You don’t matter.”

In this day of the myriad of education reform efforts, I really would like to know, “What would Amy do?”

Amy Cook Lurvey, back row, last person, at the bill signing with Governor Evan Bayh establishing the First Steps and Early Childhood Education Programs.

Kim Dodson is The Arc of Indiana’s Associate Executive Director



New Service for Trust Beneficiaries, Circle of Friends

November 15th, 2011 by

The Arc Master of Indiana Trust has begun a new project, Circle of Friends, in response to a need that has become increasingly apparent to us as we serve our Trust Beneficiaries.

The project has two goals.  The first goal is to help those Beneficiaries that have a funded trust to be able to spend their trust money appropriately.  Occasionally Beneficiaries do not have anyone to contact the trust office to let us know when something is needed and so the trust does not get spent prior to the beneficiary’s death.  It is very important to us that the Beneficiary has access to his or her trust funds to get what he or she wants and needs.

The second goal is for parents who would like to set up a Trust I account to be funded upon their death, but who do not have other family or friends that can be their child’s contact person, again to let us know what he or she wants or needs to be paid from the trust account.

The Circle of Friends project, designed to meet the above goals, will primarily be carried out through volunteers, along with a paid coordinator.  We recently brought on Willaine Sandy to serve as the Coordinator for Circle of Friends.  Willaine first came to The Arc a few years ago as a Family Advocate for  The Arc Network, and is continuing to work with The Arc Network as a Family Advocate Community Specialist.

Initially the project will focus on Indianapolis, Fort Wayne and Evansville.  Once it is established, the goal will be to offer this service across the state.

If you or someone you know is interested in being a Circle of Friends volunteer, please contact me or Willaine Sandy by calling us at 317-977-2375, 800-382-9100 or by email at mjustice@arcind.org or wsandy@arcind.org.

Melissa Justice is the Trust Director of The Arc of Indiana Master Trust



A Busy Week Planning for A Great Conference – Join Us on November 1!

October 28th, 2011 by

We are getting ready for The Arc’s state conference on Tuesday, November 1 and it’s been a busy one week!


If you haven’t registered yet, please do. This is going to be a great day. We are releasing our Blueprint For Change. This is a roadmap to provide transformational change in the system that serves individuals with disabilities.

Everything is built around five guiding principles:

 

1. Building Career Pathways for All

2. Discovering and Realizing Individual Gifts

3. Supporting Resourcefulness of Individuals, Families and Communities

4. Using What You Need

5. Shifting the Power to What Works

On Tuesday, we will start the day by introducing the Blueprint. Concepts and ideas from the plan will be laid out along with what the next steps are.

Following the plenary session, individual workshops on each of the five guiding principles will be held. I’m not sure what I will do because I want to go to all five!

In Building Career Pathways for All we have a provider and four self-advocates who will talk about all of the exciting employment opportunities that are available. This provider even found a job for a woman who said she was looking for something that she could do from home in her pajamas.

We will have brothers who sing and play the keyboard along with two artists in Discovering and Realizing Individual Gifts. There will even be a young man who discovered his gift with animals who is in college and will make that his career.

Two men from DADS, Dads Appreciating Down Syndrome, will provide a wealth of information during Supporting Resourcefulness of Individuals, Families and Communities. And three moms will be discussing how they have been creative in providing for their children during Using What You Need.

The fifth workshop will feature a parent, a self-advocate and two providers. They will be discussing what we could do to shift from doing what doesn’t work to doing what does.

Following the workshops we will be recognizing special individuals at our awards luncheon. And we will wrap up the conference with a Call to Action by Tim Shriver, President and CEO of Special Olympics. He will be joined by four passionate individuals from around Indiana. After the conference we will have our Annual Meeting followed by a Board of Directors Meeting.

It is going to be a busy but wonderful day full of great ideas, information and inspiration. I encourage everyone to join us on November 1.

If you have any questions please call us at 317-977-2375 or visit our website at www.arcind.org.

Jill Vaught is The Arc of Indiana’s Director of Organizational Advancement



Happy New Year! Join The Arc!

October 26th, 2011 by

Happy New Year! I realize it’s not actually the beginning of the new year, but (as I write this) it is the beginning of the new NHL hockey year/season. So let me join the ranks and say let the season begin.

You may wonder why I am rambling on about the new hockey season. In less than a week, on November 1, The Arc of Indiana begins a “new year” with the presentation and discussion of the Blueprint for Change at our annual conference.

A new beginning has been mapped out – new pathways on which to begin a new journey. As you’ve read here and elsewhere lots of work for a couple of years now has gone into the development of the Blueprint. It’s an exciting time as we face the future, a new beginning, a new year.

One of my responsibilities with The Arc is working with the local chapters in recruiting and supporting the individuals and families who are the members of The Arc – the voices and faces of our organization. During the last quarter of the year I usually am encouraging chapters to wrap up any last minute membership recruit efforts. Last year our statewide membership total was 10,000 members, the largest ever in the history of The Arc of Indiana.

We still need to have the end-of-year count. But it’s different this year – the “new year” begins with the Blueprint on November 1. On that date at The Arc’s Annual Meeting our chapter representatives are being asked to vote on a Membership Resolution submitted that calls on The Arc of Indiana and all of our local chapters to make a significant end-of-year push for members. In these challenging times as the Blueprint for Change is unveiled, a strong statewide membership recruitment effort is needed.

Next week we’ll be announcing to all of our chapters the efforts The Arc is undertaking to support our local chapters in significantly increasing our membership by the end of the calendar year. The Arc’s membership committee has meet to develop plans, there has been discussion with ICEArc, the organization of our local executive directors; and now it’s time to roll out the campaign and share with our chapters why members are important and how they might significantly increase their membership.  You can learn more about membership and join now by visiting, Join The Arc!

Be sure to join us at The Arc’s 2011 Conference & Appreciation Luncheon to learn more and see which chapters are being honored for their participation in our 2011 spring membership campaign – including the chapter that will receive The Arc’s version of the Stanley Cup, The Arc’s Membership Traveling Trophy.

“Happy New Year!”

Mark Kevitt is The Arc’s Director of Program Services



Legislative Champions Will Help in Challenging Times Ahead

October 25th, 2011 by

Recently The Arc of Indiana held our Annual Legislative Breakfast to celebrate the great work of two wonderful lawmakers.

Senator Vaneta Becker from Evansville received our Lifetime Achievement Award for championing issues important and critical to people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities. She is so worthy of this recognition that no words can adequately describe why she is so deserving. Each session, she reaches out to The Arc at the state and local level to see how we are affected by proposed legislation and takes it upon herself to get educated on the issues. For all of her years of service, we are grateful to call her a champion of The Arc.

Representative Tim Brown from Crawfordsville received our 2011 Public Policy Award. In years past, we have recognized lawmakers for passing important legislation, this year we did something better. Last session Representative Brown stood beside The Arc as legislation was being considered. What could have been devastating language to services and programs became less harmful because of his support. He stood up to the Administration and challenged how we could do better without jeopardizing services critical to people with disabilities.

We are so fortunate to have many champions walking the hallways at the Indiana State House. We have challenging times ahead of us; but, with good lawmakers we can make these challenging times some of the best times in creating a stronger system of services and supports for people with intellectual and other developmental disabilities.

Kim Dodson is The Arc of Indiana’s Associate Executive Director



To Blog or Not to Blog

October 24th, 2011 by

I recently spent the day with a number of other people learning about how to create a personal blog. Our fearless leader, Cris Goode, author of GoodenessGracious.com, walked us through creating a name and setting up a personal blog on blogspot.com. We talked about details, blog etiquette, connecting with other bloggers in the blogging world and framing the message that we wish to share. My dashboard looks great. I’ve chosen a name and a background I really like.

Now comes the hard part — deciding whether I want to commit to nurturing my own personal blog and actually writing regular posts. I’ll admit part of me is really scared about the commitment. My due dates for blog entries for The Arc of Indiana regularly pop up on my calendar, sometimes with irritating frequency. I always struggle with what to write about, will anyone want to read it, and will I have something valuable to say?

During my day job I spend most of my day talking with others about programs and services for people who have developmental disabilities. I am comfortable talking to people I haven’t met and connecting with them often because of our shared experience of having children or siblings who have disabilities. It is the thought of having a writing commitment or deadline of sorts that causes me to pause. Even though my children sometimes remind each other that I was an English teacher in my former life, I have never really seen myself as a writer.

So, for now, I am going to take Cris’ suggestion and keep my blog conversational. Perhaps by sharing stories about my family and my work, I can find another way to connect with families including those who have someone with a disability. Or, perhaps more importantly, just find a way to connect with others.

If you care to join me on this blogging adventure you can find my blog at OnlyRoomForOnePrincess@blogspot.com.   Learn more about The Arc’s blogging project and find links to all of the bloggers, in ”Follow the Bloggers!” If you would like to join a network of bloggers who are blogging about disability issues or about individuals who have disabilities and/or their families, contact me at jginn@arcind.org.

Jill Ginn is The Arc of Indiana’s Manager of The Arc Network



A Path Forward – We Can Do Better

October 20th, 2011 by

As presidential candidates argue, talk show hosts yell and programs lose funding – families are asked to struggle on. And while they do, the system that is supposed to be there to help them is breaking.

Many of the community programs that provide a safety net for people with disabilities are struggling to survive. When elected officials talk of more spending cuts one can only wonder what will happen.

With each cut comes the loss of jobs for people who support individuals with disabilities, the reduction of wages of staff, and more folks turned away from services – all while struggling to survive in a difficult economy. It seems more and more burdens continue to be placed in the way.

We think there is a better way forward. On November 1st The Arc will announce the Blueprint for Change at our 2011 conference. It offers a path forward, but asks something of everyone. It is all about what we need to achieve for a better future. But to get there some things will need to be changed and even given up.

We hope you will join us on November 1st, and stay with us for the journey – we will need you.

Learn more and register today by visiting: The Arc of Indiana 2011 Conference, A Blueprint for Change.



The Arc – Fighting for Lou Ann and for You

October 15th, 2011 by

Have you ever had something happen that you just can’t seem to shake? I watched a video of a father fighting for his daughter with a disability last week and I can’t get his image out of my mind.

If you haven’t done so yet, please watch “One Families Fight for Help. ”

Lou Ann and Her Father

Lou Ann has cerebral palsy. Her parents could have followed the advice of doctors fifty years ago and sent her to an institution but instead they cared for her at home. Now at 89, her father is very ill and needs to move into an assisted living facility. But, neither the Division of Aging or the Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services will approve an A&D waiver or a DD waiver so that Lou Ann can move into a home with two other women.

It makes me so mad. If Lou Ann had lived in an institution it would have cost the state of Indiana millions of dollars. But her family took care of her. Now when they need and deserve a little help, the state won’t help. The really frustrating part is that moving her into this new home would actually save the state money.

The image that has stuck with me for almost a week now is how tired her father looks. His doctor has ordered him to go into assisted living but he won’t leave his daughter. This fight to get residential services has gone on for months and I’m sure it’s affecting his health.

At The Arc we are working very hard to try and help this family. We have gone to the state. We have helped with appeals. We have promised that we will continue to fight until this issue gets resolved.

I can’t imagine how hard it is on Lou Ann’s father. But I’m really glad that The Arc is here to help.

If you would like to support the work of The Arc so that we can continue to help families in Indiana, please visit us at www.arcind.org.

Jill Vaught is The Arc of Indiana’s Director of Organizational Advancement



Lessons from the National Convention – We are Not Alone

October 7th, 2011 by

I recently attended The Arc of the United State’s Annual Convention held in Denver, Colorado. It was wonderful to network with colleagues from across the national, but sad to realize that services and programs for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities are getting hit hard everywhere, not just in Indiana.

It was energizing to hear the buzz about what The Arc of Indiana is doing with the Building Pathways to Empowerment Campaign and hear that people around the country are looking forward to seeing the Blueprint for Change.

Several of the national speakers at the Convention commented on our bold actions and one, who served on our Big Minds Groups, was able to speak first hand on the issues being addressed.

The fact of the matter is we are not alone. Nationwide people are trying to think of new, bold ways to improve the service delivery system for people with I/DD. We do not just represent the thousands of people receiving services, we also represent the thousands more waiting for services. We must find a system that balances the needs and get services to those who need them most.

We must empower families and self advocates to shift the power to what works. We must create a system that has less bureaucratic red tape and places more control and responsibility with families and people with I/DD.

Many across the country have their eyes on Indiana and how families, self advocates, and providers will react to the Blueprint for Change. Now is the time for bold action – a time to renew our commitment to working together to achieve a better life for people with I/DD and their families.

Kim Dodson is The Arc of Indiana’s Associate Executive Director



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