Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities

December 2023 Newsletter

In gratitude

By Amanda Faulkner

AADD Board President

As the year draws to a close, we find ourselves reflecting on the incredible AADD journey we've shared together in 2023. December brings with it a spirit of warmth, unity and gratitude and we are thrilled to express our deepest appreciation for the invaluable partnerships and collaborations that have defined this year.

In a state known for its rugged landscapes and resilient communities our shared efforts have created a tapestry of success that extends far beyond individual accomplishments. From the north slope to southeast we have witnessed the power of collaboration, bringing diverse perspectives and strengths together to overcome challenges and achieve outcomes that benefit the people we support.

Our collaborative efforts are moving us closer to a system where people with disabilities no longer wait for services in a community setting, where service recipients direct their support and where DSPs are valued for their skills as a professional.

In the spirit of the season, the AADD Board extends our heartfelt thanks to each partner collaborator and AADD member who has been a part of this journey. Your dedication has been the driving force behind our shared success, and we look forward to the continued innovation and problem solving that the future holds.

As we embrace the holiday season and the promise of a new year let us carry forward the spirit of collaboration that defines our Alaskan community. Together, we have proven that when working hand in hand there is no challenge too great and no goal too ambitious!

Wishing you and your loved ones a joyous holiday season filled with warmth, gratitude and the company of those who mattered the most.

Pictured Above: AADD President Amanda Faulkner and Vice-President Cindy Hensley with advocates at the Key Coalition Rally in Juneau on March 1.

Dear Advocacy Partners and Disability Champions,

I am reaching out to ask for your support.

As many of you know the Key Coalition of Alaska is a non-profit, statewide advocacy group made up of people with disabilities and their families, friends, and organizational partners such as the Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities (AADD), Peer Power of Alaska, and the Alaska Alliance of Direct Support Professionals. Since its beginning in 1988, the goal of the Key Coalition has been to advocate for community-based services for people with disabilities and their families.

The mission, through unified state-wide advocacy, is to promote the dignity, status, and equality of all Alaskans who experience disabilities as valued, contributing participants in a shared community.

Throughout the past 35 years the Key Coalition has developed a respected reputation among legislators and has been called one of the best examples of grass roots advocacy in our state.

For many years the Key Coalition has hired a lobbyist to be “boots on the ground” in Juneau to advocate for our platform initiatives, keep us abreast on “breaking news” and develop relationships with legislators and administration members.

David Parrish has been our lobbyist for a number of years and his knowledge of the legislative process has provided extremely helpful and timely guidance.

Through the years the outcomes Key Coalition has accomplished have been notable and life enhancing for Alaskans with disabilities. Last year our collective advocacy resulted in nearly $13 million dedicated to improving community-based services: $5 million allocated for rate restructuring, approximately $700,000 to launch a 5-year plan to eradicate the waitlist, and $7 million increment to support recruitment and retention of staff.

This would not have happened without a lobbyist guiding our coalition advocacy.

Typical sources of funding will not pay lobbyist costs, so as the Board President of Key Coalition, I am asking for your investment in this important work. As service providers and AADD members we are a critical component of the Coalition. Please consider making a contribution to assure we have a dedicated voice in Juneau advocating for our sector.

Checks can be mailed to:

Key Coalition of Alaska

3705 Arctic Blvd #1866

Anchorage, AK 99503-5774

Or you can donate on-line www.https://keycoalitionofalaska.org/ Please specify for lobbyist.

Thank you all for your support!

Michele

Michele Girault

Board President

Key Coalition of Alaska

Peer Power Alaska Propels with Purpose

In July of 2023 Peer Power hired its first Executive Director Ric Nelson and Garrett Dominick as the Marketing and Outreach Manager. In six months, they have completed several objectives for the organization including:

Hosting the Anchorage Disability Pride celebration in July.
Strategic planning in late September - the board decided on four main goals. Goal 1) Coordinate an annual Summit that fuels the statewide Shared Vision Revolution, 2) Develop and implement peer-led advocacy training for youth, 3) Increase the number of people who know about Peer Power statewide, and 4) Ensure people with I/DD are actively engaged in legislative advocacy and policy discussions.
Setting up the 2024 Key Campaign Legislative Zoom visits for February.
Planning for the 7th Annual Peer Power Summit to be held in Anchorage April 26-28. More information will be coming soon.

In addition, Peer Power received a grant from the Department of Education and Early Development to go into the middle and high schools and teach about self-advocacy and employment opportunities for the students who are transitioning to school into the workforce. The goal is to reach 250 students a year statewide.

They are always looking for people to become members of Peer Power's great community. If you are interested in learning more about Peer Power please contact Ric Nelson or Garrett Dominick and they will be more than happy to assist you with anything you may need.

Peer Power Board and Team: Back Row (L to R) Garrett Dominick, Isaac Bush, Bridger Reed, Kim Champney, Kaleene Lamb, Jena Crafton, Michelle Davidson and Tonya Dipo. Front Row Sara Kveum, Art Delaune (virtual), Maggie Winston and Ric Nelson.

What does a pug have to do with scheduling?

Punctual Pug is a scheduling software built by a large nonprofit provider to solve its own scheduling needs. It was created by skilled developers, led by people in the field of supporting those with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities throughout numerous locations.

Founder Allison Dudo reached out to AADD Director Kim Champney (they know each other from past lives :)) and was excited to share. As Allison says - "We’d like to share it with you because it works! And it’s super cool!"

There is a browser platform for supervisors to create and publish schedules, as well as approve shift requests. The smartphone apps for Direct Support Professionals put all the schedules in their hands, allowing them to pick up shifts, view schedules, and see all of their own activity in one place. It was designed to be clean, simple, and easy to navigate. It went live in over thirty residential locations this past spring with great success.

Punctual Pug, LLC, was born to sell this software, begin sustaining itself, and have any profit return to the nonprofit that made it. Simple. For more information, please go to: punctualpug.com and for more information on the person behind this pug-infused madness, please go here: https://punctualpug.com/who-am-i/ and feel free to stop by anytime!

AADD is hosting a demo for members on January 5 from 11-noon. Reach out to Kim if you aren't a member but would like to attend - director@aaddalaska.org.

Upcoming Events

December 12: AADSP Statewide Zoom Meeting for Direct Support Professionals (all direct support professionals are welcome - flyer with Zoom link available here)

December 14: AADD Monthly Membership Zoom (Member Only)

December 21: Empower Hour - Monthly online gathering for people with disabilities, led by Peer Power Alaska (flyer with Zoom link available here)

January 5: Punctual Pug Demonstration

Registration is open now for Stone Soup's annual Parent Conference

This year's keynote speaker is Hasan Davis. Hasan is a lawyer, juvenile justice advocate, and motivational speaker. Davis is a passionate advocate for infusing Humanity, Optimism, Perspective and Empathy (H.O.P.E.) into justice and youth empowerment systems. He is a sought after motivational speaker in addition to his justice work.

For more information or to register, go to this website.

Vendor booths are still available - information available at the website.

Resources

Frontline Initiative Latest Issue: DSPs using the NADSP Code of Ethics

The Frontline Initiative is a publication of the University of Minnesota that covers the issues important to direct support professionals and supervisors who support people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and other disabilities in a variety of community settings. Each feature issue contains resources, perspectives, and strategies to advance the profession of direct support.

The current issue is available here.

Helen: Great Free Publication

Here's a few teasers from this month's issue:

About four hours after his birth, we were told that the doctors suspected he had Down syndrome. Our doctor brought us into a room together and was fairly matter of fact about our baby’s possible diagnosis. We were so overwhelmed, but we were thrown a vital lifeline the next day. (Article: Improving Trauma & Disability Bias in Prenatal Screening)

It’s 3 a.m. A sudden, sharp noise wakes me up. It’s the squeak of the oxygen tank rolling on the hardwood floor toward my brother Ty’s pitch-black room. The whole house instantly wakes up. I hear what I’ve been anticipating—the intense cry of Ty yelling from the pain of the seizure. I can hear him gasping for air. The oxygen tank arrives, and Ty is instantly hooked up to it. By this time, Ty is still spasming up, every few seconds. It’s as if he’s possessed. His whole body stiffens and tenses up. I can see that my parents’ faces become less contorted the moment Ty stops spasming up. (Article: Lessons from My Brother's Smile)

I work as a therapist. That being said, working in the mental health field while dealing with personal mental health issues presents an extreme juxtaposition. How dare I give someone advice and encourage strategies when I myself have a difficult time? (Article: My Journey with Sunflower Syndrome)

Available here:

https://helenjournal.org/

Thank you to our Members!

AADD would not exist without its members. Thank you for believing in AADD and joining us in working toward our vision of Alaskans with disabilities living the lives they choose with support from a robust, flexible person-directed service system. The journey is not easy but together we can get there. Wishing you all a restful holiday season and looking forward to another year together.

Note: AADD board member organizations are in bold.

1 Alliance Care Coordination

1st Choice Care Coordination

AARP

ACCA

Access Alaska

Agape Living

AILPA

AK Choice Care LLC

ABHA

Alaska Care Connections, Inc.

Alaska Premier Assisted Living

Alaska Primary Care Association

All Ways Caring

Alpenglow Care Coordination

Alzheimer's Resource of Alaska

Arc of Anchorage

Assets Inc.

Assurance Care Coordination

ATLA

Aurora Specialized Services

Branching Out Supported Srvcs

CareNCoordination

Catholic Social Services

Center for Community

Center for Human Development

Challenge Alaska

Christine, Inc.

Cindy & Vic's

CIS of Kodiak

Community Connections

Connecting Ties

Coordination Center Fairbanks

Cornerstone Home Care

Crossroads Counseling

Eagle Crest

Effective Health Design

Fairbanks Assisted Living

Fairbanks Resource Agency

Focus Inc.

Four Angels Assisted Living

Frontier Community Services

Governor's Council

Hab Academy LLC

Health TIE

Hearts and Hands of Care

Helping Hand Care Coordination

Home on Mulchatna

Hope Community Resources

Inclusion Care Coordination

Independent Care Coordination

Independent Living Center

Individuals First Choice CC

Infinite Options CC Services

Interior Care Coordination

Island Care Services LLC

Lifeworks

Maniilaq Association

Mary Joanne Home Care

Matanuska Mama

MSSCA

MethodWorks

Morning Star Ranch

My Home

Nadon Family Homes

New Family Assisted Living

North Bridge LLC/West Care Mgt

Northern Living Center

Norton Sound Health Corp

One Source

Pathfinder Care Coordination

Peer Power Alaska

Prestigious CC

Quintessence Planning and CC

RAD, LLC

REACH Inc

SEAK Care Solutions LLC

S. Peninsula Behavioral Health

Southcentral Foundation

SAIL

Special Olympics Alaska

SILC

Stone Soup Group

Strong Solutions

Summit Care Coordination

Supernova Advocates

Tanana Chiefs Conference

TIDES LLC

Turnagain Social Club

United Community Services

Windy Ridge ALH

YKHC

Not a member? Join AADD!

AADD is a membership organization - we exist to support our members, most of whom are organizations that provide services to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Membership dues are based on annual DD revenue. Reach out to Kim at director@aaddalaska.org for more information.

Our Mission

To facilitate a united provider voice for best practices, advocacy, partnerships and networking.

Our Vision

Alaskans with disabilities statewide are living the life they choose with support from a robust, flexible person-directed service system.

Learn More

[Alaska Association on Developmental Disabilities] | [907.957.1970] | [director@aaddalaska.org] | [www.aaddalaska.org]

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