Week of August 25th 2025

Go Browns!

Have you seen anyone from CLI do something that impressed you? Did we do anything that made you wish we hadn't?

Take 3 minutes and fill out a quick survey to tell us about it. There's a FREE Ohio Lottery Scratch Off ticket in it for you-- and we'll keep it confidential if you want us to.

CLICK HERE to tell us something that we're doing right -- or not!

The Usual--

We've got a 3 day weekend coming up. I hope everyone has a fun & safe holiday. I know that I'm looking forward to spending time with family & friends! FYI-- before every weekday that CLI is closed, we send out a "1 call" message. This will send a voicemail, email, and/or text message (or all 3 if that's what you want). If you choose a voicemail, you will get a call from my phone number, 419-706-5137. This can be confusing because it isn't really me and what often happens is that people immediately call "me" back. You probably got one of these 1 call messages this week about Labor Day.

Kenilee Lanes will be starting up again this fall. We put new bumpers in this summer and we pulled down the 50+ year old wall curtains. It's going to be a bit louder in there until we put some sort of acoustic dampening back in, but we figured that people might like to see the mural that was painted sometime in the 1930s or 1940's before we cover it up. Leagues are forming right now, so if you would like to bowl this winter on a team, let us know!

Speaking of the bowling alley, CLI has raised 10% of what we need to make Kenilee fully wheelchair accessible next summer. Thank you to everyone who supported our recent reverse raffle fundraiser either by selling tickets, buying tickets, or fielding a cornhole team! In case you are interested, these are the rough estimates that make up CLI's projected $207K budget for the renovation:

Architect or Structural Engineer contract $6,000
Permits $3,000
Contractor(s) to perform demolition $10,000
Contractor(s) to build out new interior: raise floor 8", rough in larger than ADA standard bathroom, accessible kitchen & counter. Estimated cost includes flooring + wall surfaces (paint and/or boards) $70,000
Contractor(s) for new electrical work (bathroom/kitchen area) $20,000
Contractor(s) for new plumbing work (bathroom/kitchen area) $15,000
Contractor(s) to install counters, front kitchen , and bathroom fixtures$25,000Contractors to install wheelchair accessible entranceway & facade improvements $40,000
Misc. $18,000

That's all I have-- other than to say a big THANKS! to the crew who helped me knock down some of the weeds that are taking over the back yard of the workshop building. I don't think anyone has pulled anything since way before COVID. It's still rough back there, but much better-- and we managed to eliminate some poison ivy without any of us actually getting poison ivy!

Have a great weekend.

John

What's new in Thrive?

Congratulations to this month's superstars!

The new interactive whiteboards (aka "smartboards") that CLI was able to purchase thanks to last year's DODD Quality grants have really spiced up our curriculum!

Click here to email Haven to learn how to take a 5G iPad home

The cooking club guys learned to make (and eat) pizza

Want CLI to help you plan & do fun stuff with your friends?

Don't be shy!

Firelands

Local LLC

Did you know that Firelands Local has jobs starting at $10.71/hour? Email James Johnson at james@firelandslocal.com for more information!

The Good News from the Good Works Cafe--

OHgo Volunteers - find Ohgo @ https://www.ohgoreach.org/

Question of the week

Q: How can I plan an evening activity with my friends? What kinds of things will CLI do?

A: If you are already a CLI client, just tell staff what you want to do & we'll see what we can do. If you already have ADS-community (it's a billing code) in your ISP and CLI is already listed as your provider, then Bob's your uncle and it's just a matter of picking what you want to do, with whom, and making it happen. If you don't have ADS-community in your ISP or you are not yet a CLI client, then you need to contact your SSA and tell them what you want to do & why you think it should be added to your ISP.

In terms of what CLI supports people to do, we'll do lots of different things. We know that often people want to go to Cedar Point of professional sports games. However, a crucial purpose of ADS-community is to enable people to make connections in their local community-- so CLI helps people find activities that support that goal. So, it sports is your thing and you live in Monroeville, maybe a Friday night football game fits the bill. We support a lot of people who are on local bowling league teams.

CLI encourages you to contact our politicians to make sure that they know how important and relevant DD services are to you. The reality is that $.66 out of every dollar spent on people with DD in Ohio comes from federal Medicaid dollars. Your voice matters!

Senator John Husted

198 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-3353

Senator Bernie Moreno

B33 Russell Senate Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 224-2315

Representative Jim Jordan

2056 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 20510

(202) 225-2676