Week of August 9th, 2021
What can CLI help you do?
Over the last couple weeks Olivia's "Let's Get Wild" class has followed the journey of a pair of caterpillars. The class watched them grow, turn into a chrysalis, then release the butterflies at Lakefront park on Tuesday.
John's usual excuses & apologies--

There is quite a bit going on this week, both for me personally and also for CLI more generally. I am driving my daughter (my youngest of 2 kids) to college in Florida this Tuesday. That's a big deal for me because I'm sending her out in the world outside my immediate ability to protect her AND because it means a significant status change for me. For the past 20 years, outside of work anyway, I've been mostly known as Graeme and/or Lily's dad. Now I'm just another old guy clogging up traffic. Transitions are bittersweet. I'm both looking forward to making more choices around what I feel like doing-- and I'm grieving a little bit at the loss of what I'm leaving behind. It's interesting how normal it is to miss the significance and lasting effects of all the adult transition points of friends, coworkers, clients, etc. around us. But when it happens to you, it feels existential.

Luckily the rest of CLI will be hard at it this week while I'm getting misty behind the wheel on the long drive south and back. CLI is trying to spend as much time as possible engaging with others outdoors while the weather permits. We are concerned about the rise in Delta Variant COVID cases. We're continuing to wear masks in vehicles and indoors. The Huron County Health Department advised last week that they believe that there is going to be a spike in cases over the next 2-3 weeks. Keep your guard up!

Assuming that Ohio's DD system will continue to open up and return to regular services-- there is a lot of discussion about what that should look like. It's been almost 10 years since Ohio changed its rules saying that we should push employment first and segregated services weren't going be allowed in 10 years. Funny how quickly that goes. You can pretty much get me to agree to anything if you make it far enough in the future. My son used to tell me when I nagged him about some later obligation/consequence-- "that's a problem for future Graeme."

Well, this is future us and the system (which is all of us) is scrambling to figure out what it's supposed to look like. One thing is for sure-- services will need to be much more outcome-oriented. Now with the mandate for smaller, community-integrated group sizes vs. the 1:12 staff to client ratio in the segregated workshop-- the billing rates will have to rise proportionately. That is assuming that we can even hire enough qualified staff to do anything. From a client & funder perspective-- if they are using more of their money to buy fewer hours of service-- then those services better effectively achieve the desired outcomes. Getting maximum value for every dollar spent is more important than ever. I don't think that expecting value for your money is a bad thing.

Anyway, enjoy your week, stay safe & keep washing those hands!
John
CLI's 2nd Cornhole Tournament was last Friday night. The weather was perfect and-- deja vu all over again-- Chad & Billy took home the $120 prize money! However, this time they had some pretty close competition from Britney & Bobby from Fair Publishing.
It was fun to watch!

CLI's final cornhole tournament of 2021 is
Friday, September 10th. Hope to see you there!
Would you like to join CLI for some fun virtual activities?
It's a bunch of loud fun!
Firelands Local Update:

Last week was a pretty good week. Our MTD crew saw at least 1 deer each day and we had 2 eagle sightings.

I also wanted to provide an update to our "waving" campaign. At this point, the shuttle crew waives to just about every white van/shuttle that we go by. We also enjoy waving to local police, sheriff, and the Highway Patrol. I know that a lot of folks think this is a silly thing to do. I can honestly say that it puts a smile on each person's face when someone returns a wave. We would like to think that it puts a smile on the other person's face as well. Even if they are just thinking that we are strange, at least they smiled. As life goes by, we all get focused on the things that are important to us. It is human nature. How often do any of us take a moment to think about what they could do that would be a positive influence on someone else day, week or month. A wave or a smile are a great option for this. The best part, they are both free.

8/4 was our 1st. Wed drop off day and we had 33 customers who brought us 1,122 lbs. of paper to be shredded.

Production-- we completed 23,500 units and shredded 10,000 lbs. of paper.

Did you know that we also recycle boat wrap and shrink wrap?

So far this year we have recycled 34,126 pounds of plastic film (LDPE).
James Johnson
419-921-6400
Good Works Cafe Menu:


08/06: Shredded Chicken w/ Mashed Potatoes & Corn

08/13: Chili & Cornbread

08/20: Mini-Sub & Macaroni Salad

08/27: Mac & Cheese, Green Beans
Donation Requests
Hamburger Buns
Hoagie Buns
American Cheese Slices
Velveeta Cheese
Bologna
Ground Beef
Elbow Macaroni
Wavy Plain Potato Chips
Dill Pickle Spears
Green Beans
Fruit Snacks
Applesauce Cups
Donations can be brought to the Clubhouse from 9:30a - 12p or call (419)921-6057 to arrange a donation pick-up.

This helps us keep costs down and be able to provide meals each Friday at a low cost.

Thanks everyone! Here's to a good week!
Kerrie Close
Community Settings Coordinator
(419)921-6057
Jeremy had a new GTKM last week with Shari Weber from Medicaid Billing Solutions (MBS). MBS reviews all of CLI's DODD service documentation and then submits the actual billing to DODD so that CLI gets paid (which is super important as it turns out...). We've enjoyed getting to know Shari and we're really grateful to her and to MBS for helping CLI ensure that our recordkeeping is compliant & accurate! Also-- a special thank you to Shari for being our first virtual interview subject. Virtual is tough, but they both did great!
You can check out all of CLI's earlier videos by visiting CLI's YouTube channel: