Week of Labor Day 2025

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!

Another Friday night in Cleveland-- this time the group took the Transit downtown to Tower City to catch a Guards game. We'll be hitting a lot of local Friday night High School football games now that the season's started. Let us know if you're interested!

The Usual--

I forgot to share Ron's Huron County Demo Derby video last week. I was lucky enough to finally get to see him in action. It was really interesting how differently the different classes of demo cars perform. Ron's class was "engine swaps" so there were much more dramatic hits than in some of the other classes. We've shared the video in the weekly shared videos below. I apologize if some salty language from other spectators comes through on the audio.

CLI has been running quite a few trips to Cedar Point and to Cleveland for the Browns or the Guardians-- and we've started to get a lot more requests to do this type of thing. We promise to do future trips, BUT CLI's mission (and the state laws) mandate that CLI supports are provided to help people actively participate in their local community. Big fun trips are definitely awesome, but they can't be something that we do on a regular basis. CLI will be hitting some local high school football & basketball games this season, which I think is a good balance of getting your sports fix, while playing by the Medicaid community integration rules.

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 it for now. Have a great weekend & brace yourself for a full 5 days next week!

John

What's new in Thrive?

Congratulations to this month's superstars! Stay tuned for some exciting news about expanding paid work opportunities with Firelands Local.

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

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--

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