CLI Incorporated

P.O. Box 508

Norwalk, Ohio 44857

CLIsupports.com

419-706-5137

Week of March 24th, 2025

Thanks to last year's DODD ADS Quality Pilot Grant and the DODD's Employment Readiness Grant -- CLI has 2 new interactive white boards & we're just starting to figure out how much you can do with them!

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.

The Usual--

First, thank you to everyone who has been providing feedback about CLI staff! Second, I owe all of you an apology for not following through with the promise of rewarding your participation with a scratch-off lottery ticket. We will be rectifying that soon. Mind like a steel trap . . .

Kenilee Bowling Leagues are all wrapping up over the next couple of weeks (except for the Norwalk Furniture League that runs all the way through April). It was another good season. The learning curve with the new scoring equipment wasn't too bad and I don't think anyone missed the 1970's tech that we've been not quite getting the job done with over the last few years. The new scoring was a bit of a heavy lift, so we don't have a lot of cash yet to work with, but we're going to try to upgrade the bumper system over the summer.

You'll be hearing quite a bit more about Kenilee Lanes over the next year as we restart our fundraising efforts to raise enough money to make the space fully wheelchair accessible. We raised more than $80,000 just in time for COVID a few years back, but then had to return the money to donors when the increase in materials costs meant that the work would cost almost twice what we'd planned.

Speaking of bowling-- congratulations to Ron who competed last week in Baton Rouge & Michelle who picked up a turkey (3 strikes in a row) on frame 10 of one of her league games last Thursday!

There is still a lot up in the air about potential cuts to Medicaid. This is important because Ohio's DD system can't work at all without federal Medicaid dollars. I've provided list of Huron County's federal and state politicians. Traditionally support for Medicaid to pay for services for people with DD is a bipartisan issue. I think that this is still true. I just worry that sloppy political freezes or indiscriminate cuts might be put in place that would make it very hard for DD providers to stay in business.

For the record, I think that there are many opportunities to make the larger bureaucracy more efficient. There's not much chance of reducing the federal deficit without addressing Medicaid. But we can't afford to make cuts to the relatively small percentage of this spending that currently makes it to the front lines.

Thanks to Amy at Flickinger Insurance for reaching out to ask for a template letter so that she & her staff could write to politicians to in support of being cautious as they consider cuts to Medicaid. It would be great more people would reach out to our US senators and our US representatives to make sure that they understand that if the government does cut Medicaid funds, it is important to be careful with how those cuts are made. It's important that politicians hear from constituents who would be directly affected by potential cuts. Saving tax dollars is a noble objective. However, I know that nobody wants to hurt people with DD. A careful, methodical approach is necessary.

If you are willing to reach out, our local politicians are:

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

Representative Robert Latta

 2470 Rayburn House Office Building

Washington, DC 201510

(202) 225-6405

Governor Mike DeWine

Riffe Center, 77 S High St 30th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-3555

Representative Kelly Deeter

77 South High Street, 13th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-9628

Representative D.J. Swearingen

77 South High Street, 13th Floor

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 644-6011

Senator Theresa GavaroneSenate Building

Capitol Square

First Floor, 138

Columbus, OH 43215

(614) 466-8060

Thanks! Have a great week!

John

What's new in Thrive?

(other than March Madness we mean . . .)

March Madness is underway! Stay tuned for the winners!

THRIVE class is thriving!!! All of our plants have been transplanted and we are charting their growth. Next stop? Taking them home and planting them outside (or in a larger pot).

We have continued to work on personal finance. Thanks to Haven for making a fun game for us to play.

This week we are wrapping up our first book club. We read Mr. Popper's Penguins and watched some of the movie. We then compared the two.  

The interactive board is up and running. Everyone is loving it!

We are having such a fun time in class! Next up, cooking!

Finally, we have some new Shout Outs. Way to go!

Julie d'Aliberti

Community Access Facilitator

419-706-2635

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



Don't be shy!

Firelands Local LLC

Firelands Local Ramps Up Ohio Shrink Wrap Recycling Program to Transform Waste into Resources

James Johnson

james@firelandslocal.com

419-921-6400

The Good News from the Good Works Cafe--

CLI's Good Works Cafe offers a free community lunch every Friday afternoon at the Norwalk Reservoir,

staffed entirely by volunteers with DD made from food donated by OHgo and other

community partners!

Question of the week

Q: Why is CLI so worried about what happens with what the US government does about Medicaid?

A: Generally speaking, CLI and all DD providers' services are paid with a combination of federal (66%), county/State (34%). As with Social Security, the reality is that our Medicaid system can be very inefficient. However, it is important that our leaders take a cautious, thoughtful approach to how they save money and/or improve efficiency. The reality is that Ohio's DD system is propped up by federal Medicaid dollars. A second reality is that being a DD provider is a very low-margin business to be in. Most of us do not have deep pockets-- and whatever long-term savings we did have were wiped out because of COVID and the slow recovery. This is especially true for day service providers like CLI. If the Medicaid funds were suddenly turned off, services to people with DD would almost immediately stop AND many DD providers would very quickly go out of business. This would mean that it would be very hard to restart services again if/after Medicaid funding were re-established.

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