Week of November 10th, 2025

There's still time to catch a local Friday night football game!

-- And basketball season is just around the corner . . .

Our stance is that if you don't ask, you don't get. Let us know what you want to do.

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--

So, last week we had quite a bit of flu or something similar going around. It's early in the season, so let's all take this warning to remember all of the skills we learned to 2020-- handwashing & maintaining a healthy distance from others when you can. I know that it's not always possible, especially in a crowded van. However, I think it's helpful to be aware of the risk, even when you can't immediately do anything about it. I think it would be a great idea for all of us to wash our hands more often. I know that I'm going to try!

Holly & I will be opening up 16 West Main Street for a holiday pop-up shop during Light Up Norwalk on Local Saturday, November 29th. We'll be serving up libations, there'll be a few local vendors, and we're super lucky to share our space with the Last Call Trio this year! It sounds like this year will be the biggest Light Up yet. I just heard today (11/13) that there'll be a Clydesdale Horse Team there! That'll be fun. If you are out and about that day, definitely stop in.

Have a great weekend!

John

CLI is working with the The Watering Can and Caitlyn Corrigan for a holiday wreath fundraiser. You can browse & buy on our square platform:

CLI Wreath Online Ordering

What's new in Thrive?

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

Don't be shy!

Want to borrow a 5G iPad for the weekend? We'll help you pass an internet and social media curriculum & loan you one of CLI's!

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

Firelands

Local LLC

We're about a month into the switch up of having Andrew Smith with Firelands Local LLC run the shop floor without CLI staff. It's been going great! Workers seem happy and the shop floor productivity has really increased.

Andrew's come up with some fun incentive programs, including making up coupons for the Thrive shop that workers could buy using Thrive credits they could earn by demonstrating particular work-ready skills. One such prize was "Andrew takes you to lunch" (he's a generous guy!). Sometimes this means going out as pictured above-- other times it means ordering pizza in. Either way, it's a good time!

The Good News from the Good Works Cafe--

Question of the week

Q: How much does the workshop (Firelands Local) pay?

A: Firelands Local LLC pays all workers at least $10.71/hour until the end of 2025.

On January 1st, that minimum FL wage goes up to $11.01/hour!

That's why it's so important that the FL work crews are all business when they are clocked in. If there are 10 people working for an hour, the work crew has to produce more than $125/hour in value just to break even.

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