Week of February 15th, 2021
"When I do good I feel good, when I do bad I feel bad, and that’s my religion."

--Abraham Lincoln
John's Usual Excuses & Apologies-

I try to be careful to not wade into loaded political topics, but I've gotten a few calls & questions about what the proposed increase in minimum wage would do to CLI and the people that we employ through Firelands Local LLC. So, I figured I'd make a few statements about what I believe that relate to the issue:
  • CLI is extremely lucky to have dedicated staff who do this work for reasons greater than the money. People who provide services to other people, whether in the DD field or Home Health or Nursing Homes are insufficiently paid. This is important and often highly skilled work. CLI has a 3 part mission: to increase the earnings, status & quality of life of people with DD, to do the same for people who take care of people with DD, and to improve the local communities CLI operates in.
  • Right now Medicaid & other funding streams don't pay enough to support higher wages without matching reductions in other paid benefits that are equally important.
  • Federal, State & Local governments already spend a lot of money and I worry about the long-term sustainability of this. If we just add to that deficit without improving how we actually spend and what we actually buy with that money-- I don't see how this ends well for us.

  • I know there are many people with disabilities that do not want to earn more than a certain $ amount because they are afraid to permanently lose benefits. I know that there are many misunderstandings about this and there are many ways to help people earn money AND protect benefits. However, whether this fear is right or wrong, it is widespread. We hear it a lot. One unintended consequence of a dramatically higher hourly wage might be a disincentive to seek meaningful employment.
  • In general we're in a period of instability right now. While that is often scary, these often also present opportunities to navigate changes that might not be available in more stable times. I think it was originally Winston Churchill who said, "Never waste a good crisis."
  • Finally, as a society, we are going to have to learn how to value & collaborate with people that we disagree with sometimes. I don't know how we get there, but we won't wind up anyplace good if we can't do this.

To summarize: one-size-fits-all solutions can be problematic, real changes are needed in the DD system, but I am not worrying about it yet. CLI has navigated other challenges over the past 5 years. I have faith that together we'll continue to overcome future challenges too.

In the meantime, control what you can, stay positive, stay safe, and keep those hands clean!
John

The Ohio Association of County Boards of DD is sponsoring a commUNITY film fest. The deadline for submissions is March 12. The link above will take you to their home page where you can find full contest details. Edited videos need to be between 2-5 minutes long. CLI is looking to support CLI clients who want to submit a video. If you have someone at home who will help you edit your video, we'll even make it worth your crew's while by giving you a $75 Target gift card that you can use to compensate them for their help.
This video was made by our friends at Riverview Industries in Oak Harbor and Assured Health in Toledo. It's an infomercial about the COVID vaccine, but it's also a good example of people having fun making one-- and it's useful!
Just one final V-Day Pic--
Mark & Sarah delivered valentines to friends at local nursing homes
Deana & Mark ran the Good Works Cafe a few weeks back. It's not all just the glamorous food-slinging. There's a significant amount of clean-up afterwards!
The CLI & Firelands Local Bowling Teams are going to jump back into regular league play starting this week. They've all been "bowling out" at alternative days/times for a while now. Mark did some bowling last Friday and hit a strike. For anyone who knows Mark, there's often a fair amount of unique celebratory kinetics when he hits. This one seems more conventional . . .
“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up”

-Nelson Mandela
Deana glazes her ceramic piece downtown at AOS' space at
32 East Main Street
Have you visited Artist' Open Studio space on Main Street? You should. AOS has a lot of neat art pieces for sale and also offers graphic art & ceramic classes. One thing that a lot of people don't realize is that AOS is completely separate from CLI. Classes are open to anyone in the community. CLI helps our clients access AOS programs as requested, but AOS is probably willing to accommodate other provider staff too.

AOS' Director Jackie Hugg says,
"We look forward to our weekly clay sessions with Deanna in collaboration with CLI . It has been encouraging to see her creative growth and comfort in the new studio space.

Deanna currently has 4 pieces of ceramic art for sale at our gallery at 32 E Main St. Our current hours of operation are Tuesdays and Thursday 10-6, Saturdays 10-2!"
“Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation"
-Coretta Scott King
Would you like to join CLI for some fun virtual activities?
It's a bunch of loud fun!
"Believe you can and you are already halfway there."

-Theodore Roosevelt
Firelands Local LLC Update from GM James Johnson:
Last week was one to feel good about. One of the goals for both CLI and Firelands is to give back to the communities we work in. When we are shredding material we remove paper clips and binder clips from the material. We accumulate quite a bit of these. Last week we delivered 104 lbs. of paper clips and binder clips to 4 different school districts in Huron County. Each of the schools were very appreciative of the donations. I am including this information because neither CLI nor FL talk enough about the good things that we do.
 
The picture that is included this week is someone who is ice fishing at the Willard Res. While most of you are not interested in the picture, it represents more than a picture. On the way back to Norwalk with a work crew, we decided to take a quick road trip. There were 4 people on the shuttle at that time. 
We drove up the ramp and saw several people ice fishing. The shuttle was very quiet until everyone saw the fisher-people. Then everyone seemed happy and energized. Several conversations broke out as a result. There is a lot of monotony in the world today and sometimes we all need a break from it. Even if it takes less than 5 minutes.
 
Production results:
Assembly completed 11,560 units.
We shredded 12,000 pounds last week and have another trailer of paper ready to go out and become toilet paper.

I would like to also talk about Random Acts of Kindness.
Those folks that drive a shuttle or van for CLI and FL typically wave to each other when we pass one another on the road. I have come to realize that there are a lot of white wans and shuttles in this area. Since I can’t always distinguish between them, we wave to most white vans in the area. On my shuttle we see the same vans over and over. We wave and get some very interesting looks. There is one van that we see multiples times a day with two young ladies in the front seats. We wave to them every time and typically get no response. All of a sudden they have both started waving first and have great big smiles on there faces. There is a bus stop near one of our stops. At first, 1 child started waving to us as we went by. Now, the entire group waves to us. We give them a quick beep and a big smile. I look forward to seeing them every morning. The smiles of those kids put a smile on my face. It is very easy to give a wave to others, a friendly wave. You may never know the impact it has on the other persons day or life. The best part is that it can make you feel better knowing that you may have brightened the day for someone else.

Please stay warm. Wash your hands. Also remember to dry them very well in this cold weather.
James Johnson
419-921-6400

“Blessed are the young, for they will inherit the national debt.”

—Herbert Hoover
The FREE Good Works Cafe will be back next week to run every Friday at 11:30 am until they run out of food.

If you or a friend want a delicious meal but cannot get transportation, we can deliver to you for a $20 donation!

*Donations are accepted & 100% go to future Fridays.*
DODD has some decent online content these days.

Click the video on the left to see a clip of Director Davis talking about DODD's vaccination plan.

You can find more videos by clicking on either the youtube or the DODD website buttons below.

www.CLIsupports.com