Young people with disabilities—like
their able-bodied peers—have hopes and dreams, needs and fears
but, many of them feel isolated and have no one to share their struggles
with and no one to encourage them and help them be all God designed
them to be. Young Life Capernaum of Greater St. Paul helps fill the
void many of these young people face. Capernaum gives kids and young
adults with disabilities the chance to have fun, make friends, develop
self-esteem and begin a relationship with their Higher Power.
The program is a ministry dedicated to opening the door of faith
for teens with physical and developmental disabilities, and serves
teens and families of all religious and cultural backgrounds. Its
goal to provide teens and young adults with disabilities the chance
to experience growing and fulfilling friendships, to engage in activities
that challenge their physical limits, to grow their potential, and
to explore the relevance of faith in their lives.
The program began
in San Jose in 1986. It has been in Minnesota for the past six years
with the ministry in the White Bear-Mahtomedi Area launching in September,
2008. The local program offers clubs, camps, group studies, discussion,
peer support and special activities such as bowling, movies, pizza
parties and other outings.
High school student with special
needs, ages 9th grade-21 years old, are welcomed. The local group
also needs volunteer leaders.
FFI:
(651) 762-8483 or email jowoodbury@yahoo.com.
***
This spring Gillette Children’s
Specialty Healthcare and Courage Center partnered to help children
with disabilities achieve greater independence and confidence through
sports at this year’s Bike Expo and Sports Jam. The goal at
this annual event is to help children with disabilities achieve greater
independence and confidence through sports. Kids who previously could
not participate in recreational activities, such as a family bike
ride, now have the opportunity to experience these childhood activities.
At the Bike Expo, children and their families could see—and test out—adaptive
bikes firsthand, finding the model that works for them. The event is fun and
convenient—“one stop shopping” for families in search of an
adaptive bike. Being physically active and engaged with friends, family and the
community is hugely important for people with disabilities. Not only can it improve
their health, it also benefits them mentally and emotionally.
***
Mai Thor, a voting outreach
advocate was honored in May by Minnesota Secretary of State Mark
Ritchie. Thor was honored for her work in helping make sure all Minnesotans
have an opportunity to vote.
Until recently Thor worked
for the Minnesota Disability Law Center in Minneapolis. She worked
on voter outreach, voter registration and concentrating on voter
outreach, education and registration, particularly in the disability
community. She recently had a baby and documented her pregnancy in
the Access Press. Ritchie said Thor has been an aggressive advocate
for disability voters and has appeared in videos and commercials
urging people to vote. The award, from the National Association of
Secretaries of State, came with a plaque that said: “For making sure every Minnesotan
can vote.”
***
Hearing and Service Dogs
of Minnesota trains and provides service dogs for persons with disabilities.
The organization before has signed a purchase agreement for a four-acre
property in New Hope. The property includes a 21,000 square foot
industrial building. The organization is currently based in south
Minneapolis. The HSDM will announce a separate capital campaign to
help pay for the new facility. If all goes as planned, the organization
will be able to take ownership of the property this summer. The move
will give the organization more needed office and training space,
an isolation kennel to allow the group to continue adopting shelter
dogs and new indoor-outdoor kennel runs. Up to 40 dogs-in-training
could be housed at the facility.
The organization won the 2008
Distinguished Community Service award from The Arc of Minnesota,
for its autism assist dogs program.
***
Ellie Sevdy retired last
month from State Services for the Blind, she came to the Communication
Center in 1970, fresh out of college. Most recently was supervisor
of the audio services unit. Sevdy began as an audio tape librarian
and, over the years, worked in several different areas of the Communication
Center. She has been instrumental in many improvements made in the
center over the years, including the recent shift in the recording
process from analog to digital.
When Sevdy began in 1970,
all records of customers and audio-books were kept in a card file.
Recordings were done on reel-to-reel equipment. Since 2000, the pace
of adapting to the digital world has increased greatly, and a major
impetus for that has been to make the audio textbooks more useful
for today’s
students. Last year the audio textbook section began producing textbooks
in DAISY format, to be usable by digital readers and that was largely
because of her input.
***
Members of Arc Greater Twin
Cities elected four persons to the board of directors at the organization’s
annual meeting held at the Wilder Foundation in St. Paul May 19.
Three of the directors are new to Arc’s board. Amy Dawson,
Minneapolis, is an attorney with Thiel, Campbell, Gunderson and
Anderson, P.L.L.P., specializing in estate planning for families
of children with disabilities and insurance issues. She brings experience
in public policy and fundraising and has done volunteer work with
organizations including the Minnesota Senate Autism Task Force, the
Minnesota Autism Medical Home team, and the National Medical Home
Autism Initiative. Lynn Nelson, Minneapolis, is an adjunct profession
of public relations at the University of Minnesota’s School
of Journalism. She has volunteered with Arc’s Marketing Committee
for five years, providing media relations and crisis communications
counsel. She served from 1998-2004 as the director of public education
for the Institute of Race and Poverty at the U of M Law School and
now owns and operates LIN+ Public Relations. Shawn Monaghan, Minneapolis,
is vice president international for Medtronic’s cardiovascular
division. Before joining Medtronic in 1990, he held a number of financial
marketing and operation roles at Arthur Anderson and Deloitte. He
recently became a volunteer member of Arc’s Finance Committee
and Thrift Business Development Committee.
Returning to Arc’s
board for a second three-year term is Troy Auth, Golden Valley, owner
of Auth Outdoors, LLC. Auth was first elected to Arc’s board
in 2007. Officers of Arc’s board
of directors for 2009 - 2010 are Steve Hayes, chair; Peggy Smith,
first vice chair; Deborah Harris, second vice chair; Amy Hewitt,
secretary and Eduardi Montes, treasurer. Tom Judd is immediate past
chair.
***
Bob Stimson of Bloomington
was selected by the Muscular Dystrophy Association to be featured
in its national campaign promoting awareness of ALS (amyotrophic
lateral sclerosis) or Lou Gehrig’s disease.
May marked the 18th annual National ALS Awareness Month. Stimson
was one of 31 people featured, one per day throughout May, in the
MDA online series “ALS: Anyone’s Life Story.” Individuals
highlighted in the series talked about what it’s like to have
ALS, and how they’ve learned to survive – and thrive – despite
the deadly, paralyzing condition. Stimson, 66, received a diagnosis
of ALS in September 2004. His photo and profile appeared May 28,
on MDA’s ALS Web site www.als-mda.org.
Before his diagnosis
Stimson owned a specialized table manufacturing company, designed
computer-based inventory control software, lived in five countries
over a period of 30 years, biked an average 2,000 miles per season
for more than 19 years, raced on a Masters mountain bike team, produced
and directed industrial business films and videos (with David Frost),
and performed in musical groups in the United States, United Kingdom
and Australia. He stays ahead of the disease by seeking out and using
assistive technology and equipment, such as the revolutionary iBOT
wheelchair, and says his favorite quote is, “Play for more
than you can afford to lose and you will learn the game.”
***
Two athletes from the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf were
honored by the National Deaf Interscholastic Athletics Council (NDIAC)
in its national winter sports honors. NDIAC named Kirsten Pudas to
the second team for girls’ basketball and Zachary Ulrich to
the third team for boys’ basketball. Both athletes are seniors
at the Minnesota State Academy for the Deaf in Faribault.
***
The Minnesota State High
School League’s spring bowling tournaments
were held May 15 at Brusnwick Zone in Eden Prairie. In all of the
singles, doubles and team events, new champions were crowned. The
Monticello Magic won their first team championship in the physical
impairment (PI) category. Juniors Danielle Bardell and Brandon Dohrwardt,
sophomore Matthew Bouma, and ninth-grader Kim Niskanen, combined
for 1,560 pins and upset the two-time defending champions from Wayzata/Minnetonka.
St. Paul Humboldt and Wayzata/Minnetonka tied for runner-up honors.
A second team from Wayzata/Minne-tonka earned third-place honors.
Lauren
Warzecha, a ninth-grader at St. Peter, took top honors in the girls’ single
competition. Ninth-grader Chrissy Schermerhorn was a close second,
and sophomore Victoria Price of Andover rounded out the top three
finishers.
In boys’ singles, ninth-grader
Domonic Slattery of Cambridge-Isanti claimed his first title. St.
Michael-Albertville senior Dan Hlad, who took top honors in 2006,
was second. Po Vang, an eighth-grader from St. Paul Humboldt placed
third.
Junior Brittany Herbeck and
eighth-grader Steven Fletcher of Wayzata/Minnetonka won their first
doubles competition. Coon Rapids seniors Scott Clark and Corey Kuphal
earned runner-up honors, and Andover sophomores Victoria Price and
Emily Raffensparger placed third.
In the cognitive impairment
or CI division, North/Tartan, which won its only other team title
in 2007, returned to the championship podium this year. The team
of senior John Boland and sophomores Andrew Trepanier, Alex Odegard,
and Chris Brandt, combined for 1,796 pins to upset the defending
champions from Alexandria. The Cardinals of Alexandria were second
and the Tigers of Lake City placed third. Spring Lake Park sophomore
Beth Lewis-Miles won her first championship in the girls’ singles
competition. Jasmine Gomez, an eighth-grader
at Coon Rapids, earned runner-up honors, and Mankato East senior
Jessica Zernechel placed third.
In the boys’ singles event,
St. Paul Johnson sophomore John Hollerbach claimed his first championship.
Cambridge-Isanti ninth-grader Austin Sprandal was second. North/Tartan
ninth-grader Joe Grandell rounded out the top three finishers.
Sophomore Drew Winter and ninth-grader Gideon Hartsell of Alexandria
emerged as the top doubles team. It was the first title for both
of them. Junior Jamar Stone and ninth-grader Darius Laney of Minneapolis
North Community placed second, and eighth-graders Brandon Melchert
and Kendall Olson of St. Peter were third.
The fourth and final adapted
sports tournament for 2008-2009 is softball, with champions crowned
May 30. Robbins-dale/Hopkins/Mound-Westonka team rallied to beat
its nemesis Dakota United in the adapted softball state PI championship
game, 17-3. The Robins (13-0) closed out a third undefeated sports
season and became the third program to sweep PI state titles. Almost
every athlete contributed to all the softball, soccer and floor hockey
teams. The win avenged a championship loss last year to Dakota United,
which is a perennial sports powerhouse.
In the CI division, Osseo
(16-2) went beat previously undefeated Dakota United 12-1 in five
innings, winning its third consecutive state title and eighth this
decade.
***
We Can Ride has named Brad Thorsen as its new executive director.
Thorsen is an attorney with a background in running horse shows,
owning and showing horses, coaching the Special Olympics and involvement
in Bar Association activities,. He is a past winner of the Hennepin
County Bar Association’s Distinguished Service Award for Pro
Bono Activities.
***
Hearing and Service Dogs of Minnesota recently held
its volunteer recognition event at Midland Hills County Club. The
Special Recognition Award recipient for this year is Sandy Pidde.
The Puppy Raisers of the Year are Pat, DeeDee, Sam and Katherine
Heffernan. Volunteer of the Year is Leslie Flowers.
***
The Commission for Deaf,
DeafBlind and Hard of Hearing Minnesotans held its annual award ceremony
this spring at the state capitol rotunda in St. Paul.
Marty Barnum
received the group’s Lifetime Achievement and
Leadership Award. Al Franken was honored for Most Accessible campaign
of 2008, for his U.S. Senate campaign.
***
The Holland Center is a supplemental
education program providing therapy and dietary interventions designed
to improve a child’s
ability to learn. The program was an extension of the in-home therapy
Jennifer Larson was doing for her son, and was originally for children
ages 2-8. The program is being expanded for children through age
12, she said. In addition Holland Center has added services, such
as speech and occupational therapy, for the children enrolled in
its program. The combination of those factors forced Holland Center
to seek a larger facility, Larson explained.
The school will vacate
the city-owned building where the Holland Center opened its doors
in 2004. “We love our building and
we love Excelsior,” Larson said. But attempting to convert
lower level space in its leased building was impractical, prompting
the move.
The Holland Center program
for autistic children will be moving this summer, according to Minnesota
Sun Publications. The program will move from Excelsior to a Minnetonka
location.
Its intended destination,
near the junction of Interstate 494 and Highway 62, is pending a
conditional use permit from Minnetonka, Larson noted.
Holland Center
was named after the poem “Welcome to Holland,” which
compares life with a special needs child to that of a traveler arriving
in a different country than originally planned. More information
about Holland Center is available online at www.hollandcenter.com
***
Two-time “Dancing with
the Stars” champion and Mercury
Nashville recording artist Julianne Hough has partnered up with KaBOOM!,
a national non-profit, to map and rate play spaces everywhere online.
Once it has this comprehensive user-generated playground audit, KaBOOM!
will know which areas of the country have a great place for kids
to play every day and which areas fall short. Hough will donate $1
to select charities every time someone uploads a new place to play,
up to $100,000).
The challenge runs June 30,
or until Hough gives away $100,000 to national non-profits that have
teamed up with KaBOOM! for this project: YMCA of the USA, National
Wildlife Federation, Shaping America’s
Health, Jumpstart, America’s Promise Alliance and First Book.
To participate, users go online to the KaBOOM! Playspace Finder (kaboom.org/playspace
finder) picks a great charity to earn money for, then post a picture
they took of a place to play, and rate it. Hough will then give the
non-profit they selected $1 each time they load a new play space
to the map. In addition to benefiting charity, every play space loaded
counts as an entry in a sweepstakes to meet Hough or win autographed
merchandise. By using online technology to activate and engage individuals,
the 100,000 Play spaces in 100 Days Campaign will alert communities
of the importance of play, and motivate individuals to start taking
action.
The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder is a Google-based map that currently
shows more than 16,000 user-generated entries with photos, amenities,
and ratings of places kids play. The KaBOOM! Playspace Finder includes
all different sorts of places to play: playgrounds, athletic fields,
ice rinks, basketball courts, skate parks, and swimming pools, even
nature trails and community gardens.
Since 1995, KaBOOM! has constructed
almost 1,600 playgrounds, skate parks, sports fields and ice rinks
across North America. KaBOOM! also created the KaBOOM! National Campaign
for Play.
Access Press welcomes submissions
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