Simply Shari 5-5-2010

A co-worker and I were discussing the recent legislative updates. As he was preparing to leave he commented, “Watch your feet. I don’t want to roll over you.” I got a little twinge in my gut as I moved my foot. It was nice that he was thinking of me and my feelings.

Is there any connection with the way you feel physically and the way you feel on the inside? Can compassion move a person? I recently read, “Sad to say, there’s not much compassion left in today’s Kansas conservatives…”

That hits hard.

There is more than a moral issue at stake. Some people may not understand that for every dollar given in state funds for Home and Community Based Services, the federal government gives Kansas back $2.50…not a bad return in today’s economy. And the best part for compassionate conservatives is that these dollars create real jobs. These are real jobs that keep people at home paying their property taxes, sales taxes and more. You don’t even have to be compassionate to understand the value of that.

I attend a small country church and I have heard several comments on compassion. Believe it or not the root word goes back to a reference of your intestines. Does compassion have any power? Is it a real force? I guess to simplify this I would say. We can feel in our guts the right thing to do before our heart can recognize it.

It is heart wrenching when you know people are willing to die at home rather than go to a nursing home, when adults to children can’t get the daily needs of life, when a person that needs a little assistance to go to the bathroom or take a bath doesn’t have the help.

I am Simply Shari…and I move we all have some compassion.

Simply Shari 4-28-2010

Waiting

I have to admit I spend a fair amount of time in the car. But setting outside of the school waiting on my daughter gave me a chance to just think about waiting. Now I know she will be out soon. I know she is safe. I know she will be glad to see me. So this waiting doesn’t seem too bad.

I have talked lately about the now 65 people that have died while waiting on funding, but what about the 1975 people that are on the waiting list for Physical Disability Wavier services. Mothers, daughters, brothers, husbands, grandparents; they are at the center of this waiting. The projection for 2011 if no funding is given; is that there will be 4,264 persons waiting on PD services.

At a recent advocacy rally in Manhattan people lined the street.  Joan Boller, a client with Three Rivers Independent Living Resource Center, said “It’s scary to know that you have no control over the decisions made about your life.”

There have been several discussions on the value of our state highways and roads. You have to have a good infrastructure to deliver goods and services that just makes for good business. The 13 Centers for Independent Living in Kansas have developed a very cost effective and efficient infrastructure to deliver a level of services that are capable of assisting the people of Kansas. Additionally the Centers are doing it at approximately one third the costs of people living in an institutional setting.

I am Simply Shari …At the center of waiting for our legislators.

Simply Shari 2010-04-21

Posted…

I stopped at the Post Office to mail a birthday card. I have to admit it will be close to getting there on time. But I did take a minute to think about the stamp I was putting on the envelope. Now I know some folks will complain about a 44¢ stamp to mail a letter, especially if it is just across town in Thayer.  But that same stamp will mail a utility bill, house payment or whatever and take it anywhere in the United States.

I like to get things down to the simple facts. There is a lot of similarity in that postage stamp and the budget crisis we find in the state of Kansas.  I understand that our legislators say we are about $400 million dollars short in Kansas. Well there are approximately 3 million people in the state. So the Simple Math thought would be $400 Million divided by the 3 million people to get $133.33 per person a year.

Now if you look at the $133 a year that would be about 37¢ a day per person. Now I ask a simple question. Is it worth comparing a cost of less than a postage stamp to the 65 people that have already died while waiting for funding? Our leaders have been in office and working on this issue since January and they have still failed to come up with a workable budget that will get us where we need to go.

On the other hand Shannon Jones of SILCK (Statewide Independent Living Council of Kansas) stated at a recent rally in the DCI Park in Hutchinson that $10 Billion Dollars had been cut in taxes since 1995.  $10 billion dollars in cuts would be $3333.33 per person. Another question did you get a check from the State of Kansas in the mail?

I am Simply Shari and I can Post that.

Simply Shari 4-14-2010

Concrete or People?

“When someone asks, ‘How could you go pour concrete (to build roads) instead of taking care of the disabled?’ the truth of the matter is, it brings money,” he said, adding that legislators look at studies that show such projects turn over four to six times in sales and income tax generated.” 

That question was asked by a Kansas citizen and answered by a Kansas legislator. I had a mix of emotions when I first read it. Then I realized I had failed. I have spent the last fourteen years attempting to educate that very same legislator not only on the importance of  Medicaid funding for individuals but  also on the huge economic impact that same funding has on the State of  Kansas and the communities within it. I failed, that legislator did not understand that adequate funding supporting people with Medicaid dollars does in fact create jobs every community in the state. 

In a 2004 study by Families USA, Medicaid investment by states generates a three fold return in state economic benefits. In Kansas that study indicated that for every State dollar spent a return of $3.15 would be realized. That same study states that for every million dollars spent on Medicaid comes the creation of 33.06 jobs.  This study indicates to me that Kansas has already lost thousands of jobs has a result of the 10% Medicaid cuts. 

Concrete or people?  Does it really come to that? Or as Kansans can we create a solid infrastructure by investing in both highways and people. They both make sense to me. I think we simply just need to do the right thing and not only invest in concrete but people as well. Both create jobs and infrastructure. 

I am Simply Shari and I can vote for that.

PS….Some Kansans have a heart. A person after reading about a man who is paralyzed from the neck down donated the $1300 needed for his ventilator equipment. Medicaid cuts were not able to fund it.

Simlpy Shari 4-7-2010

Are you in the hunt?

If there is one thing I enjoy it is kids. I think Easter Egg Hunts are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face. But if you are one of the kids standing on the sidelines the waiting can be unbearable.  Kids will look out across the field and they are already making plans for which egg they are going to pick up first.

Come to think of it, that is exactly what is happening to people with disabilities. While the legislature continues to force people to wait without the necessary supports it is unbearable. In fact 64 people have already died while waiting for funding.

It was really hard this week when a State hospital employee informed me that a 43 year old mother with three children died. She had been as the person put it, “begging her mental health center to help her find Physical Disability services”.

Waiting and waiting is hard at an egg hunt but there really is no comparing it to the waiting people are doing across the state. Many of the egg hunts are organized by local Chamber of Commerce organizations. Interestingly 14 chambers have already voiced the same message as the advocates, “We need revenue enhancements.”  

Some of our leaders will appreciate the action that the advocates are preparing to begin. April 14^th people from all over the state plan to come to Hutchinson to the heart of Kansas. The Chamber of Commerce in Hutchinson has already shown its support of the event. Advocates realize it is time to let their voices be heard and their presence seen.

More information is at www.thekansastruthis.com

Simply Shari 3-31-2010

Progress is Hard,
As I was visiting with a lady the other day, we were discussing the fact that the Centers for Independent Living in the state are required to report to the state the number of people that have died while waiting for funding. The number that has chosen to stay in their own home without supports and died rather than go to a nursing home has grown to sixty-two across the state.

Most people when you talk to them about this subject immediately think of the elderly as those who are facing just such a choice. However that is certainly not always the case. The people that are waiting for funding of the Physical Disability waver are all under the age of 65.

That lady shared that one of the sixty-two people to have died was her daughter. She was a young lady with a grade school child. This reminded me of another young lady who is also waiting for supports. She is attempting to start college. She uses a wheelchair for mobility. Her goal is to complete school and move to Montana and become a social worker.

Without supports it may be impossible for her to complete those goals. She shared how one morning as she arrived at school she dropped something while she was in the parking lot. When she reached for the item she fell from her chair. Strange as it may sound people, as they passed by, didn’t stop to help. They literally just walked on by. That is until she called out for help. After people heard her request they realized there was a real need. And they also knew what to do to assist her.

I am really concerned that we have people isolated who need just a little help. Loneliness, depression, anxiety, all contributes to people giving up hope. But it is more than just the emotional stress. There are people who are in real physical distress, people who need assistance just to get food prepared, bathing, and going to the doctor.

I am concerned about the Crossroads we find ourselves at. Leaders are making real Life and Death decisions about people. If we would listen to what people are saying they are showing all of use what is important.

Well, I’m listening to real people who are making real choices. I know the sixty-two that have died faced a real Life or Death Crossroads. And all sixty-two chose what is important.

Life is more than just being alive. It is the people around us. The reactions we share together. I know progress is hard. But Life is hard. Death is often referred to as the easy way out.

I am Simply Shari, I chose the hard life. And I can live with that.

Simply Shari 3-24-2010

Nothing gets me as energized as spring. The kids are on Spring Break. The flowers are pushing through the ground. The birds are all singing. It just makes me want to do something. All over the state there are a lot of people ready to get something started.

Here in Southeast Kansas we were recently hammered with as much as eight inches of snow. It came just as spring was starting. But today only one day later, you look out and the grass is green and tulips are back.

One day you look out your window and the limbs of shrubs are weighted down with a burden that seems to push them to their limits. The very next day with a little sun and it’s all gone. The world is ready to move forward.

I know in Kansas we have seen some heavy financial storms. The load of these ordeals can push us all to the limit of our endurance. However if the leaders of this state will grasp the time and opportunities they have we will all see Sunny Days.

Without significant revenue enhancements many state systems and services are at risk. The load of this burden has already trimmed vital supports to the point of endangering people’s health and safety.

I ask the legislators to be wise in their decisions.
I ask them to provide leadership that energizes people and the economy.
I ask for the opportunity to participate in Sunny Days in Kansas once more.
I am Simply Shari and I can ask.

Simply Shari 3-17-2010

I have talked a lot lately about the 58 people that have died while waiting on funding. So today I’m going to focus on another population. A population that poll after poll has proven to us they recognize the values and integrity that Kansas needs. Year after year we listen to them as they step forward and voice their desires and then the Legislators in Kansas follow their direction.  I’m talking about the “Majority of People in Kansas”. A recent poll by SurveyUSA on March 2, 2010 showed 55% of Kansans support a one cent sales tax.

I’m Simply Shari and I like being in the Majority. The thought of voting for leaders and seeing them follow through is what most people expect.

Over 20% of the population in Kansas has a disability. One of the key services Centers for Independent Living provide is voter registration. The pressure and lack of support from the leaders in charge is something everyone is watching.

I recently read about Vermont, and how it renegotiated its contract with the federal government to make home and community services an entitlement. By reducing the number of residents in government-paid nursing care, the state was able to save millions of dollars and serve substantially more people with the same budget.

Maybe the Majority of people in Kansas would like to know why our leaders aren’t negotiating the same thing. Centers for Independent Living do more for less money already. I am Simply Shari and I can vote for that.

Simply Shari 3-10-2010

Birthdays simply come around so fast these days. It is nice to get the best wishes from your friends and feeling special, but no sooner do you celebrate one and another is right on your heels.

It is very similar to the way this legislative session is progressing. We are half-way into the session and no real leadership has stepped forward. The issues that were before us at the start of the session, they are still right on our heels.

It is nice to get birthday presents that is for sure. But so far the Kansas legislature has not delivered on any real solutions to the budget issues.

The longer they wait the more people there are who die while waiting for funding.

I fear the critical issues before us are unwrapping the structure of our Kansas communities. People are wishing the leaders in Kansas would begin to see their lives as real.

Celebrating birthdays is not optional. Nor are any people optional. I am Simply Shari and I can celebrate that.

Simply Shari 3-3-2010

I like choosing what is in my cart

I was standing in the check-out line and noticed the folks in front of me.  A lady with two young kids and three gallons of milk was first. Then there was a man with a frozen TV dinner and a jug of pop. Next was a lady with a cart rounded to the top. I guess she had a family at home.

Why would I stand in line? Well as today would have it there was only one line. But it gave me a chance to think about the 5800 people that are standing in line for Home and Community Based services.

For the folks waiting on funding there is another line. In the other line they can get nursing home services. What would that be like?

Well they would tell you what you can and cannot eat. They would limit when and where you could go. They would take things out of your basket and say you don’t need those. They would cut you off from family and friends. If you dropped anything of yours in the store it could be sold to someone else.

You say that can’t be so!

Well let me tell you about David. He used to work full time in agriculture. And at one time he was a bull rider. He had an accident and was not able to work. He lost his home since he didn’t have an income and the landlord sold his possessions to cover the rent. The landlord even got rid of his dog. Now David is in a nursing home and has lost all the things he had “put into his cart”.

David is in line and waiting for Home and Community Based services and the nursing home industry has taken control of his life.

So I will continue to stand in this line along with the 5800 other people. I like choosing what is in my cart and what is not. I am Simply Shari and I choose that.