November 1997 Edition - Access Press

"No problem is too big to runaway from.

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Police Abuse Quadriplegic-

-A1 Ries & Jack Trout

p. 2

Access Press d&3

Volume 8, Number 11

I RESOURCES

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Tenants Take Action

by Dwight Hobbes

by Luke Pederson

November 10, 1997

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million dollar-businessesjust

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Deaf Refugee Program ~ u n d e /dTaken For A Ride

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to put up his hands or he'd Bennett. "He was rather intoxi- hospital, where emergency&&'we thought he cated." ~ u r i n gthe chase, room personnel say S@hn a goner. hmn't been Bennett contends, notice dis- tried to convince them that

"Sohm or- from a caraccident,"Bennett

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7 1sufficiency and self esteem. I the ipnominv of the coos in its ..""."."b."".".

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because 'I can't' isn't what received was a letter in thl

experience, turn it m n d , a on governmentarpmgfmns.

ON DISABUlTY -

-tegis1ative~oundtable

Thursday, January 15,1998 .

Kelly Inn StateC+1 Concerned about disabitity relatag

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Auschwitz or something."

comment

discussingtheirlegislativeprioritiw.

issues. For more information call. '

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Rawp1y Mi&alek carried car,andthrswhim in theback- 0dmd to s&me-kind SfsRlSsttinri~i~g."

'Overt b d a l e to the car, strapped sea, face do-. . him in, and took off for a local scrap yard. There, M i c W k , F h d Y t M ~ d w ~ ~ a n d m t i got into an argumencedh employee W ~ Qclaimed Bread& struggling for air. ~i-3 *k& w a "According to the Internal &;.'She were mlW, Affairs report," says Bennett, "Sohm says this is w b he wwandahigh@ first ' d i q v m ' t h ~ is disabled, and first notices

aWVWs.a ~ e f f i m ,says "

B-3 d d m l h.1 F ~ S P ~ c'tve'd e d better work with [him] abouthow todeal with S~IXSS."

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Advertising and 4itorial deadlines are the 30th of the month preceding publiciktion;special scheduling available for camera-ready art.

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MOBILITY "I'm a resident at Courage Center and the concern I and other residents have is we'd call for rides and be told they couldn't give rides to and from Courage Center during rush hour," statedTomAtkins. "We ought to be able to get a ride when the system is set-up on a first-come first-serve basis."

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Vida reported the problems are being worked out and that the providers are, generally, doing reasonably well. One of the problems the providers are having is that the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) allows a provider to offer only 50 percent of its rides as standing orders, during peak hours, forcing many customers with jobs to attempt to call every morning hoping aride will beavailable.

Vida said the providers have

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transportation was more efficient prior to 1992, which is when-they switched to three providers and then in June 1997 moved to the current two providers system.

"There used to be anywhere from six to fifteen different providers, and I believe it worked because there was competition for the customer's money," stated Terry Meka. "Now there'sno incentive. They have their contract for two more years, so why worry about improving?"

Mark Fuhrmann, Metropolitan Council member in charge of Metro Mobility's budget and policies, disagreed.

Fuhrmann explained when there was maximum competition, good performers were rewarded, while others became financial burdens.

"Those providers paid on demand which was not a financially solid program. It put the program in the red, blowing a hole in the budget," said Fuhrmann. "It's taken four years to bring Metro Mobility's budget back to where it is or near balanced."

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"~sn&cabs' Vice President, Harlan Peterson, assured me + problem wouldn'thap Some customers are not sold pen again, but if it did to call 4s on the new system and feel him sonnil and hited' bne router."

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he Minneapolis Cornmission an Civil Rights is accepting nomination? for the Annua) Qu$gtRddiig A%&. En& zations that have made exceptionil contributions in civil or human rights - may be nominated ta receive this award. The award will be pmmamd;~rt*l l@%mdDr. I

IN BRIEF. . . .

cont.trornp.1

"Laidlaw got off to a rocky start under the new contract.

They underestimated -their need for drivers, but once they realized it, the problem was addressed. It didn't happen as quickly as they would have liked, but they've improved." The public forum gave customers and management an "Laidlaw's made significant opportunity to express their improvement in September opinions, and that they did. and October in regard - to routsaid Vi -*

November 10,1997

Access Press

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"They [providers] have these meetings all the time and it's the same old message, they don't do anything to solve the problems." said Meka. "It's like they have the meetings just to say they've met with the public, butthey really don't care. There's nothing anyone can do because they're under contract."

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1 inferact Debuts New Plav I

Interact Center for the Visual and Performing Arts will be performing "ADay in the Life of Interadt" an original mad-

cap musical about the creation through November 22, 1997. of a show at a center for ac- For tickets and information, tors with and withoutdisabili- call 339-5 145. ties. This production runs

I Human Rights Day

The~innesotaHumanRights Day Conference is December 5, 1997 at the St. Paul "We're always looking for Sheraton Midway Hotel. This ways to make improvements.

We take soggestions and see if they'll work," said Vida. Consumer Survivor Network "Somebody at the meeting (CSN). has a new self-help suggested we have acancella- group for people with Co-oction phone line. That makes a curringDisorders(COD). The lot of sense because it would purpose of the group is to allow us to schedule more learn how to relate to people inahealthy andeffectivemansame-day rides."

years conference is "Meeting formation or to register, call the Challenges of a Changing (612)2154172.

Minnesota: Human Rights and Race Relations." For in-

I Mental Illness Support Group

"I was struck by what was not -said," stated Fuhrmann. "I .didn't hear the horror stories about people being stranded for four to six hours, like I heard two years ago. Things have gotten better."

Ron Biss, a member of the T M C and a Metro Mobility customer, felt the forum was productive. He thought there was good testimony presented and the Metropolitan Council staff responded accurately.

"When there's a change there are always positives and negatives, and generally people remember the things that no-

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holi- seekanoutstandingjgdividual day Celebration January 16, or group that has genebeyond 1998. Deadline farsubmission their call of duty in their serd ' ~ L N o v e ~ b e r 2 4 , 1 9 9 7vice . a d ~ W e r s h i pto their cmmunity.

In a jaiuf, celebration of the C o ~ m i s s i o n and the For infortiation Department's 3Wh Anniver- tions please contact Liza sary theme, Committed to the O'Reilly, Commission LiaiVision, R&g, to the Chal- son at 673-2339. n lenge, the (3mmmmm ,wWiH

~&b1e Space, he. (MQoffers subsidized o & o d . a ~bedmom' r~ apartmentsf o individuals ~ with &$sical disabilities. We h v t housing in the Twin Cities metropolitan area, St. Cloud, Brainerd, Grand Rapids, Ebbing, Austin, Marshall, Willmar, and Wlluth.

The apartments sm &ally wheelchair i@$.~b central laundry morn, laqq mmmunity room,* caretaker.

MI also offers shared pimwmd care services 24 h @ W % - i ' va%~tnast , locations for adults wifh' a #xysical disability andlor t r m d 9 8 i e ~t - ,injury who qualify fbr Medical

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I or &oreinformationdl (612)615-7271&(8m466-7722.or services &busing call Leigh, for employmimt as a person@care Sean or Courtney.

call

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days, 4:30 at Seward West Towers. For further information, call the Mental Health Consumer Survivor Network (612) 637-2800 or 1-800483-2007.

Eligibility guidelines for Minneapolis Community DevelopmentAgency accessibility loans for permanent ac-

cessibility improvements are expanding sothat any resident with a disability who will be living in the home long term,

qualifies the property for improvements. For information on MCDA loan programs, call 673-5286:

TheChemicalInjury Resource Center of Minnesota will presentaprogram with author Terry Cips, The Natural Step

to Sustainability, Sunday, November 16, 1997 from 2 4pm. The purpose is to develop and share a common

framework for understanding ollj environmental problems and protecting our health. For infomation:647-0944.

1 chemical Injury Program I Celebrate The Season

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nerand to becomemore aware of the obstacles that we create that keep us from develop irrg a healthy andintimate connection with others. Groups meet every Thursday, 12:00 at the CSN office or Wednes-

IAccessibility Loans

is working pretty w e ~ ~ ~ , y + * $ o h y of the time% a majokity of the people. Although that is not frequently or publicly statsd." .-%L

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I On Mental Illness I DealingWith Depression

Life Goes On

Words Can And Do Hurt n

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eing kind to each othe; is something that we need to do to get along in this world.

It creates a happier atmosphere for everyone concerned. We are reminded of this especially during the holidays. Yet, we all know that while this may happenaround Thanksgiving and Christinai, we'd be fooling slfi.selm if we think it goes on every day of the year whether it be in the work place, community, churches or families.

Now, I know that institutionalization was quite common during the em that I was born.

However, when1started hearing this, I chedred it out witit other family.members and no one had ever heard th% skxy before. Maybe I'm being naive, but I don't believe they were just trying to spare my feelings.

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Words can hurt, even if they are hot meant to. Sometimes I wonder if people with disabilities are more soweptible to hearing remarks t h t cause pain. Family members am not exempt from saying cun'himg things either. And these are the comments one tends to remember the most.

When I recently spoke to the initial person who referred to How can we protect ourselves the institution issue, she said, f r o m ~ ~ d a b "I -thank God that your parents because' thi; is a form of didn't listen to outside influabuse? It's not an easy ques- encesaImu&p&" I knew then tion to answer. I've had along that I couldn't back away any time to thinkabout it. Foryears, more. For my own sanity, I itstw-the best way to deal needed to express my feel- -; with this was to &&it20 my ings to her, And so I wrote to little comer of the world and her and explained how I felt.

1 anticipated negative feedback might be in a i t better shape. hotherfamilymembers. And If w e l m e d to walkinaafher

Y ~ ~ W W ~ P Pwere V in a Lake Woebegon neighborbod - all better than average folks; Somehow I knew, at an early age, there were often serious problems behind that appearance of excellence. There were h i lies deeply affected by mental illness, alcdholim, and abuse - both emotional and physical. These issues still affect us all.

Yet as people with disabilities, we have to develop Arecentmuder, of a father by enough of a sense of pride in his son with a "history of menourselves that we are able to tal illness," in that community wt t h dmtnsdve, m e 1 affected me deeply. For those remarks from the well mean- of us who are managing our hg, ~ ~ b m t & c a b e d ~Pm ~ w..mental health it is hard to see stin'ln the process of learning headlines about acts of viohow to do this. lence by others with similar labels. Despite good educaUntil next time, let's treat oth- tion and efforts toward openers as we wish to be treated. ness there is still stigma about the issue of those of us with illnesses thatare labeled mend.As with all labels, there is e wide range 6f people.

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so I would endure my pain in person's shoes for only a few silencz. minutes, maybe, just maybe, we $vm$ldd t ~ V SO R much Perhaps this is being a cow- misunderstanding leadng to ard, but than I never did con- wm. Why can't we treateach sider myself as having much other with kindness? It's so courage. That is, until I heard much easier to speak in gentle one too many times about how tones instead of harsh, hurtful mypar~wtrWm41dehright wrds. Why can't we allow decision by kkeping ae ib- each other to live in dignity? stauhfputting meinani~sti- .These are q m t i a s only we tution. ean answer tw individuals.

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Patronize your There are i113pga3tt ways to Access Press lndsqpon* *aw Advertisers. Let Imental health. The essential them know step is to acknowledge there where you heard is a problem and find productive help. I believe it is a about them. combination of independence e s a r e They bring you must be independent in taking your paper. .responsibility for our health,

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reexercise, even walking, may be particularly benWhile the focus in this col- eficial for those with-depresumn is depression, much of sion. the information is snpportive of goad mental and physical Avoid drinking alcohol: Alhealth. The following ideas cohol is actually a depressant, are excerpt form an excellent which only makes matters pmpphlet "Depression: B e worse. come an active; informed consum& from Healthpartners. Take care of yourself.

Emphasize a healthy diet.

Depression takes a terrible toll on society - and our Be aware of your thoughts: &onomy - form things like Depression produces negative missed workdays, lost pro- thoughts and irrational beliefs ductivity, Wpi&W&md w i h u t yow being aware of even suicide. One'studyfound them. Intenigence alone will that depression is far more not stop this process. Listendisabling t h ~ ieight other ing to yourselves can help you chronic conditions including become more conscious of high blood pressure, diabetes these distorted thoughts and and arthritis. challenge them.

Sadly, society tends to blame the patient. Depression is a medical illness, not a character defect. It results form an imbalance of mood influencing chemicals in the brain. A genetic tendency ar a se+s tsss, c?amBk-tl relationship or unwelcome change can trigger this imbalance. It can also occur for no apparent reason.

medical attention. People cannot "snap out of it" on their II but interdependence is the key own no matter how hard they try. A tragic fact about de#

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B ~ U an active putnnhip&l witlr your primary car

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215 dwu-1 types of depression, with varying degrees of severity. All are treatable.

Thmk anal

my ways. .--r

t f ~ sociaf stigma, - A p - p r ~ a ~ U p ? ~ i - ~ with compassion and understanding, rather than blaming orjudging those who h9vg.k

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a& @ 'vdkd an ffie decision making sary. WIth they served on active dqty d l be paid if they earnethe mmm the aim-is process, setbacks in S~metimebetween Ayus(2, Southwest Asia Service complete remission, not just smde and do your pan in 1990 and July 31 19mMedal. To qualify, the vet- gettingbetter butstayingwell. =hieving a healthy life. additionalamount of $300.00 -,& to submit an appli9

I f d supprt for lray changes

Metro Public Forum I

VOCATIONAL REHABILITATION IN MINNESOTA You can make a diflemnee bj expressing your views!

Tuesday, November 18,1997 . .9:00 am. 6:OO p.m.

Sheraton Midway Hotel 1-94 & Hamline Avenue St. Paul, Minnesota

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,'slang with a c&@*#%iJElru?r militjery discharge docuinent - DD Farm 214. For informationlapplidation contact the b s e y County Veterans Service Office, 15 West Kellogg Blvd., Room 88 or call 266-

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8489.

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What employment services are needed in Minnesota for persons with disabilities? .

What is the effectiveness of present services? .

Persons who cannot attend the meeting may send wrjtten commentsto.

Rehabilitation Se~vicedSRAC,390No. Robert St., St. Paul, MN 55101 F A X (Q12) 297-51 59; voiced opinions can be telephoned to 1-800-328-9095 ext. 282-6618, or sent by Internet to srac@des.state.mn.us. Interpreters and realtime captioning wlll be' present. Other accomnrodations may be arranged by calling ~ehabilitationServices at (6121296-7869 Y 29'6-3'900TTY.

nally leartied within me thew lay an invincible summer."

Katie OsB&n is a freelance writerfrom Stihaier with a special ,hteresf'in heal&y Mes.

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Sponsored by the Minnesota State Rehabilitation Advisory CounGl&he Minnesota Department of Economic Security - Rehabilitation &&ces, and the U.S. Department of Education Rehabilitgtion Services 1 Administration, who will be present to listen and answer questions.

What are your experiences, problems and ideas?

@ a *+& Make an'e'xtra effort to exercise: Stud@ indicate exercise improves mmtd health.

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kijitj t stated, "...accord- sible attitude toward the well ing to written complaints... being of othen, but it just you have cloaked your- doesn't hold water. It's selves with authority you doubtful, since complaints do not have and have ap- had been lodged with onpointed yourselves to act SitemanagerTarryn Wilson, as 'snoops', security that management t h o u a t guards, and judge and jury these people were acting for all visitors who come to arbitrarily. The letter in no the building. You have in- way acknowledged that terrogated and intimidated anyone who can smell smoke visitors to the project ... has enough sense to tell even [following] persons to something's burning, that the unit they were visiting. these individuals had some kind of reason for what they ' Your past actions will no longer be tolerated. NO were doing. Nor were they FUTUREWARNING. HOW apprised of alternative the elderly women to whom means. They were simply this threat was issued can told to knock it off with the be seen as intimidating de- implication that if they fies logic. But, setting that didn't, they'd be looking for aside, one has to wonder a new pl& ts live. a l l i n g e why management came reflects, "There was nothdown on them so hard. Kim ing we could substantiate, Collinge, Property Manager so we can monitor the situfor Seward-Square, says, ation, serve tenants with "We were concerned for the infraction notices or evicsafety of these individuals tion." Hence guilty hid in the potential risk as well as safety behind protections the rights of residents who set in place for all persons felt they were intrudin~on who must be presumed intheir privacy." A laudable nocent unless and until sentiment toward the moti- proven otherwise. vated tenants and a respon-

Hands tied, volunteers dismantled the desk and stoppedpatrollingthehalls.

Eventually, the concerned citizens, well-meaning as can be but legally wrong as twoleft shoes, did whatthey should have done in the first place use the system.

Through circulated fliers they got wind of an open forum for a neighboring apartment building inhabitants of which endured similar troubles. Following the example, they began to conduct meetings, turning for help to Lynn Balfor, civilian memberofCommunityCrime Prevention SAFE, a unit of the Minneapolis Police Department whereby police officers and civilian crimeprevention specialists address crime and livability. With this crucial addition to their efforts meetings in May, June, September preceded an October forum where they presented a formal list ofconcernsformanagement to address. In attendance at the community meetings were Balfor, Wilson, Marti

Harris of the Seward Neigh- serving notice that hefshe borhood Group and Council would be granted time to Member Joan Campbell. find other accommodations and that should any other As could be expected, tar- problems arise eviction get persons were also on would ensue. According to hand and, unsurprisingly, Collinge, "Since that meetsome raised a hue and cry ing, we've hired security about be singled out be- which wil1.be in seven days cause they are not white. (as of November 3 through While the disabled are no January 1998) patrolling the more or less above racism building at various lateevening than is anyone else, the fact hours." It goes without saythat attention focused on ing that the druggies will people of color is no basis simply adapt and generally per se for accusations of avoid being conspicuous at discrimination and, in fact, those times and, come Januwould surprise only to some- ary, they'll be back in force, onewho is naive. Are those but this stop gap measure is predominantly involved in a great deal better than nothstreet traffic supposed to ing. Other measures include suddenly stop being people management's plans to inof color because white crease camera surveillance, people complain? For that provide improved lighting matter, not all Seward in the garage area (where Square tenant worried about the door has been repeatedly jammed open) andtheir the situation are white. encouraging residents call Results from the meeting im- the cops when they witness mediately followed as the illegal or suspect activity very next day, as Tarryn (something tenants failed to Wilson, with demonstrable do in the past). An iniparand documented cause, ap- tant step had already been proached an individual, taken to prevent those con-

tO

GO W H E R E Y O U W A N T

victed of drug related crimes from moving in to begin with.

As one tenant observes, "The people that are getting shot on the street go through physical rehab and then they're all eligible for accessible housing. Disability doesn't make them a good person. I don't think politicians and the police and the bureaucracy have thought that far ahead, but they sure need to." Toward this end Seward Square does criminal background check on prospective tenants.

"We're going to work togethel', Collingeasserts,"and I think we're going to see a significant change in this building in a relatively short period of time." It's not likely that without a sustained and prominent presence of uniformed personnel that a greatly significant change will take place at all, much less in a shortperiod of time. Management, nonetheless is doing something. Hopefully it is motivate by a better reason

Sewanl- cont. on p. 7

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November 10,1997

Access Press .

Commentary - Metro Mobility

Stats Up -

by Lolly Lijewski

- Quality Down

ince the transition from three providers to two in June, Metro Mobility customers have continued to experience frustration with their service. While statistics have shown improvement in the number of trip denials, and 36 thousandhours whichhad been cut in 1995 have been phased back into the system over the past month, riders still report a raft of problems.

S

Laidlaw riders report that when they place a reservation they may get one part of the ride and h e other will be put on "deniedtripprocess." They report invariably that part of the trip is denied. For those who have no other transport&tion options, this means they have to cancel the part of the trip which was approved. It severely limits riders activities.

In comparison, Handicabs' riders reportthat when one part of their trip is denied and put into "denied ,trip process," or the "same

very ianpmsd witb LaSIle can't take it u p m yourself and the process we went to police oth&people. Anagging camideration is why it through." took management so long to do anything at all. They had to Tenantsat Seward Squarewill have to wait and see- and have know something was up way sufficient wits about them to back in January. Askdabout avoid doing the fight thing thisCollingereplied,"I'mnot the wrong way: those who going to comment any further are fool hardy enough to on that because that was 10 roam around running after months ago." What does how suspected drug traffickers long ago it happened have to

If nbt&i~@ elm, Sewazd Square 'residents can ?be thankful that they have more hopeof seeingtheir drug problem solved than do citizensof thel'wincities at large. They figured out how to hold management'sfeettothefire.

'Now, if they can just receive ac0ncrete.m-goingcommitment

still being used to defend errors made by providers' staff an deflect responsibility to the rider. This tactic should have disappeared when ATE left town.

life." It defies logic. A computer software update which is supposed to help remedy thisprob1emisperpetually"in the process of being developed."

Riders report that when they try to reach both Laidlaw and Handicabs after 6 P.M., when the reservation lines close, the after-hours lines are not answeredconsistently. Arider may call their provider on the after-hours line and be put immediately into the hold loop. Then, either they end up waiting for a long time before someone comes on the line to help them or the call is never picked up. If this occurs late at night when buildings are closing and being locked up it can be a safety issue. On the Handicabs side, riders report that drivers are driving too fast and/or too reckless. All of these safety concerns need to be taken seriously and addressed.

Moving on from provider service issues to customer service issues, s'ome riders who have filed complaints with the Metro Mobility Service Center's Customer Service Department,haveeitherfound their complaints not taken seriously, or they are totally blown off. Riders also report that most of the time they do not receive a response from the Customer service Department after they have filed the complaint. Many riders are perhaps unaware that if they want a follow-up response to a complaint, they have to specifically ask for one. Given the volume and nature of complaints received by many area disability organizations, it is time to reevaluate this procedure.

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