THE INDEPENDENT LIVING RESOURCE CENTER a non-profit corporation of, by and for persons with disabilities 423 W. Victoria Street¥Santa Barbara, CA 93101 (805) 963-0595 V/TTY ¥ (805) 963-1350 Fax www.ilrc-trico.org NON-PROFIT ORG. U. S. Postage PAID Santa Barbara, CA Permit No. 243 Change Service Requested July - September, 2002 Volume 13, No. 3 PUBLISHED FOUR TIMES ANNUALLY Board of Directors Michael Blaise, Ventura, President Sue Andrews, Carpinteria, Vice President Barbara Lynch, Santa Barbara, Secretary Richard Donchak, Newbury Park, Treasurer Sheila Blaise, Ventura, PR Chair Bernice Jacobson, Santa Maria Edward Perry, Sr., Santa Maria Mike Rifkin, Ventura ILRC Mission Statement The Independent Living Resource Center, Inc., is anorganization of, by and for persons with disabilities whoreside or work in our service area. Our purpose is to assistand encourage individuals to achieve their optimal level ofself-sufficiency while eliminating the architectural,communication and attitudinal barriers which prevent themfrom full participation in the community. United Way Agency Ventura County, Santa Barbara and Central Coast (continued on page 6) Oxnard College Offers ASL Interpreter Traning Larry Littleton knows how important sign language interpreters are. Littleton, who is deaf, has reliedon interpreters to relay critical information at doctor's appointments, jury duty and at City Council meet-ings. He's also been places where no interpreters were available, making it difficult for him to participatein the event or discussion. "Even when they are supposed to be provided, interpreters aren't always there," Littleton said. "Theneed for interpreters is tremendous. We will never catch up to the demand." That's why Littleton and others in the local deaf community support the Interpreter Training Programat Oxnard College. More than 30 deaf and hard-of-hearing people and their families showed up for a pizza party insupport of the Interpreter Training Program recently. The new certificate program at Oxnard College provides students the training they need to beginworking as American Sign Language interpreters. It is the only program of its kind in Ventura County. The recent pizza party was a way to make introductions between interpreter training students andpotential clients, said Julie Lovejoy, an ASL instructor at Oxnard College who developed the curriculum. Interpreter training student Yolanda Sandoval enrolled in the program after learning basic sign lan-guage in high school. Sandoval, 28, of Oxnard, had a cousin who was nearly deaf, and she wanted tolearn how better to converse with him. "I want to become an interpreter so I can facilitate communication between people," she said, "so wecan all be on equal ground." The interpreter program drew about 10 students in its first year - not quite the number of studentsschool officials had hoped for. Some of the classes got canceled because there weren't enough participants enrolled. The inter-preter program must attract more students if it is to continue being offered, Lovejoy said. Part of the Page 2July - September, 2002 Locations and Staff Santa Barbara Office 423 W. Victoria Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 Voice/TTY: (805) 963-0595 Fax: (805) 963-1350 TTY: (805) 963-8265 Jo Black, Executive Director Kathleen Riel, HR/Program Director Faith Strader, Bookkeeper Carol Baizer, IL/Benefits Prog Coord Barry Gridley, Peer Support Frank Lindstrom, Accounting Cons Laura Lippincott, Advocate/Communications Assistance Petra Lowen, Personal Assistance Patty Neumeyer, AT Program Coord Aurelia Wallace, Admin Clerk Jennifer Willer, Business/Grants Mgr Nora Winger, Information & Referral Ventura Office 1802 Eastman Av, Suite 112 Ventura, CA 93003 Voice: (805) 650-5993 Fax: (805) 650-9278 TTY: (805) 650-0669 BJ Legan-Adams, Benefits James Greer, Community Living Steve McPeters, ILS Christine Miko, I&R, AT I&R Christina Rahn, Peer/ILS/CA Chera Minkler, Systems ChangeAdvocate North Santa Barbara Co. Office 327 E. Plaza Drive, Suite 3A Santa Maria, CA 93454 Voice: (805) 925-0015 Fax: (805) 349-2416 Leeman Burke, I&R, Peer Support Tina Horr, IL/Benefits Candace Ridenour - I&R, PersonalAssistance San Luis Obispo Office 1150 Laurel Lane #134 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Voice: (805) 593-0667 Fax: (805) 593-0671 TTY: (805) 593-0219 Mailing: P. O. Box 4310 San Luis Obispo, CA 93403 Marjie Bastanchury, I&R, Site Coord Sue Reese, Peer Support Susan Stagg, Community Living Brenda Tebbetts, IL/BPAO CCATC: 1150 Laurel Lane #132 San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Voice: (805) 549-7420 Fax: (805) 549-7423 TTY: (805) 549-7424 Paul Mortola, Project Director John Lee, Rehabilitation Eng. Judi Kahrs, Services Coord Robert Thompson, Vision Limited AT (c) 2002 From the Desk of the Director: - Jo Black In Memoriam Justin Dart A National Leader of the Independent Living Movement I have noticed that in light of the recent events, that issince Sept 11, 2001, many people seem to be rethinkingthe level of involvement they are willing to have with themembers of the communities through which they move. Ifind myself noticing media stories of individuals who at theirown peril have been moved to help someone they don'tknow. Now, maybe they would have anyway, or maybe weare more aware of the importance of interdependence aswe look at a world that may have become less safe. Whatever the reasons, the fact remains that opportunitiesabound. ILRC has just been granted some limited trainingfunds to help people learn how to participate in thecommunity process. We will explore what it means to bemembers of boards, commissions and advisory groups.Options may include those bodies such as the PublicAuthority, Community Access/Equal OpportunityCommissions, building and planning groups, etc. In addition,transportation costs may be reimbursed to you. If you are interested in finding out how to prepare your-self for community participation, contact Kathleen Riel orme at ILRC in Santa Barbara. July - September, 2002Page 3 Will You Be Our Friend? Date Name Address City, State, Zip $5$10$25$50 Endowment $100+Other New Friend Continuing FriendVolunteer I would like my gift to be acknowledged in the ILRC Newsletter. I'd rather my gift not be mentioned in the Newsletter. Thank you. Your donation is fully tax-deductible. A receipt will be mailed to you. Calendar2002 Add me to the newsletter mailing list! I'd like to receive the newsletter by e-mail E-mail address: July - no Board meeting 4Independence Day -ILRC closed 14Bastille Day 26Americans with Disabili-ties Act signed (1990) 31Fiesta starts in SantaBarbara! August 4Fiestaends 15Assumption 27ILRC Board Meeting -Ventura September 2Labor Day - ILRC closed 6Rosh Hashanah beginsat sundown 15Yom Kippur begins atsundown 20Sukkot begins at sun-down 23First Day of Autumn,Autumnal Equinox 24ILRC Board Meeting -Santa Barbara The Santa Maria Advisory Board is growing quickly. Edward PerrySr. is the new president with Lianne Hutton as secretary. Unfortunatelyour vice president, Paul Fick passed away and his position has notbeen filled. We would like to welcome our newest member, Jayn Whitley whois very knowledgeable about the ADA laws. The Advisory Board has been inviting city officials to their meetingsto address accessibility issues. Future plans include having an"Accessibility Awareness Day" where we invite public officials suchas the mayor, chief of police, city council members, media, etc. toparticipate in a day in a wheelchair and travel through out plannedroutes in Santa Maria. We believe this will open the eyes of ourcommunity and gain an increased awareness of barriers. If you are interested in joining our Advisory Board, feel free tocome to our meeting, which is held on the second Thursday of eachmonth at 2:00. The more, the merrier! J Santa Maria Advisory Board From Tina Horr, Benefit Specialist Self Help for Hard of Hearing People Santa Barbara Chapter A local support group, meets the 4th Monday of the month from 2to 4 PM at the Louise Lowry Davis Center, corner of De la Vina andVictoria (June 24; no meeting in July or August; Sept. 23, Oct. 28).We welcome anyone interested in improving contact with the hear-ing world. Phone 967-5241 for further details. ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥ Page 4July - September, 2002 SLOCO Access presents: Anevening with Michael Hingstonand his guidedog Roselle. Friday,July 26, 2002 5-7 p.m. San LuisObispo Veteran's Building, 801Grand Avenue, San Luis Obispo.$25 ticket includes: Appetizersand wine, announcement of the2001 Paul Wolff AccessiblityAward, music by Jason Farrar. As was the case with manyAmerican, Michael Hingson's lifechanged dramatically on Septem-ber 11th. He and his guide dogRoselle were among the luckyones. Roselle helped Michaelescape by leading him down 78floors at the World Trade Center.Hear Michael's amazing story andexperience the power of the hu-man/animal bond. For tickets and information call(805) 528-1360. All proceeds ben-efit SLOCO Access. Co Spon-sored by the SLOCO Access, Tri-bune, RM Design group, andGuide Dogs for the Blind. SLO Office: Is it Sue or Suzi youneed to speak with? Sue Reese is our awesomepeer support person, she hasbeen with ILRC for a while now. Iam Suzi Stagg, I am the new em-ployee here in SLO. I am a SLOnative and excited to be assistingthe community. Like many of ourconsumers I was unaware an or-ganization existed to help con-sumers strive or maintain their in-dependence. I was so excitedwhen I interviewed for the job andlearned about ILRC. I had oftenwished for just such a resourcefor friends and family with dis-abilities. So now it is my happyjob to get out into the communityand let others know, yes there issomeone in SLO who can help. If I can help you with anyHousing or Personal Assistantservices, please give me a callat 593-0667. The Braille Institue is hostinga Macintosh Computer Tech-nology Fair July 31, 2002 Embassy Suites 333 Madonna Road San Luis Obispo CA 93401 10-1 Admission is free Dr. Steven Johnson will speakon Macular Degeneration. Therewill be a wide variety of vendorswith adaptive products or ser-vices to help those with visionloss. The Braille Institute MobileSolutions bus will be on hand.Mobile Solutions showcasesassistive technology, voice out-put and screen enlarging soft-ware, as well as the Vistas store.Visual Aids consultants will be onhand to test to see if the use of ahigh power magnifier can helpyou make the most of your re-maining vision. To schedule anappointment with one, call 682-6222. Richard De Cora Memorial Services Held Memorial services were heldfor Richard De Cora, longtimefriend of ILRC and SLOCO Ac-cess and former resident of Ar-royo Grande (Central Coast) andPasadena (Southern CA). Rich-ard was a frequent attendee oflocal events, and was becomingactive in the Low Vision Councilof SLO County. His accomplish-ments included that of volunteerlecturer to grade school and highschool students, assisting them inunderstanding the challengesfaced by the vision-impaired uti-lizing his guide dogs and variouslow-vision and Braille equipment;community service activities in-cluding the People's Kitchen ofSouth County (SLO), public rela-tions activities with ChristianRecord Services, National Campsfor Blind Children, Rancho de LosAnimales for the Disabled, andBraille Institute in Los Angeles,among many others. He was ac-tive in church related activities aswell, and was a truly gifted musi-cian and vocalist, frequently par-ticipating in ministry activities andperformances with his adoptivesister, Penny, also a musician/vo-calist. Expressions of support/con-dolences may be sent to the fam-ily c/o Penny at P. O. Box 507,Pismo Beach, CA 93448. A memorialscholarship fund toassist disabled per-sons seeking highereducation is beingset up in Richard'sname as well. July - September, 2002Page 5 Schedule for ILRC Newsletter Submissions IssueDeadline October - December, 2002September 1, 2002 January - March, 2003December 1, 2002 April - June, 2003March 1, 2003 July - September, 2003June 1, 2003 Please send submissions (as MS Word attachments) toJennifer Willer at jwiller@ilrc-trico.org, or mail to: ILRC Newsletter Submissions 423 W. Victoria Street Santa Barbara, CA 93101 CONTACT: Nancy Freed (510) 848-1112 ext. 174 Voice: (800) 644-2666 TTY: (800) 804-1616 Email: tlg@lookingglass.org Website: www.lookingglass.org Berkeley, CA - ending August 31,2002 - Through the LookingGlass, National Resource Cen-ter for Parents with Disabilities,is a community based nonprofitorganization. Through the Look-ing Glass is conducting a nation-wide project to learn more aboutfamilies in which a parent with adisability is raising a teen (11-17 years old). The National Insti-tute on Disability Research andRehabilitation, part of the De-partment of Education, funds thisproject. The staff is comprisedof various specialists who havediverse cultural backgrounds,and nearly 80% of the 40 staffmembers are disabled, parentsof disabled children, or membersof families with disabilities. WHAT DO WE MEAN BY DIS-ABILITY? Disability can involve physi-cal, visual, systemic, hearing,cognitive, learning, developmen-tal and mental health issues.Why are we conducting re-search? Although there are over10 million families in which oneor both parents have a disability,relatively little is known about theexperiences of these families. WHO CAN PARTICIPATE Parents with disabilities andDeaf parents who have teenag-ers (children 11 to 17 years ofage). The parent and the teen-ager are both welcome to partici-pate. WAYS TO GET INVOLVED - Participate in a national surveyof parents with disabilities who areraising teens age 11-17. Your teencan also fill out a survey and re-ceive $5 in return. - Surveys are available in a vari-ety of formats: Online and print-able at our Website, in Spanish,over the phone, and in a versionspecific to Deaf parents. - Deaf parents can participate ina face-to-face interview in ASL ifyou live in or near one of the fol-lowing cities: San Francisco, Se-attle, Santa Fe, New York, KansasCity, or Washington, DC. HOW TO CONTACT US - Call Nancy Freed at (510) 848-1112 ext. 174, Toll Free (800) 644-2666, TTY (800) 804-1616 - Request a survey by emailtlg@lookingglass.org or contactNancy Freed at the above tele-phone number. - Or visit us online and anddownload a printable survey at ourweb site: www.lookingglass.org. SEEKING: Parents with Disabilities and Their Teens ILRC SeesSuccesses! As ILRC's most recent fiscalyear ended (June 30th), wethought it would be fun to lookback over the past year and revisitour successes. And we thought itwould be a good time to sharesome of them with you! Nora Winger: Information &Referral - Santa Barbara * Outreach to the following orga-nizations: Franklin Health Clinic SBCC Job Fair St. Francis Discharge Staff Rape Crisis Center * Joined CHANCE Inc. asa Board member * Booked the PoliceDept. for 6 outreachspeechs * Participated Candlelight vigil for the MentalHealth Association * The person that says you RE-ALLY helped me-that is whatfeels the best San Luis Obispo Office: from Marjie Bastenchury Last year was the beginningof our full service office in SanLuis Obispo County. We had (continued on page 6) Page 6July - September, 2002 General Information Circulation Base: 2,600 Published four times yearly; mailsubmissions to ILRC NEWS-LETTER at Santa Barbara officeor e-mail to jwiller@ilrc-trico.org;deadline is the first day of themonth prior to publication date.For more information, contactJennifer at (805) 963-0595,extension 112. Submit articles asMS Word attachments to jwiller@ilrc.tri-co.org. (continued from page 1) challenge is getting the word outthat the training is available, andthe students who complete theprogram can land well-payingjobs when they complete it, shesaid. Freelance interpreters canmake $15 to $20 per hour. TheVentura County Superintendentof Schools web site lists severalopenings in the area for interpret-ers, with salaries ranging from$10 and $15 per hour. California State University,Northridge, which serves one ofthe largest populations of deafcollege students in the country,has 120 interpreters on staff andis looking for more, said RobertSidansky, administrator of studentservices for the National Centeron Deafness at CSUN. The needfor interpreters has risen steadilysince the passage of the Ameri-cans with Disabilities Act, he said. Oxnard College Dean RamiroSanchez said the need for theinterpreter training program isevident. The challenge is in mak-ing it attractive to students andmaking it cost-effective for thecollege. He said the college wouldlook at other interpreter programsfor ways to improve the programand make it more enticing. Student Ricardo Nino hopesmore of his classmates becomeinterpreters. Nino, who is deaf,depends on such interpreters toassist him in his studies. Hehopes to become a teacher orcounselor. "It's really helpful," he said. "Ifan interpreter isn't there, I can'tgo to class." By Michelle L. Klampe mklampe@insidevc.com Oxnard College Note: Lynn Coleman (center), our consumer, had a lung transplant last year. Dear ILRC: I had the privilege of meetingmy donor family last week It wasone of the most extraordinaryexperiences of my life. My donorwas a 47 year old social workerfrom Fullerton, CA. Her namewas Cynthia de los Reyes. I mether 2 daughters. Here is a picturetaken at "One Legacy" where themeeting took place. Erin 22 is onthe left and Delilah 29 is on theright. The meeting was filmed andwill air in the fall on NBC. It will beon a show called "Life Moments"This episode is called "The Circleof LIfe". I was also interviewed atmy home before the meeting. My emotions are still intense.I am so fortunate to have a won-derful donor family who sharedstories about their mother.Thought you would enjoy this pic-ture. Lynn ¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥¥previously been operating parttime with one person, working outof the SLOCO Access office. Itwas my job to make contact withother agencies and to dooutreach. The presentationswere made mostly to other non-profit agencies but we also wentto Cal Poly, support groups andother groups in the county.Kathleen Worley was the housingspecialist and due to ourmembership in the SLO HousingConsortium we were able to refer (continued from page 5) ILRC's Successes July - September, 2002 Page 7 a large number of consumers forthe SEC. 8 housing vouchers.When Kathleen left, BrendaTebbetts replaced her. Brendawas trained in Benefits, Planningand Outreach through SocialSecurity Administration, makingher our expert in that area. Shedoes the Plans for Achieving SelfSupport (PASS) and has donedozens of these since coming towork here. Sue Reese handled thePersonal Assistant program andwas able to place people whowished to have a personalassistant with a care-giver. NowSue is doing Peer Support,running groups and outreach withconsumers. Our file drawers areoverflowing with San Luis ObispoCounty consumers and we willsoon need new ones whichindicates a large volume of workreaching persons with disabilities. Candace Ridenour: I&R PASpecialist - Santa Maria 1)A consumer needed grabbarsinstalled in his home but he hadno money, I did some researchand found a handyman whowould do it for a moderate fee. 2)When I first started with PA Imade a great contact with an-other agency so I can refer ourconsumers there if we don't haveany care providers available. 3) Helped an almost homelessman find an affordable apartment. 4)Placed my first 2 care provid-ers with consumers and they arestill happily working today. 5)Got a little better at matchingpersonalities and placed 2 or 3more PA's with consumers. 6)Later placed 5 PA's and theyworked out so well! 7)Informed a consumer that wecould help him get grabbars putin his board and care home, hewas not aware that we could help.Thanks to my co-workers' assis-tance this has been a success! 8)Successfully recruited manyqualified care providers in June -more than I ever have - and theyare all working great! Tina Horr: Independent Liv-ing/Benefits Specialist -Santa Maria 1.Approval of several PASSPlans. Here are just a few: a.Approval for a consumer tobecome employed as a Tree Trimmer. Plan was retroactiveback 6 months so he receiveda lump sum of $6800 to pur-chase a truck and insurance. b.Approval for a consumer tobecome a Drug and AlcoholCounselor. Plan was retroactiveback one year to when hestarted attending college. Hereceived a check for the amountof $7,700 to purchase a car anda computer. c.This talented consumer wasapproved for Self Employment.He is a very good artist and re-ceived a lump sum check in theamount of $12,769 to purchasea van and some software. De-partment of Rehabilitationplayed a big role in purchasinga lot of the equipment heneeded to get his business go-ing. d.This plan was just approvedlast week. This consumer wasapproved for a retroactive plandated for a year ago in theamount of $10,150 to purchasea barber shop. 2.Obtained funding for about 7lift chairs. 3.Assisted 3 different consum-ers with getting their Medi-cal re-instated. 4.Obtained funding for 2 hospi-tal beds. 5.Obtained funding for 2 sets ofhearing aides. 6.Assisted a consumer who wasattending college to buy a com-puter. 7.Assisted 2 different consum-ers who did not have medical In-surance get their medical billspaid off. 8.Assisted 3 different consum-ers with getting wheelchairs. 9.Assisted 3 consumers gettheir wheelchairs fixed. 10. Assisted at least 20 consum-ers with applying for SSI. 11. At least 75 consumers withapplying for Housing. 12. Obtained funding for at least10 wheelchair ramps. 13. Helped 8 different consumersget grab bars. 14. Contacted the owners of theproperty where our office is andasked them to make the addresson the front of the building morevisible. The trees cover theoriginal numbers. They madelarge visible signs and cementedthem in the ground. 15. Working with a girl at Cal-Polyto translate some of our materi-als into Spanish. 16. Assisted one of our AdvisoryBoard members get a paid jobtwo doors down at the eye doctor.She has a medical backgroundbut thought nobody would hireher because of her age. It turnedout to be a perfect job match. 17. Assisted 30 consumers withBenefit Planning Assistance andOutreach (BPAO) services. 18. We in the Santa Maria Officehave worked very hard this yearto build a very strong AdvisoryBoard. **More to come next time!** (continued from page 6) ILRC's Successes July - September, 2002 SANTA MARIA - JosueMedrano gets frustrated whenpeople make assumptions abouthim. "Prejudice," Medrano calls it. Having cerebral palsy his en-tire life and being a wheelchairuser haven't stopped him fromswimming and lifting weightsregularly, nor has it kept him fromexcelling at school. At 19 years old, Medrano wasone of the youngest HancockCollege graduates Friday. Hestarted his college career as aSanta Maria High underclass-man and has taken as many as24 units in one semester - any-thing above 20 units a semesterrequires special permission.Medrano will transfer to U.C. Ber-keley as a junior in college, onlyone year after he left high school. His mother, Ana Medrano,said her son's struggles early inlife made him want to prove him-self to the world. Most peopledon't know who Medrano is orhow much he can do, said MariaVillanueva, his aunt and "secondmother." "I am as much as everyoneelse, or more than everyoneelse," Medrano said. His love affair with collegeactually stems from his interestin weight lifting. While waiting forhis older brother to finish a testat Hancock College a few yearsago, Medrano noticed a man ina wheelchair lifting weights in thecollege gym. Tired of working outat home, he asked around, filledout "tons" of paperwork, and en-rolled in a physical educationclass at Hancock at age 15. From there, he entered asummer program at the U.C.Santa Barbara and enrolled in twocourses. During his senior year ofhigh school, he juggled advancedplacement classes while attend-ing Hancock part-time, and thenjump-started his college careerafter graduation by taking nine-and-a-half units during summerschool. He was involved in studentgovernment, was one of the tworepresentatives for CaliforniaBoys' State leadership camp, andother leadership and academicorganizations. By the time he entered collegeas a high school graduate, he wasa sophomore. His zest for the fasttrack didn't ease up. He enrolledin 21 units his first semester atHancock and 27 units this semes-ter, including honors programcourses. But, Medrano admittedthis semester was "too intense,"and he eventually dropped threeunits. Medrano said he is proud ofhis achievements but doesn't feelcomfortable bragging about him-self. He likes to lead by example.Another student, who also usesa wheelchair, recently noticedMedrano in the college weightroom. Ana, who also was there,said the student was watching herson intently. While they have never spo-ken, Medrano has noticed thatthe student also has enrolled inweight-lifting classes. "I see that there is a big youthpopulation with disabilities and,yes, I am concerned about them,"he said. He plans to major in socialwelfare at Berkeley and wants toeventually become a psycholo-gist. In addition to his academiccourses, Medrano tutors studentsin math and science. He said heenjoys helping others. While confident in his physi-cal and intellectual ability,Medrano admits he is nervousabout his move to college. Be-cause he is a quadriplegic, heneeds help with basic activities,like getting dressed. For the past19 years, his mother has been hisattendant and he has only spentone week away without the helpof his family. He said he will have to bal-ance learning how to live inde-pendently, while also having tolearn to occasionally ask for helpfrom others. But he also is looking forwardto the journey. "I am strong." he said. "I amunshakable." Medrano said he would likeanyone, particularly Latinos oryoung people with disabilities, tocontact him. His e-mail addressis josueca99@yahoo.com. By permission of Santa Maria Times Staff writer Tamara Miller can bereached at (805) 739-2216 or by e-mail at tmiller@pulitzer.net. Life in the Fast Lane is the Way YoungHancock Grad Likes It By Tamara Miller / Times Staff Writer Page 8