Change is Coming

MCIL invited friends and collaborators into the office at 1633 Madison Avenue for one last meal and a public forum of changes that are coming. The message was that MCIL was still focused on our mission to fully integrate people with disabilities into all aspects of community life, but we were going to change locations. MCIL also had to note that there were many other changes going on and the MCIL staff were dedicated to continue to advocate for people with disabilities.

The highlight of the meeting was when individuals gave unscripted testimony about what all MCIL had given to them. It was an unplanned outpouring of love and support that was touching. It felt like people were saying goodbye, but Sandi Klink was able to reinforce the message that MCIL was keeping with the mission.

The Executive Director of MCIL, Sandi, gave a clear outline of the changes that people could expect from MCIL and the things that were changing. She also balanced her presentation with a clear statement that the mission and passion of MCIL were not changing and people can expect that we will continue to assertively advocate for independence and equality.

The Center also wished to confirm our continued support for the Memphis 3.0 process and the contemplative changes that Memphis can expect. Tim Wheat, the Program Director, facilitated a discussion on questions about the ADA that may impact the upcoming Transition Plan and the focus of MCIL.

People with disabilities had a lot to say about the future of the ADA in Memphis. MCIL kept a brief summary of the questions and answers:

1. Tell us all about a time when the ADA has made a difference in your life? One person said that the ADA made a difference everyday, others mentioned curb-ramps from MCIL’s lawsuit Uttilla v. Memphis, crossing signals and ramps.
   
2. Right now, Memphis 3.0 is planning for the future of Memphis, where do you see people with disabilities in our city in 5 years and in 30 years? Some people saw good things for the future and some saw problems. People wanted employment to change and they saw many people leaving the city.
   
3. What do you find as the most overlooked protection of the ADA? There were a lot of things and it is not fully discussed here, but a short list would be: accommodations, access to the city, employment, transportation, information and housing.
   
4. What do you feel are the most important changes for Memphis to consider when the City creates its ADA Transition Plan? The ability to come together and have our voices heard, the need to work together, for each of us to know more about the ADA and teach others, have workshops on the ADA and MATA to understand the ADA.
   
5. What do you think MCIL can do to help enforce the Civil Rights protections of the ADA? Work with MATA, educate people about accessibility and closed captioning for all media.
   
6. Using the ADA as a yardstick, how does Memphis measure in employment, public access, government services and communication? The group agreed that Memphis was poor in access, some gave good examples such as: Chattanooga, Denver, Vegas, Nashville, Houston and Florida.
   
7. What do you find is the most important Civil Rights protection for you? ADA employment protections, equality and government services, access protections to public accommodations, communication, the Fair Housing Amendment Act or other civil rights protections? Housing and denial of services.
   
8. Employment of people with disabilities has stayed much the same as it was before the ADA, what could make the biggest impact in getting more people with disabilities into the workforce? People answered that advocacy and knowledge of employers about how to accommodate and integrate employees with disabilities would be important. They also suggested MCIL should train employers to see the ability not the liability. They also added sensitivity training.
   
9. Do you know any examples of the ADA being abused or disability rights being extended too far? The group did have some examples of abuse like service animals, nursing home services and online applications.
   
10. What do you see locally as the greatest success of the ADA? People mentioned audible crossing signals the crosstown concourse as a great example of accessibility if improvements in areas of town in curb ramps and the yellow marks on sidewalks.

Beginning October 1 MCIL will be moving to 5100 Poplar Ave., Memphis, TN it in the clock tower building in East Memphis. Sandy showed some pictures of the new office and invited everyone to come and visit us after the move.

The Underground Railroad

The Memphis to Denver Underground Railroad highlights the need for the Disability Integration Act

LaTonya Reeves moved to Denver Colorado in the early 1990s, but she didn’t arrive from Memphis Tennessee as a typical transplant from the volunteer state. She was a pioneer, a traveler on the modern underground railroad from a state that had forced her into an expensive facility because of her disability.

LaTonya was a refugee, fleeing Tennessee for the opportunity for services in her own home. She met Wade Blank, the founder of ADAPT, at the Denver airport and began a life working to change the institutional bias in Medicaid.

"I had an accident and they made me wash my face in feces and urine," LaTonya Reeves said about a nursing home in Memphis. "The nurse put me in the tub and threw ice-cold water on my face. She told me if I didn't stop screaming she would drown me."

Deborah Cunningham helped LaTonya and others to leave expensive nursing facilities in Tennessee to live in their own homes in Colorado. As the Executive Director of The Memphis Center for Independent Living Deborah literally put people on an airplane out of town, to move to a new state where home and community based options made it possible for them to live in their own apartment.

Deborah created an “Underground Railroad,” for about ten years that gave people an option to live in their own home when the state of Tennessee did not. Medicaid is a federal program that is shared with the states and Colorado state policy allowed for more cost-effective home and community based services, while Tennessee limited options to expensive facilities.

Daryl Williams made the trip on the “disability underground railroad” in 2003 and he returned to speak at the Memphis Center for Independent Living before Deborah Cunningham died in 2015. He left a Memphis nursing home with nothing and came back to train Care Managers on nursing home transitions.

Daryl Williams did not have to say much, the fact that he had a job in Colorado and was a taxpayer says a lot about the difference in how the states supported their citizens. But Daryl did have a lot to say. He drove back to Memphis in his own van that he controls partly with a joystick. He also was able to announce that he had just closed on a home and was giving more back from additional work he was doing.

The legacy of the underground railroad out of Tennessee should be a major reason Tennessee Senator Lamar Alexander and the HELP Committee schedules hearings on the Disability Integration Act.

The Disability Integration Act (DIA) is non-partisan civil rights legislation, introduced by Senator Schumer in the Senate (S. 910) and Representative Sensenbrenner in the House (H.R.2472), to address the fundamental issue that people who need Long Term Services and Supports are forced into expensive institutions and losing their basic civil rights.

Tennessee more than most states needs the Disability Integration Act. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, nursing homes nationally cost approximately $6,500 per month for an individual. Although the volunteer state has made progress providing home and community based services, the state still spends the lion share of Medicaid on institutional care.

“It’s ridiculous that Senator Alexander hasn’t stepped up for Disabled Tennesseans,” said Michael Heinrich an ADAPT activist and constituent of Alexander’s from Memphis. “If he doesn’t want to be on the wrong side of history, he should cosponsor DIA.”

The Underground Railroad gave Tennesseans a chance at life. They had to leave behind their homes and families for a taste of freedom. Now Tennessee must look at the DIA to give people that same opportunity.

“I would be dead if I would have stayed in Tennessee,” said LaTonya Reeves. 

LaTonya now lives and works in Denver Colorado.

One Call, One Click

Innovate Memphis One Call, One Click Design Workshop 1

Innovate Memphis with the Consilience Group, held the first Workshop in their design of the new Memphis One Call, One Click program.

OBJECTIVE: Mobility management to better connect seniors and citizens with disabilities to transportation choices to access healthcare and other wellness services.

Innovate Memphis has used a “Human Services Value Curve” to make connections and collaborate with agencies. The mission of the group will be to integrate services to be more efficient and effective. The two end goals of the human services value curve are efficiency a one pole, and effectiveness at the other. The overall idea is to move from intervention into problems with solutions to preventing problems from occurring.

There were 15 people at the workshop from a variety of Memphis agencies. Kevin and Laura from the Memphis Fire Department. Meredith of Consilience along with Jenessa and Sarah-Beth. Natalia Logan-Robinson and Susan Carlson of Innovate Memphis were the hosts. Cynthia McKinney joined via video from Chattanooga.

Innovate Memphis and the Consilience Group will design a program, create a partner network with a letter of understanding and create a sustainable solution to non-emergency medical transportation in Memphis. They will create a solution that is:

1. Person Centered
2. Research based
3. Collaborative and
4. Results focused

Jenessa pointed out that Atlanta and San Diego both have a on call, one click system now. She pointed out that in researching that MCIL had provided a “really wonderful,” focus group.

The problem is most chronic in the overuse of Emergency Medical Services. Their figures show that 14% of users have disabilities and that 20% of the calls are not emergencies. Jenessa also found that 23% of 211 calls were for medical transportation and that most of those needs are not met.

Some other problems are that door-to-door services have a long wait, that drivers do not provide needed services along with transportation and that transportation is necessary for non-medical to prevent isolation, socialization and to prevent poor health.

Kevin of the MFD pointed out that he has a list of 370 people who call 911 more than three times a week. Their major need is transportation to primary care. There are also needs for transportation, mental health and substance abuse.

One call, one click sees the general need as 1. Information and referral of all local transportation resources. 2. Trip planning pointed at the individual that needs the service. 3. Scheduling and payment for the trip. 4. Brokerage to coordinate the resources and payment.

The target for a pilot program is February 2019.

The next design session will be Workshop 2 on September 12, and the Final Deliverables meeting on October 31.

Aging in Place

Spread the word!

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis’
next Aging in Place program call-in application period
Thursday, August 23, 2018 starting at 9 a.m.

To apply, applicants must call 901-322-3500 starting at 9 a.m. on Thursday, August 23 and leave a message with their name, address and phone number to receive a call back. We will call applicants back to complete applications over the phone. At that time, applicants must have all documentation required to complete their application. Applicants will be accepted on a first-qualified, first-served basis.

So spread the word to your contacts in our community! The services provided through this program are in great need to help local seniors continue to live in their own homes safely and with the dignity and respect they deserve.

You can find more information about the program on our website, www.memphishabitat.com. If you have any questions about the program, feel free to contact Shannon Morgan, Senior Program Manager, at 901-322-3510 or smorgan@memphishabitat.com.

Thank you for working with us and helping spread the word about this program!

P.S. Following the August 23 application date, we do not know when the next application period will be. We will update the Aging in Place hotline (901-322-3500), Habitat website (www.memphishabitat.com) and social media (Facebook and Twitter) once we determine the next application date.

** The funding for this project was provided through a grant awarded by the Davidson County Chancery Court, Part III from the SeniorTrust/ElderTrust settlement (Case No. 11-1548-III) and through a contract administered by the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability. The Aging in Place program receives additional financial support from a variety of sources, including The City of Memphis, Division of Housing and Community Development; the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development; and The Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati.