Pioneer – Peace United Methodist Church

Millie Wise died this morning after a long illness.  She had been at Presbyterian Homes in Arden Hills.  We have set Friday as the tentative day for a memorial service.   I will let you know when we are definite.

May Mechtel is at St. John’s Hospital in Maplewood.  May has been dealing with cancer for several years.  Her husband, Ken, wanted me to pass on their gratitude for all the care that has come from Peace Church.   

Diana and Steve Berndt have purchased ceramic tile to replace the floor in the kitchen.  Anyone interested in helping with removal of the old floor and installation of the new floor should contact Tim Fried at 651-426-2370 or tscdjfried@comcast.net.  No experience is necessary!

From Rick Mons

 Dear Peace “Family”

I suspect everyone has either read or heard about the Budget Reductions proposed by Governor Pawlenty for the next two fiscal years.  And you probably also recall that Governor Pawlenty has “unallotted” funds in the current fiscal years for some social services.

Unfortunately, one of the programs being cut by both the unallottment and the proposed budget will affect Alec directly.  And, a decision to exclude Speech Therapy as a covered benefit under Medical Assistance will also reduce Alec’s services.

Here are the specifics:

• Alec works in the community through services provided by Merrick, Inc.  Merrick works to develop job sites, trains Alec and his peers to do the work, transports Alec from home to the work sites and provides general supervision at the work sites.
• Right now, Alec is working at a small local company, digitizing mortgage documents.  From what we hear, he’s a whiz at scanning, keeping control documents in the right order and bringing smiles to the faces of other employees at this company.  Alec loves working and especially being employed  just like everyone else he knows.
• Merrick’s services are paid by Ramsey County through a combination of county tax dollars and funds received from the State (“Children and Community Support Act” funds)  Because the state is cutting back on their funding, Ramsey County has decided to cut back on their support.
• That translates to Alec working about 3 days a week or three weeks a month
• That likely means he’ll lose his current job because they need more staffing than that
• If he’s laid off from that job, Merrick tells us it will be difficult to find other employment in the community as most job sites want services five days a week.  He’ll probably be reassigned to the “utility” section within Merrick.  That is  piece work and he’s demonstrated he’s able to do more challenging work in the community.  To Alec, it’s not a “real job.”
   
• If he’s home and not working, that means either Barb or I will need to stay home.  Alec does well for a couple of hours by himself but needs “light supervision” for any lengthier periods of time.  (There’s a reason for the adage “idle hands”)

Now there’s some irony in all this:  When Alec turned 18, we could have asked that he be made a ward of the State.  The State would have been obligated to provide his residential care, his services at Merrick and staff to watch over him when he wasn’t at his residence or Merrick.  Alec could still attend Peace, Special Olympics, community and social events etc. but the state would be responsible for transportation.  Obviously that would be far more expensive for the state.  Of course we would have been fractured as a family and it was never seriously considered.

Now here’s the ironic twist:  Ramsey County is reducing hours only for those clients who are living at home.  Other funding sources are used for clients in group homes or other residential programs are paid through different funding sources that aren’t cut.  We could rescind guardianship, cost the state even more money and Alec would have full services at Merrick, we wouldn’t have to take time from work and even save some money on health care coverage as he’d receive primary coverage under Medical Assistance.  (talk about bizarre and perverse incentives)

We’re doing what we can to see that ”Children and Community Support Act”  funding is not cut and Alec’s  hours aren’t reduced. We’ve testified in person to the Minnesota Senate and in writing to the Minnesota House.  We’ve written to our state legislators and county commissioner as well as the County Department of Community Human Services.  Your added voices would be helpful.  We’ve sent letters to the Governor.  Your added voices would be helpful.

Thanks!

Pastor Hugh Stephenson
Peace United Methodist Church
Church telephone 651-484-2226 Ext. 11
Mobile telephone 651-398-7092
E-mail hugh@peaceumc.com
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