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We all are inundated with information about the Corona Virus or Covid-19 and for sure the news is frightening. At CALIF, we are careful to protect our board, staff, consumers and visitors from the spread of the virus while at the same time, balancing our efforts with reason and common sense:
For the next two weeks til March 31st, CALIF remains OPEN but at reduced capacity.
We encourage telephone appointments for intakes and case management. Contact your ILC advocate and set a follow up meeting; we will, at the asking, give you a self addressed stamped envelope for you to send in your documents needed.
We are temporarily closing the Communications Center and the little Coffee area.
We will do our own screening at the front desk and will require hand washing at the hallway restrooms before entering the office.
We encourage covering your face when coughing, using baby wipes too and wearing your masks when you have them.
Please call CALIF AT (213) 627-0477. Visit us at www. calif-ilc.org.
]]>The girls were worried about the food in the fridge and the entertainment sources like the TV, the Netflix, the computer, the radio, etc. They were agitating about the light and the microwave, the loss of the use of the landline. We were all also worried about powering up our cellphones of course! As soon as we could, we checked on our elevator to make sure that no one got trapped there and we also went to check on our senior neighbors on our floor. Our friends came over to bring food and we briefly began to enjoy the quiet of no TV and other electronic gadgets. But as the hours passed, my woes began as one of the girls began to agitate loudly and I had to follow up on calls made to DWP and other city services. I also waited for Apria Health Care for a battery pack for the bi-pap in case the outage would take longer than a day to repair. We started to secure our needs for more battery-powered lamps and batteries and when a kind neighbor came over, I asked him to check if there were portable generators for sale at Home Depot should we need them.
With whatever was left of my cellphone juice, I did some surfing on the net and saw some models for power generators. The kind I found was a portable oil-fueled, not-so-noisy Honda generator only as big as an ice chest that could give 8 hours of power to a power chair, cell phones, microwave, etc–just about all our gadgets! It was small enough to leave out on our porch and with a long cord, provide power to all our gadgets inside. But it was almost $1,000 and they did not have it at the store. What they had were the huge machines that roared really noisy! I did more research and found solar fueled ones and then the less expensive battery chargers.
While I was searching, my respiratory therapist called at 11:30 PM just to tell me that she could not offer any back up battery packs—that in fact by policy, they are not supposed to! So how do those really dependent on ventilators do in an emergency or an extended power outage? Do they just run out of luck and die? This gave me more impetus to search some more for better and better solutions and found a more quiet, apartment living power generator that can keep plugged to the power source on good days and that can provide clean power in a power outage! In an apartment setting, it is perfect for city dwellers like us. And it’s only a quarter of the price of the gas-powered generator! I was so relieved!
http://www.sharperimage.com/si/view/product/Portable+Power+Generator+%28Small%29/202004
For emergency preparedness for our household, we already got our earthquake kits, our emergency food and water and now working on our power source! I called 911 to register our condo unit as needing emergency evacuation help in a disaster! I also found the wonderful evac chair made in Europe as one of the best evacuation chairs in the market! It’s a lightwieght, intelligently designed evacuation chair that would really come in handy for those unexpected situations and emergencies!
As the girls went to bed, I began to prepare to sleep too but forgot about my power bed! I’m more or less self sufficient using the power bed controls but without them, I need to prop myself up with pillows. I thought I had enough so I lay down. After a few minutes, I desperately needed to get up and everyone at home was asleep! I did not have the heart to wake them up so I struggled like an insect on its back, desperately trying to get to the upright position! In the dark and exhausted from problem solving, I finally gave in to the urge of belting out a cry of desperation, “God,” I pleaded, “please let there be light again!” And boom, to my utter surprise and perfect timing, the lights came back on!
–Lillibeth Navarro, 2/3/2016
]]>“Navarro?” he asked with a scowl on his face.
‘Yes!’ I responded.
“This is a lot of work!” he complained and grumbled.
‘Sir, we need to get home—my sister and I can’t carry these bags by ourselves,’ I begged.
He continued to grumble and mumble but at the same time, made an effort to yank the portable ramp from his van. He pulled out the middle seat from the van floor to make room for the wheelchair. As he was going through the motions and his complaining and grumbling ringing in my ears, I was about to mentally pounce on him, blame him for his cultural background suggested by his accent and equate it to possible relations to the perpetrators of the terror in Paris. I was about to get mad and then, I had to check myself.
‘But this is how hatred starts,’ I chastised myself. ‘Take the route of peace—bring the light to this little situation.’
He put the ramp on the floor but it was too steep to get up—almost a 50-degree angle. So I suggested for us to look for a curb to park next to, for a gentler slope. When he agreed with me, I knew we were making progress. I made my way to the curb we could use and soon we were on our way.
I thanked him and said that I realized it was a lot of work for him but I gently moved into why these accessible vans had to be and on to respect for the needs of all including people with disabilities.
“Yes, I know,” he said “my son is autistic—he is 21, and he is a lot of work and has terrible behaviors. My wife and I are getting old and worried about the future!”
So I assured him about options out there and I felt his irritation dissipate and his voice soften. In no time, we were in front of our home and I suggested where we could park and again, he accepted my suggestion. We were calling home for help but he said, “it’s ok, I’ll help you guys!”
‘What night and day!’ I thought and as I promised him, I gave him my CALIF card so they could go to the office for more help and support.
We paid him with a tip too and he finally smiled and said, “Thank you so much!”
‘Thank you sir! What’s your name again?’
“Mohammed!” he said as he carried two more bags to the front door of our building.
— Lillibeth Navarro
November 16, 2015
]]>I thought I just didn’t hear it right and Tita Vi repeated it again—“I am ill. Me and my husband.”
‘OMG, I thought, I have been with her all this time and she never disclosed to me that she was ill!’
‘Tita Vi,’ I asked, ‘you never told me that you were ill! Is it serious…cancer? What?’
Tita Vi looked my way and quickly retorted, “My husband and I are getting weaker—we are getting old!”
In my relief, I almost fell off my chair laughing, “Tita Vi—getting old is not an illness! It’s a developmental stage!’
Fr. Kennedy already halfway through blessing her forehead, chuckled and said, ‘I agree, aging is not an illness, it is a developmental stage!’
This little episode reminds me not to be ever embarrassed for growing one more year older on my birthday! Especially when we reach major age milestones like the big 50, 60, or 70 we have to remind ourselves, “Aging is not an illness, it’s a developmental stage. It’s not something to be embarrassed about but something to celebrate and it’s a pleasure and honor to reach those ages!
— Lillibeth Navarro
October 20, 2015
]]>In the successful transition of people with disabilities, a permanent given is a dependable living stipend, the Supplemental Security Income. The regular SSI allotment of $850 to 870 presupposes the support services of subsidized housing, In Home Supportive Services, Accessible Paratransit, and other minor social services and supports. Even with the best of circumstances, the regular stipend of $850 – $870 of SSI does not make for a livable existence unless one were to feed on a scant diet and an incredible belt tightening, a life sequestered in invisible economic prison bars. For what existence can one carve out of $850 a month when you have special needs, require more medical supports and attention; finance the personal care attendant who never gets paid on time just so you can function at home and the community? What life can you make out from a constant struggle for the next meal or more alternative cures and therapies beyond the tight reins of regular overmedication? What recreation and positive engagement can you eke out of the daily trashy offerings of regular TV and recycled newspapers? What kind of life are we transitioning them to? What difference does it make when the government makes sure that in the institution, the nursing home makes profit off of their misery while on their own, they face the misery alone? What substantive quality of life are we giving them on Olmstead when we do not make sure that they have enough SSI to live on with a semblance of dignity and quality?
In addition, in transitioning people out of nursing homes, independent living centers (ILCs) are chronically underfunded to fork up the transition money necessary for completing a successful transition. Even when they secure the funding for the preliminary expenses for transition, the State transition reimbursement process is so painfully slow and bureaucratic that a lot of ILCs have had to pull out of the program because it was not financially viable to sustain it.
In addition, there is an artificial and chronic housing shortage resulting from the mismanagement of federal housing dollars originally intended for the creation of more affordable and accessible housing. Because of this, Governor Brown was compelled to shut down the Community Redevelopment Agency in 2013 for its failure to create more affordable and accessible housing necessary for the successful transition of people living in institutions.
Without funds for the transition program and without adequate affordable and accessible housing, transition for those unfairly institutionalized is nearly impossible.
–Lillibeth Navarro, January 29th, 2015
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