Linda
Young-Streit, Executive Director
Happy Fall! Where did the summer go? It has
been very busy at Link Associates and as always there is a
lot to tell you.
Legislative
Update!
In June I went to Washington D.C. to meet with our elected
officials and advocate on behalf of our Issues. One
important iten is HR 1279 – The Direct Support Professionals
Fairness and Security Act. Our direct support professionals
provide the hands on care that enables people with
intellectual and other developmental disabilities to live in
the community. As we all know the recruitment and retention
of direct support professionals has always been a big
problem and it’s getting bigger. Direct support staff must
be highly trained, skilled, sensitive and reliable.
Unfortunately, the wages paid lag far behind the skills they
must have, the expectations they must meet and challenges
they face. Direct support staff deserve a wage that is
respectful and sufficient to keep a stable, reliable
workforce. Congress has recognized this dilemma by
introducing the HR 1279. The Act would provide enhanced
federal Medicaid funding to states that agree to increase
community direct support staff wages to the level of pay for
state employees at Woodward/Glenwood. While in DC I met
with Congressmen Boswell, Latham Loebsack,
and Braley. All four have supported HR 1279. The only
Congressman we have who is not supporting the bill is Steve
King. Throughout this upcoming legislative year I will be
sending you information on how to best help us advocate. I
am hopeful that we will be able to host our state and
national representatives and thank those who have helped us
and show those who do not how many voters count on their
support.
Change in the Board!
In June we voted on the new slate of board officers and
board members. Leaving our board this year are Dr. Fred
Strickland, Chad Schaller, Marilyn Straw and Ben
Hildebrandt. Joining the board are Michael Carter, City of
Des Moines Human Resource Manager, Mark Heston, Director of
Human Resources for Life Care Services, Kim Waltman, InSync
Communications, and Kathryn Rarick, Program Associate with
the Center for Disabilities and Development. These started
their three year terms on July 1. The slate of officers
will not change for the next fiscal year. Our President is
Jim Stoelk, 1st VP is Steve Schmidt, 2nd
VP is Jim Shaffer, Secretary is Jim O’Donnell, Treasurer is
Lorinda Roth and Past President is Harold Templeman.
Incredible Gift!
The 14th annual O’Donnell Golf
event was an incredible success. We offer our most sincere
thanks to all of the O’Donnell’s and their friends who made
this event poss
ible.
Link received enough
money to purchase an Eclipse Transmaster shuttle, 14
passenger van for the Highland Park home.
This
year’s recipient was Variety, The
Children’s
Charity
with
the direction
that
$36,000
went directly to
Link Associates. The entire O'Donnell family dedicated an
uncountable number of hours and hard work to make this event
possible. What an inspiration for this entire community.
On 8-27-2007 Link Associates
hosted a thank you reception for the O’Donnell and Friends
and Variety, The Children’s Charity. The event was attended
by about 50 people, including the staff and consumers from
Highland. Following the reception the consumers of Highland
were able to take their new vehicle home.
Linda
Streit, Executive Director of Link Associates, Dan and Dee
O'Donnell.
Big
Event – We Need You!
October means Pancake Breakfast. Our 53rd Annual
Pancake Breakfast is a place for Link Associates to show the
community what an awesome group of people we are, who we
support and how we have fun at work. I hope that all of you
received your tickets to buy/sell and I hope that you and
your family will be there to see all of us.
Special
Guest!
On September Senator Jack Hatch was
at Link for a
Political Action Committee reception. The meeting included
members of the
Iowa Association of Community Providers and staff of Link.
During this meeting, providers sat with Senator Hatch and
very specifically discussed the changes that occurred last
year during the legislative session and other changes still
need to be made. He had the opportunity to get details
about the p
roblems
we all face as providers and we outlined for him ways he can
help us better support the
direct support staff we employ and the
consumers we support.
Senator Jack Hatch and
Valerie Karr, Assistant to the Program Director for Link
Associates
Time to
Celebrate Success!
Link Associates was selected as the winner of the Innovation
and Quality Award presented by the Iowa Association of
Community Providers at their annual meeting on Wednesday of
this week. The
award recognizes an agency that has
demonstrated a high quality innovative program(s) that
enhances t
he
quality of life for persons with disabilities and/or mental
illness. Link’s leisure program won the award.
Patrick
Schmitz, IACP President and Cindy Spann, Outreach Director
of Link Associates
Free Opportunity!
Link Associates has invited Frank Varvaris to present
informative to families on special needs estate planning.
In 1997, Frank Varvaris drafted law in Iowa that protects
Special Needs Trusts for people with disabilities. It is
the only document that safely enables parents to provide
extras for their child with special needs. He will be here
Thursday, October 11th, at 6:30. Please feel free to
attend and invite others who may be interested. To reserve
your seat or a seat for a friend let me know.
Linda Young-Streit, Executive Director
Funded in part by Polk County Health
Services (Polk County service access information at
