Dancing Wheels: Living without Limitations

When we see someone dance, we have the chance to witness the emotions of the heart translated into the physical motion of the body. Dancing Wheels Company & School in Cleveland, Ohio creates performance pieces and educational opportunities that embrace all those who wish to express themselves in the form of dance, no matter their abilities or perceived "disabilities". Founder and Artistic Director Mary Verdi-Fletcher shares the story of how dance became a part of her life.

"From as far back as I can remember," Mary said, "I always wanted to be a dancer. … I had braces and crutches when I was growing up, and my mother was … a professional dancer prior to my being born. She always instilled the idea of music and movement from the time I could remember anything. I remember that she took me to this shrine, because my family was very religious, too, and we were visiting with the nuns and she said, 'Show them how you know the Mexican Hat Dance.' And they put a hat down and I was doing the dance on my braces and crutches, and they just really loved that. It was kind of the first time I was actually doing a little impromptu performance, so I remember that. I was probably about three years old."

Enjoying Her Dancing Wheels

Mary won several singing competitions in her school-aged years, but didn't have the opportunity to do much dancing, as dancing classes for someone in a wheelchair didn't exist at that time. After high school though, she reconnected with an old friend from her school days in Perry, Ohio and began dancing at local clubs in Cleveland. "I became real popular in the clubs," said Mary, "because I was the only one in a wheelchair dancing." Her friend's then husband became Mary's first dance partner and they decided to enter the Dance Fever dance competition. "I signed up and I didn't tell anybody that I was in a wheelchair because it didn't occur to me," Mary recalled.

"Our first big performance was [the Dance Fever] competition at a dance club in Willoughby," Mary went on, "and there were 2,000 people in the audience because there were all these other competitors. … We entered the dance floor [and there] was an entire hush over the audience; 2,000 people and you could've heard a pin drop because they were awestruck that there was a person in a wheelchair in a dance competition. … And then we broke into dance, and we did 'It's Raining Men' by The Weather Girls. … We just went all out. My girlfriend had made our costumes."

"[My dance partner] was quite athletic and I had an older-style wheelchair. I mean, it was new then, but they looked like the hospital ones now where they're heavy and clunky and all that, and they have big armrests. So, our finale was that he took a flying leap and jumped on my armrests and jumped over my head, and people went crazy over it. We were chosen as alternates to go to California to be on the show, and we got a standing ovation that night and it was covered by the media tremendously. That was the very beginning of Dancing Wheels. We named it Dancing Wheels that night … and from that time, we were picked up by Disney to do a national television show. It was called Up and Coming. … Then we started getting calls from all over the nation to go and perform. We did 72 shows our first year." That was 1980.

Branching Out

In 1990, Dancing Wheels became associated with The Cleveland Ballet. It was also at this time that Mary formed the Dancing Wheels School. "I had access to working in the school of The Cleveland Ballet and learning from their techniques, their training," said Mary. "I was able to develop relationships with choreographers and have a pool of professional ballet dancers to work with."

"The company is versed in … classical styles of dance [like] ballet [as well as] modern [dance]. I personally love story ballets[.] … We have Alice In Wonderland like you've never seen before. We have Pinocchio. We have Babes In Toyland. We have The Snowman. And we have Helen Keller: A Tribute to Her Teacher."

Dance with a Message

"We'll do two things," Mary said. "We'll either have a call to create a piece specifically … [such as when we recently developed] an educational program [based on Newton's Law] that included dance [and] was a mix of science and movement. … Then there are other dances that we've done, for instance Daring to Be Dumbo, which was based on the story of the elephant with the big ears … [in] a modern-day setting. So there was still a Dumbo, but Dumbo was a Junior-High-School student and was a female who had big ears [and] she was teased for how she looked. Once that ballet was created, we decided to take it further and excerpt it and develop an outreach program based on anti-bullying."

"[In] the original story of Dumbo, Dumbo was bullied for being an elephant [whose ears were] with too big[.] … [Then] he found a way to take that disadvantage and make it an advantage so he could fly with his big ears. We're always looking for themes that fit within the curriculum of the schools and that also might relate to social issues."

Embracing Limitless Potential

The Dancing Wheels motto is "The Human Body Has No Limitations," and Mary's worldview is very much in alignment with that statement. "I've always been a person that would take on opportunities that were presented," she said, "or challenges! It's more like, 'Why not?' than 'Why?'. By doing that, I have met Presidents and Popes. … I always say that the disability is society because they've imposed the stairs and the stereotypical views and the perceptions of someone who has a different body. That's society. Me, as a person, I'm a free spirit, so I don't place those limitations on me. They come from the outside in sometimes, but I've learned that I've become a much stronger force having broken through those barriers. … You become stronger with each of those barriers that you've pushed through."

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This interview series is sponsored by Eldercare Professionals of Ohio, where we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand in hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help, contacts us at www.EldercareOfOhio.com, for questions on how to make your home a home for life, visit us at www.CallDontFall.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

To see a Dancing Wheels performance, participate in their dance school or learn more about their programs, please visit them on the web at www.DancingWheels.org or call them at 216-432-0306. 

Local Therapist Creates Comprehensive Guide for Seniors

Max Compton, creator of the Senior Comfort Guide got his start through his work as a psychological counseling provider to longterm care facilities. It was there that he began to notice a pervasive issue amongst residents. "The number one issue that comes up in counseling sessions," he said, "is adjustment. The resident [feels] they are in the wrong facility or not getting the right services that they need. The reason for this is that they are admitted to the hospital--through the emergency room, usually--and then when they're discharged, they only have a day or two … and they can't go back home. They're placed at a facility, or they need services they weren't getting prior to admission into the hospital, and they've got to make quick decisions. Sometimes [with] those quick decisions, you don't always choose the right company or the right service; you just choose a service or a facility. … A patient can lose their timing, lose their health, lose their well-being just from not getting [into] the right facility[.] That's what got me thinking, hey, we've got to make a tool that's an easy tool, comprehensive, unbiased, that has everything in it. We started off with a web guide and now we've moved on to the print guide."

Creating Option Awareness

"Senior Comfort Guide is a helpful, complete tool for senior services and senior facilities for the geriatric population of Northeast Ohio," said Compton. "It's a spring-bound guide that lists [everything] from hospitals to senior centers to home healthcare to all the service providers. Then, in the back of the guide, it has a list of all the nursing homes, assisted living and independent living [facilities] throughout [the area]."

The guide is useful not only to elders and their family members and caretakers, but it also has proven to be incredibly helpful for area facilities when it comes to having a quick place to turn to for any senior services they may need to call upon. "A lot of the healthcare providers have been telling me that it's basically their little 'bible' that they keep in their bag or on their desk," Compton shared. "The goal is, we provide it to the providers and the case managers of hospitals and we put it in the right places so that the seniors and their loved ones can find it and pick up a copy so that when it's time for them to make a decision, they have all the information [they need] in their hands."

What they have found, Max said, is that people often have only heard of some of the big-name care facilities and providers when they go to look for options. In such cases, they often feel that these major players are their only choices. However, there are a wide variety of excellent smaller facilities and providers that may suit the individual or the family better. The Senior Comfort Guide, therefore, was created to be a comprehensive listing of the many options available to seniors in Northeast Ohio, with no favor being paid to the larger, better-advertised companies. "The point of making a comprehensive guide," he said," is to show loved ones and family members and aging people that there are options out there, and there are many options out there."

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Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand-in-hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at 

www.StayAtHomeModificationsInc.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

If you would like to learn more about Senior Comfort Guide, you can visit them on the web at www.SeniorComfortGuide.com or reach them by phone at 216-292-8486.

To listen to the full, unedited audio of our conversation, please Click Here

 

Caregiver Support for Understanding and Coping with Dementia

No one can deny, dealing with dementia is a challenge on all fronts. It's challenging for the individual suffering from it, for their family members and for the staff and caregivers who choose to play supporting roles for those with the condition. Certified coping and stress-management coach and 30-year occupational therapy assistant Roberta Stack has created a helpful support system and educational program around coping strategies to help those who support individuals with dementia.

"[I educate] caregivers and staff working with the elderly," said Roberta, "specifically [those with] dementia. I also try to work with caregivers and staff--especially social workers--on coping skills, coping [with being] a caregiver, coping with any losses, stress management techniques to be able to cope better. [I offer] dementia training to try to [help staff and caregivers] face some of the fears that [they] have… things you don't know, things you don't know how to deal with, facing those fears and giving them some idea of how to help individuals with dementia[.]"

Better Understanding Dementia

Many people aren't clear about what exactly dementia is and how varied it can be in its expression among those who suffer from it. People think of dementia and they think of Alzheimer's. While Alzheimer's certainly is a form of dementia, it is not by any means the only form.

"A lot of people hear the word dementia and they think it's always Alzheimer's," Roberta said. "There are so many different types of dementia, and there's reversible and irreversible. We get a lot of residents who start forgetting things and they have signs of dementia. Well, it could be a urinary tract infection. It could be that they're dehydrated. It could be medication causing it. It could be a brain tumor that could be removed and they could be fine. Then there are irreversible types of dementia like Alzheimer's [or] like Lewy Body, which is a very quick type of dementia. There are so many kinds, and they don't always know what kind it is, and technically you can't really diagnose it until after death."

Since some forms of dementia are temporary and curable, Roberta highly recommends that people not take an initial diagnosis at face value. "You want to exhaust all possible means of it not being irreversible [dementia]," she asserted. "Are they dehydrated? Is their diet okay? Do they have a UTI? Is there something going on? [Get assessments] to make sure that it isn't some type of reversible [dementia.]"

Facilitating a Change

Unfortunately, the eldercare industry has a notoriously high turnover rate for employees. According to a 2013 report produced by the American Health Care Association, the national turnover rate for skilled nursing facilities was about 44%, while the turnover for CNAs in particular was about 52%. Assisted living rates were slightly lower at about 32%. Roberta believes this is largely because people haven't received proper training and education to best navigate particularly challenging cases, such as dementia.

"There is a large turnover… and I feel, honestly, it's lack of education. Staff doesn't always know how to deal with, especially again, people with dementia and it's very frustrating. … You can't rationalize with someone with dementia as you would with the average person on the street. It's very stressful. It's a stressful job and people are getting burned out. That's why I'm trying to educate them on what [they] can do to make working with these people easier and more rewarding for [all involved], but also keeping [themselves] healthy in the meantime so that, again, [they] can take better care of [those with dementia]. … We're starting to see as we're educating staff that they're learning techniques that they're saying are actually helping release some of that tension, and we're hoping that the turnover gets to be a little lower and a little lower… so there will be more continuity of care."


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To learn more about Roberta Stack's work or to contact her directly, you may visit her on the web at www.RobertaStack.com or reach her by phone at 440-759-9178.

Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand in hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at www.StayAtHomeModificationsINC.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

To listen to the full, unedited interview, please Click Here

Highlighting Local Disability Advocates on the Anniversary of the ADA Law

July 26, 2015 is the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), and we sat down with Shannon Monyak and Kathy Foley from Services for Independent Living, Inc. based out of Euclid, OH. Shannon is the Director of Programs at SIL, and Kathy is the Director of Advocacy. They shared a bit about how SIL works to trumpet the cause and awareness of the ADA through supporting both individuals and communities.

"As a center for independent living," said Kathy, "our whole goal is to help people with disabilities of all kinds to remain in the community of their choice. So, we have a number of services and supports that are available … along with community education and advocacy efforts[.]"

A Variety of Services

With specifics varying from service to service, SIL cares for people of all ages who are dealing with disabilities, from newborns in NICU to elderly people in the final stages of life.

"We have independent living skills training," Shannon shared, "peer support, advocacy and information referral, which are four core services. We're now adding a fifth, which is transition [where] we do nursing home relocation through the Ohio Department of Medicaid. We're also starting youth transition where we … partnered with a specific school district in the southwest area of Cleveland."

"The other thing that we do," Kathy added, "is that we have a program called the ADA inaccessibility services. It's really a two-part program for individuals with disabilities and for the community. For individuals, we have a small fund that can help with minor home modifications [such as] … widening doors, adding grab bars, that sort of thing. We can help with that. Or, if we don't have the funding, we can help identify where funding can be found[.]"

"On the community side," Kathy went on, "we can help community agencies, colleges, businesses, hospitals [and other community entities] with understanding what their requirements and obligations are under the Americans with Disabilities Act. We can also go in and do an ADA survey of the physical facility [as well as] their business practices. [We] do a lot of community education around ADA. For example, we just did a disability awareness and ADA [presentation] as it pertains to hospitals[.]"

Helping People Help Themselves

Through the various programs SIL offers, from peer support to education to transition into independent living, the organization aims to help people to obtain the life skills and confidence they need to thrive.

"Individuals are being taught how to become better self advocates," Kathy said. "[They're learning] how to speak up for their rights, how to speak up for their wishes. That, I think, is what sets us apart."

With their new transitions program, they are not only helping people move out of nursing homes, but they are helping young people to live on their own for the first time, learn how to balance a checkbook, learn how to do their laundry. The SIL's array of services goes beyond simply addressing ADA law and advocacy to addressing the whole person and helping them to learn necessary life skills, many of which aren't taught anywhere else.

Housing, Transportation, Employment, Healthcare

Housing, transportation, employment and healthcare accessibility issues are big ones when it comes to those who are living with a disability. SIL helps people to navigate these major areas while also working with companies, systems and communities to create more accessible choices.

"We do an awful lot of work on the systems change side of the fence," said Kathy, "because the reality is that while we envision a society that's accessible to all, we don't have that yet. We're moving towards that, but we're not there yet. So, we bring the voice of the consumer to the table on systems chance efforts, whether it's local, state or federal."

"Housing is huge," she went on. "Being able to find affordable, accessible and safe housing is a huge challenge, especially with … people that are trying to transition out of nursing homes. And housing ties in with employment and healthcare and transportation. We're working a lot on transportation advocacy right now to build a more equitable transportation system that is more responsive to on-demand. Right now, people needing specialized transportation, lift equipment transportation, usually it's five days to a week ahead that they have to plan, whereas you and I can say, 'Oh, I'm going to hop in my car or I'm going to grab the mainline bus and I'm going to go visit my friend.' Folks that we work with can't always do that."

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If you would like to find out more about the programs offered through Services for Independent Living, Inc., you can find them on the web at www.sil-oh.org or reach them by phone at 216-731-1529.

Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand in hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at www.StayAtHomeModificationsINC.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

To listen to our full conversation, please Click Here

Local Veteran Paves the Way for Community Veteran Support

July stands out to us here at HandyPro for a number of reasons. July is the month we celebrate Independence Day and honor our military veterans, but today is also Disability Awareness Day and we are quickly approaching the 25th anniversary of the American's with Disabilities Act (ADA) being passed into law. To pay homage to all of these, we sat down with disabled veteran David Cox, the man behind the AmericanMiltaryBenefits.org website.

David served in the Marine Corps from 1990 - 1994. When he returned to civilian life in Cleveland, he noticed that veterans would flock to the local VA hospital looking for help, but many weren't receiving what they needed.

"I would see probably 100 or so people sitting in the lobby," said Cox, "all veterans, and they're looking for help from something, whether it's just a hot dog or a benefit or doctors or whatever they needed. They're just sitting there. They don't have any appointments; they're just looking for help. They would sit there all day, and some would get some help but most wouldn't. And at the end of the day, unfortunately, they would be told that they had to leave at 4:30pm, and they [could] come back tomorrow and try again. I would walk through there and I would be like, 'There's got to be a way that I could do something to help veterans.'"

"I want to be clear that I am a supporter of the VA administration and what they can do," Cox went on, "but a lot of times their hands are tied and/or they don't have the capability of helping these military people when they come back from war or from wherever. You have so many military people out there who have PTSD or traumatic brain injury or all this stuff, and to be honest with you, we're not prepared for it. We don't have the education for the doctors to help these individuals. We don't have the programs to help these individuals, and we have people that sit at the front door to greet you and they don't know what to do. They're turning these veterans down for help. They're sending them back home. And just [for] example with PTSD, that's why we have such a high rate of suicide of American Military people at this time."

Creating a New Support Hub

After seeing so many veterans in need, David got the idea to create an online support center where vets could go to get answers about what benefits were available to them and receive other important information that could serve them. The bottom line is that Cox has a passion for helping people, and he is incredibly driven to do so. The beginning of his mission statement on the AmericanMilitaryBenefits.org website reads: "As a fellow disabled Veteran, I will be 'Relentless' in researching and posting all benefits available to our American Military community."

"I use that word 'relentless' a lot," said Cox. "A lot of people don't, and I think it's a powerful word. See, you can only do so much with money as far as having the money to operate your organization. If you don't have that passion behind you, you're not really helping as many people as you possibly can. I'm going to do this whether I'm rich, poor, indifferent. I'm going to sit there, find out somebody's needs and I'm going to find a way to get them some type of help whether it's through my organization or multiple organizations here in Cleveland, Ohio. That's my goal."

Building the Network

David's goal is to grow his website to where any need that a veteran has can be filled by participating individuals, businesses and organizations. "My website originally started as [me] trying to help connect veterans with the proper people that can get their benefits moving forward, helped or anything done with at all," he shared. "And when I was doing this, my passion expanded where I will help veterans with whatever they need. … I want to [get] my website where you are a veteran, you need help with a painter [for example] and you … click Ohio, then you click Cuyahoga County and then everything you possibly need is going to be right there[.] Painting, auto repair, attorneys, lawn care--anything you can think of is all right there, available and it's provided by mostly veteran-owned [businesses]. [I want to build this database] to be in every state where they can go on there for free and get whatever they want."

"Right now," he went on, "what I do personally is I know people in the area, like I've got a gentleman who does free plumbing as far as he does the labor, they pay for the parts. I've got an auto store that pays for labor, [the vet] pay for parts. Those are the types of things I'm speaking of that will really help veterans get through their day, get through their month, get through their year. … HandyPro goes out of their way to help veterans get what they need as far as construction within their homes for, let's say, getting into a shower or getting into a bath or making the doorway wider for them to get inside with their wheelchairs. … I need HandyPro's help. I can't do it all on my own. … I need the local VFWs, American Legion. I need my networking where I connected with guys that specifically find out where a veteran's benefits are and whether they can push them through or not for them. … It's networking; everything is networking." 

If you or someone you know could be one of these veteran-supporting businesses or individuals, call David Cox at 216-403-1563 or find him on the web at AmericanMilitaryBenefits.org.

"Go the local hospital and help out," Cox suggested. "Volunteer when you can. Give money if you can. Do whatever it takes to help one veteran. I'm not asking you to help a million veterans; I'm asking you to help one. And if you help one and I help one and they help one, now we're going to make a dent."

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Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand in hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at www.StayAtHomeModificationsINC.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

Cleveland-Area Entrepreneur Supports Clean, Healthy Living

From private residences to public buildings to area businesses, there are times when a large-scope disinfectant or air-born contaminant removal are necessary. Local clean-living pioneer Brett Davis operates two companies that provide respective aspects of these services: The Ecosense Company and BioSweep.

"In a broad perspective," said Davis, "what we do is we protect people, businesses, municipalities and allied healthcare providers from community-acquired infections, germs, bacteria, viruses, mold and odors. The BioSweep business focuses primarily on air-born contamination with a sub-specialty on removing odors[.] ... The Ecosense portion of the business focuses on the environmental disinfection markets, [with] preventative type of services that [keep] the individuals or businesses from contracting infections or germs as well as treating any types of outbreaks."

Brett has made it his mission to ensure that his customers have access to reasonably priced, environmentally friendly services. "In this day and age, being environmentally sensitive is a responsibility[.] For one, a solution has to be effective. It has to accomplish what we're trying to do if we're trying to kill a particular type of odor or destroy some sort of smell or bacteria. Secondly, it has to be environmentally friendly. Fortunately, we're at the point right now where there are wonderful types of solutions that allow us to be able to achieve high-level results and to be able to destroy some very, very difficult diseases ... and do so in an environmentally friendly manner."

When an individual or business goes it alone, these solutions can be incredibly expensive. That's why Davis and his team have invested in ownership of the requisite tools and technologies so that the end consumer doesn't have to do so themselves. This, Davis explained, saves the customer money, as all anyone has to pay for is application of the solution rather than all of the equipment and accessories necessary to achieve it. "Most people," Davis said, "if they have a choice [to do] the environmentally friendly [thing] ... and there's not a cost premium, they’re going to gravitate towards something that is safer to use."

Safety of the products is paramount, Davis went on to explain, particularly when working with the elderly. "When serving an elderly population, or [anyone with a compromised immune system], not only [do we] have to be concerned with infections and diseases, but we have to be responsible in the types of treatments that we use [to ensure] that we're not introducing something that another unintended consequence."

The focus is on customer satisfaction, Davis shared, and through an action plan outlined from the start and reviewed upon completion, he and his teams create a path of accountability. The most rewarding aspect of all, Davis said, is a happy customer: "We see an improvement in people's lives, and the before and after is very rewarding, [seeing] the difference we can make[.]"

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Here at HandyPro, we make your well-being our priority. Our interview series goes hand in hand with that effort, and we hope you find it helpful! For more information on how we can help you make your home a home for life, visit us at www.StayAtHomeModificationsINC.com or call me (Brian Pritchard) at 216-212-7531.

To find out more about The Ecosense Company, find them on the web at www.ecosensecompany.com or reach them by phone at 844-437-6688. To learn more about BioSweep, click through to their website at www.biosweep.com/cleveland or call 844-ODOR-OUT (844-636-7688).

To listen to the full audio of our conversation, please use the player below...