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"Never will, never cans" are people whose futures and quality of life have been put on the impossible-to-achieve list by others who see a developmental condition, terrible accident, or disability as too great a challenge to overcome.

A tour of the Center and an exposure to the care being provided tells you that "never" isn't in Lucy Idol's staff, clients, or client families treatment vocabulary. And a waiting room papered with news accounts about the Center, stories of its successes, awards won, and profiles of staff offer a visual of why that is so.

The Center provides services to the most severely challenged and profoundly disabled persons. Individuals served by the Center cover the full gamut of rehabilitation needs: people with Multiple Sclerosis, mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, visual and hearing impairments, and multiple disabilities. The range of need can be seen in the array of wheelchairs mechanical, motorized or otherwise high tech adaptive rehab aids in every room. However, one doesn't hear about the degree of need from staff. Rather they are straightforward in telling the goal of their agency: to assist the disabled person to obtain the quality of life as close as possible to the norms and patterns of the mainstream of society. This is accomplished by assisting individuals to acquire and maintain those life skills which enable them to cope more effectively with the demands of their personal lives by raising the level of their physical, mental and social functioning.

In that regard, it is not unusual-even in the case of the most severe disability-to read in the individual treatment plan an objective like "to enhance community integration as well as to develop and maintain social relationships". Or to find in another treatment plan notes that indicate progress in achieving "development of functional skills that lessen dependence and that enhance the prospect of accessing social supports which promote successful functioning in the community". In non clinical jargon, those translate to a quality of life not envisioned or possible before treatment at Lucy Idol. A place where hope and potential are realized daily.

However, those are only obtained with courage and effort. The physical, mental and emotional energy required for treatment regimens tell what a labor of love it is for client, his family and therapist alike. As put by one visitor to the Center, "Just watching the therapies these clients go through exhausted me. I found myself doing the actions with them. The daily activities I breeze through are mountains that these people must climb each day."

Those mountains include a host of challenges such as physical therapy, stretching, balancing, gait improvement, weight bearing and wheel chair positioning. Then there is all the cognitive skill development, social - interactive behavior therapies as well as the family training and counseling. This is intensive stuff! A course in patience and real grit. One that requires a "no quit" commitment from the family, a dedicated staff and a brave multi-handicapped person.


The needs of the severely disabled people served at the Lucy Idol Center are complex. Meeting their needs demands the expertise and knowledge of many professionals. A glance at the treatments employed at the Center every day reflects that: physical therapy, exercise, individual, counseling, group therapy, family counseling, psychological assessment, testing, diagnostic services, interventions, activity therapy, recreational therapy, classroom work, and field trips. Then there is the full range of nursing care: medications, G-tube feeding, catheter care, suctioning and asthma interventions, infection control, health and diet monitoring, classroom instruction, and family counseling.

Those and more are provided with compassion and an unconditional love that can be felt upon entering the Center. Which is why Lucy Idol never has a "never will or never can" disabled client.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 10/26/08

Children and youth hold a special place in Lorain County United Way's mission. The number and types of services, which we fund, speak to how much their care, development, and safety are valued:

• American Red Cross Lorain County Chapter's Youth Health & Safety Services
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Lorain County's Site & School Based Mentoring
• Boys and Girls Club of Lorain County's Core Youth Program
• Catholic Charities Services of Lorain County's Adoption/Birth Parent/Foster Care Services
• Common Ground's Mural Arts Program
• El Centro de Servicios Sociales' Youth Leadership Program
• Heart of Ohio Council, Boy Scouts of America's and Girl Scouts of North East Ohio's Youth Development Programs
• Neighborhood Houses's Child Care Program
• Nord Center's Kidz First Program
• Save our Children's After School and Summer Youth Programs

To that list could be added other services whose purpose is to keep children safe and secure, or which provide family crisis intervention, or which strengthen families and assist in meaningful childhood development.

How important are children and youth to us? Very! In many ways, we are the voice of needy youngsters. Youngsters, whose service numbers are escalating even beyond those of adults. And if the services we are funding for their parents are considered critical--which they are--then the children services we are funding are all the more so because they are more vulnerable or have their own set of needs.

Talking to children who are benefiting from having an adult as a Big Brother or Big Sister will confirm that. When I speak to program participants, the positive affect this mentoring program is having can be seen in improved school grades, positive behaviors and attitudes, and are mirrored in the kids' smiles and comments. They use such terms as "my best friend", "someone who really listens", "my role model". Those are some special descriptors, indeed.

Ditto goes for the boys and girls being served at Save Our Children. United Way's fund distribution volunteers, who conduct site visits at this program, refer to this program as a gem because of what is accomplished with project participants. Outcomes seen in program participants best tell the story:

Participants display academic improvement and improved social skills. They demonstrate strong leadership skills as well as motivation for self improvement. They evidence ability to adapt to the teamwork concept, while also exhibiting high degrees of self-confidence and self-esteem. In conjunction with improved school attendance, their academic records show improved test scores and an appreciation for the correlation between schooling and future life plans. In their non-school lives they show less interests in negative behaviors and greater interest in becoming-as many participants have shared with me- "the best person that they can be".

Those are impressive results!

No different, though, than ones seen at our other youth programs. Moreover, they are outcomes which we expect for the funds we provide. Because, if any investment is important and needs to take root, it is the one we make in our children. For that reason alone, the United Way campaign is important to the Lorain community. Especially for those children who lack for the basics, or who are in danger of being left behind without opportunity and hope.

If able to speak for themselves on what they need from adults, our youth would likely choose thoughts akin to those in Mary Korzan's poem When You Thought I Wasn't Looking:

When you thought I wasn't looking, you displayed by first report, and I wanted another.

When you thought I wasn't looking, you fed a stray cat, and I thought it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, you put your arm around me, and I felt loved.

When you thought I wasn't looking I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes thing hurt - but that it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, you smiled, and it made me want to look that pretty too.

When you thought I wasn't looking, you cared, and I wanted to be everything you wanted me to be.

When you thought I wasn't looking - I looked - and wanted to say thanks for all the things you did when you thought I wasn't looking.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 10/18/08

Yesterday, following a presentation, I was asked to describe "who are the people using United Way funded services?"

My response was "look in the mirror...they look like you and me."

That has always been the case. It is even more evident now because the numbers being served by our funded programs have increased so dramatically and when those numbers come from all segments of the Lorain County population and demographics. This is especially true in those services having to do with basic needs such as hot meals, shelter, and emergency type assistance.

The need for food, which is addressed by Second Harvest Food Bank, offers a prime example.

In service results already reported to the government and shared with the community, their 2006 comprehensive Hunger Study referenced disconcerting feedback from consumers who shared the circumstances which led them to a pantry, shelter, or hot meal program. In order that the degree and intensity of the need could be categorized and the challenges confronting people could be put in their starkest terms, the information gathering survey used "degrees of hunger".

Food security means people have access to enough food for an active, healthy life: (1) the ready availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods, and (2) an ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways.

Food insecurity means limited or uncertain availability of nutritionally adequate and safe foods or limited and uncertain ability to acquire acceptable foods in socially acceptable ways. Food insecurity with hunger means the involuntary state of not being able to afford food resulting in prolonged absence of food that produces discomfort, weakness, and pain.

My reading on that last Survey data has:

• 78% of all Second Harvest Food Bank clients being food insecure
• 36% being food insecure with hunger
• 28% of those being served being under 18 years of age and 6% being under 5 years old
• Combine that with the fact that among all households with children, 75% are food insecure with 42% of those experiencing hunger.

Distressing data indeed! Especially when choices people are required to make get factored into an eat-no eat dilemma:

• 39% of those served have to choose between paying for food and paying for utilities or heating fuel
• 39% have to choose between paying for food and paying their rent or mortgage
• 30% have to choose between paying for food and paying for medical care or medicine
• 46% of programs having to turn clients away due to lack of food to distribute

A recent conversation with Second Harvest Executive Director, Juliana Chase-Morefield indicates that the next collection and analysis of data will be even more alarming. She reports that during this year's second quarter there has been a 20% increase in individuals needing assistance . This represents 5,000 people a week with 45% of those being children under 18 years of age and 11% being age 60+. This means that at the current rate Second Harvest will distribute 4 million pounds of food. In comparison, distribution in 2005 was 2.6 million pounds.

However, that 4 million pounds is predicated on food donations and other support, both of which are challenged by today's economics. Which is why this year's United Way campaign is so important to those in need and why our theme "Live United" is so relevant. That theme is our challenge to ourselves and to the community to do all we can to address the critical needs in the community, none being more critical than food.

It is a challenge that must be looked straight in the eye. One that can not be dodged. As I told the gentleman who asked about the kinds of people being served by United Way funded services: "Look in the mirror". In hunger's case that is people we know, people who never thought they would be in a hot meal line, people who have more month left than money or no money at all.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 10/13/08

Parental wisdom given over the years-and still heard passed on to our children and grandchildren-has it that "the best prizes often come in the smallest packages". The same can be said of other things, as in certain smaller sized organizations where the quality and dimension of the good accomplished eclipse the organization's budget size.

The United Way funded Lorain County Volunteer Guardianship Program (VGP) is one of those programs. So much so that I believe this gem of a human service program could rightly be renamed "guardian angelship".

This dynamic organization has been providing care to the most vulnerable population since 1993. It is a population easily forgotten by society: indigent and incompetent Lorain residents over 40 years old who reside in nursing homes and adult care facilities who have no one to make medical or financial decisions for them. It is a population among the most at risk, even oppressed, in todays busy and "big issue" society. Also, one that could easily fall through the cracks and become invisible except for the service VGP provides.

VGP has a straight forward mission - to ensure that senior's rights are protected and that they have the quality of life anyone else deserves. VGP fulfills its mission by providing legal guardians who serve as caring decision-makers when no less restrictive alternative is available. VGP trains reference-checked volunteers to deal with aging and mental health issues, legal aspects of guardianship, ethical decision-making, and quality of life issues. Volunteers become advocates and surrogate family for frail seniors who are at risk of joining the community's forgotten because they cannot care for themselves or advocate on their own behalf. Volunteers take responsibility for health-related decisions. They make any and all decisions regarding the physical person, e.g. nursing home placement, medical procedures, end of life choices, etc.

And while it is sad commentary on human nature, VGP volunteers sometimes are required to protect their vulnerable and voiceless wards from family member neglect or greed. In those instances volunteers become the ward's advocate to ensure proper treatment and freedom from abuse and neglect.

The characteristics that identify VGP's service population are well defined. Clients are 40 years old and over. They can be indigent (on Medicaid) with no family, or have financial resources but be without a family, and are incompetent. A Statement of Expert Evaluation by a physician or psychiatrist, an assessment by the program director, and then a final assessment by the Probate Court Investigator determine competency.

Guardianship is only awarded when all other alternatives have been exhausted. Since guardianship relinquishes a person of all their rights, the VGP assures all other options for the person have been attempted or ruled out. The goal is not to obtain as many wards as possible, but to provide guardianship services to those who absolutely need it and have no other options left.

Anyone who has had the need to convince a parent to leave their own home for a nursing home facility or has been required to make that decision for them can speak to how white knuckle an experience that can be. Discerning what is in the best interest of an incompetent person is a similar challenge for VGP because a person's rights and dignity are at stake, as well as their safety and protection.

VGP evaluates each guardianship scrupulously, with protection being a major consideration. In too many cases, wards are being financially exploited and neglected by family members or acquaintances. Guardianship allows for taking legal action in protecting the ward and terminating any exploitation. The outcome for every ward should be that their situation after guardianship is clearly an improvement from the neglected and exploited lifestyle they were enduring.

Translated this means rights are protected and needs met. All of which takes a special person to accomplish.

Volunteer Guardianship's staff and 28 volunteers are just that. However, more hands and caring hearts are always needed.

Needed to make a commitment to watch over the welfare of the most helpless in our county.

Sounds like "guardian angelship" to me.

Volunteer Guardianship Program of Lorain County can be reached (440) 934-3613.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 10/05/08

Their tragedies speak for themselves. They tell why our United Way is committed to addressing domestic violence and why we support Lorain County Safe Harbor/Genesis House.

Janette, age 50
Janette was the mother of three children and worked in a pharmacy. Her husband tricked her into coming home early one day by saying their son had been arrested. After arriving home, she was shot by her husband who then committed suicide. She was murdered while calling for help.

Carla, age 22
Carla had one child, lived in Lorain. After enduring an abusive relationship with her boyfriend Carla asked him to move from their residence. She was shot twice in the chest during an argument with him,

Lisa, age 27
Lisa was the mother of two preschool daughters. She filed multiple complaints against her ex-husband for his repeated vandalism and harassment as well as for an assault against her the year after they divorced. When he broke into her home, she fled to a neighbor's for help. He broke in and gunned her down while she hid in a closet. She died from multiple gunshot wounds. He was convicted of aggravated murder and sentenced to death in the Ohio electric chair.

Durriyya, age 34
She lived in Oberlin. Her boyfriend shot her at his parent's house and then self-inflicted wounds to his body. He survived his injuries, but she did not.

Margaret, age 45
She lived in North Ridgeville. She died when her husband tracked her down and shot her in a crowded public establishment. He committed suicide the next day.

Stella, age 46
She lived in Vermilion. She was murdered when her estranged husband kicked the door in and shot her. After the incident, he went to a bar to announce what he had done.

Giovoni, age 33
She was a mother of four children and lived in Elyria. She was seeking a divorce from her husband when he broke in and stabbed her 13 times. Two of their children were at home at the time of the attack. Her teenage daughter witnessed the murder. Giovoni died with her children at her side.

Cathryn, age 37
She and her three children lived in Avon Lake. More than a year after breaking off the relationship with her boyfriend, they met to talk. In the car in an Avon Lake park, he shot and killed her, then killed himself.

Kimberly, age 24
She lived in Elyria and was struck more than a dozen times in the head with a hammer by her boyfriend. At the scene, her boyfriend admitted to officers that he killed her because he believed she had another boyfriend.

These women lived, worked and raised children in Lorain County. They were abused and brutally killed by someone who supposedly loved them. From the number and types of calls for help made to Safe Harbor/Genesis House and other agencies, it is clear that potential for such violence stalks many relationships today.

The scores of women and children currently receiving program services attest to that fact. Their accounts of physical and mental abuse speak to horrific situations. Their words paint a picture most unsettling: pain, suffering and terror for them and their children.

Safe Harbor/Genesis House is committed to alleviate such suffering. Its program mission is straightforward on that: To provide shelter for victims of domestic violence as well as crisis counseling, legal and hospital advocacy, support groups, children's support and aftercare community education. Thankfully, the past decade has seen the subject of domestic violence come out of the closet. And the scores of women and children currently receiving program services can attest that however bad a woman's situation might be, hope and a meaningful life are possible.

Just how meaningful was expressed to me following a talk on domestic violence I gave to a group of professional women. With a comment which spoke volumes about past trials endured and hope found, one attendee shared with me that: "This is the date I finally found the courage to go to Genesis House for help. I celebrate today as my real birthday. . . the day my new life began".

Lorain County Safe Harbor/Genesis House can be reached at (440) 323-3400 or 244-1853.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 9/27/08

Driving down Elyria's Middle Avenue, one could easily miss the small building with no curb appeal. When inside the structure, it would be evident that the interior begs for remodeling and redecorating.

But that is where the minuses stop. The building is home to the Save Our Children (SOC) agency and, while lacking some decor and roominess, the services it provides are anything but lacking.

SOC's programming is stellar. The caring and familial feeling that its program offerings emanate are tangible, as are the results achieved with participants. As put by one United Way fund distribution volunteer noted for his program evaluation rigor, "In my 15 years doing agency site visits, this is the finest youth program I have ever seen. What they are doing is so important and so well done. It is impressive. This is truly a quality children's program!"

SOC's summer and after-school programs are the services that United Way funds. SOC provides them to children living in south Elyria neighborhoods. Program components include educational assistance and socialization activities aimed at instilling an appreciation for academic excellence, personal success and healthy values. Their approach to program delivery views each young person "holistically," thereby endeavoring to integrate the participants' academic achievement with the rest of their development.

SOC's focus is on lifelong learning and intellectual curiosity. Observing the tutoring and learning experiences offered, one is impressed by the emphasis put on clear thinking, finding solutions to questions and on real understanding of math, language, science and other subjects. Evident, too, is the strong emphasis woven through the program curriculum on the cultivation of leadership skills and on valuing the uniqueness of each participant. Regarding leadership, the program requires participants to attend, perform and interact well with others.

Make no mistake: this is not after school baby-sitting. Program participants are held accountable for their behavior and participation. Older students are expected to be role models and help younger students. Schedules are expected to be maintained and commitments kept. In every activity, participants are exhorted to do their best. This is one very serious piece of human service being offered by SOC. The youth served come from low-income and otherwise challenged home settings. For many, SOC is their safest environment, their positive reinforcement outside of school and, often, their second home. All of which makes the results even more remarkable.

Little wonder that the founders named the agency accordingly: "We call the program Save Our Children because that is what we do - Through our programs we are saving children from drugs, street violence and the allure of bad companions."

That is my kind of mission statement. "Save" has no ambiguity. Nor should there be any when describing what the service's focus should be for today's at-risk youth. Carnegie Corporation's report on after school programs said it well. "Risk can be transformed into opportunity for our youth by turning their non-school hours into the time of their lives." Save Our Children is doing just that. Working collaboratively with staff from Elyria Schools, the program keeps lines of communication open between the school and parents regarding the children's academic needs. The program monitors academic progress, school attendance and behavior. Mostly it provides that personal touch that tells each youngster, "You are important."

My favorite part of Save Our Children's program is the field trip segment, which exposes participants to the world and experiences that they might not otherwise have had. Exposure that other children their age might take for granted: a trip to the zoo, science museum, I.X. Center or Progressive Field. Or possibly a reward as simple as a visit to the in-house candy store.

What a concept! A challenging, caring, safe, fun and supportive learning environment.

That is the concept of getting results for children at Save Our Children.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 9/20/08

Thursday's news reflections on September 11's horrific details elicited memories which have become seared in most American's minds. That recounting, likely, was a reminder of where one was and what one was doing as the terrorism unfolded. Etched in those reminders are the heart-rending emotions felt as the full extent of the day's tragedies unfolded and details became known. Mingled with my personal memories is a second set of recollections that are in stark contrast to those caused by the evil perpetrated that day.

My "where" was Andrews Air Force Base's Fisher House in Washington, where my wife and I had lodging. Fisher Houses are located on the grounds of major military installations and provide temporary lodging for families of critically ill and injured military personnel. This was truly the bleakest time for my family as our son was in a life-threatening condition at Walter Reed Hospital. Just as we were leaving base to see him on that fateful morning the earth-shaking boom of F-16s halted our departure. Their thunderous roar, the screech of the base's alarm sirens, and the flurry of activity that within 90 seconds took Andrews from peace to war evidenced the gravest of situations. Such gravity was confirmed by the billowing smoke coming from the Pentagon building, the scurrying of people and traffic in the alarmed city, and by the presence of fully armed troops accompanied by guard dogs manning Walter Reed's entrances that we encountered upon arrival at the hospital.

Once inside, the day's experience darkened even more as we saw preparations being made for admitting those gravely injured in the Pentagon attack. All of which could all be seen from windows on our son's floor.

Witnessing firsthand the terrible results of the brutal attack coupled with our own family's grief combined for a day drained of emotion. This made our return to Andrew's late that evening all the more memorable. For in the midst of the day's chaos, the charged emotions on the military base, and the readiness required by the security assigned to Air Force One headquarters - under such conditions - members of our son's unit exhibited character ordinarily attributed to families. As we passed each security checkpoint, members of his unit asked how we were and inquired, with evident emotion, about our son's well being. Upon entering our housing unit, we were advised about his commander's call regarding our and our son's welfare. Simultaneously, we were told that members of his squadron, who earlier that morning flew those F-16s and secured the Washington base, had a prepared meal for us in the kitchen.

Talk about a day filled with contrasting human behavior! We saw evidence of the worst in human nature as well as the best: total disregard of others and people caring for others, thinking outside themselves and coming together as one positive force through every day actions.

Given the needs and challenges confronting individuals and families, along with the opportunities available for improving and addressing those issues, the idea of working together as one is just as needed now as it was seven years ago. It was the theme of last weekend's countywide United Way Day of Caring activities, which involved 700+ volunteers. That same sentiment is captured in the theme adopted by our United Way board as the standard by which our agency will serve the community: "Live United."

That brand will be enacted in several ways. One is underway already in this year's fundraising effort. The money raised in this communitywide effort will provide the pool of financial resources that will be directed to address the needs and issues identified by the community as most impacting people's lives. In addition to financial support, our Live United work will seek to enlist volunteers to assist in collaborating on planning and enacting efforts to positively impact the community and people's lives. And once those impact areas are identified and committed to, our Live United effort will ask volunteers and the community to advocate with us for answers and efforts that better Lorain County.

Live United means to give, volunteer and advocate.

As printed in The Chronicle-Telegram 9/13/08