TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER October-Issue 126 $1 One Dollar suggested donation. Your donation directly benefi ts the vendor. Please only buy from badged vendors. Stuart James and The Ability Center: Transforming Toledo into the Most Disability-Friendly City in America Photo credit: Scott Carpenter- Metroparks Toledo Toledo Streets Scenes Annual Art Exhibition and Fundraiser Each year, Toledo Streets Newspaper vendors present new and striking ways to discover beauty and meaning in our community. View and purchase the gallery of images October 20th, 2022 6pm-9pm @ Lowertown Barrel House Page 3 Toledo Streets is a member of the International Network of Street Newspapers A Review of Deinstitutionalization TSA Senior, Raiden Browning, examines the failures of the system that put hundreds of thousands of mentally ill individuals on the streets. Page 6
TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER 3 4 Toledo Streets Scenes Annual Art Exhibition and Fundraiser Each year, Toledo Streets Newspaper vendors present new and striking ways to discover beauty and meaning in our community. View and purchase the gallery of images October 20th, 2022 6pm-9pm @ Lowertown Barrel House Getting Involved and Trying Something New Breaking patterns of isolation and socialization are essential to mental health recovery. Thomas M. Wernert Center (TMWC) encourages members to get involved and try something new. Serving a World with Exceptionalities Julia Hage with Anne Grady Services explores the beauty of the world of people with exceptionalities. 5 6 Interview with Jim Ferris P 12 8 7 Success Stories at The Ability Center P 8 Deinstitutionalization by Raiden Browning P 6 12 14 Page 2 Homelessness/Mental Health/Work TSN Vendor Joe Taylor takes us on a first person journey of people experiencing homelessness and dealing with mental health issues. A Review of Deinstitutionalization TSA Senior, Raiden Browning, examines the failures of the system that put hundreds of thousands of mentally ill individuals on the streets. Read Widely – Disability in Fiction Abby Byers from the Toledo Lucas County Library celebrates disability representation in all types of literature. Stuart James and The Ability Center: How the "Think Differently" Campaign will Help Make Toledo the Most Disability-Friendly City in America Creative Director Ed Conn interviews Stuart James and discusses the Think Differently then Act! Campaign. Interview with Jim Ferris Tom Fletcher meets with the author of The Hospital Poems and Slouching Toward Guantanamo. Puzzle Page
Toledo Streets Scenes Annual Art Exhibition & Fundraiser By Bryce Roberts, TSN Board Chair Imagine being given a disposable camera and taking to the streets of our Toledo community in search of images that encapsulate beauty, the Toledo aesthetic, or areas of meaning in your life. Where would you journey? What would catch your eye? Each year at TSN we provide an opportunity for our vendors to take on this very task, and each year they discover new and striking ways to see beauty and meaning in our community. Once collected, these photos are developed into our annual calendar. Through this calendar we hope to display our vendors artwork and provide an avenue for our community to better appreciate the myriad of ways beauty and meaning can be found throughout NW Ohio. How can you see this artwork for yourself and have the opportunity to purchase photographs that will inspire you? The answer is our annual art exhibit and fundraiser, Toledo Streets Scenes. Through this event we showcase our vendors artwork and give you the opportunity to engage with our TSN community. You will also fi nd numerous avenues to support the work of TSN and to become more involved in our vision to inspire hope, foster community, and cultivate change. By attending this event we promise you will fi nd inspiration and discover more about what makes TSN such an incredible resource within the Toledo community. The Buck Starts Here Toledo Streets and its vendors are a powerful, community driven solution to the problem of homelessness. Our vendors earn their way out of their individual situations through a collaboration of journalism, local business partners and their own hard work. Use these four steps to be a part of the solution. Meet Vendors Buy a Paper Get Informed Take Action • Vendors -- the people who sell the paper -- are at the core of Toledo Streets' mission. Each year more than 70 indiviuals work as vendors with Toledo Streets. At any given time, more than 25 vendors are at work, in the rain, snow, or heat. Vendors play an active role in the management of TS, meeting regularly to discuss issues of concern and even serving on our board. • With the money made selling the newspaper, vendors are able to secure basic needs, independence and dignity, and work toward obtaining housing. Vendors buy papers for a quarter and sell them for a $1, keeping all income and tips for each sale. Toledo Streets tries to tie its editorial to three basic principals: • Inspiring Hope, Fostering Community, and Cultivating Change. We are a member of INSP, our global organization of street papers around the world which provides us with content relevent to social justice, homelessness, and street community around the world. • Donate to the organization and give vendors experiencing homelessness and poverty a hand up. It supports not only the paper but also issues throughout NW Ohio. • Volunteer your time and expertise and help the organization grow. • Share Toledo Streets with your network, and tell people about the organization. Page 3
Getting Involved and Trying Something New Breaking patterns of isolation and socialization are essential to mental health recovery. Thomas M. Wernert Center (TMWC) encourages members to get involved and try something new. TMWC is a peer support center that offers a variety of programs and activities to support adults living with mental illness. The center, located at 208 W. Woodruff Ave. is open Monday through Friday from 9 am to 4 pm. Each week, members of TMWC connect in the large clubroom area, conversing over card games, puzzles, or just hanging out. Daily activities include Peer Enrichment Program (PEP) classes and support meetings, group activities, and outings in the community. TMWC campus also has a fi tness room, art studio, and computer lab for peers interested in art, exercise, and technology. Each department is instructed by a specialized peer coordinator. Members are encouraged to be active in everything of interest. The Frank W. Lynch and Roberta Jane Lynch, MSW Art Studio is a creative space to express yourself through a variety of art forms. The computer lab offers more than 15 computers to help members improve basic computer skills, access the internet for research and resources, or just browse the web. The Eigensee Family Fitness Room has cardio machines, strength training and stretching equipment, and a SMARTfi t machine. Those looking to learn more about wellness and recovery may be interested in the Peer Enrichment Program (PEP). All members are welcome to participate in any of the support groups offered, including Dual Recovery Anonymous (DRA) and Emotions Photo Credit: Anne Grady Group Serving a World with Exceptionalities By Julia Hage There is a beautiful thing to the world of individuals with exceptionalities. It can be very easy to encounter someone with a disability and immediately make assumptions about them and their abilities. When you sit in the thought that each human deserves space to be themselves, that is where society can move biases aside and allow the individual to fl ourish. I have had the wonderful opportunity to work with individuals with exceptionalities my entire life. From both my parents working in the fi eld of special education, to having an Aunt with cognitive disabilities living with us as I grew up, I have had exposure and immersive experiences allowing me to learn about the incredible abilities of individuals with exceptionalities. Some of the most intelligent, funny, personable people I’ve ever known have been individuals that society puts into the category of being disabled. It is easy for society to see their unique qualities and see those as a disadvantage. As each individual’s accommodations are different, society has been quick to label this as an annoyance, nuisance, or inconvenience. If we looked at individuals with exceptionalities as humans, we might begin to see that in fact every human has needs and accommodations to live their life to the fullest. Creating an equitable life for all should be our societal goal. Recently, I have had the opportunity to begin work at Anne Grady Services. I made this move in my career as I could see the immediate impact my work could have on the lives of our individuals. Anne Grady has been serving individuals with intellectual disabilities with dignity and respect since 1982. As the organization is in its 40th year of service, the continuous work to expand opportunities for individuals and provide the highest quality of life has stayed a priority. When thinking about the individuals served at Anne Grady, I think about one of my newest friends. Tom Rich, an individual who has cerebral palsy, has been a client of Anne Grady’s for 6 years. With this, Tom is also an employee of Anne Grady’s as our Ambassador. Tom has spoken at multiple community events, has sang the National Anthem at a Toledo Mud Hens game, and has recently written a book about his life titled “Live Life Rich”. Tom is a perfect example of appropriate accommodations creating space for him to utilize his natural talents and thrive. In his book, Tom mentions “My disability is real. But don’t think I am not a full person. Everyone has a disability, some you see, some you don’t”. When asked about the hardest thing about his disability he stated that the acceptance of or from others is extremely diffi cult. “People miss out if they do not know someone with a disability. Some people don’t know how to interact with us. They think they must sugar coat everything”. Tom is a brilliant Photo Credit:Thomas M. Wernert Center Page 4 and kind individual, he notes in his book “treat people with respect and dignity. Let people into your life”. Notice that in this statement, Tom never says treat individuals with exceptionalities, he says treat people. Individuals who live their lives with exceptionalities are just people living their lives. When we give every individual in our life the individualized keys for success, we give them power, we give them a voice, and we create equity. As Tom says “My goal is to make people aware that people who have disabilities are productive, equal, and strong” – “Do not look at me, do not look at us like we don’t matter. Even though we may be in a wheelchair… we matter” – “I have no limitations. This chair does not defi ne me or confi ne me”. Tom agrees that people who have disabilities need help but his answer to this is that everyone needs help. “If someone says they don’t need help, that are not being honest”. Individuals like Tom are a good reminder to everyone that a person is a person, no matter their abilities, their disabilities, or their exceptionalities. Be a human, always. Be kind, be thoughtful, be understanding. You just might have your life changed for the better if you do. Matter. Peer support staff teach classes on topics such as Mental Health Literacy, Wellness Management, Diabetes Support, and more. Classes are once a week, for two hours, and are usually an 8 to 10 week commitment. Different groups and courses encourage and expand all walks of recovery. To be a member at TMWC, you must be 18 years or older, live in Lucas County, have a mental health diagnosis, and are receiving mental health services. Are you or someone you know ready to begin or expand your mental health recovery? To learn more, call 419-242-3000 and ask about membership. Photo Credit: Ed Conn Julia Hage is the Mission Advancement Associate at Anne Grady Services
bosses and co-workers to the point it became physical. He gave up trying to be a productive member of society. Some of John’s everyday struggles are but not limited to: homelessness, hunger, loneliness, trust issues, and getting into daily fights. By Joe Taylor You may be asking yourself how the 3 words in the title of this article fit together. Let me explain why I have grouped them together. The most recent count of homeless people I can find is 600 to 800 in Toledo. With a good portion of them having either a mental and or physical disability. Which played a big part in their present situation. From not being able to hold a job to not being able to get a job because of a disability. Which in turn is a big factor in how homelessness starts. I have sat down with some of the homeless that were willing to elaborate about their life and how they got where they are. I will not be using real names as they have requested of me. Some of their stories even overwhelmed me emotionally. As I listened, I felt the struggles and pain. It was almost too much to take in at times. Each person unique, but somewhat the same If that makes sense. Jane as we will call her was born with seizures & tourettes. From the time she could remember her family was ashamed of her. To the point when they had company outside of family, they would lock her in her room or the basement like an unwanted animal. She remembers like it was yesterday. She was homeschooled so as not to embarrass her parents. Which makes it almost impossible to function in today’s society. When she turned 18 she was kicked out into the street with nothing but the clothes on her back. With a diploma and no job or social skills made it almost impossible to survive. She tried a variety of workplaces. From fast food to the factory. Nothing was comfortable for her. Jane faced many challenges. To the point she would only last a few days at each job. The end result being no income, except what she would make panhandling. Her emotional state was very distraught and hollow while talking with me. Jane got help with hesitation to get ssi benefits 2 years ago. As of 6 months ago she became approved. She tells me now she is so used to being homeless, she will live the rest of her life this way. I asked her if there was anything I could help with. Janes reply “ love 1 another no matter what”. Jane is rite, so many of us are fixated on appearance and material things. We forget to look past these things to see the true beauty of a person. Next I spoke with who we will call John. John is a 44 year old man who has been in and out of prison since the age of 22. He suffers from bi-polar 2. He had loving parents who did everything they could to support him. He was kicked out of school nonstop, from kindergarten to senior high school. John’s parents died in a car accident when he was 25. He explained that he gave up on life after they passed. He was convicted of crimes from robbery to attempted murder. He does not receive any government assistance at this time. Since the last time he was released from prison in 2017 he has been homeless. The way he talked about his disability is “a fight in your brain”. One side of his brain says yes and the other side says no. Which in his head creates confusion.”It is a war within your head that drives you to anger” he stated. Every job he held ended with him assaulting customers or non stop arguments, with Page 5 Now he asks for spare change or food to survive. He made it clear he prefers to be homeless. This way he doesn’t have to worry about affection or dealing with people too much on a daily basis. The few times he has asked for help he was admitted to different mental facilities. Which seems to only make him madder. Let me be clear when I first approached him he was very standoffish with me. I was a little distrusting with his demeanor at the time I met him. I explained to him I just wanted to tell a story. He kinda was hesitant, but decided to give me a chance. After talking with John I felt a heaviness in my heart. How does 1 live with no companionship or love in their lives? So many thoughts going through my head. I had to walk away from this story for a couple days. We take life for granted on a regular basis. I personally suffer from seizures and bi-polar 1 w/ self destructive tendencies. I can relate to mental and physical disabilities. It is hard to hold a job and function daily. Which is a big part of selling papers for TSN. They help me to grow constantly. We are a very judgemental world in many ways. I believe Lucas County needs more avenue’s for people with disabilities. More places to fit their needs in the work industry, so they can be productive in a positive way and feel somewhat normal. It is hard to function when it feels like you are destined to fail. Another lady just became homeless in the last few months. We will call her Mary. She lost a child 4 months ago. Her fiance blamed her for the loss and left Mary. She was devastated by the loss of her 1st child as well as the loss of her high school sweetheart. The impact of the two together was too much for her to fathom. She suffers from manic depression and dual personalities. Once her life long love left she was lost. No support from family, mentally or financially. So just surviving on ssi she became homeless. So we cried together and bonded. She was so thankful for a shoulder to cry on and an ear to listen. Little did she know she was helping me heal by letting me open up about my life. We ended our time together by a huge emotional hug. As I walked away from mary I stopped and said “ you inspire me”! Mary replied “why” to the statement? “ Because you my friend are a survivor” Was my reply. She smiled ear to ear and walked away. There are so many people homeless or Not that struggle everyday of their life with disabilities. Honestly in my opinion the system that is in place has failed many people. As a society we must learn to be more accepting of those with disabilities. 90% of the disabled homeless or just disabled people that I talk to on a regular basis feel that the world forgot them. That they are worthless. Like they are not wanted or needed. Just recently I saw 1 of these situations in person. A close friend of mine volunteered to be a part of a certain venue. Which was to help a great organization. Once she showed up to start, she was turned down. Due to her physical disability that she suffered from. It was not at the fault of the venue or the organization, It was due to not being able to compensate for her needs at the time. Whether we are disabled mentally, physically, or emotionally we should not have to feel like an outsider. I could see the hurt and disappointment in my friend’s eyes. I was so bothered by it I almost cried. A lot of good people get passed up because of their shortcomings. I hope this article brings light to a sad subject. In the near future we have to be more diligent about other people’s situations and needs. I am not used to writing articles about other people’s lives. So many more stories that need to be told. If we all would take 30 minutes out of our day to just listen, would mean the world to them. Open your eyes to the people around us. Listen for a minute, you would be surprised by how much they have been through and going through. Feel blessed for who we are and what we have.
illness and homelessness, she said, “Those numbers are not a coincidence.” She also agreed with the notion that the stigma surrounding psychotic disorders in particular contributed largely to the lack of needs being met for the homeless population. A Review of Deinstitutionalization By Raiden Browning, TSA According to BioMed Central Psychiatry, up to 28% of the American population suffers from a mental illness in any given year, with only one percent of them being diagnosed with a psychotic illness, such as schizophrenia, bipolar, which may involve symptoms such as hallucinations, delusions, or catatonia. Despite this, 92% of the homeless population suffers from a mental illness, 21% of them being psychotic. 60 years ago, those statistics would have been unthinkable. At that time, individuals who suffered from mental illness and who could not provide for themselves, professionally termed the severely and persistently mentally ill (SPMI), weren’t as commonly found on the Page 6 streets as they were in psychiatric wards, then called asylums. These asylums were often horrendous places, being overcrowded, underfunded, and inconducive to the wellbeing of their patients. Beginning in the 1960s, a process known as “deinstitutionalization,” which was intended to move SPMI patients out of these asylums and into spaces where they could care for themselves, was set into motion, and its method was twofold: reducing the size of the patient population in mental hospitals and reforming the psychiatric system to make patients more independent. Deinstitutionalization has failed in its primary endeavor - making patients more self-reliant and liberated - and should be reversed. From the established correlation between homelessness and mental illness, we can draw two conclusions, not necessarily mutually exclusive: one, that mental illness at least contributes to a person’s propensity to become homeless, and two, that the condition of homelessness and its accompanying trauma can cause an individual to develop mental illness or become more mentally ill than they were when housed. According to Carlyn Campbell-Johannes, MA, LPC, LPSC, a licensed therapist and high school counselor working at Toledo School for the Arts, it is likely that both are true. Commenting on the numbers evidencing the correlation between mental Homelessness is not only a difficult condition; it is a condition incompatible with the natural state of man. It is a condition that no decent or prosperous society would allow to exist within its borders; not only this, but it is a condition that is largely preventable through state action. An obvious key to this government intervention in the homelessness crisis is government action regarding mental health. Mental illnesses are diseases just like any other; they require serious medical intervention, which in the United States is normally so expensive that even the middle classes can’t afford it. A solution to the issue which needs to be considered is publicly funded healthcare. State-provided mental health services would not be something completely new to the United States; according to Loren Mosher, MD, a psychiatrist and expert on schizophrenia, the care for SPMI individuals before the 1970s fell largely upon state-run asylums and was only delegated to privately run psychiatric wards afterward as a conservative effort to cut government spending. Again quoting Ms. Campbell-Johannes, “It is possible for the government to provide for those needs, and right now that is obviously not happening.” This does not mean that the solution is returning to the previous system of widespread involuntary committal to dilapidated asylums. It means that once a person has proven themselves incapable of providing for their own basic needs due to psychological disorder, in particular psychotic illness, the state or federal government has a responsibility to make up the difference and end its more than six decades of neglect. While the process of deinstitutionalization was built off of a dream of personal responsibility, it may be wise for us to reconsider just how realistic that dream may have been.
Read Widely-Disability in Fiction By Abby Byers Over time, the perception of persons with disabilities have changed signifi - cantly, especially after the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in 1990. Situations that at one point in history were considered justifi cation for institutionalization, are now celebrated as differences that highlight individual uniqueness. While October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, it is important to celebrate disability representation in all types of literature, not just biographies or history books. The following list of fi ction feature disabled characters that are more than their disabilities. All these books are available at Toledo Lucas County Public Library- don’t forget to check out toledolibrary.org for 24/7 access to materials! One Two Three by Laurie Frankel In the tiny town of Bourne, nothing ever happens. Until, suddenly, everything changes. Seventeen years ago, the town made national headlines when its water suddenly turned green. Factory chemical pollution poisoned the town’s water supply, which made the residents and animals sick. Nora Mitchell has been fi ghting for justice for her deceased husband and disabled triplet daughters since the water turned green. Frankel weaves a story of wonder that celebrates the differences of each triplet, the accessibility of the town, and will keep you turning the pages. The Bergman Brothers Series by Chloe Liese Chloe Liese’s #OwnVoices romance series pulls out all the stops. This series will make you laugh, cry, and blush, all while featuring characters that are neurodivergent and have disabilities. With classic romance tropes like enemies to lovers, grumpy/ sunshine, and marriage in crisis, don’t miss this heart warming series. Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant Seven years ago, a ship from production company Imagine sets off to fi lm in the Mariana Trench. The ship was lost at sea, but not before leaving behind some gruesome footage. Now, Imagine is sending out another ship to uncover that really happened seven years ago. This thrilling horror novel is inclusive and #OwnVoices. Mira Grant writes characters that are deaf, have autism spectrum disorder, and experience chronic pain from nerve damage. The Brown Sisters Trilogy by Talia Hibbert In this fabulous and fun trilogy, three sisters with various interests and abilities fi nd true love in the most unexpected of places. Each sister’s journey to love follows a new trope, including enemies-to-lovers, co-workers romance, and fake relationships. Author Talia Hibbert writes characters that live with autism, chronic illness, anxiety, and depression and shows the world that everyone is deserving of a happy ending. If you love the Brown sisters, try Chloe Liese’s disability #OwnVoices series, The Bergman Brothers. The Unbroken by C.L. Clark Solider Touraine has been raised to kill and die for her empire as an indentured servant. After all she’s been through, she is set to return to her home country and rise in the ranks Page 7 So Lucky by Nicola Griffi th Successful CEO Mara Tagarelli faces two crises at once: her wife leaves her and she receives a diagnosis of of power. When princess Luca, who walks with the assistance of a cane, comes to Touraine with a plan to overthrow her uncle and unite with a rebel clan, Touraine can’t say no. This richly woven fantasy story has its roots in the history North Africa and its colonization. Girl Gone Viral by Alisha Rai Katrina King is a former model who escaped an abusive household at a young age. After a traumatic experience in her mid-20s, Katrina has panic disorder and barely leaves her house. When a seemingly meetcute moment between Katrina and a stranger is fi lmed and goes viral, she fears for her life. Her bodyguard Jas Singh, an Iraqi war veteran who has PTSD, swoops in to take Katrina to safety. This slow-burn romance is sweet and steamy all in one. multiple sclerosis. In the wake of her diagnosis, Mara is astonished by the ableism in the world, especially at her own workplace. She opens a new nonprofi t to help disabled people gain independence in a world that wants to pretend they don’t exist. Author Nicola Griffi th wrote this novel after her own multiple sclerosis diagnosis.
Center. “We have one man who has spinal bifi da, he wanted to be a mechanic. He is in a wheelchair. We ended up giving him a scholarship to BGSU in engineering. We are working hard with various contacts we have in his specialty to see if we can make a connection for him.” Stuart said his approach to aspirational growth has been more receptive here in Toledo than it was in Berkeley. There, he was constantly pushed to provide more social services and getting his clients benefi ts. Stuart did not disagree but said if that is his primary focus than this program never solves itself. He had to ask, “Is this a numbers game or is it an outcome game?” “If I provide services for 300 people, and they keep coming back for the same services am I really helping them or just checking off the boxes on some government form? Or do I focus on 20, 30, 40, 50 people like Jose Rivera and really get them off the street?” Stuart James and The Ability Center: How the "Think Differently Then Act!" Campaign will Help Make Toledo the Most Disability-Friendly City in America By Ed Conn I fi rst met Stuart James, Executive Director of The Ability Center, when he was the keynote speaker at a Maumee Chamber of Commerce luncheon in the spring. In 20 minutes, his thoughtful fi rst-person accounts and storytelling introduced us to a concept which has now become the Think Differently then Act! Campaign. Stuart joined The Ability Center at the end of 2021, after serving as Executive Director for The Center for Independent Learning in Berkeley for seven years. During his tenure there, he renewed TheCIL’s commitment and vision for a truly inclusive world and nearly tripled the organization’s endowment. “My approach to independent living is to be very aspirational. We can give you these services, we can give you the assistance, but if you don’t know what direction you are going you may never get anywhere. It becomes quite a quagmire. So we need to set goals for individuals, realistic enough so they understand if we are going to go this way we fi gure out together what you will need to get there, so that we don’t spend a lot of time doing things that are not helping you.” “One of the people we helped in Berkeley is a guy named Jose Rivera. Jose was as smart as you can get. He speaks 7 languages, he graduated Georgetown, MBA from Wharton, executive for Microsoft. He had it all. Wonderful wife, big house, nice car. The recession of 2008 hit, and Jose went upside down fi nancially. He had an epic meltdown. He went from a luxury lifestyle to basically eating out of dumpsters.” Eric Rine Page 8 Photo credit: The Ability Center Wheelchair ramp Mother and Daughter Photo credit: The Ability Center His wife divorced him; would not let him see the kids. He tried to commit suicide, but his brother found him and got him into a mental health facility. He went through electroshock therapy and fi nally ended back on the streets. He came to TheCIL because as smart as he was, he could not fi gure out how to get out of the system. He was $8 million in debt; his wife was calling him a deadbeat dad. Stuart said the fi rst order of business with Jose was to get him stable. They then asked him, “Where do you want to go?” He said he wanted to get a PhD in Language and go teach. “Once his goal was set, we knew we had to get funding for his schooling. We helped him get into the school he wanted. He reestablished his relationship with his oldest daughter. He graduated with his degree a year early. He has been published 3 or 4 times and now he has become a big advocate for changing social service systems.” Locally, Stuart said there have been numerous success stories that have come through The Ability We pivoted our discussion to the launch of the Think Diffferently then Act! Campaign. Stuart likened it to his presentations to government agencies. “Sometimes when I talk to them, they get my words but they don’t really understand what I am talking about. Part of the Think Differently Campaign is to get people to have the same picture on people with disabilities that I do.” “I have four year old twins. Once I was shopping at one of the bigs and my kids were running around like four year olds do. A few concerned shoppers noticed this and went to get store personnel because they thought the kids were unsupervised. It did not occur to them that I was their dad. It is these types of prejudices that the Think Differently Campaign is trying to resolve.” One of the misconceptions is that all people with
disabilities are poor. There is a disproportional amount that are poor. This is not always the case. “There are a great number of people with disabilities with a high share of wealth and when I talk to businesses about accessibilities, I say if you want my money to be your money you better make your shop accessible.” Sometimes change is slow. The City of Toledo just passed an ordinance requiring restaurants and bars to use closed caption when television set are on. The chamber however pushed back on this and did not want to agree to this even though the cost was nothing. It made very little sense to Stuart and to many in the community. In looking at other cities that have a higher level of accessibilities, Stuart points to places like Austin, Texas and Eugene, Oregon as cities that are doing a good job in several areas. Newer cities as well are building out accessibility from the beginning which is far easier and cheaper than retrofi tting older urban areas like New York City. Advocacy is a key pillar to The Ability Center’s mission. Besides individual advocacy, public and government advocacy plays a signifi cant role in the work of The Ability Center staff. The staff assists private and public partners in their efforts to comply with Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), fair housing, Medicare, and other disability rights legislation. Partnerships are critical to the success of The Ability Center. Metroparks Toledo and their effort to work with ACT to solve accessibility issues throughout the park system is one example of a successful partnership. “I was at the ribbon cutting for the Maumee River Walk. That project is fantastic. They provided a huge swath of pavement which makes it wheelchair accessible as well as removal of the river bank growth so that the view is unencumbered.” Another example is how the incredible staff at Metroparks worked to set up an inclusive tree climbing event where anyone who wanted to could have a tree climbing experience. You cannot change a city or attitude if you don’t have community partners. The Ability Center is fortunate to have a lot of them. Whether it is the Toledo Museum of Art, Toledo Zoo & Aquarium, the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, Imagination Station, the partners here are key to The Ability Center's goal of making Toledo one of the most disability-friendly cities in America. Socialization through recreation is another concept at The Ability Center encouraging people to participate in outdoor and indoor activities. Besides the park program, The Ability Center is working with schools and other facilities to create sports leagues and venues for wheelchair basketball and hockey, as well as lacrosse which is a sport Stuart played and coached. The Ability Center will continue to expand the work with the homeless through the Cherry Street Mission, and Toledo Streets. “The homeless represent one segment of our community and if you are on the street we have to help you because you More often than not, we see the world in absolutes. All or nothing, good or bad, true or false - things we consistently reinforce to ourselves and others. We are born into a culture and how we perceive it is entirely up to us. It began in January 2020, The Ability Center announced its audacious goal to become the most disability-friendly community in the country. This movement sparked thoughtful conversations and initiatives from community partners invested in becoming more inclusive. The Re-Launch: With fresh leadership and a new perspective, it was announced in July 2022, the second chapter of the campaign was here. A box crafted with branded items was delivered to members of the media and community partners as an invitation to the event at Glass City Metropark. The Message: Challenging people to think differently about disability and what people with disabilities think about themselves – a lawyer you hired who is in a wheelchair, a family with a child at a Metropark with a sensory disability, your accountant who is hearing impaired. Public spaces and community activities will naturally become accessible and inclusive for people with disabilities when we think differently about what’s possible for them. The Reason: Toledo’s physical spaces have a long way to go to be determined as “completely accessible.” We are confi dent the second chapter of the campaign, Think Differently Then ACT!, will naturally bridge authentic conversations and make accessibility and inclusion top of mind for business owners, community members, and regional government. Continued on Page 11 are like a family. We just have to fi gure out how to make that happen and I don’t think we have an answer yet.” Think Differently Then ACT!, the next chapter of the Disability-Friendly Movement. Page 9
mental health recovery we believe in your recovery At the Thomas M. Wernert Center, we help people on their journey toward mental health recovery and wellness through peer-to-peer programs and services. Who knows better what you’re feeling than those of us who have lived experience with mental illness and recovery. At TMWC, we promote individual empowerment and well-being as you journey toward health and wellness. Our Peer Supporters are here to provide you with hope, encouragement, and support. Stop in and meet us. We’re in this together! For more information contact: 208 W Woodruff Avenue | Toledo, Ohio 43604 419.242.3000 | info@wernertcenter.org | WernertCenter.org Page 10
Continued from Page 9 Activation Authentic Authors (Video Series) Hosted by Chrys Peterson, the goal of the series is to rewrite the story of disability told by the people who live it. Aiming to transform what the community believes and redefi ne what people with disabilities believe about themselves. The program will feature regional advocates and those empowering people with and without disabilities. 68 Words (Podcast) Hosted by radio personality Eric Chase, 68 Words captures people, places, and spaces doing disability differently, sharing fi rst-hand experience in a monthly podcast. A number of inclusive events and accessible attractions can be highlighted, as well as the stories of guests with disabilities. On the Menu (Lunch and Learn Series) Diving into a broad range of topics impacting people with disabilities, The Ability Center will bring in subject matter experts and community members to gain tactical knowledge and network with peers in the space. Lunch and Learns will occur monthly at The Ability Center’s campus. Jupmode (Apparel Line) Capitalizing on the success of the Toledo is for Everyone community shirt, a new line of apparel will be available for purchase at Jupmodesupply.com. Disability Awareness Experience (New Training Offering) Gaining knowledge about disabilities and connecting over shared experiences, participants meet new people and learn about disabilities. Training available for groups of 30 or less per session. The Ability Center has also launched a new website: abilitycenter.org. The grant to the Metroparks Toledo Foundation will be used to purchase two pieces of equipment to expand Metroparks adapted program offerings: An Action Trackchair, (photo below) which uses tracks rather than wheels so people with disabilities can venture over various terrain, not just paved paths. The chair will be available by reservation for personal use in the Metroparks, and by request at nature walks and other programs. A portable, 32-by-22-foot pool that will be used to introduce people to kayaking and stand up paddleboard at community events. The pool will also allow the Metroparks program staff to provide programs adapted for people of varying abilities. “Nature belongs to everyone, and one of our main objectives is to make the Metroparks accessible and welcoming to all,” said Dave Zenk, executive director of Metroparks Toledo. “With this grant, we will be able to expand our existing services to people with disabilities and introduce people to new ways of enjoying the outdoors.” The Christopher & Dana Reeves FoundaChristopher & Dana Reeve Foundation Grant Will Help Make Metroparks Programs Accessible A $24,700 grant from The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation National Paralysis Resource Center will help Metroparks Toledo purchase equipment to provide adaptive outdoors experiences for people with disabilities. tion awarded 67 Direct Effect Quality of Life grants totaling $1.4 million from its Quality of Life Grants Program, which supports nonprofi t organizations that empower individuals living with paralysis. Since the Quality of Life Grants Program’s inception, more than 3,490 grants totaling over $36 million have been awarded. Funding for this program was made possible through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living. “This cycle of Direct Effect grant projects offers a robust and impactful addition to our Quality of Life grants program,” said Mark Bogosian, Director, Quality of Life Grants Program, Reeve Foundation. “Grant funds are supporting wide-ranging projects including accessible community areas, adaptive sports, fi tness and wellness, consumer education, peer mentoring and support, and transportation. These projects represent the true essence of our Quality of Life grants program by fostering inclusion, involvement and community engagement, and promoting health and wellness for those affected by paralysis.” About the Reeve Foundation: The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation is dedicated to curing spinal cord injury by funding innovative research and improving the quality of life for individuals and families impacted by paralysis. By uniting the brightest minds in the fi eld, we are working tirelessly to accelerate scientifi c discovery across the fi eld of spinal cord research by investing in labs across the globe. Additionally, through a cooperative agreement with the Administration for Community Living, the Reeve Foundation’s National Paralysis Resource Center (NPRC) promotes the health, well-being, and independence of people living with paralysis, providing comprehensive information, resources, and referral services assisting over 100,000 individuals and families since its launch in 2002. The Reeve Foundation is committed to elevating our community’s voices and needs to achieve greater representation and independence. We meet all 20 of the Better Business Bureau’s standards for charity accountability and hold the BBB’s Charity Seal. For more information, please visit our website at www.ChristopherReeve.org or call 800-225-0292. There is no such things as small with Toledo ih T ld ith Toled g Page 11
Interview with Jim Ferris Interviewed by Tom Fletcher Jim Ferris is the author of two poetry collections The Hospital Poems (2004), and Slouching Towards Guantanamo (2011). Ferris’s first poetry collection was winner of the International Main Street Rag Poetry Book Award, and its subsequent success made him widely known as a so-called “poet of cripples.” His articles “The Enjambed Body: A Step Towards a Crippled Poetics” (2004), and his 2007 essay “Crip Poetry, Or How I learned to Love the Limp,” are recognised as seminal works in developing a critical theory of disability poetry. Ferris is employed as a Professor and Ability Center Endowed Chair in Disability Studies at University of Toledo. In this interview, Ferris outlines the progress made since he first wrote these essays. He also considers how the COVID-19 coronavirus epidemic shows disabled people are still all too easily marginalised by government policies and societal attitudes. TF: Your landmark essay “Crip Poetry, or How I Learned to Love the Limp” (2006) has been widely acclaimed for its initiation of the debate on the function of disability poetry and its potential agency in challenging conceptions of disabled individuals. What progress do you see having been made 14 years on from the original points made on how disabled individuals are perceived by society? JF: Some progress has been made, to be sure, though disabled people around the world continue to be subjected to oppression, ranging from violence and abuse to the “softer” oppression of low expectations and limited opportunities. Disabled people have been able to claim more of a place in many societies: more than a hundred countries now have national organizations of disabled people, disabled people are somewhat less likely to be restricted to back rooms and institutions, and somewhat more opportunities for education are available. Real progress has been made; at the same time, there is so much more to be done. Disability culture is ignored at best, misunderstood or maligned. If we just look at how people are being positioned during the current coronavirus pandemic, disabled people are again among the last to be considered. The current reassurances that are being offered: “Be careful but don’t worry, old and sick people are at most risk.” Disabled people is what they mean. “Don’t worry, it is most likely to kill the people we are least interested in saving anyway.” This is not to overlook the work that many nondisabled as well as disabled people are doing to safeguard vulnerable disabled and chronically ill people, but to the society at large we Page 12 are still easily overlooked, a nuisance or worse. I told my Disability Studies students this week “This is not a drill. Situations like this—life and death situations like this—are all about disability, and they are exactly why the work we do in Disability Studies is so important. I was speaking with a friend yesterday who suspects that with her compromised immune system she will not survive this pandemic. I know that when it comes to deploying resources (like who gets to use a ventilator and who doesn’t), I don’t want those decisions made by people who think that the lives of people with disabilities are not worth living. I want those decisions made by people like you, people who are committed to recognizing the value of every life, who are committed to learning and doing the work to maintain the systems that disabled people and everyone else need to live a full life.” As I noted above, I do think we’ve made some progress, but there is so much more that is needed. Maybe this is the heart of the problem: nondisabled people don’t recognize that disabled people are the most creative people on the planet, because we have to be. When the water rises, when the electricity goes off, disabled people have to be creative and determined and imaginative and help each other out, and then do it again tomorrow, because we live in an ableist world that isn’t even perceptive and imaginative enough to recognize the huge contributions disabled people make just by living every day. If you want to figure out how to get something done, how to solve a problem, how to work around barriers, ask a crip. They think the blind leading the blind is a bad idea, but who knows better how to negotiate the world as a blind person? To quote the great Mr. T from “The A Team,” “I pity the fools”—but I also know to be wary around them. TF: In the essay you add that crip poetry has “the potential to transform the world, to make the world in which we live roomier.” Can you indicate the different ways you consider your poetry achieves this aim and/or communicate this process? JF: I hope that my poems help to create a space in the social consciousness for disabled people to be—and be recognized— as full, whole human beings. I hope my poems assert the rich and fruitful presence of a wide range of ways of moving through the world. Some of my poems advance an explicitly disabled persona using language to engage with complex world. An example is “How We Swim,” which is on one level an elegy for the late scholar and activist Paul Longmore, while on another level it is about disability activism and the disability rights movement—about crips insisting that we belong in the world. Other poems may seek to poke holes in the tissue of attitudes, assumptions and practices that serve to otherize and impinge on the humanity of disabled people. Still other poems are not “about disability” in any overt external sense, but the simple presence of poems by a disabled poet helps to claim space in the world for disabled people and their rich and varied perspectives. I also recognize that my disability experience deeply informs how I encounter the world, how I think and feel as I inhabit each day in whatever place I am in on this complex planet. I am using that disability experience whether I write “about disability” overtly or not. TF: Your essay also discusses how your writing aims to “validate the lived experience of moving through the world with a disability.” Can you elaborate on your choice of imagery and your use of spatial motifs in general? Perhaps you can also touch on how the typography and verse form of your poetry is used to replicate the negotiation of different types of real and imagined spaces? JF: What the poem looks like on the page, and what it feels like in the speaking, hearing, and reading are all part of the music of the poem. And music is always different from space to space, from the shower to the living room to the concert stage to the recording studio. I hope my poems create the opportunity for some space in the reader’s or listener’s mind, which is not separate from the body. Opening space for experience, making a bit of space for this moment, as fleeting and precious and irreplaceable as it is. I think more consciously about voice than about space in a poem, usually, but sometimes a poem just has to have room for the air to get under its wings. Typography, line breaks, stanza breaks, indentations, columns—I try to make use of all the tools available to create—to open, to allow, to engender—the effect I seek. Or some effect. The word is not the thing, the map is not the territory—but each word is a thing, the words together are both things and a thing, each poem is a territory. I hope my poems create or allow room for people to move around in. Everything is a happy accident; nothing is by mistake. Except for mistakes, which I will realize later. TF: So, for example, the poem “Exercise of Power” describes how visible forms of “God’s mistakes” need to be fixed. Which poetic techniques do you most consciously employ to convey the visibility of your disability? JF: Line lengths and the deployment of white space on the page are the chief techniques I use to reflect something of my atypical perspective. There is an interesting conflict between conforming to the generic expectations of what a poem should look like and trying to create for the reader and listener an experience that reflects what I’m seeking to engender. In a real way the poems are not about me. They may draw heavily on my lived experience; they are certainly shaped by my thinking and feeling and sense of language; but for a poem to really work, it has to in some way not only be accessible to the audience but also to be in some unexpected way about the audience. I hope my poems create an experience for the audience. And when my poems are really working, they stop being mine and they become yours and ours. There may be times when I need the audience to read a poem with my impaired body in mind, but mostly I hope to push past that, maybe, ideally, somehow with their own once and future impaired body in mind. Or in bodymind. It’s always good to remember that bodies and minds are not separate things, however much we yearn to give in to the restrictions and narrownesses we have been taught. TF: Your wonderful poem “Poet of Cripples,” refers to how crip poetry enables readers to reconsider the “space to grow in ways/unimaginable to the straight/ and the narrow, the small and similar.” Can you indicate more about how you see poetry as an aid to this process? How might your poetry be thought to be an expression of embodiment as a varied, fluid shape, allowing individuals to expand their notion of different bodies? JF: Poetry offers readers and listeners new opportunities to feel, think, experience something in this world that we share. When we’re lucky, poems give us not only new opportunities but new ways of feeling/thinking/experiencing. It’s impossible to truly engage with a good poem and not be changed a little, and not have a new sense of how someone else feels in the world. And each of those experiences add to our sense of what is possible in this world of pain and promise. I’m probably mangling someone else’s concept, but I think of the cultural imaginary as this giant storehouse of all the images and associations that are available within a particular culture. Each poem, as well as each other form of art, has the potential to contribute to that great cultural storehouse of possible images—which includes possible ways of being in the world. Each time we contribute to that great storehouse, we have the potential to enlarge the range of what is possible to imagine in that culture. Poems can help make the world more possible. What could be a greater gift than that? TF: I love your poem “Return to the Ward” where the persona experiences a sense of dislocation: patients navigate the
closed off world of the hospital juxtaposed with exposure to life outside. In what ways do you consider your poetry helps us to understand how we exist in public and private spaces? How do you use poetry to challenge our thinking about how spaces operate and are designed? JF: Thanks for nudging me to reread “Return to the Ward.” I wonder what has become of the guys I came to know well during my many stays on the ward. I also find myself thinking about the distancing we experienced, that was a central part of that experience – especially in light of the direction for social distancing as I write this in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. And I wonder how different they are. Distancing at the charity hospital was in part about infection control, ostensibly, but it may also have been about sheltering us or quarantining us away from a society that was afraid of us, even though it might not want to realize let alone admit it. And now social distancing to control the spread of the contagion. I don’t resist that distancing, because it seems like an important part of controlling the viral menace. And yet we are once again being taught to fear our fellows, carriers may not even know they are infected. You may already have won—or lost. The way poems lay out on the page can be a challenge to the conventional ways spaces are designed and operate, not unlike the exciting dance that Alice Sheppard and her collaborators are doing. What else can we do with this space, with this page? It can be fun to find out. Generic expectations give us boundaries to lean on as well as to push against. When does a piece of writing cross from poem to prose or monologue? Or visual art, painting, sculpture? Interesting question, even if it is ultimately constricting. But constriction is how the boa eats. Feed me. TF: The poems in your second collection Slouching Towards Guantanamo (2011) can be interpreted as documenting the establishment of an imagined disabled nation space. 30 years after the ADA, in what ways do you still think the accessible nation is an achievable reality or a distant utopia? How do you think your own crip poetry has to evolve in the next two decades in order to continue to help make the case for society to be made more accessible for disabled people? JF: I think the accessible nation is achievable, but I think continuing to that goal will require something akin to a change in paradigm: the recognition that access is not about some of us but about all of us. This feels comparable to me to the people who may recognize that climate change is happening but who think that it’s really somebody else’s problem. It’s really all of our problem, and access is all our problem and opportunity as well. How does my own poetry have to evolve? I’m not sure evolution is best planned; and I am leery of attempts to engineer a better poem—or poetics. Progressive ideals gave us eugenics and prohibition along with woman suffrage and educational reforms. Greater access and opportunity for disabled people is a crucial goal, but for poems to work they can’t be propaganda. And we have to be careful about being too directive with these delicate but powerful things. TF: Your poem, “Manifest Destiny,” for example, cites many political and cultural references from various people and periods of American history. I was wondering if you could share your thoughts on representing the shift in societal representation of embodiment through historical citation? JF: I wrote “Manifest Destiny” in response to an unvoiced challenge from the Iraqi poet Saadi Youssef. I was reading Khaled Mattawa’s translation of Youssef’s poem “America, America” on the eve of the US invasion of Iraq. I had joined thousands in marching to the state capitol in Madison to tell the US government not to start another war, not to indulge the blood lust that we too often are pulled by. While reading Youssef’s poem I was struck by his embrace of my country and its ideals while not holding back for a moment from his clear-eyed critique of our failures to live up to those ideals. I was also struck by his use of a refrain drawn from patriotic song, which led me to the idea of drawing upon American commonplaces, images and phrases so central to the American mythos that they would require no citation. I think I was wrong about the 1968 quotation from Chicago Mayor Daley, by the way (“the policeman isn’t there to create disorder, he’s there to preserve disorder”). But the power of those commonplaces, at least for those of us who grew up on them—and maybe for Youssef—is compelling. I read that poem at a poetry reading at a university in the American South just a couple weeks ago, and it still has power for me: at one point toward the end of the poem, I always feel like crying. Recognizing both our recurrent, deep, pervasive failures to live up to our ideals, while still asserting the hope in the ideals—that was the challenge from Youssef. Maybe someday I will get to show him the poem. TF: Are there any particular philosophers, disability studies theorists or perception phenomenologists who have consciously influenced your work; and how have they influenced your thinking? JF: Consciously? No, not really. I find myself using ideas and language from existential phenomenologists like Merleau-Ponty, but I’m leery of too explicitly committing to any theorist’s ideas—I think I’m afraid that will inhibit the poem from jumping wherever the hell it needs to go. Disability studies theorists present another question, I think. Disability studies is still something of a cottage industry. The field has grown by leaps and bounds (running with the jumping metaphor in the paragraph above), but it is still relatively small. It was never quite true that we all know each other, and less true now, but the ideas that constitute disability studies theory developed in community and collaboration among a bunch of people trying to puzzle our ways through thorny questions. I think it’s fair to say that most everybody who might qualify as a disability studies theorist has helped to shape and enrich my thinking; I hope I’ve given as good as I’ve gotten. TF: Can you comment on the ways your recent poetry engages with issues of disability, race/ethnicity and social justice in America today? JF: I was raised to think of myself and my family as white, which at that time meant to think of ourselves as not really even having a race: race was something other people had. Trying to learn how to be a good parent to my African-American stepdaughters made me start to confront some of the ways their experience would be contextualized by the usually implicit but seldom if ever absent racializing that is standard in U.S. society. I wish I had been quicker off the mark to recognize how my own experience had been no less contextualized by race—contextualized very differently, but race was no less part of my experience than of theirs. As we were trying to be a multiracial family, as I was learning far too slowly to think about what I had only partially glimpsed before, I learned something else: that my maternal grandparents, who I thought I knew well, were categorized black and only began passing for white less than a hundred years ago. Much of what I have written the last several years has been in part probing the fabrication of race in actual lives, thinking about how I have been implicated in this system, pondering the interleavings of race with disability, and wondering how my family’s hidden black history shaped our experience for all its unspoken-ness. The past few years I have been working on a performance project around these questions. It’s called “Is Your Mama White?”, which comes from a question one of my ex-wife’s young cousins asked me as she was trying to figure out where I fit in the larger and more clearly black family. It was a good question; still is. Where did my mother fit in the nation’s race scheme? Where do I? How did my family’s particular racialized standing influence my disability experience? How do we talk about charged topics in productive ways? The performance asks more questions than it answers, and it changes every time I do it, but it always includes at least a few of these poems. At an artists’ residency some years ago I met a painter whose project during the residency was a series of self-portraits. That series, in particular one close-up of him peering at his face in a mirror, has stuck with me for years. As the pandemic lockdown was having its way this spring, it occurred to me that it might be an interesting project to write a series of self-portraits, myself. A conversation with the dancer and choreographer Alice Sheppard got me thinking about how the self-portrait poems could continue to probe my occluded family history and the ways that I and my family have been racialized— and have participated in racializing—in a profoundly racist society. Portraits, including Riva Lehrer’s compelling portrait of Alice, have played an important role in the development of disability culture in the U.S.; disabled bodies, however they are racialized, have seldom been considered fit subjects for portraiture. And portraits, whether they are made with paint or words, are always about society at least as much as they are about a person. Audience is an essential element of a poem or any work of art—the circuit is incomplete without that connection, even if the initial audience is conceptualized to be the self, a seemingly inanimate object, or the void of the universe. I think this is true: there is no art without an other. As I work to educate myself and to oppose racist structures and practices in the community where I live, I hope my poems reflect what I learn and what I perceive in the complex and uneven world around me. A poem is not propaganda, but it can make a claim in and on a tough world. I hope my poems do that. Page 13
PuzzlePage THEME: FINISH THE LYRICS ACROSS 1. Fake deal 5. Dashboard acronym 8. Oxen connector 12. Guesstimate phrase (2 words) 13. Give a darn 14. Exhibitionist 15. It’s OTAN in French 16. Carbon monoxide lacks this 17. Geometry class prop 18. *Lou Reed: “She says, “Hey babe, take a walk on the ____ ____” 20. European “curtain” 21. Mustangs, e.g. 22. Campaign pro 23. Cause of wheezing 26. Men’s Colonial headgear 30. Fib 31. *Bon Jovi: “Take my hand, we’ll make it I swear. Woah, livin’ on a ____” 34. The only thing to fear? 35. Small and round, eyes description 37. Future fish 38. Alabama civil rights site 39. Tangelo 40. Shape clay, e.g. 42. James Corden’s network 43. Awaited deliverer 45. Same as lathees 47. 0 meridian acronym 48. World-weary 50. Prefix with legal 52. *Aerosmith: “Sing with me, sing for the year. Sing for the ____” 55. Siberian prison 56. Pakistani language 57. *Dionne Warwick: “I think I’m going out of my ____” 59. Rapidly 60. Cheese app 61. “Cogito, ____ sum” 62. Diamond’s corner 63. European Economic Community 64. Whiskey grain, pl. DOWN 1. *Kansas: “Carry on, my wayward ____” 2. “Stick in one’s ____” 3. Italian wine region 4. Dough 5. *The Buggles: “Video killed the ____” 6. Cattle controls 7. BÈbÈ’s mother 8. *Elton John: “And it seems to me you lived ____ ____” 9. Capital of Norway 10. Hiking sandals brand 11. Mess up 13. Show’s other star 14. Rap sheet listing 19. Negative house description 22. p in #5 Across 23. Michael Jackson’s “Thriller”, e.g. 24. Military blockade 25. Bluish greens 26. Banana leftover 27. ____’s, grape jelly brand 28. Many iambs 29. *Guns N’ Roses: “Take me down to the paradise city where the ____” 32. Missouri capital tourist attraction 33. *ABBA: “Waterloo - knowing my fate is to be with ____” 36. *Queen: “You got mud on your face, you big ____” 38. Hiding place 40. Aptitude test acronym 41. Black Death 44. Picture 46. Restraint 48. Ballet rail 49. Playful 50. Immature butterfly 51. Unfortunately, exclamation 52. Jiffy’s grease 53. Spooky 54. Uncontrollable anger 55. Loquacious person’s gift 58. Not don’ts Finish the Lyrics Page14 Solutions
TOLEDO STREETS NEW SP APER Mail: 1216 Madison Avenue Toledo, OHIO 43604 TOLEDO STREETS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CORP. Board of Directors – 2022 Board Chair - Bryce Roberts Treasurer - Lauren Webber Vendor Representative - Wanda Boudrie Amy Saylor Candace Bishop Val Vetter Karen Plocek Jen Seibel Keri Semiac Arika Michaelis Shannon Nowak Laura Genalo Toledo Streets is a monthly publication called a street paper. We are part of a worldwide movement of street papers that seeks to provide simple economic opportunities to homeless individuals and those experiencing poverty. Our vendors purchase each paper for $.25 and ask for a dollar donation. In exchange for their time and effort in selling the paper, they keep the difference. They are asking for a hand up, not a hand out. By purchasing the paper, you have helped someone struggling to make it. Not just in terms of money, but also in dignity of doing something for themselves. We thank you. FREELANCE PHOTOGRAPHER Crystal Jankowski Our Staff EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR John Keegan WRITING TEAM LEADER Jonie McIntire ART DIRECTOR Ed Conn Our Mission Toledo Streets seeks to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to participate on a new level in the community through self-employment, job training, and contributorship. Toledo Streets is a registered nonprofi t corporation in Ohio. While your gifts to the vendors, who are independent contractors, are not taxed deductible, any donations you make directly to our organization are deductible. These monies go to supporting programming, which includes job training and skills development. Our vendors purchase each paper for $.25 and ask for a dollar donation. In exchange for their time and effort in selling the paper, they keep the difference. They are asking for a hand up, not a hand out. By purchasing the paper, you have helped someone struggling to make it. Not just in terms of money, but also in dignity of doing something for themselves. We thank you. Toledo Streets is a monthly publication called a street paper. We are part of a worldwide movemment of street papers that seeks to provide simple economic opportunities to homeless individuals and those experiencing poverty. Toledo Streets is a registered nonprofi t corporation in Ohio. While your gifts to the vendors, who are independent contractors, are not tax deductible, any donations you make directly to our organization are deductible. These monies go to supporting programming, which includes job training and skills development. Our Mission Toledo Streets seeks to empower individuals struggling with extreme poverty to participate on a new level in the community through self-employment, job training, and contributorship. Our Staff a new job, because he lost his old job because of presiding judge, Leonie Mengel, as he summed up the case after the two-day trial. Michael P. has said that he wants to fi nd attack. “I was drunk,” he admitted in the courtroom. “Otherwise I wouldn’t have done such a stupid thing.” P. seemed depressed as he described in court how he felt that his life had been slipping through his fi ngers. He has suffered for many years from a rare nerve disease: problems with walking and balance are consequences of the disease and sometimes he is unable to leave the house despite using medication. The fact that he could only calm his nerves with alcohol was confi rmed by an expert. Did the combination of alcohol and pills make him aggressive? This possibility cannot be excluded, according to the expert. However, “how [the attack] actually happened remains unclear,” said the his sentence, mainly as a result of his behaviour after the attack. While it is true that he ran away on the night of the attack, shortly afterwards he apologised to the victim in person on several occasions. And, although the victim told him that he didn’t need to go to the police, P. did so a little while later. “I wanted to take responsibility for what I did,” he said in court. Sven, his victim, did not appear in court, but later said in a conversation with Hinz&Kunzt that, “if he hadn’t contacted the police then they never would have found him, so he has my respect for that.” Michael P. only vaguely remembers the The 27-year-old got off so lightly, in terms of Seifert, the coroner, in the court proceedings that were held nearly seven months after the attack. Sven, a homeless man, had to be taken by ambulance for treatment in hospital. The sentence for the attacker was rather mild: he was sentenced to one year and three months in custody for causing grievous bodily harm and given a further two years on probation. This was just what the prosecution asked for. After he completes his sentence, Michael P. will be a free man. “He was incredibly lucky,” said Dragane he could sleep deeply. It was 6.20pm when a dark fi gure suddenly appeared in front of him at the Ohlsdorf station in Hamburg, where he had settled down to sleep. Then things kicked off. “I was only just able to prop myself up,” the 45-year-old remembers. Then came the pain as a 12-centimetrelong cut was slashed across Sven’s throat. It could have been fatal. Vendor Representative Marthia Russell Julie M. McKinnon Ken Leslie Chris Csonka Deb Morris Zobaida Falah • Kristy Lee Czyzewski• • Treasurer Lauren M. Webber Secretary • Vice-Chair Tom Kroma For Sven, the attack came out of nowhere. In the evening, he had some drinks so that By Benjamin Laufer and Jonas Füllner Ohlsdorf station in Hamburg when he was slashed across the neck in an unprovoked attack that could have cost him his life. His life-threatening injuries were infl icted on him by a 27-year-old, who admitted that he was drunk at the time of the attack and who later handed himself into police after running away from the scene of the crime. Hinz&Kunzt learns more about the attack and its repercussions. Translated from German by Hazel Alton Courtesy of Hinz&Kunzt / INSP.ngo • • • • Bryce Roberts Chair respect the space of other vendors, particularly the space of vendors who have been at a spot longer, and will position myself at least two blocks away from a working vendor unless otherwise approved; 45-year-old Sven was sleeping outside • “I get scared by every little noise”: The aftermath of a violent attack • Board of Directors – 2018 Mail: 913 Madison Street Toledo, OHIO 43604 CONTINUED FROM P 3TOLEDO STREETS WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT, CORP. OUR GLOBAL INSP COMMUNITYOur Global INSP Community Page 19 understand I am not a legal employee of Toledo Streets but a contracted worker responsible for my own well-being and income; • not buy/sell Toledo Streets under the infl uence of drugs or alcohol; agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper; his illness. “I want to get my life back on track,” he said, after four months in custody. Sven’s life has been unsettled since the attack last winter. “Sleeping has changed,” he explains, “I get scared by every little noise.” Sven would most like to have his own apartment, or at least a room of his own. When you have your own place, he says, “you can sleep properly again.” agree to treat others- customers, staff and other vendors - respectfully, and I will not “hard sell”, threaten or pressure customers; only purchase the paper from Toledo Streets staff or volunteers and will not sell papers to other vendors; agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Toledo Streets by any other means; All vendors must agree to the following code of conduct to: The following list is our Vendor Code of Conduct, which every vendor reads through and signs before receiving a badge and papers. We request that if you discover a vendor violating any tenets of the Code, please contact us and provide as many details as possible. Our paper and our vendors should positively impact the city. While Toledo Streets is a non-profi t program, and its vendors are independent contractors, we still have expectations of how vendors should conduct themselves while selling and representing the paper. Vendor Code of Conduct understand Toledo Streets strives to be a paper that covers homelessness and poverty issues while providing a source of income for the unhoused and underprivileged. I will try to help in this effort and spread the word. understand my badge is the property of Toledo Streets and will not deface it. I will present my badge when purchasing the papers and display my badge when selling papers. I realize badges cost $1 to replace when lost or damaged; always have in my possession the following when selling Toledo Streets: my Toledo Streets badge, a Toledo Streets sign, a vendor’s license waiver from the mayor, and Toledo Streets papers; agree to only use professional signs provided by Toledo Streets; BOARD LIASON FOR EDITORIAL TEAM Arika Michaelis VENDOR MANAGER Ben Stalets CREATIVE DIRECTOR Ed Conn CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Trinity Episcopal Church Vendor Code of Conduct As a vendor representing Toledo Streets Newspaper , I: • • • • • • • • • • • • agree not to ask for more than a dollar or solicit donations for Toledo agree to treat all others—customers, staff, pressure customers. agree to stay off other private Toledo property and highway understand I am not a legal employee of for my own well-being and income. Streets Newspaper vendors—respectfully, exit Toledo under and ramps when selling Streets Newspaper agree to sell no additional goods or products when selling the paper. will not buy/sell the in luence agree to only use professional signs provided by Toledo Toledo Streets badge, a Streets sign, and of but drugs will always have in my possession the following when selling Toledo Toledo Streets papers. understand my badge, vest, and sign are the property of Toledo them in any way. Toledo I Streets will Toledo a or Streets Newspaper. Streets Newspaper agree that badges and signs are $5 to replace and vests are $10 to replace. understand that when you are wearing your vest you are representing Toledo inappropriate behavior while representing Streets Newspaper may result in Streets Newspaper : my Toledo will and Streets Newspaper, disciplinary not alter thus action any by any not contracted alcohol. will respect the space of other vendors and will position myself at least two blocks away from a working vendor unless otherwise approved. other means. “hard sell,” threaten Streets Newspaper. worker responsible or Page15
Weekends or Weekdays RAIN OR SHINE To the grocery store or to the doctor TARTA can take you there. Plan your trip at tarta.com/routes.
1 Publizr