Hope Church's Disability Ministry. Hope Church has a long history of embracing a ministry with those with disability. After the Americans with Disability Act was signed in 1990, Hope Church undertook the major renovation plans of the building to install an elevator. In the late 1990's Hope Church purchased a Braille Hymnal for one of its parishioners. In recent years Hope Church has upgraded its hearing devices and now prints on a regular basis a large print bulletin every Sunday.
In November 2006 Hope Church held a community dialogue and decided to move forward with exploring a more developed ministry. The leaders right now are Debby Tinker, and Melissa Thompson. But you can join too -- click on these people's names to send them an e-mail. Do you want to know more about the UCC's larger mission and ministry with the disabled community? Check out the web site www.http://www.uccdm.org/
Feature article for June 2007 from lay member Elza Daniel
My sister's story ……..
Izaura is my forever-young sister. She lives in a roller coaster of miracles. She was born with a disability, witnessed her mother being hit by a motorcycle, and is now surviving breast cancer.
My parents were illiterate and lived in a farm away from civilization. My mother worked too much, already had 3 young children to take care of when Izaura was born. All of the children were born with the help of midwives. The closest doctor was also the pharmacist and maybe the ‘vet’ in the nearest town. Izaura’s birth had complications; mother and baby almost died during labor. Izaura had oxygen deprivation and had to be rushed to the doctor, it took hours to get there. The doctor simply sent Izaura back home to die as he thought she had no chance to live. The doctor assured my mother that she would not last 7 days. Surprisingly, she made it to 7 months, then 7 years, and it looks like she could make it to her 70th.
When the older children were old enough to go to school, my family decided to move to the city. My mother did not send Izaura to school for fear the kids would be cruel to her. She could not walk or talk properly either. Even though Izaura had survived, she did not developed as a normal child. She was simply labeled retarded.
She was 5 when she started walking. A priest from our church told my mother to bring the child to church and massage her legs with “fresh blessed water” and then let her crawl the steps to the altar. Mother just followed the advice by faith and not because she knew massages and crawling up stairs would improve blood circulation and therefore cause the muscle to strengthen. Mother and daughter visited the church a few times a week until Izaura got strong and started walking on her own.
Izaura also drank the ‘blessed water”. However, she was 7 years old when she spoke her first words. She needed surgery under her tongue. She still does need it but doctors now claim that if she did not have the surgery while she was young, it will make no difference now. It is very hard to understand what she says because she cannot pronounce certain letters like ‘R’ or ‘L’. She called me Fia (feea). I think she was calling me ‘her daughter’ (filha in Portuguese) Her speech started to improve when she was about 15. The nuns took interest in her. They taught her how to talk and work around the church. Izaura then became a permanent volunteer at the church (2 small blocks from home). She learned so much she became their number one helper. Among the five rotating priests, she knew what they were going to wear and how the altar should be set up for their Sunday services. The only thing she could not do was to open the bible to the right scripture.
Izaura was about twenty when she went to school for the first time. A school was built for children with special needs regardless of age, from very young to adult. Each child was taught according to its ability. The kids learned reading, writing, hygiene, embroidery, Cloth painting, carpentry, cooking, etc. Like most kids at the school, she learned mostly by imitation. Izaura did not learn to write or read but she learned how to sign her name. It was so amazing to see all her accomplishments. Izaura can do manicure & pedicure. She paints dishcloths and does embroidery. She is a good cook and she hand wash dishes and clean the house very well. Last time I saw her, she was learning how to crochet.
When Izaura was 20, our father died in a car accident. The big shock of her life happened about 15 years ago when our mother, Izaura’s primary care taker, had an accident. Mother and Izaura were visiting my sister Inez in a nearby city. While they were out and about, a motorcycle jumped the curb and hit our mother. They stayed with Inez while mom would heal the 3 broken bones she got. One bone on her leg did not heal properly and she had to stay in the hospital for observation. While there she decided to undergo a surgery totally unrelated to bones. She was given too much anesthesia, had a stroke and went into a coma for four days. Mom was never the same again. She lost all the power of her muscles and could no longer walk or even sit.
My sister Inez, who had her own children to take care of, was forced to become their primary care taker. Izaura was devastated. Her world fell apart. She had to leave behind the only city she new; the church, the school, and all her friends. She got very depressed; she could not make new friends right away and could not understand why mother was so crippled. Izaura regressed a few years. It is taking a long time for her to understand that mom would not be the same again. Our lives are now changed forever.
Izaura will be celebrating her 60th birthday soon. However, her mental ability varies from 8 to 13 years old. She likes to do everything a young teenage does except drive and have boyfriends (thank God!) She likes to dress up, put on make-up, watch Soap operas; she even likes to dye her hair to cover her grays. The relatives got together and gave Izaura an exercise bike and a boom box for her 55th birthday. She puts some music on, exercise, then she dances to mom and brags how much weight she’d lost (over 50 pounds)
Recently Izaura had breast surgery to remove a tumor. A test revealed to be malignant and she went trough another surgery. She is doing fine and undergoing Chemotherapy.
Izaura is definitely a miracles child. Despite all the hardships of her life, she is strong-minded and she will survive to celebrate her 70th birthday.
RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine announced today that Virginia has been awarded a four-year, $28.6 million “Money Follows the Person” demonstration grant by the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). The federal funding will help the Commonwealth design services and programs to transition at least 1,000 seniors and adults and children with disabilities from institutions, such as nursing facilities, into appropriate community-based housing. The federal grant will extend from May 2008 through September 2011.
“Our seniors and Virginians with disabilities should be able to experience many of the same benefits and freedoms of everyday life that all of us enjoy,” Governor Kaine said. “By developing additional services and housing options for these individuals, this project will help us promote choice, quality, and flexibility as we continue to work to improve our infrastructure for community-based, long-term support services.”
The “Money Follows the Person” demonstration program is a $1.75 billion federal initiative designed to help states rebalance their long term care systems by shifting funding and services from institutions to the community, where it generally is less expensive to serve individuals. This includes an enhanced 75% federal match in home and community-based waiver services for the first year for each individual that transitions into the community. The current federal match is 50% for waiver services.
The grant will be administered through the Virginia Department of Medical Assistance Services (DMAS), in partnership with the Virginia Secretary of Health and Human Resources, the Office of Community Integration for People with Disabilities, and other relevant state agencies and stakeholder groups.
At the end of the four-year grant period, the Commonwealth will add one-time transitional funding to the Medicaid home and community-based services waiver programs, which allows people to transition more easily back into their homes and communities; create a consumer-directed supported employment option for some Medicaid-funded home and community-based waiver programs; add services such as environmental modifications and assistive technology to the existing Medicaid waiver programs; and provide transition coordinators to assist individuals in moving to the community.
In addition, Governor Kaine also announced that a Housing Task Force, chaired jointly by the offices of the Secretary of Health and Human Resources and the Secretary of Commerce and Trade, will simultaneously address the housing needs of individuals who will move to the community under the grant.
Sue acts our the bible lesson
We then had a Valentine's Day Party
June's Disability Ministry Event Re-scheduled Movie Day!! Saturday, June 9th time: Movie begins at 2 PM
Meeting at Iliff Nursing Home (direction at this link) 8000 Iliff Dr, Dunn Loring, VA (703) 560-1000
Thank you for your wonderful donations last month. Unfortunately we had some problems and never got ot the movies -- so we have rescheduled the event. Movie -- Night at the Museum We’d like your support in being with the children for the day
We will be STAYING AT the Iliff Nursing home.
Disability Ministry March Article Many of you might be asking, "Just What is this Disability Ministry all about and what does it mean to Hope Church?" I hope to enlighten and clarify this for you. Hope Church is a part of the United Church of Christ's open and affirming family. As a family, that means we try and make community welcome for as many people as possible. While we try to be as inclusive as we can, we also recognize that we must ensure everyone's safety in ministry. However, the goal of safety, should not mean the exclusion from community. Last year as we addressed the needs of the congregation and the spiritual needs of Matt Enos, we decided to take the bold step of developing an extended pastoral ministry to Matt and others in our congregation who needed our special care and attention. That ministry has begun with monthly worship and social events. We have sung Christmas carols at the home of Matt Enos and at Iliff nursing home for the Duff boys; have had a Jesus movie at the church for Matt and his friends; have had a Valentine party at Iliff Nursing Home; and are going to have a magic show at Iliff this month. It is our hope that these special events will bring our family members closer together so that the love of Christ can be given and felt by our entire family. This ministry's success depends on building a more active relationship with this particular part of our family. Some of our extended family cannot attend church physically for a number of incapacitating reasons, so we are hoping to bring church to those members in a different format other than at the church building. We must be upfront with the congregation on this, however. Developing new relationships with people who are already shy and timid because of the differences in their abilities take time, patience, and lots of prayer. It takes the willingness to see the world through another's perspective that is different than ours. Ministry with the marginalized of our society needs to be handled with much care and compassion and cannot be treated lightly. If you have not attended one of our events, we invite you to do so, but with an open spirit of love and peace. We have a wonderful time and our family members in need of our special attention really appreciate us taking the time out of our busy schedules to include them in our lives. It is a tremendous way to build the community of Jesus Christ, one of our ultimate purpose at Christians. We invite you to be a part of the discernment of this ministry as we attempt to see where the Holy Spirit will take us.
Disability Ministry March Article
Many of you might be asking, "Just What is this Disability Ministry all about and what does it mean to Hope Church?" I hope to enlighten and clarify this for you. Hope Church is a part of the United Church of Christ's open and affirming family. As a family, that means we try and make community welcome for as many people as possible. While we try to be as inclusive as we can, we also recognize that we must ensure everyone's safety in ministry. However, the goal of safety, should not mean the exclusion from community. Last year as we addressed the needs of the congregation and the spiritual needs of Matt Enos, we decided to take the bold step of developing an extended pastoral ministry to Matt and others in our congregation who needed our special care and attention.
That ministry has begun with monthly worship and social events. We have sung Christmas carols at the home of Matt Enos and at Iliff nursing home for the Duff boys; have had a Jesus movie at the church for Matt and his friends; have had a Valentine party at Iliff Nursing Home; and are going to have a magic show at Iliff this month. It is our hope that these special events will bring our family members closer together so that the love of Christ can be given and felt by our entire family.
This ministry's success depends on building a more active relationship with this particular part of our family. Some of our extended family cannot attend church physically for a number of incapacitating reasons, so we are hoping to bring church to those members in a different format other than at the church building. We must be upfront with the congregation on this, however. Developing new relationships with people who are already shy and timid because of the differences in their abilities take time, patience, and lots of prayer. It takes the willingness to see the world through another's perspective that is different than ours. Ministry with the marginalized of our society needs to be handled with much care and compassion and cannot be treated lightly.
If you have not attended one of our events, we invite you to do so, but with an open spirit of love and peace. We have a wonderful time and our family members in need of our special attention really appreciate us taking the time out of our busy schedules to include them in our lives. It is a tremendous way to build the community of Jesus Christ, one of our ultimate purpose at Christians. We invite you to be a part of the discernment of this ministry as we attempt to see where the Holy Spirit will take us.
Baseball Schedule