The world thinks technology will make the lives of disabled amazing but so will common decency.

As an advocate for the disabled I am constantly attending product launches for new wheelchairs or prosthetics that are almost able to think for themselves, and body frames that when strapped on can allow even a Quadriplegics to walk again and all this is amazing.
On any given day in schools like MIT and private think tanks worldwide, people with more degrees than the alphabet are working tirelessly to make my life and those of all dis and other wise abled peoples life better.
I push a chair that benefits from all that technology, but no one can push a chair with ten kids blocking the sidewalk while their mothers look on without care, I can’t get my state of the art chair down to a subway unless the MTA gives a damn. My point is we can stack all the technology up a mile high and doesn’t matter a tinkers damn without common decency.

Teaching your children the right thing to do doesn’t take a PHD it takes a caring parent, teaching your children that pushing a wheelchair out of an elevator designed for wheelchairs because they don’t want to use the stairs doesn’t use a think tank it takes a voice of authority to let them know their actions are unacceptable, and you didn’t raise them that way.
When an elderly person or a pregnant woman or a person with MS using calipers gets on the train, I don’t care how hard you’ve worked it’s not as hard as they work each day just to have a decent life so stand the hell up, it’s just common decency and manners.

Yes we need technology but when did manners and common decency old fashioned? When did parents stop teaching caring for your fellow human and start phoning in responsibility? I don’t care what socio economic level you live at it’s no excuse.
My mother might have fell down on a lot of things and she did, but she was a single mother of 7 children and so many who just called our house home but when a woman walked into the room you stood the hell up when you got to a door the elderly the pregnant the disabled went through first. Food on our table might cost most of her pension and the roof over our head the rest, she might have made everything we wore and we were a clan to be reckoned with and we stuck together but the one good thing everyone had to say about us is you never met a more well mannered group of children and young adults in your life.
My chair cost the same as a four cylinder car and took one genius man over 400 hours to make, but “please maam take my seat” cost nothing try it tomorrow,today, right now or next time you go to push in front of the wheelchair to steal their spot on the subway stop breathe and try a little decency it cost you nothing.

www.therollforthecure.com its still happening cancer isn’t cured so we’ll still roll

If you are a regular reader of my blog you now that for the last few years I have been training for the roll for the cure a tribute to my late momma who was taken from us by non Hodgkin’s lymphoma in 2007 way too soon.
It was meant to be this year but because of loss of a sponsor it has been put off till May 12th 2014, and in hind sight it’s a good thing a few health problems have popped up that would have pulled me off the road.
So the health is fixed and the sponsorship is building but I still need your help, I doubt if there is one person reading this that cancer hasn’t hit whether you personally a friend or a loved one it needs to get gone and stay gone. That’s the goal of the roll for the cure, I’m not expecting any one friend to write a seven figure cheque not that I would stop you if you had the urge, but if every one of the 7,000 regular readers of my blog just in new York gave 20 dollars or the over 180,000 readers worldwide gave a couple of dollars each we could make a difference.
People have told me “you’re doing it in newyork and America I’ll give to someone in London” ? do you really think if my fundraising helped find a cure it wouldn’t be shared with the world? Wherever you are give what you can so no one else has to hug their momma goodbye forever in some ugly sterile hospital ward too many years too soon.
Thank you and please go to http://www.therollforthecure.com and give what you can.

Mothers day, it can be heaven or for some of us hell.

Mother’s day, father’s day Christmas or Chanukah are the times of the year when if you survived molestation and abuse you want to turn of electronic devices and hide till their over?
There are these annoying things called MEMES online, they are generally cute photos that well meaning people type cute lovey- dovey sayings over putting their mothers or fathers or family’s on pedestals so high they look down on mother Teresa. Everyone shares these MEMES to everyone online they have ever met, and if you don’t share them on and add your glorious statement of love for your people your bad your wrong and you get flamed.
Well folks when your mom was baking cookies and hugging you to sleep at night, my mom was walking in on one sibling raping another and just standing there for a moment and saying “enough of that you have school in the morning” and because of her attitude the rape continued for many more years.
When your mother was paying for your wedding and giving you something old to wear, my mother banished me for daring to reveal her failure to stop 10 years of molestation and paid for the pedophiles wedding.
Different details, different situations, but always the same kind of terror, through online groups and attending support groups I know there are millions like me out there in the world. So next time before you bombard your friend list with sweet syrupy “if you love your mom or dad share this” MEMES, stop and consider not everyone had June cleaver for a mom some of us had the mother from bates motel or mommie dearest. This sunday While you call your mom an angel some of us just wish she was.

When the youngest amongst us have wheels and prosthetics you look at your life differently

When the uninformed amongst us hear about amputees or paraplegics they usually think we’re talking about adults losing limbs in war or because of cancer. We think of DUI or car crashed when we think of Para or quadriplegics, but what do we blame when the wheelie or amputee is still in diapers or is barely school age?
Many are because of cancer, some cancer before they even were out of the womb but sometimes the advantage of disability so young is they don’t know they have one? Check out the angels below.

Abercrombie “Banishes” Girl With Prosthetic Arm To Storeroom Because She Doesn’t Fit The “Look Policy

BOYCOTT ABERCROMBIE AND FITCH A DISABILITY IS NOT SHAMEFULL DON’T HIDE PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES

Just in case their racism, sexism, and general awfulness hasn’t been enough to turn you away from Abercrombie & Fitch after all these years, here’s another glimpse of the inner workings of the horrible store.
When I previously (and gleefully) wrote about the economic troubles that Abercrombie was having a few months back, I mentioned that my personal hatred for the store comes from the fact that one of the women I was in the intensive inpatient unit with during my treatment for anorexia was heavily recruited by the store just days before her hospitalization (she was incredibly underweight) because she had “the look” they wanted. Turns out that this horrific “look policy” doesn’t just revolve around being stick-thin; according to Riam Dean, she was forced to work in the stockroom, as opposed to on the floor, at Abercrombie’s London flagship store because her prosthetic arm didn’t fit the company’s attractiveness standards. You stay classy, Abercrombie!
When Riam applied to the store, they took a photograph of her and gave her a handbook that listed the company’s expectations, as far as physical appearance goes. According to the Daily Mail, the handbook “stipulates that staff must represent a ‘natural, classic American style’ and instructs them on everything from how to wear their hair (clean and natural) to how long they should wear their nails (a quarter of an inch past the end of the finger).” Apparently, Riam’s prosthetic arm wasn’t “natural” or “classic” enough for the store- they made her buy a cardigan to wear in order to hide her arms while working.
The cardigan, however, wasn’t enough to satisfy the Abercrombie team. As Riam recalls:
“A worker from what they call the “visual team”, people who are employed to go round making sure the shop and its staff look up to scratch, came up to me and demanded I take the cardigan off. I told her, yet again, that I had been given special permission to wear it. A few minutes later my manager came over to me and said: “I can’t have you on the shop floor as you are breaking the Look Policy. Go to the stockroom immediately and I’ll get someone to replace you. I pride myself on being quite a confident girl but I had never experienced prejudice like that before and it made me feel utterly worthless. Afterwards I telephoned the company’s head office where a member of staff asked whether I was willing to work in the stockroom until the winter uniform arrived. That was the final straw. I just couldn’t go back.”
She is now suing the company, which, by the way, already paid 2.2 million dollars to employees who felt that that the company was unfairly forcing them to buy Abercrombie’s clothes in 2003. Oh, and did I mention they paid a 40 million dollar settlement in 2004, after being accused of discriminatory employment practices? Because they did! This is a company that continues to be called out for their sexist, racist, discriminatory practices, and by issuing half-ass apologies and paying off their accusers, they expect us to forget the nastiness at the core of this operation. Sadly, all of this only makes Riam’s story as unsurprising as it is upsetting.

Sex Trafficking’s Unlikely Angel

Every year, thousands of women in America are forced into sexual slavery. Dottie Laster is dedicated to plotting their escape and, what’s even harder, helping them survive their freedom

by Mimi Swartz

Laster outside a Houston strip club. She knows what happens in the backrooms of bars all over the U.S. Photograph: Doron GuildContrary to popular belief, trafficking does not always involve kidnapping or transportation of the victim across state or national lines. Trafficking occurs whenever someone is held in the service of another through force, fraud or psychological coercion. In addition, the U.S. is not only a destination for people held in servitude but also a source country. Estimates indicate that at least 100,000 children are the victims of child prostitution and trafficking in the United States each year, according to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. And they’re becoming harder to locate and rescue. The Internet is now the number-one platform for the buying and selling of women and children for sex, according to the Polaris Project, which tracks global slavery, and that makes the apprehension of traffickers much more difficult. Further, while many governmental organizations are mired in simply finding victims—because most of the coerced are afraid to come forward—it’s even harder to help those who are rescued to establish functional lives.

This is where Laster comes in. At 48, she looks like someone who might run an elementary school bake sale. She has a warm, wide-open face and a bubbly laugh. She fights her weight, she colors her shoulder-length light-brown hair at home, and she is nearly incapable of letting an edge creep into her voice. Still, Laster is a relentless recovery squad of one, available 24/7. Her cell phone rings not just all day but also all night with news of one crisis or another. Nina, a Thai woman who was trafficked all over the U.S. before being arrested and threatened with deportation in Louisiana, is now out of jail, thanks to Laster and her network, but is struggling to live on her own. Sometimes she wants Laster’s advice—on how she could earn enough to buy a car or whether a new boyfriend sounds less dangerous than the last one—and sometimes she just wants human warmth at the other end of the line. Precious, a former victim whose relationship with Laster stretches back almost a decade, calls to say she needs help getting into community college. She is trying to take advantage of a financial-aid program, but the school won’t acknowledge her T visa, the U.S. government document that says she’s a victim of human trafficking. Another victim, born in Texas, needs help filling out a form for the FBI, which is trying to bring charges against the man who allegedly forced her into making pornographic movies. Just a few days in Laster’s world will convince you: If you had her job, you wouldn’t sleep much either.

HOW LIZBETH WAS SAVED

For a short time, Laster had an Internet radio show called “Trafficked,” in which she discussed all aspects of human slavery. One day in mid-September 2010, she was answering questions on the show’s accompanying Web chat line when she saw this post: “Can you help someone leave a bad situation?” Laster asked the person posting to call in, and within moments she knew she had a trafficking victim on the phone. The tentativeness of the young woman’s voice was a clue, as was the way she asked permission before she posed a question. “I find the more I do this, the more intuitive I get,” Laster says. She pressed for a few more details, making sure the caller was 18 (helping a minor is more complicated if family members are involved) and had valid identification (legal U.S. residents have more options than those brought to this country illegally). She learned enough to know that the young woman was being held against her will and was being compelled to work as a stripper and turn her money over to her captor, a man who forced her to have sex with him and others. Having heard enough, Laster made a promise: She would have someone outside the woman’s house at 2 pm the next day. “Honey, you can go anywhere you want,” she told the frightened, disbelieving woman, whom I’ll call Lizbeth. I’ve changed her name because the trafficker is still trying to find her. He even calls and harangues Laster. “I probably should be afraid of him,” Laster told me. But she isn’t. “I can’t predict what he’ll do, but I won’t give him the power to think we’re afraid.”

Andrew M. Cuomo – GovernorGovernor Cuomo Announces $91 Million to Build Affordable Housing and Revitalize Communities in All Regions of New York State

Contact Information:
Governor’s Press Office
NYC Press Office: 212.681.4640
Albany Press Office: 518.474.8418
press.office@exec.ny.gov

Funding Will Create and Preserve Over 2,000 Units of Affordable Housing in Every Region of the State, Leveraging Hundreds of Millions in Public and Private Resources

Albany, NY (May 7, 2013)

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced $91 million in awards for shovel-ready projects to build affordable housing across the state. The low-interest loans and tax credits will build and preserve 2,060 units of affordable housing and are expected to leverage more than $485 million in grants, loans and private resources.

“As New York’s economy gets back on track, today we are announcing awards to partners who, through a rigorous application process, presented worthy, shovel-ready projects across the state — development that will create jobs while building and preserving affordable housing for our residents,” Governor Cuomo said. “By streamlining the application process, New York State is removing barriers that held back economic development for too long and made government inefficient. These funds will leverage hundreds of millions of dollars in private resources, creating valuable partnerships as we work to rebuild communities and create jobs in all corners of the state.”

The funds were available through New York State Homes & Community Renewal (HCR)’s Unified Funding Application, a single-source process to apply for several funding streams for affordable, multifamily developments, part of the Governor’s efforts to break down the inefficient and duplicative silos that had previously governed state funding. In total, HCR will make 33 awards, totaling over $91 million in low-interest loans and tax credits that will build and preserve 2,060 units of affordable housing. The projects are expected to leverage over $485 million in grants, loans and private resources.

HCR Commissioner/CEO Darryl C. Towns said, “Governor Andrew Cuomo charged state agencies to bring state resources together with local and federal resources in the most productive way. For us, that means working with our partners, including local governments and many of our sister state agencies, to create and preserve affordable housing. We have found impressive projects in each and every region of the state that will make a real difference in local communities.”

In this round of funding, applicants competed for: low-interest loans through the Low-Income Housing Trust Fund Program (HTF); Federal Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (LIHTC); the HOME Capital Program; and State Low-Income Housing Tax Credits (SLIHC).

Highlights of the awards in each of the state’s ten Economic Development Regions include:

Capital Region
Winn Development Company — $4.3 million for Livingston Apartments; adaptive reuse of vacant Livingston Middle School in Albany, transforming it into 103 units of housing for the elderly, including 16 supportive units for the frail elderly. The City of Albany is an investment partner.

Central New York
Atonement Housing Corporation — $3.24 million for Joslyn Court III and IV; demolition and new construction of 36 affordable rental units on Syracuse’s south side. The City of Syracuse is an investment partner.

Finger Lakes
DePaul Properties, Inc./Betts Housing Partners LLC — $5.7 million for Rochester View Apartments; new construction of 60 rental units in the Town of Henrietta (Monroe County). The project will provide 33 units for low-income individuals with psychiatric disabilities, and 27 units for low-income persons with hearing impairments. Coordinated investment with NYS Office of Mental Health (OMH) and Homeless Housing and Assistance Corporation (HHAC).

Long Island
Conifer, LLC — $2.1 million for Wincoram Commons; mixed use new construction of eight commercial units and 98 rental units for low and moderate-income individuals and families. Part of the local redevelopment strategy for the hamlet of Coram, within the Suffolk County Town of Brookhaven, the project was endorsed by the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council and awarded funds from Empire State Development (ESD).

Mid-Hudson
Regional Economic Community Action Program, Inc. & Excelsior Housing Group, LLC – approximately $2.9 million for the Mill at Middletown (Orange County); adaptive reuse of a former mill into 42 rental units for low-income individuals and families, with 13 units set aside for persons with special needs, including five units for persons living with AIDS. Coordinated investment with NYS Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS) and the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA).

Mohawk Valley
Birchez Associates, LLC & Omni Housing Development LLC — $3.9 million for Birches at Schoharie; new construction of 71 rental units for low- and moderate-income seniors in the Village of Schoharie, a community devastated by Tropical Storms Lee and Irene.

New York City
Dunn Development Inc. – Over $1.7 million for Bergen Saratoga Apartments; new construction of 80 rental units for low-income households, including 40 units for those who are or are at serious risk of becoming chronically homeless. Supportive services for these households will be provided by CAMBA, Inc. of Brooklyn. Rental subsidies for half the units will be provided by OMH as part of the NYNYIII agreement with the City of New York.

North Country
Georgica Green Ventures, LLC & White Birch Enterprises LLC — $1.85 million for Woolworth Watertown; adaptive reuse of the historical FW Woolworth Building in downtown Watertown (Jefferson County) into a 50-unit rental unit project for low-income households.

Southern Tier
Lakewood Development LLC — $3 million for Norwich Shoe Apartments; demolition of four blighted buildings and new construction of 34 rental units for low-income individuals and families, with seven units set-aside for persons with developmental disabilities. Located adjacent to the City of Norwich’s (Chenango County) Business Improvement District, the project is a coordinated investment with Office of People with Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD).

Western New York
People United for Sustainable Housing, Inc. — $3.5 million for Mass Ave Community Homes; new construction of 28 rental units and rehabilitation of 18 rental units in 16 buildings in Massachusetts Ave Green Corridor on Buffalo’s West Side. State will partner with PUSH Buffalo.

Complete details of all awards are available here: http://www.nyshcr.org/Funding/Awards/UnifiedFunding/2013/awards.pdf