The Minnesota Council on Disability (MCD) has learned that an article we published in our October newsletter contained incorrect information about the Medical Assistance for Employed Persons with Disabilities (MA-EPD) program. We offer the following clarifications.
News
Planning for an Emergency with Your Support Network
September is Emergency Preparedness Month. This year, as every year, the Minnesota Council on Disability reminds you that disasters and emergencies disproportionally impact people with disabilities. To minimize the effects of any emergency, planning is essential. Communication with your support network is critical for people with disabilities when planning for an emergency. The people physically closest to you—family you live with, roommates, your neighbors, and coworkers—are likely to be the ones around you when an emergency happens. Identify the supports you need to take shelter or evacuate in an emergency, and then create an emergency plan with them.
Covid-related Questions? Contact the Covid Community Coordinators!
Concerned about the current increase of COVID-19? Get information about how to protect yourself and others. For more information about vaccinations, boosters, free PPE, and test kits, as well as access to therapeutics if you become ill; reach out to the Metropolitan Center for Independent Living Covid Community Coordinator team. Call 1-800-409-5594 or email MDH@mcil-mn.org.
A Poem on the State Fair by Adina Burke
Each year at the State Fair, the Minnesota Council on Disability brings members of the disability community and fairgoers together for questions, conversations, and fun. Among the many special guests who appear at our booth, we are proud to feature artists with disabilities. Poet Adina Burke is one of this year’s artists. We are happy to bring you a poem on the State Fair by Adina.
Outside My Comfort Zone, Yet Included at the Fair
Artist Bart S. Bartholomew reflects on how the State Fair can both push them outside their comfort zone and be a place of inclusion and connection: “[T]he 150-year-old ‘Great Minnesota Get-Together’ is a fantastic showcase of the best butter sculptures, fare on-a-stick, seed art, DNR pond, 104-year-old blue-ribbon winning baker, and talent. Other states can’t compare. As much as my mind screamed, ‘NO!,’ deep down in my heart I wanted to enter the melee and soak up the experience. Why? Even though I knew my circuits would overload and the breaker would blow, I wanted to be a part of something bigger; moreover, like anyone else – most of all – I wanted to be included.
The Great Get Together Includes All of Us
Poet Adina Burke reflects on the universal need for community and inclusion and how these things are exemplified at the fair: “The fair is a greater illustration of this due to the meshing of so many people and mixture of perspectives. I have the opportunity to learn about accessibility through watching others like me and unlike me navigate the fair and how it is they accomplish what they wish to during the delightful and sometimes disorienting event that is the state fair.”