celebrating abilities
DESCRIPTION
A tab devoted to celebrating the abilities of peopleTRANSCRIPT
8 • DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013
XN
LV80
878
229 Minnesota Avenue,Breckenridge, MN
218.641.3135
Red River HumanServices
Foundation
Supporting People With Many Abilities
STORE & DONATION HOURS:Monday-Wednesday: 9am - 6pm
Thursday: 9am - 7pm
Fridays: 9am - 6pm
Saturdays: 9am - 5pm
Under New Management
Proceeds from Thrifty Horizons Bene� t Programs of
Stop in to check out our
GREAT DEALS!
Faith Davids
Celebrating Abilities
Sunday, March 31, 2013 Tuesday, April 2, 2013
PHOTOS BY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS
Special Olympics track teamWahpeton Special Olympics athletes start training for their track season. Above: Karen Bennett, Joe Carnicius, Josh Martinez and James Crandall walk some laps at Middle School in Wahpeton. Below: Sandra Baker takes part in the training.
2 • DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR • 7
• Residential, Commercial, Farm & Industrial Electrical Contractor
• Heating & A/C Sales & ServiceCommercial & Industrial
• Refrigeration & Ventilation Sales & Service• Home Electronic Network Specialists
24 HOUR EMERGENCY SERVICE
OWNER:Paul Dotzenrod701-439-2216
1-800-499-2216701-640-0062
(Cell)
St. Gerard's Community of Care "Cares"
We Support Disability Awareness Month• We strive to help individuals improve their lives
• O� ering short and long term skilled nursing service
• Physical and Occupational � erapy To help you move forward!
XN
LV81
139
XNLV80886
Curt Brownlee, Administrator440 Wiley Avenue SouthLidgerwood, ND 58053
701-538-4566 877-721-5093TTY 800-366-6888 Fax 701-538-4140
DAKOTA ESTATESRETIREMENT CENTER
Affordable retirement living as it should be
XNLV80961XNLV80961
218-643-3109 • 800-974-333924 hour toll free crisis line
Serving West Central Minnesota Since 1979Short-Term Emergency Placement • Advocacy • Elder Abuse
Domestic Violence • Identity Theft • Sexual Assault
WILKiN ADVOCACY OFFICE
Serving 9 Counties in West Central Minnesota
DAVID KRUSEND Licensed Dispenser Since 1987 www.SheyenneHearing.com
315 11th St N • Wahpeton • 701-642-4425205 Sheyenne St • West Fargo • 701-281-8137
XNLV
80287
Relief From Ringing in Your Ears Is HERE!
Xino TinnitusFeatures Advanced
Hearing Aid Technology
New!!
SHEYENNE HEARING SERVICE“Better Hearing at an Affordable Price!”
Xino Tinnitus is a small and comfortable in-ear device designed to deliver all day relief from ringing in your ears.
Parenting a child with cerebral palsy Poster contest winners announcedBY MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS
“I think I’m lucky that I learn things at work that I can take home and I take things from home that I can use at work.”
That is what Rachelle Barendt said about her life working at Red River Human Services Founda-tion. She works with a woman diagnosed with autism, while at the same time raising her daughter who has cerebral palsy.
Barendt has worked at Red River Human Ser-vices for 12 years, which happens to be the same age as her daughter, Mari-ah. Barendt said that she originally went to college to study psychology, how-ever, after having Mariah, she chose a degree in men-
tal health instead.Not long after starting
work at Red River Hu-man Services, Barendt said they approached her about participating in a new program to work with people one-on-one.
“I love it. I’m very happy there,” she said. “It’s re-warding.”
After working with the same person for nearly 12 years, Barendt said that her patient has become like a member of her fam-ily.
“I write her letters like she’s my family when I’m gone,” she said. “I bring souvenirs when I’m on vacation. It’s like leaving a member of my family.”
At home, Barendt said that Mariah is a “typi-cal 12-year-old. She likes TV and video games and
talks about going to the school dances.” Barendt explained that the hard-est thing for Mariah is
her speech as it is delayed. Mariah was first diag-nosed with cerebral palsy at about 1 1/2 years.
“There were a lot of difficulties at birth,” Bar-endt said.
Cerebral palsy is a dis-order that affects muscle tone, movement and motor skills. CP is usually caused by brain damage that oc-curs before or during a child’s birth, or during the first 3 to 5 years of a child’s life. There is no cure for CP, but treatment, therapy, special equipment, and, in some cases, surgery can help a child who is living with the condition.
Raising Mariah, Bar-endt noticed that some-thing were just not right. After bringing her baby to doctors and running dif-ferent tests, she was diag-nosed.
“It’s a learning experi-ence,” Barendt said. “I still look and research all
the time. I know that it’s not something that will go away. It’s something that we will adapt to.”
Barendt, who was mar-ried in 2006, has another daughter who is 5 years-old. Barendt said that both of her daughters get along very well.
“I’m very lucky to have a very supportive family,” she said.
Barendt said that her and her husband, Jona-than, talk about Mariah’s future a lot. Like any par-ent, they worry about both children and support the girl’s choices.
“She (Mariah) changes her mind regularly,” Bar-endt said of what she wants to be when she gets older, “everything from a dancer to a gymnast to Taylor Swift.”
SUBMITTEDThe Barendt family on Emma’s First Communion. Above are: Jonathan, Rachelle, Emma and Mariah Berendt.
Teresa Sanchez, first place winner of the poster contest with Joyce Wolter, Mayor’s Committee member.
PHOTOS SUBMITTEDEmily Gilsrud, second place winner of the poster contest with Joyce Wolter, Mayor’s Committee member.
Mayor’s Committee awards prizes for ‘Think Ability First’ poster contest
The Wahpeton Mayor’s Committee on Employ-ment of People with Dis-abilities recently hosted a Disability Awareness poster contest with area sixth-grade students from Wahpeton Middle School.
The contest was held in recognition of Disabil-ity Awareness Month in March. The sixth grad-ers were asked to create a poster that signified what it meant to them to live with a disability. This year’s theme was “Think Ability First.”
It is the sixth year the committee has hosted
this contest. The winners of the
contest were: • First place, Teresa
Sanchez, winning $30 cash.
• Second place, Em-ily Gilsrud, winning $15 cash
• Honorable mentions included: Jamison Zaun, Brenden Clem, Carleigh Zarak, Tucker Hermes, Erika Arenstein, Meyla Pappenfus and Emily Parnell.
Their posters will be displayed at Econofoods from Monday, March 25 through Saturday, April 6 for public viewing.
TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR • 36 • DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013
Jacklitch & Associates Insurance602 2nd Avenue North, Wahpeton
www.jacklitchinsurance.com 642-6022
Proud To Recognize Greg Savoy For His Dedication
To Special Olympics!
Learn more about us at www.wilkinyouthandcommunity.blogspot.com
A task force committed to preventing our youth from making destructive decisions.
XNLV
81015
500 Hwy 13, Wyndmere701-439-2259
• CARQUEST Auto Parts• Auto, Truck and Tractor Repair• Alignment• Air Conditioning Service• Department of Transportation
Inspections• Tire Sales, Service and Repair
XN
LV80
885 Breckenridge Drug
& “Gift Box”116 N. 5th Street • Breckenridge • 643-5411
Hours:Monday - Friday
8:30 a.m.-6:00 p.m.Saturdays
9:00 a.m.-4:00 p.m.
XNLV
80916
For all your Healthcare Accessory Needs!Your locally owned & operateddrug store in Breckenridge
SUPPORTS ALL THOSEWITH DISABILITIES
Productive Alternatives, Inc. provides person-focusedservice options which promote quality of life, fosterpersonal growth and enhance career opportunities.
Productive Alternatives’ Detox CenterProvides Services to Otter Tail & Surrounding Counties.
Productive Alternatives is a private, non-profit organization serving over 850 consumers with a staff of about 100 full time and
100 part time employees.
Productive Alternatives Manufactures Many Of Its Own Products.
We are available for subcontract work. We currently work with 200 businesses
in many shapes and forms.
PRODUCTIVE ALTERNATIVES, INC.
1-218-998-5630
MATTHEW LIEDKE • DAILY NEWS
Special Olympics track practiceThe Wahpeton Special Olympics track practice kicked off recently, with participants gearing up for some fun activities. Every Tuesday and Thursday, the team members walk at Wahpe-ton Middle School to limber up. Above: Karen
Bennett and Joe Carnicius join their team members in walking the halls at the school until warmer weather arrives and gets them outdoors.
Support gets this CNA back to workMIKE WINGE • COMMUNICATIONS
INTERN , FREEDOM RESOURCE CENTER [email protected]
With the recent reces-sion, work for many has been difficult to come by. Unemployment skyrocket-ed from 5 percent in 2007 to 10 percent in 2010, causing undue hardships for many across the nation.
Jenny Bleick, 35, was one of those affected. As a single mother, she has two children, Priscilla, 14, and Wyatte, 12, so it is no surprise she was nervous when she lost her job. Ble-ick has 16 years of experi-ence in the nursing field, but after many foot surger-ies, she had to take time off for recovery. After several months of rest, she started looking for work, but this was not an easy task after
a period of time off. Em-ployers were uncertain of her lapse of employment. As time went on, she was becoming hopeless and deflated as rejection was constantly lurking around
the corner, she said. Closing in on nine
months of unemployment, Jenny sought help to over-come whatever barrier she was encountering. She found this help from Free-dom Resource Center, a family of services she has been a part of for many years. While visiting with Joyce Wolter, from the Wahpeton office in Decem-ber, they decided to work on her resume and inter-viewing skills. Bleick said she had difficulty answer-ing what her strengths and weaknesses were and how Wolter was sincere in pointing them out to her.
Another difficult ques-tion to answer was “what happened at your last job?”
“Employers want to know this so they can pre-dict possible future behav-
ior, Wolter said. “This is where Freedom can offer assistance in asking con-sumers what they learned from that experience and how to move forward no matter if they were fired from their last job or just quit. Another skill set of-fered in our classes are how to ask for reasonable accommodations when ap-plying for a position.”
These accommodations are often very miniscule and cost less than $10, she said. They might range from a dimmer light for the office or a simple change in break time.
After working on her resume and several mock interviews with Wolter, Bleick became much more confident in her search for work and was starting to receive follow-up calls on
applications. She heard about a CNA position at a hospital near where she lives. Bleick said she was really nervous during the interview, but that Wolter had built up her confi-dence.
“I even said a little prayer before the inter-view,” Bleick said.
The following week, she received a call from the hospital asking if she was still interested in the posi-tion. Her response, “I just wanted to scream. There was a lot of excitement in my house that day.” It was a full-time position, mostly Monday through Friday evenings and some week-ends.
Bleick has been work-ing for the hospital for a few months now. Since she had to renew her nursing
assistant certification, she began working in the di-etary department helping serve food to the residents. After several weeks, she received her Minnesota certification as a CNA and has been successfully working in that position.
“I’ve always enjoyed working with people, es-pecially the elderly,” she said. “It was good to be back working in the field I know.
“It’s nice to know that Freedom is there for sup-port when you are strug-gling and to help you get back on your feet when you’ve been knocked down,” she said.
Freedom Resource Center serves Southeast North Da-kota and West Central Min-nesota.
Bleick
TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013 DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR •54 • DAILY NEWS • NEWS-MONITOR TUESDAY, APRIL 2 & SUNDAY, MARCH 31, 2013
Open 8 a.m.-Midnight Mon.-Sat.Open Sundays Noon-8 p.m.
Liquor•Wine•Beer•Cigars
�������������������������������������������
������������������������������������������������
�������������������������������������������
FREEICEW/Purchase
PRAIRIE SPIRITS..of Wahpeton
“OPEN 7 DAYS A WEEK”(Right Behind the Fry’n Pan Restaurant)
“You Save More With Ed Moore”������������������������������������������������
Red RiverChiropractic Associates
James Cook, DC . . . . . . . . . . . . 642-1913David Cook, DC . . . . . . . . . . . . . 642-1913Michael Jacklitch, DC . . . . . . . . 642-5600Alisa Mitskog, DC . . . . . . . . . . . 642-6480Robb Dohman, DC. . . . . . . . . . . 642-6480
Freedom Resource Center is a Disability Rights organizaton. Our goal is topromote equal choice and equal responsibility for people with disabilities.
• Services are free to all • We serve any disability • We serve any age • No income requirement • No medical verification • No complicated applications
Freedom Resource Center has offices in Fargo, Wahpeton, andJamestown, N.D. and Detroit Lakes and Fergus Falls, MN.
For more disability-related information, call (701) 672-1648 and ask for Joyce or see www.FreedomRC.org
Helping Bridge Your Path to Independence!
OSPTIOrthopedic & SportsPhysical Therapy Inc.
All major insurances accepted.
430 5th Street North, Breckenridge, MN • 218-641-7725
6131st Avenue SW, Hankinson, ND • 701-242-7323
XNLV
8096
4
Shawn M. Krause-Roberts, MA, PTTera Paulson, PT, DPT • Tony Eggiman, PT, DPTBecky Dockter, MPT, CLT • Greg Holubok, OTR
Higgins is the perfect example of a person who is ‘living with abilities’BY KATHLEEN LEINEN • DAILY NEWS
When Heidi Higgins was 24 years old, she left the familiar surround-ings of her family’s home and spread her wings to fly.
In these 10 years, she has learned a lot about herself. Higgins is self sufficient, full of energy and thoroughly satisfied with her life.
Now age 34, Higgins has received services from Red River Human Servic-es Foundation of Wahpe-ton. She has worked at a variety of jobs through the work program, from Pizza Ranch, to St. John’s Daycare, Burger King, Godfathers, Ole Kettle
and the play park from Wahpeton Parks and Recreation. She works five days a week for three hours each day as a dish-washer at the deli at Econofoods and from 1-3 p.m. at Thrifty Horizons in Breckenridge, Minn.
In these 10 years in Wahpeton, Higgins takes pride in her spotlessly clean apartment. She has made good friends throughout the state in her participation with Special Olympics and was recently part of the North Dakota Special Olympics Basketball Championship team from Wahpeton. Higgins is one of the guards on the team and stays busy with the program. The
state basketball tourna-ment was held in Minot a few weeks ago and the Wahpeton team beat Grand Forks, Jamestown and Fargo. It was an ex-citing cap to a full week-end schedule.
It was also a long bus trip.
“We spent eight hours on the bus,” she said with a laugh.
Besides basketball, she also bowls for Special Olympics. Her lifestyle keeps her busy, but when it is time to relax, Hig-gins takes out her new iPad.
She saved her money for the iPad and is proud to say she waited until she had the money to afford one. Her favor-
KATHLEEN LEINEN • DAILY NEWSHeidi Higgins has two jobs that keeps her busy five days a week, at the deli at Econofoods and Thrifty Horizons, the thrift store that supports Red River Human Services Foundation.
ite past-time now is to download games onto her iPad, work on cross-word puzzles, read and watch her favorite TV programs, “Little House on the Prairie” and “Full House.”
“She is a responsible lady,” said Wendy Kahler, marketing director at Red River Human Ser-vices Foundation.
Kahler said she is re-sponsible for finding jobs for the community work program. She finds com-petitive employment for the people who receive services from the Foun-dation. Kahler finds work for some incredibly
hardworking people.“I am always looking
because we have folks looking for work,” she said. “Through our pro-gram, we provide rela-tionships through trust-worthy workers.”
Some of the contracts through the Foundation are for mail processing, envelope stuffing and sealing, delivering mail to the college, helping clean at St. Catherine’s and St. Francis and so much more, Kahler said.
“We want them to have meaningful work and be paid for it,” Kahler said. “We assist them with transportation to their jobs, but it is their pay-check.”
Higgins is the perfect example of how much a
good job can mean to a person many in society say is disabled. She is flourishing in Wahpe-ton under the programs provided by Red River Human Services Foun-dation.
Her parents, Barb and Joe Higgins, currently of Hankinson, are even thinking about moving to Wahpeton themselves, after watching their daughter fly so high. When she first moved out of her family home, Higgins said her mom used to worry about her, but not any more.
“They like what I am doing,” Higgins said.
She is a true personi-fication of what liv-ing with abilities is all about.
Heidi Higgins has spread her wings and learned to fly.