Baltimore County, MD Hello Baltimore County, 1 Mar 2017

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From YouTube: Resources for People with Disabilities - Hello Baltimore County

Description

Hear from the Baltimore County Commission on Disabilities and the IMAGE Center and the array of programs they offer to help individuals with all types of disabilities.

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Welcome to hello, baltimore county., I'm your host, ellen kobler.

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If you or someone you love, has a disability, you'll want to hear what our two guests have to say..

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Hal franklin is the administrator of the baltimore county commission on disabilities, and mike bullis is the executive director of the image center.

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Thank you both so much for joining us. well, thank you. great to be here. hal,. Please tell us about the commission on disabilities and what you generally do.

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Well, the commission on disabilities has actually been around for about 30 years now., and it includes 35 volunteers who are appointed by the county executive.

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Each of our county councilpersons has a representative,.

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And the real purpose of it is to advise the county to assure that all of the county's programs and facilities are accessible to people with disabilities.

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And we have a couple of work groups: --, a housing, workgroup,, an education workgroup,, a few others --.

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Which deal with specific issues related to disabilities.

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Okay, and mike,, you are a commission member..

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I am. I've been a member for six years. I think.

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Okay, and also the executive director of a non-profit called the image center. tell us about the image center.

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Well, the image center was started in 2011..

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We are a center for independent living..

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Our goal is to help people with disabilities, be as independent as possible, and maybe a word about disability in general.

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You know,, I'm 63, now and part of my body just doesn't seem to want to work.

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The way it did when I was 23.

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most common cause of disability is just plain getting old,.

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And a lot of people don't even think of themselves as having a disability.

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When maybe arthritis makes it so your hand can't hold things as well as it used to..

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So we provide people with everything from cups that they can hold better.

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To stair glides, so they don't have to leave their homes;.

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They can get up and down their stairs, or ramps to get in and out of the house, et cetera..

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We really believe that disability doesn't have to mean inability,.

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It just means trying to figure out a different way to do things and not isolating yourself and feeling bad about it,, but getting out and doing something about it.

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And who are some of the people that you serve?.

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So we serve folks anywhere from age, 15, --.

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We have a teen program: --, we serve people who are anywhere from 15 to 97.

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We have some folks who are staying in their own homes because we were able to help them get their home, accessible.

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And get a few extra services into the house., we have a veterans program., we help veterans, stay in their own homes and provide, in some cases, attendant care,, so that they don't have to go off to a va center or a va. Hospital.

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They can stay home and live in their neighborhoods and age. Gracefully.

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Okay, and how do people find out more about your services?.

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Well, they can call us at 410-982-6311,. That's our main line.

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And you can go online to imagemd.org and check us out there.

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And set up a time to come in and we'll develop what we call an independent living plan,, which is really just a way to take a look at what is it you need,.

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How can we help you be more independent in your environment?.

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We're not going to do it for you, we're going to do it with you., and we also have a program, as hal does,, where we actually help--.

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Can help pay for modifications to your home that involve.

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Maybe ramps, or maybe some kitchen modifications,.

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So that you can stay in your own home.

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baltimore county has a program called hamp and our--.

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And we also have a program where we have some money: available.

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In our case,, we're going to make you put up at least 20 to 30 percent of that money, or help us go, find it from somebody else.

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in hal's, case,, money's, free,, right?, that's correct., okay, then.

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Hal, tell us more about the housing accessibility, modification program,.

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Which is the county program?.

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Great segue. baltimore county has a program for renters only.

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Whereby we will make accessibility, modifications to your rental, unit,.

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And it is free for individuals with disabilities.

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We've done about 190 renovations over the years.

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To the tune of about $800,000.

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It's a great program..

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We do a lot of stair glides,, but we have done more intense things.

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Like made kitchens renovations, bathroom renovations.,.

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Probably the biggest thing we do is very simple:.

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Grab bars, safety grab bars in the bathroom..

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A lot of people need that. so,, it's a great program..

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You just need to call us, I'll, be glad to send out an application,.

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And I do a site visit myself..

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We have contractors who are all approved by the county.

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Wonderful program. take advantage of it.

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And this is for renters.. Now, how does the landlord come into play?? The landlord has to approve the renovations?

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right. good point.. It is only for renters.

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And the reason we do that by the way is because there are other programs available for homeowners where they can get low-interest loans or deferred loans..

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Renters really don't have any resources available.

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You're right, the homeowner has to approve the program.

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Now,, the landlord is actually not a party to the agreement.

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The agreement is between the county,, the contractor, and the tenant.

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But the county can't go on somebody's property and just make changes. so,. The landlord does have to approve it.

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ninety-nine percent of the time,. They do that.

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There is-- occasionally it happens where they won't,, but for the most part,, that's not even an issue.

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Okay, and the people that you help from the county side must be county, residents? must be a county. Resident, must have a disability,.

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And we have actually--, there are two funding streams.

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One funding stream is for section 8, and if you're on section, 8, you're eligible., if you're not on section 8,, you have to meet federal income. Guidelines.

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But they're very generous.

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If you need it,, give me a call and we can talk about that.

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Okay, and mike,, is it just baltimore county residents.

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That the image center serves?.

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Baltimore city,, baltimore, county, and harford county is the catchment area for our center for independent living.

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So, we can-- and we can work with homeowners or renters,.

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It doesn't matter. what we're going to try and do is really help-- what we look at most --, because obviously we have a lot more requests than we can meet,. But what we look at most is: how independent will this make you and how much can you do to participate on your own.

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To make it happen as well., because we really want--, we want solutions..

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We find that the people who come and see us --- and there are thousands of folks who have come --, but we find that what they need to have is to see disability differently,.

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To see it as an opportunity for them to solve some problems in their lives,.

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To turn disability into another one of the things that happens to you in life.

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Instead of the most devastating thing in the world.

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or a defining factor... or defining thing, exactly. yeah.

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All right. hal, in general,, with the commission,.

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Just sort of give a pitch here.

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who should call you -- and you're? Obviously an information clearinghouse for services that the county may not provide themselves.

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What would you say to somebody...?.

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Well, again,, that's a good point.. A commission is a commission.- we're not a department, we're, not an agency or a program.

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We don't have staff;, I'm the only staff..

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These are volunteers. but,. I get probably five or six calls a day for information. Referral.

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And I try to help people out..

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I get calls for just about anything disability-related.

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So, give us a call. okay. all right,. Well, thank you both so much for being here.

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And for what you do to help people.? Well, thanks for having us. thank you. thank you,, and thank you for watching hello, baltimore county..

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We encourage you to connect with baltimore county government on facebook and twitter and we will see you next time.

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(, ♪♪♪ ),.