Northern Natural Cider House has teamed up with local star musician, Blake Elliot, to raise awareness and gather donations for Disability Network on Tuesday, May 7 from 5:30-8pm. The new Front Street business (located at 324 East Front Street) invites you, your friends, co-workers, and comrades to splurge on a few pints, jam to tunes, and offer a donation in support of Disability Network.

The English style pub with a Northern Michigan twist specializes in 7 Hard Ciders on tap made with Michigan apples, Wines made with organic fruit, sustainable farmed Gold Medal Grape Wines, and Port Wines.  Northern Natural prides on using locally grown, fresh produce on their food menu, and having locally made products for purchase in their tasting room.

Andrea Cassell, a Northern Natural Family Employee and Disability Network Board Member, states “Disability Network is a vibrant organization that impacts such a broad range of people.  We appreciate their efforts to break down barriers and create a more inclusive community.”

For more information about this event, contact Annie Campbell at 231.922.0903, ext. 12.

MilitaryVALoan.com is pleased to offer scholarships in support of disability awareness. Every year, a prospective or current college student will be selected to receive a $1,000 scholarship to help with the costs associated with attending school.

Applicants should submit an essay between 500 and 1000 words about how they or someone they knew overcame disability to do something great. This year’s potential award winners will be judged by the editorial staff of MilitaryVALoan.com and selected on February 10th, 2014. Applications for this scholarship period will close one month prior to the announcement date on January 10th, 2014.

Applications are welcome and accepted from anybody who meets the Application requirements. Whether or not you have a disability, we would love to review your application, as the scholarship is not restricted – only meant to bring awareness.

MilitaryVALoan.com is proud to support the advancement of disability awareness and hopes to be able to contribute to continued disability support and improving the schooling of those with disabilities.

Please review the Application Requirements and submit all necessary information if you wish to apply. Applications, questions and any inquiries should be sent to scholarship@MilitaryVALoan.com.

Click for more information.

1-855-VA-WOMEN (1-855-829-6636)

WASHINGTON – The Department of Veterans Affairs has launched a new hotline — 1-855-VA-WOMEN — to receive and respond to questions from Veterans, their families and caregivers about the many VA services and resources available to women Veterans. The service began accepting calls on April 23, 2013.

“Some women Veterans may not know about high-quality VA care and services available to them,” said Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki. “The hotline will allow us to field their questions and provide critical information about the latest enhancements in VA services.”

The hotline is staffed by knowledgeable VA employees who can provide information about benefits including health care services for women.  Callers can be linked to information on claims, education or health care appointments as well as information about VA cemeteries and memorial benefits.  Staff can answer urgent questions and provide referrals to homeless and mental health services as well as provide Vet Center information.

Women make up nearly 15 percent of today’s active duty military and 18 percent of National Guard and Reserve forces.  The population of women Veterans using VA benefits including health care is growing rapidly.  Since 2000, the number of women using VA health care more than doubled, from nearly 160,000 in 2000 to more than 354,000 in 2012.  Based on the upward trend of women in all branches of service, the number of women Veterans—and female VA users—will keep climbing.

VA is committed to making improvements for the growing population of women Veterans, including the way it communicates with them.  In 2010, VA established an outbound call center to contact women Veterans and encourage them to enroll in VA health care.

“In VA health care alone, women constitute only 6 percent of VA patients, but those Veterans have a high perception of the quality care they are receiving,” said Irene Trowell-Harris, director of VA’s Center for Women Veterans.

“Many women who served don’t self-identify as Veterans and therefore don’t think they qualify for VA benefits. We need to correct existing misinformation and misperceptions so we can serve more women Veterans with the benefits they’ve earned.”

Women Veterans are entitled to apply for the same benefits as their male counterparts, which include health care and pharmacy benefits as well as education benefits, disability compensation, home loans, employment assistance and more.

The hotline (1-855-VA-WOMEN) joins numerous other VA hotlines that provide critical information and assistance to Veterans, such as those for Veterans in crisis and in danger of becoming homeless. Veterans can also receive information and apply for benefits online at VA’s www.eBenefits.va.gov and manage their health care at MyHealtheVet.va.gov.

Munson Medical Center has announced the official release of the 2013 Munson Medical Center Community Health Needs Assessment (CHNA) as well as the Healthy Communities Institute Web Product on the Munson Healthcare Website.  The 2013 Munson CHNA report covers primary and secondary health data from a five county area (Antrim, Benzie, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau) and is available as an executive summaryor full 37 page report.

The Healthy Communities Institute (HCI) web product offers demographic and secondary data on over 100 health and quality of life indicators broken down to the county level if available. Also included in the web product is a database of promising practices from a variety of sources, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the ability to make customized reports. The webpage has a six minute tutorial video that may assist with navigating the site.

Please contact Diane Butler at 231.935.9256 for more information about the Munson Community Health Needs Assessment.

TRAVERSE CITY – Bay Area Transportation Authority (BATA) will host three information sessions on its new service model set to launch May 6. The new model expands service hours and reduces wait times by linking residents in more rural areas with fixed routes to and from Traverse City.

Information sessions will take place at BATA’s Hall St. Transfer Station and at other community meetings around the Grand Traverse and Leelanau County area.

Thursday, April 18 from 2 p.m.-3 p.m. @ BATA’s Hall Street Transfer Station
Thursday, April 18 at 7 p.m. @ Village of Northport Board Meeting- 336 W. Nagonaba
Monday, April 22 from 11 a.m.-12 p.m. @ BATA’s Hall Street Transfer Station
Tuesday, April 23 at 7p.m. @ the Village of Empire Board Meeting- 10088 Front Street
Wednesday, April 24 from 6 p.m.-7 p.m @ BATA’s Hall Street Transfer Station
Thursday, April 25 at 5 p.m. @ the Fife Lake Township Board Meeting- 134 Morgan Street

For more information, contact a BATA customer service representative at 231-941-2324 (option3) or info@bata.net.

By gogettergirl95, Roswell, GA

People are often surprised when I tell them that I have a learning disability. Many think that a learning disability is just a fancy term for stupidity or laziness, but this isn’t further from the truth. And, although some students with a learning disability do become discouraged and lose motivated to try, there are scores of others who compensate for their difference. I have every intention of controlling my learning disability rather than letting it control me. Something that once held me back ultimately gave rise to inner strength and resourcefulness. I have learned that self-determination, hard work, and a positive attitude are the keys to managing a learning disability.

A learning disability is not a curse, a blessing or a disease. It is a permanent condition that can greatly impact one’s life. It is a neurobiological disorder that affects the way the brain receives and processes information. This often makes learning through traditional methods difficult and frustrating. Children with learning disabilities do not understand that this is happening and often have trouble learning. They may feel different and inferior long before their learning disability is identified which then provides a sense of relief.

My learning disability first became apparent in elementary school when I was unable to learn how to read and write. Even in kindergarten, I remember feeling I was in over my head and wondered whether I was out the day my classmates got the “memo.” While they were already conquering chapter books, I was still stumbling over what sound each letter made. Masters of the written word, they floated through the classroom with an air of confidence while I was weighed down by an overwhelming sense of futility. No matter how hard I tried, I was unable to grasp this basic and ­essential part of reading.

I adored books because of the way they felt in my hands and the pictures they created in my mind. There were times when I sat in the corner pretending to read. I made stories up about the pictures and relied on my memory to repeat what I had heard. I was embarrassed and waited anxiously for my cover to be blown, for my secret to be revealed. The other kids were off to the races, and I had not even left the gate.

Click to read more.

For years, Stacy Zoern, a Texas lawyer who lives alone and uses a 400-pound power wheelchair, yearned for more independence. Because of a neuromuscular condition, Ms. Zoern, 33, has never walked, and for a while drove a custom van. But the van was destroyed in a crash, and she didn’t have $80,000 to buy another.

Two years ago, she began searching the Internet, using the phrase “wheelchair accessible transportation,” and came across a company called Kenguru, in Budapest. Its small, light, electric vehicles sounded perfect.

“I was ecstatic,” she recalled. “This vehicle will change my life. This is exactly what I want.”

When Ms. Zoern’s e-mails to the company went unanswered, she picked up the phone and called the chief executive, Istvan Kissaroslaki. He recalled their conversation this way. “I was on my way home from work when she called, and we spoke for 45 minutes. I would normally have told her, ‘Get in line.’ We had just lost all our bank financing, two million euros, after the collapse of Lehman Brothers. I told her to call me back in about four years.”

Instead, in an unusual international story of determination, friendship, innovation and entrepreneurship, the Austin-based company that the two have since formed, Community Cars, expects to produce its first vehicles this year. The so-called neighborhood cars will sell for about $25,000, and buyers may qualify for zero-emission or vocational rehabilitation tax incentives.

Click to read more.

For the month of April, Disability Network’s Advocacy Council (DNAC) decided to sponsor and volunteer for the Traverse Traveler’s Autism Scavenger Hunt that was held on April 13. Zoe Onthank, DNAC member and Volunteer Office Assistant at Disability Network, explained, “We chose to be a part of the event because we want to raise awareness and help kids with disabilities.  Our group has realized that we CAN make a difference and do things like everyone else.  We too are a part of the big picture.”  The Autism Scavenger Hunt is an annual awareness event that raises money for the TCAPS I Pads for Autism Program. Click here to find out more.

DNAC members meet monthly to plan social events, workshops, volunteer opportunities, and learn about disability related issues.The group is currently seeking new members, as well as locals interested in teaching various skills & talents to the Council.  ContactLisa Woodcox at 922-0903, ext. 14 for more information. 

BOYNE CITY — The green and white county transit buses have been transporting Charlevoix County residents for more than 30 years, but, reports transit manager Jill Drury, the number of people riding has gone up significantly in the last two years.

“The growth right now that we’re seeing is — I don’t see an end in it at this point,” said Drury. “Since January through April 15, we’ve added 343 new people into our database.”

And the number of rides taken by the people who use the service has gone up as well.

Transit recorded 94,000 rides in 2011. That spiked to 110,000 in 2012. So far this fiscal year, which is half over, the county transit vehicles have been used 60,300 times. That puts it at about 120,000 rides by the end of the year.

“I just had a chart come from a regional association showing growth among big and small transits,” Drury said. All were up in terms of rides. “We were by far the biggest number (in terms of growth rate) on the chart for the ones listed.”

Why the growth and why here?

People of all ages ride the buses for a wide variety of reasons, reported Drury. It’s $1.50 one way, so for many, riding the bus rather than paying to maintain and drive a car can save money.

“It’s a little bit of everything from what I can see,” explained the manager.

Click to read more.