Sprout Film Festival Returns to Baltimore in 2015

By Harriet S. Yaffe, Film Program Coordinator, Sprout

The Arc Baltimore is now preparing for its Third annual Sprout Film Festival to be co-presented on February 14th with the Hussman Center for Adults with Autism at Towson University. Beginning at 2pm at the West Village Commons, they will show 11 short films on a wide range of subject matter. What better way to celebrate Valentines Day than to bring your loved ones to support this wonderful event. It is sure to inspire conversation, change perceptions and provide an entertaining afternoon.

The Sprout Film Festival presents works showcasing the unique lives and creative expressions of people who are almost never seen in main stream media: those with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Founded in New York City in 2003, the SFF is the first of its kind to exclusively focus on I/DD and has a mission to not only inspire and entertain, but also to inform, spark change, and help make the invisible, visible.

In recent years, television shows like Glee, American Horror Story & Breaking Bad have introduced actors with intellectual and developmental disabilities. However, these occurrences are still far too rare. Films about I/DD are often assumed to be depressing or unappealing. However, what you gain from attending a Sprout Film Festival is the realization that these stories are human stories that capture both the joys and complexities of life. The films screened illustrate that our similarities are far greater than our differences.

The New York festival has grown considerably over the last 12 years in both size and recognition. Each year the festival showcases a new group of films, spanning multiple genres, and from filmmakers from all over the world. In 2006, Sprout began taking the films on tour, allowing agencies to select highlights from each year of the SFF and to tailor their specific festival by theme or general interests.

As a proud representative of Sprout, I applaud The Arc Baltimore for appreciating the value of these films and using them as catalysts for change in the community.

Get more info about Baltimore's 3rd Annual Sprout Film Festival: http://bit.ly/1u3EnvD

Find out more about Sprout at www.sproutflix.org

Harriet retired last year as the long-time executive director of The Arc of Southern Maryland where she started the first of the local Sprout film festivals in Maryland.

Snow, Minimum Wage and the Governor

By Kathleen McNally Durkin, Deputy Executive Director

 

As President of the Board of MACS (Maryland Association of Community Services), I was invited to meet with Governor O’Malley last week. We discussed many topics regarding services to children and adults with developmental disabilities (DD) in Maryland, including an increase to minimum wage and its impact on DDA services. The Governor has committed to increasing the minimum wage to $10.10 incrementally over the next three years. Should low income Marylanders make better wages?  Absolutely!

The issue for DD provider agencies like The Arc Baltimore is complex.  Currently, our staff makes more than minimum wage. Our State funding, however, is stretched severely and has increased little in recent years to cover not only wages, but increases in other agency expenses including health insurance, worker compensations insurance, vehicles, home rent, food, gasoline, etc. Agencies such as ours rely on the State to provide funding to pay employee wages. The State determines a rate which currently affords most service providers the ability to pay an average of less than $10.00 per hour. This rate must not only pay for wages for entry level positions, but also wages for long-term employees and overtime. If minimum wage is increased but the DDA funding is not proportionally increased, these vital direct support professionals will become minimum wage jobs. We can’t let that happen.

 

And so, the snow…We are in the midst of a major snowfall event (major for MD at least). I often think about the direct support professionals who work at The Arc Baltimore, and I am humbled by their dedication and hard work. Imagine supporting three women who live in a home in Towson. You work from 3 pm – 11 pm and then sleep in their home in case they need assistance at night. You wake up at 6 am and help the ladies get off to work by 8am. On a snowy day like those we encountered this week, the day centers are closed and the ladies will be home. You juggle what would have been your time off, in order to stay and support them. All three have “no unsupervised time” which is DDA speak for, you can’t leave them alone and run out to the store! The walk needs to be shoveled and the car cleared off. Groceries are limited, and you wonder, ‘does Sue have enough of her seizure meds to last the week in case you can’t get to the pharmacy?’ It’s just you. Your supervisor will call to check in, but no one else is scheduled to work. Your job is an independent one. You must make decisions quite often on the spot that are significant to the health, safety and quality of life of these women. Your family is home left to handle the storm themselves. You have dedicated your career to adults with disabilities and this is a part of what is expected.

Should these jobs be minimum wage jobs? No! We need to push the state to increase the DDA funding proportionally so that when the minimum wage goes up, so does the funding to developmental disabilities agencies to at least keep the differential that currently exists. Our staff deserves more.

Update:
On 2/11, Kathleen Durkin testified in front of the House Economic Affairs Committee on the minimum wage issue. Also testifying was Lawrence Jenkins, a direct support staff person from The Arc, who talked about the challenges and demands of his position, the skill requirements and the training required. With him was Tom Franz, one of the three men from the home who he supports in our Community Living program. Both gentlemen served as a meaningful example of the valuable work of direct support staff and why the minimum wage increase must be tied to the rate increase. Then, the three testified again before the Senate Finance Committee.

 

A Letter From Steve Announcing The Arc Baltimore Blog

By Steve Morgan, Executive Director

Time is precious. It’s why The Arc Baltimore strives to keep all of our online communications as concise as possible. We want to convey to you the essentials of Arc news and resources along with some of the fun event pictures and success stories in a way that you can digest quickly.

At the same time, we have issues, challenges, victories, trends, and sometimes even debates that we want to share with you, but they can require more detail and data than we generally include. We also want to invite your reactions and insights on these matters – which leads me to announcing and kicking off The Arc Baltimore Blog. Here we will require a bit more time from you, our readers, but we hope to offer more depth and perspective, and this online application will give you a way to respond to or to share the post with others. I will write here on occasion, as will others from our senior management team, program leaders, and those who receive support from The Arc Baltimore.

Here’s some of what we hope to cover:

• The challenges siblings face when they assume responsibilities for the social, legal, emotional, and financial matters that their parents handled in the life of their sister or brother with disabilities.
• The roadblocks we encounter in finding more and better job opportunities for youth transitioning from school to the adult world.
• The individuals with disabilities who are happily living longer lives and who now want fulfilling retirement options.
• How assistive technology is unlocking words and other outlets for expression.
• The balance of having inclusive communities and integrated social outlets with affinity gatherings and events that may be perceived as segregated.
• What parent advocates face in the quest for the best education they can get for their children.
• And more.

We will try to not over-do the blog, but do justice to the voices in our community. Hold us accountable as we work on this and let us know what you like, what you think, and what you want.

Best regards,

Steve Morgan 
The Arc Baltimore
Executive Director