A   QUARTERLY   NEWSLETTER   FOR   THE   DISABILITY   COMMUNITY

New Horizons Un-Limited Inc. (NHU) is a non-profit organization based in Milwaukee with a mission to make information and life experiences accessible to people with life-long disabilities, their families and caregivers. To learn more about our mission and activities, please visit the New Horizons Un-Limited website at www.new-horizons.org or e-mail horizons@new-horizons.org.

Support NHU With a Point, Click and a Search

New search engine does some good

GoodSearch enables you to help fund the programs of New Horizons Un-Limited through the simple act of searching the Internet. It's simple. You use GoodSearch.com like any other search engine. Every time you complete a search, a penny will be "deposited" into NHU's "account." I know what your thinking; will a penny really matter? It sure will! Especially if you encourage your friends and family to use GoodSearch on behalf of New Horizons Un-Limited. It all adds up. Imagine if just 100 people completed 2 searches per day. NHU could receive $730 over the course of the year, funds that will allow us to provide an even greater number of people with disabilities access to technology.

What's more, GoodSearch has partnered with Yahoo!, a leading search engine to ensure that you receive the best results. You have nothing to lose, but so much to give back. Try it out today!

Visit www.goodsearch.com and select New Horizons Un-Limited Inc. (Wauwatosa, WI) from the list of charities. Once you choose NHU from the list it will be saved as your charity of choice. We encourage you to save GoodSearch as a bookmark (in Netscape Navigator) or favorite (in Internet Explorer) on your Internet browser. You may even wish to set GoodSearch to your browser's homepage. Go ahead, point, click and earn!

National News

Democracy: government by the people; a government in which people participate; the principles of social equality and respect for the individual within a community.

Health care for all - your input needed

Here is your opportunity to exercise your democratic right. Your opportunity to contribute to the future of your country. Seize it!

The U.S. Congress created the Citizens' Health Care Working Group in an effort to provide a forum for a nationwide public debate about improving the health care system to provide every American with affordable health care coverage. Community meetings are being held across America throughout the spring. Your opinions will help form a citizens' action plan for the President and Congress to consider as they work to make health care work for all Americans. To learn of the meetings scheduled for your area, visit www.citizenshealthcare.gov/. If you are unable to attend the meetings or if you missed the meeting in your area, you can also share your thoughts via their online polls, available at www.citizenshealthcare.gov/speak_out/comment.php.

Money Follows the Person - an advocates' victory

"Free, free at last! There is nothing to compare being locked up to being free" said James Templeton. "It's like being in jail, but in an institution you don't know if you will ever get out. I spent 30 years inside and then I didn't get better, I just got out. Now my life is my own."

People with Disabilities across the Nation will now have greater choice when it comes to their long-term care needs. After lingering for some time, Money Follows the Person has finally passed. This legislation will help the several hundred thousand people who want to move out of nursing homes and other institutions instead receive services in the community. Lack of funding for community-based services is one of the main reasons waiting lists for community services are so long. But now, after much persuasion by countless self-advocates, the government has finally discovered that community care just makes sense. It's a simple concept after all; the money that pays for the person's services in the nursing home or other institution can be used instead to pay for their services in the community, hence the name Money Follows the Person.

In 2007, states can apply to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) for a federal match to offer payment for community services rather than institutional care. Be certain to encourage your Governor and state legislature to take full advantage of this initiative and to apply with CMS as soon as possible!

It's Spring Cleaning Time!

De-clutter your home, de-stress your life
Written By Abbas Abedi

You can gain time and energy in your life by spending a few minutes each day making your life simpler. "Downsizing" your life a little at a time will lower stress and bring you a sense of satisfaction.

You may be wondering what do I mean by "Downsizing"? There are times in life when you need to get rid of things. Things that clutter your life. Things that no longer have value to you and your family.

We all have a tendency to collect more than we really need. Some of us are collectors to the extent that we have a totally cluttered life. Others have a neat life, but still have more than they need stored away in the depths of their closets.

Once a year we need to go through our closets, garages, dresser drawers and boxes stashed in the attic and find out what we can get rid of.

There is a saying, "Get rid of what you do not want to make room for what you do want". If you were to follow this advice, you would find your life less cluttered than it ever has been, or at least less cluttered than it has been in a long time.

Collecting too many things begin to weigh our lives down with so much stuff that we cannot get out from under it. If you have to make isles in your garage or storage shed to get to things or worse yet, you have to make isles inside your home to get to things, you need to make a decision to start sorting through your belongings and get rid of things you KNOW you will never use again.

Do you save clothes in hope of returning to the size you were when you stored them? This clothing can add up to boxes and boxes of things that will be out of style by the time you actually can wear them again.

Local charities can use donations of clothing to sell in their thrift shop and to help clothe those in need.

Maybe you have boxes or cabinets with mismatched dishes. How about old silverware and utensils you no longer use. Put them all in the donation box.

Have you been saving books and magazines that you plan to read or re-read some time in the future? If you have not read them in the last three years, do you really think you will read then in the next three? It is unlikely. I know you are saving many of them as references. With the Internet, you have all the reference material you will ever need right at your fingertips. Get rid of books and magazines. Put them in the donation box.

If you really cannot stand to give things away because it all has value, have a garage sale. Make it a challenge to have tons of stuff at your sale. When it is over, take whatever does not sell and donate it to a charity. Promise yourself you will get rid of the leftovers.

To sum up clutter, it robs valuable time from your life. It takes away some of your life energy and makes you wonder how you will ever organize it all. Do not organize it all; get rid of a lot of it.

You can often save money by spending $3 at the store rather than spending three hours looking for something you know you have, but cannot find. You end up buying the lost item anyway.

Get rid of what you do not want to make room for what you do want! Your stress will decrease automatically.

Article Source: www.my-articles.com, a source for free reprint articles for e-zines, blogs and more.

Wisconsin News

Milwaukee County residents may qualify for home repair program

Spring is the perfect time to address those important home repairs that you may have been avoiding. If you need assistance in paying for the repairs, the Milwaukee County Home Repair Loan Program may be able to assist you. Eligible low-income Milwaukee County residents can receive home repair loans at no cost or at a maximum of 3% annual interest. Seniors and low-income homeowners can also qualify for a deferred payment loan, which allows payments to be made only after the house is sold.

Examples of eligible work include (though nearly any repair to the structure of a house is eligible):