December 2020 – The Harford Center

In This Issue:

Harford Center

Video Holiday Card

Harford Center

End of Year

Wrap Up Video

Holly Jolly

Pictures

Local Shopping

Deals

COVID Vaccine

and Updates

Maryland

Disability News

National

Disability News Roundup

Harford Center

News and Updates

Harford County

Community Resources

Remember to

facebook: @HarfordCenter

and check out our YouTube Channel here!

Happy New Year, Everyone!

A Message from our Executive Director

Season’s Greetings to all. On behalf of the Harford Center’s staff and Board of Directors, I wish all of you the Happiest of Holidays. I know that this year’s holidays are very different. However, who better to appreciate “difference” than those that support the Harford Center, its participants, and mission. We have built a community culture around the acceptance and welcoming of differences. While this year may look and feel different, I encourage all of you to ask yourselves what positive “take-away” you have learned this year. For me, I have learned to really appreciate face-to-face conversations, seeing someone’s smile, a hug, and all the “little” things that I took for granted.

Looking back, I know that after all of this is behind us that I will be taking that extra moment to appreciate time with family and friends, face-to-face time with colleagues, and hearing all the laughter at the Harford Center. The Harford Center is entering its 60th year in 2021; from our strong and adaptive history, I know that we will come out of this stronger and better positioned to provide the highest quality of service. We have learned so much about resilience, flexibility, and compassion. All of those difficult lessons will make us even better in the future. I hope for each of you that you can take something away from this pandemic that makes you realize that the “small” things were actually the “big” things. As we head into 2021, I wish you all a safe, happy, and blessed new year.

Sherry Nolte, LCSW-C

Executive Director

Happy Holidays from The Harford Center!

If you have last minute shopping to do, don’t forget to shop local when you can! There are some amazing offers from local vendors on the Visit Harford website. Some of these deals also extend through the new year.

COVID Updates

There is finally a light at the end of the tunnel. COVID vaccines for Harford County are expected to be delivered to Upper Chesapeake at the end of December. The vaccine will be distributed according to the state’s priorities with health care workers and first responders expected to be among the first to be vaccinated. For more information about the vaccine and its distribution, please visit the Harford County Health Department’s vaccine page.

Please also see this Message from Harford County Executive Barry Glassman.

It’s also a good time to check out Maryland’s Coronavirus Rumor Control Page to make sure you’re getting accurate information.

Maryland Disability News

Starting January 1, the

Maryland MVA will begin issuing voluntary identification cards to people who self-identify as having Developmental Disabilities. The cards will include instructions to law enforcement and first responders on how best to communicate with the cardholders. It is hoped that these cards will de-escalate situations created by misunderstandings (i.e. behaviors rooted in anxiety that are perceived as aggression) and ultimately prevent use of force. For more information or to register for a card, please call the MVA at 410-768-7000.

Maryland’s State Housing Policy has been expanded to include a prohibition against discrimination based on Source of Income, which means it is no longer legal to refuse to sell or rent a home based on whether the applicant’s income is from employment, SSI, SSDI, or other subsidies.

A bill has passed that requires the Maryland Transit Administration to provide monthly bus passes to opioid treatment facilities for distribution to patients who have disabilities and/or low income.

Remember, you can keep up with all Maryland legislation here. You can search the site by bill name or number, and you can search the full text of bills by keyword. You can even switch states or search all states. This website is a great way to see for yourself what our legislators are doing.

National Disability News Roundup

Riding the rails should get a little easier soon. According to The Washington Post, Amtrak has just agreed to make at least 135 of its stations ADA compliant over the next ten years (they were initially given a deadline of 2010 for full compliance). They have also agreed to pay $2.25 million in damages to riders with disabilities that have traveled to stations that had no wheelchair ramps or were otherwise inaccessible to customers with limited mobility.

As we all know, getting the right educational supports for children with disabilities can be a long and challenging process. The process is especially difficult for military families that move around a lot and don’t have the time to repeat the process at every new school. According to Disability Scoop, the Navy has started a pilot program that attempts to address this by streamlining the process and making some regulations federal (i.e. the same in every state). The Navy has hired two special education attorneys to help families navigate eligibility requirements and advocate for quicker access to services and the acceptance of documents from one state to another.

The Administration for Community Living has granted $1.75 million to Rush University College of Nursing and four community partners to create a program that increases the number of medical students who are trained in the needs of patients with developmental and intellectual disabilities. Rush University has a goal of training 15,000 students over 5 years. This program is seen as a major victory for advocacy groups that seek to address inequity in healthcare for people with disabilities. In recent years, there has been a push to make disability education part of every medical school’s curriculum; while that obviously hasn’t happened, this program is a step in the right direction.

Harford Center News

We know we look young, but The Harford Center is turning 60 in 2021! We’re looking forward to sharing our history with you. If you have any photos or memories you would like to share, please email Dinah at dbertholdt@harfordcenter.org, and be on the lookout for some cool things coming your way.

The Harford Center will be hosting its first Golf Tournament on May 10th at 9:00 AM at Mountain Branch. Save the date now, and we’ll be sending out more information soon.

We are still offering virtual services twice a day on every non-holiday weekday. The Dawn and Ed Show is live every morning at 10:00 AM. Click here to join the Zoom Meeting! The Latrell Show is live every afternoon at 2:00 PM. Click here to join the Zoom Meeting!

Over the Summer, our participants had a blast playing baseball with The Miracle League. The Miracle League is about to launch a new season, and they are looking for players, spectators, and volunteers! The Miracle League focuses on making sure people of all abilities have a chance to play baseball. Check out their website here and enjoy our pictures below!