 Major sponsors for Ableton on Air include Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Ableton on Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, WWW, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Powered Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM and Spotify. Partners for Ableton on Air include the HOD of New York and New England where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Center Vermont Habitat for Humanity and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montefiore Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx. Ableton on Air has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, WWW, this is the Bronx.com, New York Powered Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, WWW.H.com and the Montpelier Bridge. Ableton on Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter and the Society of Professional Journalists. Welcome to this edition of Ableton on Air, the one and only program that focuses on the needs, concerns and achievements of the Deaf and the Able. I've always been your host Lauren Seiler, Arlene couldn't be here today. However, before we begin our discussion with Green Mountain Support Services, let us thank our sponsors, Green Mountain Support Services, Washington County Mental Health and many others including the partnership with the Association for the Blind in Vermont, the Division for the Blind in Vermont and many, many, many others. We would like to thank Joshua Smith, Executive Director of Green Mountain Support Services for joining us on Ableton on Air. Yeah, Lauren, thank you for having me come back. I'm really excited. We haven't been able to talk at all for, you know, haven't been in the... Doing a Zoom show, is that how we do it? Zoom shows are kind of different, exactly, but I am excited to be back here and talk about some of the big projects that Green Mountain Support Services has been doing. So before we begin on the new projects on Green Mountain Support Services, for those that don't know about Green Mountain Support Services, why don't you tell them a little bit about your agency and what you guys do? So Green Mountain Support Services, we are a specialty service agency. We work with people living with disabilities, whether they be disabilities based off of intellectual disabilities, brain injuries or disabilities based off of the benefits of age. And the reason why I say the benefits of age is because those that my mentor or mine once said that disability is a natural part of the human experience. And he said, my hope to you is that you live long enough to experience your own disabilities because not everybody gets to live long enough to experience disabilities. And so, as we say, that is a natural part, disability is a natural part of the human experience. And what we do is we make sure that we provide advocacy and support for people living with disabilities to make sure that they are being able to access the community of their choosing. And a good point about this is like a few years ago, our mission statement for our organization was ensuring that our neighbors with disabilities are at home in the community. We tweaked it. We actually changed it to say ensuring that our neighbors with disabilities are at home in their community because community isn't a location. Community is the group of people that you want to work with, the group of people that you want to be a part of. We all have different communities. It could be a church community. It could be a fishing community. It could be a community of the Rotary Club or a bookstore or a book club. Whatever it is, we get to choose our own community. And it shouldn't matter whether or not if you have a disability or not that you should still have access to the community that you choose to belong to. And it shouldn't be forced upon you based off of financial reasons. It shouldn't be forced upon you based off of guardians who pressure you into going to certain places. So that's really what we stand for. And the benefit that we have agreement support services is that we work almost statewide, we work out of 12 out of 14 counties right now. What does that mean, 12 to 14 counties? So there's 14 counties in Vermont. And we work out of 12 out of those 14 counties. Us as a specialty service agency, you'll see Northeast Kingdom Human Services only works in the Northeast Kingdom. Washington County Mental Health only works in Washington County. Howard Center only works in Chittenden County. A lot of Rutland County Mental Health only works in Rutland County. We have the ability, based off of our statute and designation, that we're able to work statewide. So that gives us and that gives people living with disabilities a freedom of choice. Whether they're working, living with a brain injury, having an intellectual disability, or as I say, having a disability based off of the benefits of age, that they're able to choose what services they would like to get from. And one of the benefits is us as a specialty service agency is that we are able to give people that choice. So that's basically what we do as Greenmount Support Services. We provide advocacy work and we provide choice. And we provide community based supports for all of the Monters who are living with a disability. So let's talk about, I looked on your website and you have lots and lots of services. One of the things I would like to talk about is supportive employment. Now, I know that your agency doesn't believe in congregate care. But in a sense, what did your agency do about supportive employment and supporting people with special needs in employment? So basically what that entails is that what we do is that we work with some direct support professionals who specialize in supportive employment. And what that is is to allow to give people living with a disability some access and assistance in making sure that they're successful. And you're right, see the benefit, I would say that the challenge of congregate settings and segregated settings, it creates a culture of them instead of a culture of we. Any time that you eliminate a portion of the population by, without their consent in the sense, away from the larger community settings. What you do is you do create this culture of them instead of a culture of a we. So that's where it's important for us. Exactly, between we and them. Well, first of all, the point of it like being with a we is that we are all together, but if you start basing it like a segregated or institutionalizations or congregate or segregated settings, you do create this culture of that is where that group of people live. That's where that group of people live. The differences is that when I get back to what I said earlier is people should always get to choose their community. And if they choose to be part of a segregated community, whether it be out on a farm someplace, or if you're looking at a group of people that have specific values and beliefs, that they have the capacity and the decision and the informed decision to be in a congregate setting based off of the people that they feel most comfortable with. But the difference is in a segregated setting and an institutional setting, the folks that are in there, it's really important to make sure that they have that choice. If they choose to do that, you know what? That's where we get back. We make sure that we help support that because our job is to let people be a part of their own community, the community they choose to be a part of. So when you talk about the support and employment program is that being a part of a working environment where you're among your peers of the people that also are in that same working environment, whether it be working at a maple fields, working at a Dunkin Donuts, or working at a library, or working in a school system, or a school situation. The point is that you still get to choose that this is the community you want to be a part of. Or if someone from, if a participant in your agency wants to say, Oh, I would like to work in a TV station. Let's find you someone to pair you up with, you know, that kind of thing. Before we get to your new projects, staffing, all across the board globally, has been a problem. Direct support professionals and their wages, as a matter of fact, not too much in the past. There was a thing about two years ago before the pandemic, there was a documentary called Invaluable. Yeah. How valuable is the DSP workforce? And what is your main focus on higher wages for the DSP staff? So there's a really good point is that I'm working with the National Alliance for Direct Support Professionals to work on creating a federal standard occupational classification for direct support professionals. There is no standard occupational classification. What that means is like, if you go to the federal Department of Labor, they have a listing of what a plumber is, what an electrician is, what a nurse is, what a teacher is. They have a listing, but they do not have a standard occupational classification for a direct support professional, which is something that is... So what states do is they find the cheapest level of what that would be, whether it would be an LNA or a custodian or a whatever they find, whatever the lowest level is, and then they equate that to how much they want to pay a direct support professional. But as anybody knows in this work, a direct support professional is everything. They are a coach. They are a job coach. They are a personal care attendant. They're an LNA. They do medical administration. They do a lot of advocacy work. They do a lot of... What about medication? They do a lot of medication administration. They do so many things. No other position is so involved in that because it involves somebody working not only in a residential setting, but also in a community-based setting and also in a job setting. And you're also working to make sure people are able to make good decisions. So there's a lot of advocacy and coaching involved in a lot of that stuff. So there is no standard occupational classification for a direct support professional. So with that said, it actually is... It behooves us as a society to make sure that we actually enforce that by actually having that standard occupational classification to say, we are looking at the people who provide very direct and intimate support for a most vulnerable population. And how are you expecting us to do that if there is no legally recognized job description that involves that? So as you brought up the point of pay is... Pay is very important, but it's also a reflection of the values given to that. So why is a doctor paid more? Why is a lawyer paid more? Why is a teacher paid less? Why is a nurse paid less? And it's based off of what we feel is the value in our society of someone's position. So when you increase somebody's salary, you're basically giving a monetary value to say we value the work you do and we value and you need to be respected in the work you do. And that comes down to that monetary piece. But a lot of it comes down to also as we say is the dignity and respect of that position is when you provide a level of dignity and respect to somebody's position by actually having a standard occupational code and that standard occupational classification. And you also are able to say, you know what? The work you do is valuable and we recognize that and we also truly believe that you should not be paid below minimum wage. And here's the point too, specifically here in Vermont. The poverty rate, if you're a single person living by yourself in Vermont, you have to make a minimum of $21 an hour in order to survive living in Vermont. Not having money. This is just the amount of money because of the cost of living has increased so much. And the state of Vermont has now says that they're going to be paying direct support professionals $16 an hour. So basically the state of Vermont is telling the people who provide support for the most vulnerable population of our state to say, you deserve to get paid below poverty level wages to support our most vulnerable population. So why is it $21? Is there a reason for that? It's based off of how much things cost. So it's the cost of living. So how much groceries cost here? How much rent costs? How much gas costs? And many of you know here in Vermont, if you don't have a car, it is hard to get around. So the fact that you need a car, you need a place to live. Everything has gone up in price in Vermont. So basically what we're saying is that in order for you to barely survive if you're living by yourself is $21 an hour. And if you're married, it's double that. It's more. It's exactly. It's more. So keep in mind too, if you're married and then your partner's bringing in money, that will increase it. But if you are a single parent with a kid or two kids, you're only that single income. So if you're actually a single income person living in there and you have kids, child care, all that stuff, you cannot survive on $21 an hour. And the fact that the state of Vermont says we're paying DSPs, because the state of Vermont gets to decide that. They say that we're paying direct support professionals $16 an hour is basically an affront to our most vulnerable population. So let's talk about some of the new projects that Green Mountain Support Services is doing. Yeah. So one thing is that we were able to partner with the Brain Injury Alliance of Vermont. Our values and mission values are very much aligned. So we were able to, during the pandemic, is reach out to the Brain Injury Alliance of Vermont to partner with them with our projects and our programs. And it's been amazing being able to sit down and work with them on a lot of their projects with supporting brain injury survivors. The caveat to a brain injury survivors are that it's not an intellectual disability. It's not age-related. It is, and nobody ever plans on getting a brain injury. So the difference and the reason why the Brain Injury Alliance is so, so important in Vermont. People living with an intellectual disability have an intellectual disability. So there's research and work done to kind of determine and know ahead of time the support and services that are available. Same thing for somebody with age-related disabilities. Yeah, how does a piggyback, but how does, as a person gets older, for example, I'm turning 15 next year, but as a person with a disability gets older, what services do you provide for the older population? Very the same thing as we do with intellectual disabilities. We provide advocacy work and we provide community-based services and residential services. So if somebody wants to live in place, if somebody is looking to be a part of a shared living model, or if somebody is looking to be able to get shopping done, these are the things that the Greenmount Support Services is the type of work that we do. So. Now, the pandemic, which we're still partly in, how has Greenmount Support Services helped people with visual needs during the pandemic? So we made sure I was really, I'm very proud of the fact that and very grateful for the fact that Greenmount Support Services was not negatively affected by any turnover. People stayed, people stayed and worked, that people stayed and worked with us. We didn't have anybody quit, for instance. So we were very, and I think a lot of that comes down in the fact that we truly work with our staff to make sure we say, you know what, you're adults, you're able to make adult decisions and we want to treat you like adults. So, you know, with our unlimited vacation policy, our six weeks of pay time off every year for our hourly staff, having one of the most robust health insurance plans in the state, some of these things. And already having allowing people to work remotely are all things that we're able to put us in a pretty good standing. Because a lot of services for people, especially either closed or put it on hold during the pandemic. So how did you guys really deal with it? So it was based off of the same thing for everybody. We all had to stay home. We all had to work separately. So what we did is that we made sure that people we provide services for had the same access and the same ability as everybody else in Vermont is that you had to work remotely. Were you safe? You had to work remotely. You had to be home. What we did is we did a lot of deliveries for people. We made sure that people stay connected. We had Zoom meetings. We had Zoom interactions with playing bingo and all these other things that could be. Oh, you got a Zoom conference too. Zoom conferences, exactly. Yeah, with our cerebral palsy conference we did for two years during the pandemic. So all of these things we were able to do to make sure that people still, the point of it, and this is what I love about this, Lawrence, is that there's a really good quote from, I see, a Biva, Dave Petoniak, who was a very, very well-known advocate for people living with disabilities. And he said, loneliness is the only disability. So the fact is, is like recognizing, making sure that we are recognizing to make sure that people are not alone during that was paramount to the types of services that we provided is that we made sure that the people we provided services for were connected to the communities of their choosing. What are the, in your opinion, what are some, what are some misconceptions around people with special needs? That when people first meet them or something like that? I don't know. So not living presently with a disability, it's hard to determine what that is, but I do know, like looking from an advocacy perspective, is that we don't work with diagnoses, we work with people, and we make sure that we work with people to say, what communities do you want to be a part of? Where do you want it? Where do you see yourself in 20 years? It's all about helping them with planning, just like we would do with anybody else, that anybody else that might be wanting to try to find and form their own communities. In terms of, let's get back to some congregate question. There are still certain states that still, and I know we keep going back to the same question, but there are still certain states that still institutionalize. Is that ever going to end, do you think, in your opinion? Like, will we ever stop institutionalizing people with special needs, or putting them in congregate settings? I don't know, I do know that as I was saying earlier, when you create a culture of a them, instead of a culture of a we, that's where you start having divisiveness. So making sure that everybody still has access to the same level of interaction with the community of their choosing, that's what it comes down to being a part of a community. Having people freely access gymnasiums and libraries and malls and stores and school settings, and they still are able to have that, having everybody have the same access to every part of the community of their choosing is important. The, and plus, this is what it comes down to, it's actually more cost effective as well for a community, for a society to make sure that everybody is included in it. We're a richer society for it, we're a stronger society for it, when we're able to have multiple backgrounds and life experiences and cognitive abilities altogether, makes us stronger as a community. And as soon as you start thinking for the sake of safety, that separation is important, that's nothing ever good, nothing ever good comes from separating out people. Well, explain a little bit more about that. Well, it's there's, as I say, when you create a culture of them instead of a culture of we, then you have, you create issues of xenophobia, you create issues of prejudice, you create issues of all that stuff, but if we are all interacting with each other on a regular basis and we all have that ability to do that, that's the most important part of what makes us stronger. What are some of the other projects that you're working on? I know that you guys merged with the Brain Injury Association, but is there anything else that you're working on right now? I think we're continuing to work on our advocacy piece, we're continuing to do education on what a shared living provider is. We're always, always in need for having more shared living providers. So can you explain what a shared living provider is? Yeah, so a shared living provider is somebody who opens up their home, who has been trained by our agency, that has oversight of our agency, who acts as an independent contractor, that provides a nursing level, nursing level care of service, and for somebody living with a disability in their own homes. So there's that ability of making sure that their home is accessible, that has all the bells and whistles that you would find in a nursing facility, but in the convenience of somebody's own neighborhood among their own friends and family. Is talking about shared living providers, is it difficult sometimes to pair up people with special needs and shared living providers? Yeah, so there's, and that's what comes down to is like looking at what the best fit is for somebody. And really keep in mind, we're not talking about the perfect fit, we're talking about the best fit. If somebody says they wanna live in a certain town, or they wanna live in a certain neighborhood, or they want to have access to somebody that goes to the same church as them, or you have somebody that says I can't be around dogs, or I can't be around smoking. It's basically thinking about that from perspective of a, what you're looking for if you're buying your own home, or renting your own apartment, is you're trying to find the best match. It might not be the perfect match, but we're trying to find the best match for the person to make sure that they are living the life that they need to be living. Okay, so what are some of the, while we still have some time left, what are some of the future goals of Green Mountain Support Services? I mean, I just believe it's really important that we continue to advocate and educate people on the work we do as making sure that we are also an aging population. We are needing to make sure that housing is extremely important, but really ultimately what Green Mountain Support Services stands for is to make sure that, to be very clear is that we ensure that all of our neighbors with disabilities are living in their community, their community of their choosing, and that's what we need to do. If those that choose to live in other, if they choose to live in a congregate setting, or living on their own, if they want to live by themselves, or live with people that also experience the same levels of disabilities, as long as they're making that own choice, it's not forced upon them off of budget, not forced upon them by overzealous or being pressured into making that decision. Those are the things that we really advocacy, advocately really want to make sure that we're pushing to make sure that it doesn't happen. But that's, like I say, that's what we do. That's what we stand for. And we truly believe at Green Mountain Support Services that we are stronger. We are a stronger state, Vermont is much stronger when everybody has the same level of access to everything else that everybody else does. And that doesn't matter if you were living with an intellectual disability, age-related disabilities, or disabilities based off of a brain injury. Okay, well, we would like to thank you for joining us on this edition of Abledon On Air. For more information on Green Mountain Support Services and their work, you can go to www.gmssi.org. That number, I mean that website once again is www.gmssi.org. And for more information on Abledon On Air, you can go to www.orgamedia.net. That's www.orcamedia.net. Again, our link is not here today. We would like to thank our Abledon On Air sponsor, Green Mountain Support Services, Washington County Mental Health, and many others, including the partnership for the Association for the Blind Vermont and the Division for the Blind Vermont. I'm Lawrence Seiler, see you next time. Major sponsors for Abledon On Air include, Green Mountain Support Services, empowering people with disabilities to live home in the community. Washington County Mental Health, where hope and support come together. Media sponsors for Abledon On Air include Park Chester Times, Muslim Community Report, www, this is the Bronx.info, Associated Press Media Editors, New York Power Online Newspaper, U.S. Press Corps Domestic and International, Anchor FM, and Spotify. Partners for Abledon On Air include, Yehad of New York and New England, where everyone belongs, the Orthodox Union, the Division for the Blind and Visually Impaired of Vermont, the Vermont Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Center Vermont Habitat for Humanity, and Montpelier Sustainable Coalition, Montefiore Medical Center of the Bronx, Rose of Kennedy Center of Bronx, New York, Albert Einstein College of Medicine of the Bronx, Abledon On Air has been seen in the following publications, Park Chester Times, www, this is the Bronx.com, New York Power Online Newspaper, Muslim Community Report, www.h.com, and the Montpelier Bridge. Abledon On Air is part of the following organizations, the National Academy of Television, Arts and Sciences, Boston, New England Chapter, and the Society of Professional Journalists.