Miss-Delectable
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Losing 'non-essential' services hurts | StarTribune.com
In St. Paul, Rhonda Nelson, who is deaf and blind, just lost her eyes and ears to the world. The aide who helps her go grocery shopping, to doctor's appointments, to the post office and other appointments has been deemed non-essential in the state government shutdown.
For someone who already spends most of her days in dark silence, losing the service is heartbreaking. "I'm basically stuck at home," said Nelson, 65, a former disabilities educator from St. Paul, speaking through an interpreter.
Across Minnesota, the shutdown that began Friday is more than a story of inconvenience for the needy or vulnerable who depend on state services or spending. Many of their lives are being upended.
Programs that help get families out of homeless shelters, allow single parents to stay in the workforce, provide safe havens for battered women and allow those with disabilities to enjoy everyday life have suddenly lost funding and are teetering on the edge of closure.
Nelson, like roughly 150 other blind and deaf Minnesotans, has lost her state-funded "support service provider." These are assistants who don't offer health care or formal interpreting but act instead as the eyes and ears of deaf-blind Minnesotans when they are out in the community.
She's done her best to prepare for the new hardship. "I tried to think of everything,'' Nelson said. "I have checks in the envelopes for my bills in July and August so they're ready to go. I stocked up on food. Got my prescriptions. ... It's stressful."
The aide she has lost helped her find food at the grocery store, complete forms at medical offices, even joined her in a YMCA pool to ensure her safety as she exercises. She will continue to receive help in bathing and getting dressed, and can get rides to appointments with Metro Mobility -- the transportation service pledged to continue offering rides even if it loses its state reimbursements.
But she is otherwise left alone, and at the mercy of those at the Capitol.
"I don't think it's morally ethical to do this," Nelson said. "I don't know what to do.''
Lawmakers on both sides agreed that services for some of the most vulnerable Minnesotans needed to continue, and they approved funding in this year's budget bills for them. Nelson thought the issue was settled, but areas of consensus fell victim to the larger disagreement over final spending figures and revenue sources.
In St. Paul, Rhonda Nelson, who is deaf and blind, just lost her eyes and ears to the world. The aide who helps her go grocery shopping, to doctor's appointments, to the post office and other appointments has been deemed non-essential in the state government shutdown.
For someone who already spends most of her days in dark silence, losing the service is heartbreaking. "I'm basically stuck at home," said Nelson, 65, a former disabilities educator from St. Paul, speaking through an interpreter.
Across Minnesota, the shutdown that began Friday is more than a story of inconvenience for the needy or vulnerable who depend on state services or spending. Many of their lives are being upended.
Programs that help get families out of homeless shelters, allow single parents to stay in the workforce, provide safe havens for battered women and allow those with disabilities to enjoy everyday life have suddenly lost funding and are teetering on the edge of closure.
Nelson, like roughly 150 other blind and deaf Minnesotans, has lost her state-funded "support service provider." These are assistants who don't offer health care or formal interpreting but act instead as the eyes and ears of deaf-blind Minnesotans when they are out in the community.
She's done her best to prepare for the new hardship. "I tried to think of everything,'' Nelson said. "I have checks in the envelopes for my bills in July and August so they're ready to go. I stocked up on food. Got my prescriptions. ... It's stressful."
The aide she has lost helped her find food at the grocery store, complete forms at medical offices, even joined her in a YMCA pool to ensure her safety as she exercises. She will continue to receive help in bathing and getting dressed, and can get rides to appointments with Metro Mobility -- the transportation service pledged to continue offering rides even if it loses its state reimbursements.
But she is otherwise left alone, and at the mercy of those at the Capitol.
"I don't think it's morally ethical to do this," Nelson said. "I don't know what to do.''
Lawmakers on both sides agreed that services for some of the most vulnerable Minnesotans needed to continue, and they approved funding in this year's budget bills for them. Nelson thought the issue was settled, but areas of consensus fell victim to the larger disagreement over final spending figures and revenue sources.
