10 years of Grand Rapids' drug needle exchange program: Why backers say it works

On a recent Thursday evening, a heroin addict stepped through a Heartside neighborhood door and did what some would have thought impossible in West Michigan.

He legally traded his dirty needles for a free batch of new syringes, a simple swap experts say reduces the spread of AIDS, hepatitis C and other diseases.

The Clean Works program at 54 S. Division Ave. in Grand Rapids has been in business just over 10 years, armed with evidence it is paying off.

“It works. It works on many levels,” said Tami VandenBerg, chairwoman of the Grand Rapids Red Project, the nonprofit organization that oversees the program. It is marking its 10th anniversary with a 6:30 p.m. reception Saturday at the Pyramid Scheme in downtown Grand Rapids.

When Grand Rapids Mayor John Logie proposed a needle exchange in 1997, about 25 percent of those living with AIDS or the HIV virus in Kent County contracted it from injection drug use.

That figure has plummeted to about 5 percent, a reduction VandenBerg attributes primarily to needle exchanges. Part of the drop may be due to the death of some those injection users counted in the 1997 numbers.

www.mlive.com/news/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/06/10_years_of_grand_rapids_drug.html

Girls on the Run Teaches Confidence in Battle Creek

Since early March, young girls involved in Girls on the Run trained and prepared not only for Thursday night's 5K run through Binder Park Zoo, but for life in general.

"It basically empowers girls with a greater sense of self-awareness and achievement, a sense of community and just becoming a strong, confident young woman," council director Carrie Wilson said.

The race ended with high-fives, camera flashes and smiles from participants and spectators alike. For first-year coach of the St. Joe team, Jodee Cape, it was easy to see how much the girls have enjoyed their journey.

"The girls absolutely love it," Cape said. "On our last day, we told them, 'Tuesday is the party and Thursday is the run,' and they were all really bummed out because they just enjoyed it so much."

www.battlecreekenquirer.com/article/20110603/NEWS01/106030309/Running-purpose

Allegan County Volunteer Medical Corps starts with free clinic

For a few hours on Saturday, ... Fennville High School was a free medical clinic.

That brief transformation was due to an Allegan County United Way effort to create a Volunteer Medical Corps to serve the underinsured, something organizers believe is the first of its kind in the state.

Using a $49,000 Volunteer Michigan grant, the largest of seven awarded throughout the state, the United Way purchased electronic medical records software, laptop computers and iPads and four portable exam tables in the lead-up to organizing the one-day free clinic.

United Way volunteer coordinator Karen Hancock-Owen said 32 individuals were given medical treatments between the clinic’s 9 a.m.-to-5 a.m. hours, though many more received ancillary services for needs such as family planning and mental health. The effort’s 76 volunteers were prepared to provide services for as many as 100 patients.

“It went wonderfully,” Hancock-Owen said. “People came in throughout the day.”

She said that in some cases, the clinic was able to provide help for more immediate problems.

“One person found out they had pneumonia; we were able to set them up with medication,” Hancock-Owen said. The student concession area by the school gym served as a pharmacy for the day, stocked with sample packs of medications provided by area medical establishments. “A family with strep throat came in, and we were able to treat them.”

Allegan County Health Department’s medical director, Dr. Rick Tooker, volunteered his time during the clinic and said it served to educate the patients.

“We’re trying to help them understand when they really “We’re trying to help them understand when they really need to seek medical help,” he said. “It’s a teachable moment.”

www.allegannews.com/articles/2011/05/30/local_news/2.txt

Budget-saving changes to welfare could break the bank for Michigan families

Four years ago, Orintha Petrimoulx was holding down two jobs and working her way off welfare. An unexpected pregnancy and premature birth left her without employment and a new, full-time role as caretaker for her special-needs son.

Now, the single mother of two provides for her family on $489 a month in cash assistance and dreams of the day when she can be self-sufficient.

She says two bills moving through the Michigan legislature could crush those dreams.

“It’s really concerning,” she said. “I was hoping to be able to get out on my own within a year, but if this goes through, I won’t even be able to pay my bills.”

State legislators are looking to trim the budget for the Department of Human Services by enforcing a tight 48-month limit on cash assistance for families, saving the state $60 million.

If it passes, Petrimoulx would lose all of her cash benefits.

Local low-income advocates and families contend that the $60 million savings isn’t worth the havoc these changes will wreak on the most vulnerable in the community.

“The repercussions of this decision are enormous,” said Jackie Doig, senior staff attorney at the Center for Civil Justice in Saginaw. “It will mean a complete loss of cash assistance to some of the most vulnerable families, particularly in families where a parent has to stay home to care for a child with disabilities.”

www.mlive.com/news/bay-city/index.ssf/2011/05/budget-saving_changes_to_welfa.html

Does Michigan Treat Inmates Better Than School Children?

Michigan should treat its schoolchildren as well as it treats its prisoners, says Nathan Bootz, the Ithaca schools superintendent.

Bootz makes the suggestion in a letter to Gov. Rick Snyder that’s getting lots of attention on the Internet. Here’s an excerpt from the letter:

“Consider the life of a Michigan prisoner. They get three square meals a day. Access to free health care. Internet. Cable television. Access to a library. A weight room. Computer lab. They can earn a degree. A roof over their heads. Clothing. Everything we just listed we do not provide to our school children,” Bootz’s letter reads...

www.mlive.com/opinion/kalamazoo/index.ssf/2011/05/julie_mack_column_does_michiga.html

GR Press Editorial: Why Michigan's public defender system needs reform

For poor people in Michigan, justice is uncertain and at times unattainable. A recent report from the Campaign for Justice, a coalition seeking to change the state’s dismal system for indigent defense, highlights the need for reform.

The report details 13 cases of men who were wrongly convicted or, at least, convicted on suspect grounds. In each case, the men received an inadequate defense because of court-provided attorneys who did not have the time, resources or ability to adequately do the job.

Michigan is one of only seven states that leaves trial-level indigent defense entirely to counties. Counties set their own pay rates for attorneys and maintain wildly varied standards for representation. In Wayne County, for instance, part-time public defenders handle as many as 2,800 cases each year, an unworkable caseload that far exceeds national standards for public defenders.

No surprise then that Michigan has one of the worst public defender systems in the nation, according to a 2008 report from the National Legal Aid and Defender Association...

www.mlive.com/opinion/grand-rapids/index.ssf/2011/05/editorial_why_michigans_public.html

The full Campaign for Justice report can be found at:

www.michigancampaignforjustice.org/docs/MI_failedjustice_bookletFINAL.pdf

State Budget Eliminates Funding to Help the Poor Bury Their Dead

Governor Snyder and the Republican leadership have a basic agreement about the budget. Final details will be worked out in conference committee. There are major cuts to the state budget. Advocates for the poor are celebrating that they were able to save some programs from being scrapped completely, although many were cut back. Here's one program which did not survive.

Barely noticed by those of us in the media, the budget will eliminate a program that helps poor families bury their dead. Michigan has been among about a dozen states which set aside money to help. The state would help pay for a cheap casket, basically a cloth-covered fiberboard box. Most cemeteries require some kind of concrete box or vault. The cheapest, is called a rough box. State funds paid for it and a basic funeral service and then someone to dig the grave.

As recently as ten years ago, the average payment to help a family bury a loved one was $1290. The state reduced the rate over the years. Since 2007, the maximum the state would pay is $700. Last year the average payment was $569.

Now, families will be on their own.

Nationally, the average funeral costs about $7000. Struggling families cannot afford it.

www.michiganradio.org/post/no-state-help-bury-poor

Truancy Academy Formed with School and Family Court Partnership

A truancy academy that works with potential dropouts is helping students stay in school and graduate, an official told the Berrien County Board of Trustees' administration committee Thursday.

The academy, operated by Berrien Springs Public Schools and the Family Division of Berrien County Trial Court, is to remain open for the 2011-12 school year.

The academy provides classroom instruction for about 20 children ages 12-14 each semester.

The school also works with kids in other areas, among them conflict resolution skills and appropriate social behavior, said Julie Weber, who coordinates the program.

"Our goal is to address, for one semester, the issues that can stand in the way of acceptable attendance," Weber said.

Weber works for Berrien Springs schools, which took over the program last year after the Berrien Regional Education Service Agency ended its involvement.

The truancy academy serves all 13 school districts in the county, although three do not participate, she said.

In operation since 2000, the academy uses a building provided by the county on Dean's Hill Road in Berrien Township. The budget for the current school year is about $160,000, said Ellen Hasse, business manager for Berrien Springs schools.

www.heraldpalladium.com/articles/2011/05/22/local_news/4849712.txt

The Lost Generation of the Great Recession

The brutal job market brought on by the recession has been hard on everyone, but especially devastating on the youngest members of the labor force.

About 60% of recent graduates have not been able to find a full-time job in their chosen profession, according to job placement firm Adecco.

And for those just entering the workplace, a bout of long-term unemployment can affect their career plans for years to come.

Meghan O'Halloran was one of those who had her career derailed by the timing of her graduation.

She left Cornell University with a degree in architecture and six summers of internships at top firms in New York, Milan and London.

"I thought getting a job would be a snap," she said.

But after graduating in December 2008, just as job losses in the economy were reaching a high point, she was confronted with a very cold reception into the labor force.

finance.yahoo.com/career-work/article/112754/recession-lost-generation-cnnmoney

Van Buren County Volunteer Income Tax Preparers Enjoy Annual Appreciation Dinner

Over 60 volunteers at 18 sites throughout Van Buren County spent hundreds of volunteer hours helping low to moderate income families eFile their income taxes through the IRS-sponsored VITA tax program.

Those volunteers were honored at the annual Tax Volunteer Appreciation Dinner, held May 2 at the Van Buren Intermediate School District Conference Center.

The following awards were presented to:

*New Tax Site Awards - Gobles and Decatur.
*Outstanding Tax Site Coordinators - Jim Sebree and Jeanette Ball.
*Outstanding Service Awards were presented to Dick Olsen and Dave Bugge for their years of dedicated service to the VITA tax program.

More than 1,000 tax returns were filed this season, with an average federal refund of $1,200 and average state return of just under $500.

www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=20461206&BRD=2188&PAG=461&dept_id=560374&rfi=6