September 06, 2006
MetroCard Bus, Van Coming To Queens
MetroCard buses and vans will make scheduled stops in Queens during the month of September.
Senior citizens and persons with disabilities may apply for the Reduced Fare MetroCard on MetroCard buses or may obtain an application from the vans. Seniors must present photo identification proving that they are at least 65 years old.
Read the rest of "MetroCard Bus, Van Coming To Queens".Posted by Michelle at 11:58 PM | Comments (0)
July 22, 2006
Pataki says "no" to Queens/Nassau Bus Rides
Governor George Pataki has vetoed a bill that would have allowed seniors and the disabled to use free bus services from Queens into Nassau and vice versa for doctor's visits.
Read the rest of "Pataki says "no" to Queens/Nassau Bus Rides".Posted by Michelle at 12:48 AM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2006
New Plan Opens More Queens Shelters
Many political officials had criticized the city's previous evacuation plan after cities like New Orleans and Houston seemed to underestimate the difficult of mass evacuations. During a series of public hearings on the topic, officials said the City's plan relied too heavily on public transportation and did not adequately address the needs of elderly and disabled residents.
The new plan clearly makes an effort to address those concerns. OEM officials say they have learned from the experiences of local responders sent to help federal agencies during Katrina and Rita, applying those lessons to their updated strategy.
More attention will also be placed on ensuring the readiness of vulnerable populations in nursing homes and hospitals. The Fire Department will visit those facilities up to 72 hours prior to an evacuation order to determine their preparedness.
"We need to make sure our most vulnerable are safe in case of emergency," said Peter Vallone Jr. (D-Astoria), chairman of the Council Public Safety Committee. "We need to learn from New Orleans, where they suffered the deadliest effects of not being prepared. It was almost inexcusable what the government allowed to happen... and in New York City, it’s not going to happen here."
Read the rest of "New Plan Opens More Queens Shelters".Posted by Michelle at 11:04 AM | Comments (0)
March 20, 2006
St. John’s Center for Community Services Opens on Union Turnpike
Professional services provided under the auspices of St. John's University that are available to the public--psychological counseling and testing, speech and hearing evaluations and therapy, and literacy skills remediation--previously located in separate quarters on the Queens campus, have been relocated to 152-11 Union Turnpike (between 152nd and 153rd Street) as part of the University's strategic plan which calls for making them accessible to the community from a single location.
Read the rest of "St. John’s Center for Community Services Opens on Union Turnpike".Posted by Michelle at 02:22 PM | Comments (0)
February 23, 2006
Surcharge plan fuels tenant rally
Scott said the proposed fuel surcharge would help "bridge the gap" between the actual expense increase and the amount budgeted for in the last budget rent determination. Every three months, management will review operating costs to assess whether the surcharge could be lowered or eliminated, Scott said.
He added that elderly and disabled renters could be eligible for surcharge exemptions, "so it's not as dire as it sounds."
Read the rest of "Surcharge plan fuels tenant rally".Posted by Michelle at 02:45 AM | Comments (0)
January 26, 2006
Activists Accuse State Of Denying Chinese Immigrant Benefits Unlawfully
Community activists are rallying behind a disabled Chinese immigrant from Queens whom they say is being denied benefits because she can't speak English.
Ping Zhang Guan of Flushing came to the United States five years ago and was working as a home health aid when an accident left the 64-year-old disabled and unable to work.
Read the rest of "Activists Accuse State Of Denying Chinese Immigrant Benefits Unlawfully".Posted by Michelle at 12:15 AM | Comments (0)
December 29, 2005
Help sought for autism center
The city's first center dedicated to families and children living with autism and developmental disabilities could be built in Queens if New York Families for Autistic Children acquires additional funds and a new location.
The proposed $5.5 million, 130,000- square-foot center, which would serve as the new headquarters of the Ozone Park organization, has already received some government aid.
Plans call for the facility to provide medical and dental services, recreational facilities and an educational resource center not just for children with autism and disabilities, but their families as well.
Read the rest of "Help sought for autism center".Posted by Michelle at 06:51 PM | Comments (0)
December 23, 2005
Queens-Based Adoption Service Announces Year Of The Teen
Adoption subsidies are one way to encourage families to adopt disabled, older, or other hard-to-place children. Subsidies provide a monthly stipend to adoptive parents. There is also a federal tax credit for parents who adopt kids over the age of 11.
Liberal state adoption laws grease the wheels further, allowing same-sex couples, singles, older people and disabled people to adopt.
Nonetheless, as kids in the foster care system grow closer to age 18, their chances of being adopted become slimmer. "These kids are desperate for a permanent family," Blechner said, and finding homes for those teenagers can be a challenge.
Read the rest of "Queens-Based Adoption Service Announces Year Of The Teen".Posted by Michelle at 04:36 PM | Comments (0)
December 22, 2005
Padavan "Champion of Service"
Goodwill Industries in Astoria awarded its first annual "Champion of Service Award" to state Senator Frank Padavan (R-C, Bellerose) on Monday in recognition of his "outstanding work with people with disabilities and other disadvantages."
Read the rest of "Padavan "Champion of Service"".Posted by Michelle at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
November 13, 2005
Disabled man dies in Queens fire
A disabled man watching television at his uncle's Queens house died when a fast-moving blaze apparently sparked by a space heater tore through the home early yesterday.
Read the rest of "Disabled man dies in Queens fire".Posted by Michelle at 07:13 PM | Comments (0)
November 12, 2005
Teacher Says She Got Sick At Work: Claims Blood-To-Blood Contact Gave Her Liver Ailment Hepatitis C
Lori Baron says she loves the kids she works with, even the one that gave her a debilitating disease.
For the past 11 years, Baron has worked as a teacher's aide with emotionally disturbed and physically disabled children at Beach Channel High School in Queens.
...In the last two years, the teachers' union has received reports of 128 staff members who've had blood-to-blood contact with students. Under federal guidelines, teachers in these high-risk situations are supposed to receive training, protective gear like gloves and aprons and free hepatitis B vaccinations.
But recent inspections by the New York State Labor Department have found the city's plan to be lacking. Since 2004, the Department of Education has been slapped with 14 violations, and currently faces fines of more than $40,000.
"We do not understand why the board pays no attention to this but it is really putting its employees, and its students, in terrible danger," teachers' union president Randi Weingarten said.
Read the rest of "Teacher Says She Got Sick At Work: Claims Blood-To-Blood Contact Gave Her Liver Ailment Hepatitis C".Posted by Michelle at 06:27 PM | Comments (0)
October 08, 2005
Assemblyman Aims To Solve Seniors’ Transportation Problem
A local lawmaker is pushing a bill to give Queens senior citizens better access to Nassau County doctors.
Assemblyman Mark Weprin is co-sponsoring a bill that would require the MTA to allow its Access-A-Ride service to transport senior citizens five miles into Nassau County. That would be far enough to reach clusters of doctors patronized by thousands of Queens seniors, he said.
Read the rest of "Assemblyman Aims To Solve Seniors’ Transportation Problem".Posted by Michelle at 11:20 PM | Comments (0)
September 23, 2005
Driver, matron charged with leaving 5-year-old boy alone on bus
A bus driver and matron have been charged with child endangerment for leaving a 5-year-old learning disabled boy alone on a parked school bus for more than an hour, prosecutors said Thursday.
The boy was picked up at his home at 7:10 a.m. Tuesday to be taken to P.S. 118, the Queens district attorney's office said in a news release. A passer-by found him "crying hysterically" on the empty bus at about 10:20 a.m., the DA's office said.
Read the rest of "Driver, matron charged with leaving 5-year-old boy alone on bus".Posted by Michelle at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
September 06, 2005
Heartbreak hotel: Queens house is home to children in country illegally
Faced with these many obstacles, their determined advocates pull no punches.
Malik Jarno, a mentally disabled Guinean orphan, has received more than $1 million worth of Nugent's legal advice, and his case remains unresolved. Nugent even went to Paris and Africa to interview a dozen people who could back up Jarno's claim that as the son of a well-known political dissident, he'll be killed if he returns home.
Read the rest of "Heartbreak hotel: Queens house is home to children in country illegally".Posted by Michelle at 12:24 AM | Comments (0)
August 25, 2005
Making Special Education Work For Your Child In Queens
New York City has many resources and programs for children with special needs, but navigating the system is no easy feat. As Patricia Cruz, president of the President's Council, District 75, which runs the public special education schools in the city, puts it, "Once your child has been diagnosed, put on your boxing gloves, because you'll be fighting your way through the system) until he graduates."
Read the rest of "Making Special Education Work For Your Child In Queens".Posted by Michelle at 03:59 PM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2005
Out-of-control truck clips boy, kills disabled man
A disabled Queens man was killed Thursday when a truck driver lost control, clipped an 11-year-old boy and then smashed into a man in a wheelchair outside his home, police said.
Read the rest of "Out-of-control truck clips boy, kills disabled man".Posted by Michelle at 07:28 PM | Comments (0)
July 30, 2005
NY1 For You: Disabled Woman Says Wheelchair Lift Vendor Took Her For A Ride
An elderly, disabled woman in Queens is desperate for help after she says a wheelchair lift vendor took her for a ride.
Read the rest of "NY1 For You: Disabled Woman Says Wheelchair Lift Vendor Took Her For A Ride".Posted by Michelle at 11:31 PM | Comments (0)
July 01, 2005
Volunteer Opportunities
Helping Hand for the Disabled needs volunteers who can read, shop and run errands for blind persons. Call Alice Crespo at 718-274-5089.
Read the rest of "Volunteer Opportunities".Posted by Michelle at 11:12 AM | Comments (0)