ARK ADVOCATES - NEWS & VIEWS

Volume 14, Issue 2 — Published Irregularly; ARK Advocates P.O. Box 3024; Dubuque, IA 52004-3024 October 2012 Web Site: www.arkadvocates.org; E-Mail: [email protected]

THIRTEENTH ANNUAL WALK/FUN DAY 2012 By Barb Tubbs, Executive Secretary

ARK Advocates Board of Directors is busy with plans for the 13th annual community event that helps to raise awareness for ARK Advocates - who we are, what we do, and the many services we provide to families of persons with disabilities.

The goal of this community event ARK Advocates Walk/Fun Day is to pair up people with and without disabilities in order to have a fun day filled with , games, an inflatable slide and bounce house, food, and music. Come and join the fun on Saturday, November 17, 2012 at Loras College Graber Center - indoor track. Time of the event will be from 1:00 - 4:00 P.M.

The purpose of the walk is:  To create greater awareness in the Dubuque area for what ARK Advocates is and the types of services the ARK can provide to families;  To provide a social event for our participants;  To raise money that will be used to fund ongoing programming in addition to adding new programs and services for persons with disabilities.

Participants are encouraged to pair up prior to the walk, but if a “partner” is needed you may also be paired up at the door. Our hope is to “fill the ARK” with laughter, happiness and funds to provide addi- tional programming and services in our community.

We will be sending information to businesses in our area, schools, local membership, and family donors. If you are contacted, please take the time to fill out your donation form. Remember no donation is too small. We are also in need of volunteers to be greeters, help register participants, and be “partners”. If you know of a person(s) with disabilities, please invite them to come to the walk. In the past this has been a special day for all who have participated and we hope to continue this tradition.

MARK YOUR CALENDARS now for this fun event! Again this year we are having prizes for the persons with the top three total pledge amounts.

If you have any questions, want to make a contribution, or would like to get involved in any way, contact Barb Tubbs at the office voice mail 556-1785. Your participation in this event is greatly appreciated by all those we advocate for, their families, and caregivers.

See you Saturday, November 17 at Loras College Graber Center!!!!

Together we do make a difference.

ARK Advocates - NEWS & VIEWS

ARK Advocates ADVOCACY - RESPECT - KNOWLEDGE ADVOCATING FOR AND SERVING PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES

A COMMUNITY-WIDE WALK & FUN DAY LORAS COLLEGE - GRABER CENTER - INDOOR TRACK NOVEMBER 17, 2012 1:00 - 4:00 P.M. CALL 556-1785 FOR MORE INFORMATION Website: www.arkadvocates.org ARK Advocates - NEWS & VIEWS

ARK Advocates Walk/Fun Day Sponsorship Form

Yes! We would like to participate by contributing to the ARK Walk/ Fun Day to be held on November 17, 2012 from 1:00 - 4:00 P.M. at Loras College’s Graber Center – indoor track.

We are enclosing the following contribution $

Sponsor's Name or Company:

Address:

Telephone:

I would like to volunteer by: helping with promotions helping to pair walkers helping serve refreshments the day of the event helping register participants

Donor Signature:

Please forward this form along with your contribution to ARK Advocates at P.O. Box 3024, Dubuque, IA 52004-3024. All donations are tax deductible.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONTRIBUTION

Treasurer/Executive Secretary Signature:

Date:

ARK Advocates - NEWS & VIEWS

ARK’s First Annual Roll & Sole-A-Thon a huge Success!!! By Aulanda Krause, President

Four years ago, Peggy Roling came to the ARK Board with an idea of a lending library for our community. The Lending Library Committee worked diligently on a plan to start a local lending library. In order to make the plan a reality, funds needed to be raised to purchase much needed adaptive equipment for individuals with disabilities. Our first annual “Roll & Sole-A-Thon” was just the kick-off we needed.

The event was held at the Mystique Community Ice Arena on April 21, 2012. We were blessed with beautiful weather and surrounded by wonderful people. During the event Peggy Roling and Kelly Heysinger, with the assistance from the Clarke COSPT, managed a physical therapy booth. Individuals with disabilities were able to try out equipment such as walkers and adaptive bikes provided by Rifton Equipment and Freedom Concepts. The Eastern Iowa Roller Derby Outlaws provided face painting and balloon creations. The DJ provided us with wonderful entertainment and great music, which filled us with energy. Free Flight led a 20 mile endurance ride for our avid riders, while the Community Policing Unit rode with the kids and led a bike ride along the river. Kids and families had a blast riding their bicycles and participating in the activities!

This event would not have been possible without the support of private donations and sponsorships from the community. ARK Advocates Board of Directors wishes to thank the many sponsors and donors for helping us to surpass our goal of three adaptive bikes! To date, a total of $15,210.00 has been raised for the Adaptive Equipment Lending Library. The money raised was received from participants, grants and sponsorships. The funds will be used to purchase adaptive equipment, maintenance of equipment and the operational costs of the library. In addition to the cash donations we received a large equipment donation from Medline and Rifton companies as well as in kind offerings from many other local businesses. We are so grateful for the support received.

The many volunteers helped make my first experience chairing a big event truly successful. I could not have managed without the dedication of the volunteers, Lending Library Committee Members, Clarke COSPT, Mystique Community Ice Arena, Dubuque Fighting Saints, Dubuque Community Policing Unit, Eastern Iowa Outlaws, Free Flight and countless community partners.

Thank you to all of our sponsors, volunteers, supporters and participants for making our first annual “Roll & Sole-a-thon” a huge success!

Please see the list of sponsors included in this newsletter and on our website www.arkadvocates.org

3 Top Raising Teams

#1 Team Gassman #2 Team Fulton Steamers #3 Team Road Rath Roll & Sole-A-Thon 2012

Thank you to all of our Roll & Sole-A-Thon sponsors!

Look No Hands:

Unicycle:

Two Wheeler:

Big Wheel: Dubuque Advertiser Eide Bailly Great River Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery

Training Wheels: Body and Soul Briggs Family Dentistry The Finley Hospital Julie and Jeff Haufe Jim Kircher and Associates McCullough Creative Dubuque Bicycle Club Unified Therapy ARK Advocates - NEWS & VIEWS

Dubuque Racing Association Awards Grant to ARK Advocates

In May of 2012, the Dubuque Racing Association (DRA) awarded a grant of $ 9,996.00 to ARK Advocates. The grant funds were used to purchase adaptive equipment for the ARK Advocates Adaptive Equipment Lending Library. Equipment purchased through the grant included a large stander, adaptive stroller, large bath chair, medium , Go Talk, weighted blankets and vests, and noise reduction ear muffs.

The DRA’s grant award has made it possible for ARK Advocates to purchase much needed adaptive equipment inventory for the library. All of the equipment purchased through the DRA Grant will be available for check-out through the lending library. The library will allow individuals with disabilities and their families access to bath chairs, adaptive chairs, standers, adaptive bicycles, gait trainers and many other items at no cost.

To learn more about how you can donate to or check-out items from the ARK Advocates Adaptive Equipment Lending Library, please visit http://arkadvocates.org/support_lending.htm.

Do you need a date night? A breather? A break or a just a nap??

Then stay tuned for our Fall Respite Event…date TBA!!! ARK Advocates will serve 3-12 year olds with disabilities in a safe, fun and engaging environment!!!! Have your children come join the activities and take a little time for yourself….you deserve it. ARK Advocates - NEWS & VIEWS

Coming Soon: ARK’s Adaptive Equipment Lending Library By Aulanda, Krause, President

ARK Advocates would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers and supporters for allowing us to make the lending library a reality. Often the cost of equipment prevents those with special needs the access they deserve. With your help, we have surpassed our goal and we are excited to give back to our community. We are in the process of working out all of the details to make the Adaptive Equipment Lending Library fully functional. Our hope is that it will be completed within the next month.

The library will allow people with special needs and their families to “check out” needed equipment. Currently, we have equipment in the areas of mobility, sensory and communication. We will have available such things as bath chairs, adaptive bicycles, adaptive swing, , walkers, canes, as well as weighted blankets, and communication devices. Our hope is to continue to assess the needs of those in our community and grow the library to meet those needs. We will have pictures of equipment and the application forms on our website under the support section titled Lending Library.

Thank you for making a difference in the lives of so many today and for years to come. www.arkadvocates.org

We would like to send a special thank you to all of the Lending Library Committee members for all of their tireless work on this project. Especially, Peggy Roling for having this dream, which became all of ours.

Aulanda Krause Peggy Roling Gina Blean Kelly Heysinger Jean Wuertzer Sharon Dalton Brooke Gassman Jerry Schmidt Katie Flynn

Jennifer McFadden Liz Kemp Sue Hahn

Membership Alert! ARK Advocates is currently updating the way we track membership! Instead of sending membership reminders every January, we will be sending letters out according to the month in which we received your membership and dues….so if you sent in your membership in July, you will get a renewal reminder letter the following July. We feel this will ease confu- sion about when memberships are due and streamline our bookkeeping. If you haven’t heard from us in a while, please take this time to consider renewing your membership….and tell your friends and family about us!!! And as always, thank you for your past support…we couldn’t do it without you!!! Check out our new features on our Website www.arkadvocates.org

We are now accepting donations online from our website using Pay Pal.

Upcoming Events will be added to a Google calendar on our Website’s “Events” page. Events ARK hosts as well as community events will be added to this calendar as a way to inform individuals and their families. In addition, if you know of events to add to our calendar, please contact us.

ARK would like to specially thank Mark Cooper for all of his hard work making our website easier to access for everyone. If you have any website needs contact Mr. Cooper at [email protected]

Please “LIKE” us and become connected to us on Facebook.

Go to www.facebook.com/pages/ARK-Advocates/125158977548687

ARK Advocates supports Unified

Therapies Make a Difference 5K You can win this awesome Run/Walk to support Autism. Weber John Deere Edition Way to go Team ARK! Tailgate Gas Grill

Compliments of Mi-T-M Corp.

$1.00 Per Chance or 6 Chances for $5.00

Drawing at the Walk and Fun Day

Do Not Need To Be Present To Win ARK Advocates Gives Awards By Jean Wuertzer

The annual ARK Advocates membership meeting and potluck was held Tuesday, May 22nd at the Kehl Center at Albrecht Acres. There was a great turnout of members and guests, music was enjoyed by Bob Slattery of Fun-N-Games, and many awards were handed out. The award winners and categories are as follow:

Advocate of the Year: Presented to Cassie Banwarth, a senior at Hempstead High School, and nominated by teacher, Laura Ludwig. Cassie was awarded for her countless hours spent with students with disabilities at Hempstead as a peer helper for 3 semesters, as an adaptive wellness assistant with Special Olympics for 5 semesters, as well as taking the time to accompany the students to Special Olympics bowling, winter games, and track and field. She volunteers her time throughout the day to assist life skills students to do the recycling around the school and proudly took on the job of working one-to-one with some of the more challenging students in the class. Cassie’s commitment, dedication, and passion in advocating for the students make her very deserving of this award.

Volunteer of the Year: Presented to Kevin Steussy, a doctoral student in physical therapy at Clarke University. Kevin served as a dedicated volunteer for the ARK Advocates first ever Roll & Sole-a-Thon, both as a committee member and through his ability to find and coordinate volunteers from Clarke University and their Organization of Physical Therapists to cover parking lot duty at the Dubuque Fighting Saints to raise funds for the event. This same group of over 15 students assisted with the Roll & Sole event. Kevin donated countless hours to see that that the new Lending Library got off to a good start.

Citizenship Award: Presented to Danny Boyer, a young man with his own challenges, because of his ever willingness to be a “helper” wherever and whenever needed. Danny has been assisting faithful- ly for 15 years with the Up with Families weekend event running errands, playing with the kids, set- ting up, cleaning up, and always with a big smile on his face. Additionally Danny is a volunteer at the Dubuque Humane Society, doing laundry, playing with animals, and walking the dogs; he helps at his church; assists an elderly neighbor to get her mail each day; and even helps in the grocery store when he sees someone in need. Danny volunteers because of the good feelings that come from helping others and giving of one’s time. He is an exemplary model of a good citizen.

Service Provider of the Year: Awarded to Lutheran Services of Iowa, specifically staff members Stephanie Lange, Rick Stuter, Sara Avenarius, Dan Felderman, Ron Hammel, Jo Rolle, and Debbie Devenuta. These staff were nominated by Rick and Karen Bahl and their family for the dedication, commitment and enhancement of their son Scott’s life. LSI and the staff have gone the extra mile for him and his unique disabilities by adapting, organizing, and creating a course of action to enable him to communicate, learn, and be a member of the community. They are passionate, caring, positive, and adaptive and not only teachers and mentors, but most importantly, friends of Scott’s. It was because of their hard work and assistance that Scott was able to move into a residential home of his own this past summer.

Distinguished Community Service/Community Inclusion: Awarded to Mindframe Theater and the owners Grant and Marcya Grudzina and Scott Thompson. The theater was awarded the community inclusion award because of their willingness as a business to go above and beyond for students with autism. They were nominated by teachers in the Autism Department at Eisenhower Elementary School. Mindframe opened their doors, staffed the snack bar, and allowed students to practice waiting in line, order popcorn and drinks, make requests, use a public bathroom, sit in a dark, loud theater, and use appropriate manners. They worked over the course of the school year to make the experience positive so that the students are all now able to attend the movies just like the general public does. Mindframe did all of this without requesting or expecting any compensation and have expanded the opportunities for growth to many students on the autism spectrum. Teacher of the Year – Regular Education: Awarded to Jenny Parkin, a 2nd grade teacher at Eisenhower School and nominated by the principal, Nan Welch. Jenny was nominated because of her leadership in bringing together a mixed classroom of general and special education students that stands out from the rest. She truly integrates each and every student into all activities. Jenny also shows deep appreciation of the gifts that special education students bring to her classroom as well as the life-long lessons all of her students learn from one another. She helps to make connections between students, is patient and kind, and a truly great example of how to be an advocate for inclu- sion in the classroom, a leader and example to her colleagues.

Teacher of the Year – Special Education: Awarded to Margaret Dolan, a special education life skills teacher at Table Mound Elementary School and nominated by parents Jodi and Jason Hooks on behalf of their daughter. Margaret was nominated because of her ability to be that one special person in our growing-up years who supports us in academics, is a mentor, an enforcer, an example, a springboard for ideas, as well as a sounding board. The Hooks family stated that she understands that the road is not always easy, but understands that the rewards that can be found by loving a child with special needs far outweigh the struggles. This attitude has helped the Hooks family learn to celebrate every success with their daughter and through each success, have the opportunity to achieve more. Margaret was also recognized for her enthusiasm, energy in the classroom, guidance, and knowledge.

Hello Friends of ARK Advocates! ARK Advocates would like to extend a warm thank you to Jean Wuertzer for her leadership and guidance as ARK’s President over the past four years. As she passes the hat to me, I promise to continue to spread the word of ARK’s mission and to serve those who have special needs within our community. For those of you who do not know me, I am a special education teacher in the Dubuque Community School District. One of my favorite parts of being a teacher is supporting my families and that is how I found ARK Advocates 13 years ago. I have been a member of the ARK Board of Directors since 2007. During this time, I have served as an active member volunteering and helping host several of our events. Our respites dates are one of them. Although we only offer two per year at this time, it is one of the greatest ways to allow caregivers a much needed break. Hopefully, we will increase our number of dates in the future. We are currently looking for someone to replace me as the organizer of our respite events. We are also looking for someone to assist with securing volunteers for our events. Let us know if you would be interested. In addition, my biggest accomplishment while I’ve been on the board was chairing the Roll & Sole-A-Thon event this past year to fund our new Adaptive Equipment Lending Library. All of these things have been wonderful to be a part of and I hope to continue to work with our passionate Board to help ARK Advocates grow. Please consider becoming more involved in ARK Advocates organiza- tion, whether to volunteer a couple times per year at one of our events or serve on a committee or the board. We value any time you are able to give to our community. Please contact me anytime with questions or con- cerns at [email protected]. Here is to a great year! Sincerely, Aulanda Krause ARK Advocates P.O. Box 3024 Dubuque, IA 52004-3024

ARK Advocates 2012 Membership Application “I can’t do it alone, you can’t do it alone, we can do it together!” Name:______Street Adress:______City:______State:______Zip:______E-Mail Address:______Phone Number:______

 Individual membership $ 30.00  Family membership $ 50.00  Partnership member $100.00 If you do not wish to have your name published in our newsletter, please mark yes_____ or no_____.

Please make your checks payable to ARK Advocates at P.O. Box 3024, Dubuque, Iowa 54224-3024

Those who choose partnership member will be recognized in our newsletter. Remember, your dues are tax deductible and affirm your belief in and commitment to children and adults with disabilities. Membership dues and donations support individuals in you community.