good evening welcome to the March 11th Commission on disabilities meeting um just like to welcome everyone I'm hoping that Riv TV is uh live streaming and broadcasting this they just don't see it on the local Access TV
channel so hopefully it is up and running um I just want to do the uh start with the Pledge of Allegiance and my trusty little flag here uh I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the Republic
for which it stands one nation under God indivisible with liberty and justice for all um our coach our vice chair uh um Paulie perno is going to be a few minutes late so I will uh I will take
the uh the attendance uh right now um excuse me um myself Dr the chief of the chair is present um Jason Baron um just GNA ask you to unmute and just uh if you could say if you have
your present please Jason Jason yeah yeah thank you thank you and I'll just read mute you um Mario ganis present uh uh Ellie Vargas present uh am
Marie fii present and once Pauline comes in I will Mark her presence like I said she's just going to be um a few minutes late she was stuck in uh traffic commuting back uh home from um from
appointment okay so um as uh as everyone received the uh the emails um on Friday I had sent out uh the agenda for tonight along with the meeting notes from our February um from our February um meeting
so everybody was able to uh to check it over if there was uh if there's any was there if there's anything incorrect please let me know if not if I could have a um a motion to approve
motion motion to approve by Mario in a second second right so moved okay and approved okay uh item number two is updates next steps from our February um
11th meeting we had if there's uh uh any updates from Pauline and Amar regarding the calendar for future monthly guest speakers I know um Pauline was still uh waiting to hear back she has three uh
people in agencies that still have not uh responded back with dates that they were available to come um so needless to say that's why we do not have a guest speaker again for this month's meeting um so I don't know if am Mar if anybody's gten back to you or or if uh
any other members know of anyone to join one of our monthly meetings I know reached out to a business in Wakefield but I'm still awaiting a a reply okay appreciate it okay just update me I won't bother you but if they do get back to you just let
me know you know our meetings are the second Tuesday so uh if they do you know right now we have uh our April meeting is open we don't have any guest speakers for the April meeting so if they're available let me know and then we can coincide with Pauline if she has anybody
for the future months meeting or or we can go from there um just as an update uh the second item uh for updates next steps regard and let us sent to representative chero regarding yourb Crossing safety I had sent that out the
day after our February um 11th meeting um so it was uh emailed to representative turo um uh but I did not uh get any response back so I just wanted to update you but if I do if I do hear anything I will um I will let the
commission know at our next month's meeting um so I just wanted to update you on that and uh and then the third item is the update to the Music Therapy Program in collaboration with r Parx and Recreation dep uh Department which uh is going to
be item number three which is the next item that we will uh we will discuss um so what I will do is I'll just move right on to item number three since that is what it is and discussions regard got in the community Music Center of Boston
proposal um we had an informal meeting um with um with Jen Dugen from Riv Parks and Recreation um and they are very uh amenable to uh partnering with us to offer uh the
programming uh the workshop the start of the workshops so that they were um going to be having a uh a meeting with the Community Music Center uh Bost of Boston I believe that was uh going to happen I
believe yesterday uh and uh then they were going to let me know what the outcome uh of that meeting was to see what the next steps were logistically there has to be um a lot of uh background paperwork that needs to be
done to get them set up as a vendor figure out dates and space availability uh through the rec center that coincides with um with the uh with with both of their agencies to uh make sure
that it works okay I just was notified by Riv TV that we're all setting up and running and live streaming so thank you R TV for that I appreciate it um so um it looks like it's we're we're moving ahead with that music therapy program
for the for the three workshops um I don't know if am Mar if you wanted to add anything on that because you were with the discussions uh with Fox and Rex and they do seem that they they are very willing to uh to uh be a partner with us and they are taking into the next steps
with the the the the um Community Music Center of Boston yeah it's exciting it sounds like it's going to actually happen which is really exciting um after all these months coming to fruition my only thoughts were on our behalf or if there's anything we can think of that we can do
to kind of uh Outreach to let residents in the city know that it's happening can we reach out to Julie Brown to CPAC to the schools to let them yeah yeah once we have yeah once we have once we have once it's solidify with um
River Parx and Rex um getting the the back end of it done getting them on board as a as a vendor and they get the dates then we will get that information and then we can uh notify Juda Brown CPAC we can get it on the city of R's
calendar on their website um and we could you know we can Outreach to wherever necessary and rivox and Rex will also put it on their website and do all that Outreach so it's just a matter of us getting the dates and um that's why I was saying it's better if we can
move this into April um it gives us some time and hopefully we'll have a couple of weeks of publicizing uh this once we have the dates and whatnot so it's just a matter of uh getting all the legistics and all the paperwork and everything done um so
hopefully within the next day or two I will get notified on how that meeting went yesterday between both the river W and uh Boston Community Music Center uh and um I'm sure they'll be sending uh sending me an email and letting you know
and then I will I will be sure to uh to let everyone know um how that goes so that we can do Outreach and uh go from there on that sounds great great yeah um I don't know if anyone has any uh questions or concerns on that just as a
just as a point of information it's a music therapy program it's not them teaching instruments it's basically a Therapy Program just uh we just wanted to put that back out there it's not that they're going to be teaching students um
of all abilities um mostly students uh young adults and and uh children with disabilities um just different uh therapy uh programs uh for them and the workshops are going to basically be for their parents and caregivers uh to let
them know what the expectations is and what the program will be about is that's uh uh F Mar if you want to add anything more to that uh because I know you've had a lot of talks with Boston Music Center uh more than I have so I just wanted I gave a basic
information but if there's any more you want to add to that please feel free to no I I think you've pretty much touched on you know the workshops and the the actual therapy classes that are happening um I don't don't know that we've
necessarily have like a cap on the age range so if it's like young children teenagers young adults it's I think it's open to all and then based off of who we get by age range then uh the community
center will break up the classes what it SS like so if we need to have multiple classes after the workshop because we have a lot of young kids and a a lot of young adults they'll be willing to break up to class size to accommodate yep and we're going to cap it I believe um once
after the workshops and we see we have it's going to be a cap of uh I believe that they want to try and keep it at uh under 15 if I remember correctly from our initial calls with them um it's better to keep it under 15 um 15 people uh per
per therapy therapy uh music therapy class but what like I said what we're going to do is once we once we see what what the the demand is for it then we Pro we will have hopefully we'll be able to have more than one session uh session
is not going to be just one class we'll sit down with um with Boston music therapy program and we'll we'll basically uh go by what they suggest each session how many weeks each session should be um and then we will do it you
know I'm hoping that we can do this um seasonal or or whatever we decide that we want to do so that we can offer more than just one time a year um and if we have to do it in different uh age brackets what they suggest that we do it
but we'll know once we have the workshops and what we have for a um uh an inquiry of people that want to be participating in it yes yep okay all right perfect um so the um if any does
anyone have any questions or or concerns on that it looks like that more than likely um I'm I'm thinking that this may be taking place uh either at the rec center depending upon the time and the availability or as the Garfield
Community Center um the Garfield when we had initial talks with um Fox and Rex they're thinking possibly the gothfield community center depending on the timing of it because they think they have a a perect space that it could be that could be utilized for something like this so
like I said we'll know more more when when we get specific dates and time we can save the all right so next I'm gonna go on to um item number four which is Coda which is the commission on disabilities
Alliance meeting which was on Mon uh on Wednesday March 5th um I'm not sure if Ellie you were there for that weren't you I can't I can't remember I was there for a little bit okay okay all right so I'm
just going to go over a couple of things that uh were mentioned on that DPC which is the Disability Policy Consortium who is the agency that helps run those quoda meetings mentioned that they have released their uh 2025 advocacy agenda
uh which can be found on their website um they also mentioned and sent out emails along with um I I believe the Boston Independent Living Center has also sent out emails on this um regarding um CCA which is a Commonwealth
Care Alliance has faced um some challenging Financial um Financial um issues uh and uh it's an agency that the disability Community relies on heavily uh so DPC has asked the state to take
them on take them into a receivership uh because of you know how many people rely on them and because of the financial uh issues that they're having um they do not want to see um this agency uh go go
by the wayside and then uh all these people are stranded with nothing uh I'm not sure if any um any of our members know anything about um CCA or have CCA and want to talk on that um but I'll
open it up to any of our members but I just wanted to let that um be a be mentioned um Jason are you aware of CCA at [Music] all I will take that as no Alli do you
know anything of CCA I know you do a lot of advocacy I seen you went off mute Ellie but I'm not sure if you you do okay you talking to me I thought you were talking to someone else yes I'm I'm with CCA as my main Insurance okay so you're with them
so you know the troubles and you've been if you've been made aware of that they've been asked uh the uh that they've been asked to be taken into receive a ship from the state yeah yeah there's a lot of stuff going on like it took me about five months to get a case
manager like showing up in September and I just got one like maybe two weeks ago and I've been hearing from the grave Vine from other organizations and nonprofits that they are dropping the ball and it's really ticking off the state especially
in the federal area yeah okay so that's why I just wanted to make people be aware of that so that's why I figured that would be a a great thing to mention that we discuss that's one of the concerns I have r with it is with a
company such as that because it is a uh you know part of the SE class of the insurers of Medicare this is exactly what I get afraid of and this is where this is what you run into uh now let's say Ellie decides to get off the problem
may be like other people what you have to do then to get other plans to help you is you have to then fill out forms and may or may not medically qualify so that's another concern so I want to put that out there because it ties into that that that
is you know some real concerns um but I can't say I'm surprised either if it a receiver ship though wouldn't that be a benefit though if the state takes it over so financially it' be fiscally sound could be but it could also hurt I
mean it all depends on the solvency and what they can come up with I know I know both DPC and Boston Center for live Independent Living are are heavily involved well I'm glad to hear that I hope it I hope it puts some peace for
people that are on it but this is one of the reasons why I don't go on those sea plants this is a concern yeah um yeah piggy piggy back off of that um I got it because I went on my mom's uh retirement which screwed up my Social Security and
yada y yada The only positive thing about CCA is they uh for example I have uh the f I've been in bed all day I called them up they sent a paramedic unit they usually the staff is really really kind and they're understanding
I'm really ashamed that they're dropping the ball I wouldn't agree the federal should take it over maybe have a checks and balances have them being supervised with people but uh it would be state it wouldn't be federal state I'm just
concerned now with the wave of what's going on everywhere I'm just I but they need to have checks and balances so they don't drop the ball and you know everyone should have the care they need don't doesn't matter of a pre-existing or whatever but yes I've
been seeing that and I will contact PPC to see if yeah contact yeah you can contact them all the bus and Independent Living Center but if I'm not mistaken when something's taken into receivership they they automatically find not necessarily
the state but they'll find somebody to take over that agency somebody independent um to to take over it wouldn't be necessarily the state um so they'll find somebody to be a moderator and take over that that that uh that
agency so it affects the staff and and what they already have going well because they have a good amount of um on on call nurses doctors and and uh Behavioral Health Team I use all their
services but yeah what we already experienced it's they having a lot of bad issues as well so hopefully correct that yeah okay great great well hopefully something good will come about
it um the next the next item was that uh DPC mentioned that they are also eval evaluating how they will support advocacy with their state and local Partners on the federal level um you know because there's a lot of people are
you know there's a lot of information out there about Federal problems with Federal programs and whatnot um I just want to reiterate um whatever's happening on the federal level um I as I as I always tell people you're lucky that we're in
Massachusetts Massachusetts we are one of the better States um and uh we we have a lot of a lot of programs of fun through the state so not that it's going to put everybody at ease but a lot of
programs are that the state has a funded through the state and not only and then they don't rely on federal on federal money um so um please just just realize that um the state the state of Massachusetts is in a lot better
position than other states uh in the US I agree with that yeah so uh please just uh don't please don't panic before you have to panic and don't always listen to the news so just take one day at a
time yeah do is YouTube snippets because if you watch news too much you get depressed it's exactly exactly exactly um the next thing was the uh the Newberry report Commission of disabilities they gave a a a brief
update on a program um that they mentioned before that they're they're in the middle implementing which is the project Lifesaver um I believe I updated the uh Commission on that a uh um a few meetings ago they're in the process right now for their police department
will be begin the training soon on that so I believe I had sent everybody the information it's it's called project Lifesaver uh and I believe you can look it up uh Google search Project Lifesaver and you can find the information on that but they're in the uh they're in the the
stages now that the police department is going going to be as going to begin the uh the training on that um next that I have is uh item five was commission members late informational items um anything that doesn't have to
be discussed are are voted on uh we can you know anything that any public announcements or any informational messages I'm not sure if any uh commission members have anything um I'll let any commission members go first first and then I will uh I will make an
announcement that I have so I'll open it up I'll start with uh whoever wants to has anything it wants to go please uh let me know I I just got to say is uh last Monday I went to the capital with the uh what is it uh
press meeting of hands off of housing um they Tred to send a letter from the commission on uh housing to HUD to the new director and they denied access and had cops remove them from the building I was there for 2 hours it was amazing if
you look it up on the internet you can find it but it was amazing there was about 150 people there and there was a bunch of nonprofit organization and a lot of federal employees thank you thank you for going and doing
that um anyone else all right so I will make a a nice announcement that I have um I was um I was sent an email the other day with some great news um as you know I applied
again for a grant um and received a an accept an acceptance award notice from Save The Bay save the hob to save the bay better beaches program which is the grant that
we were able to run the all abilities day out at Riv Beach last year um in this email that they had sent me an award letter there were 168 organizations or individuals that applied this year for it which is more
than they've gotten um we were one of the 75 organizations individuals that were awarded the grant again we last last year um we were awarded uh
$3500 this year um happy to say we were awarded $5,000 so what that means is we need to put on a bigger better and more exciting uh all all abilities
day out at Riva Beach this year um so I'm going to need input and help from everyone this year uh I'm going to um do exactly what we did last year and look for more things to add try
and get some other vendors if we have to pay for other vendors or other other uh amenities to be there I'm going to look for ideas and anyone else to let me know so that we could have that there um I
have to now apply for um the DC permit um but we I did the letter of memorandum to them already uh accepting the grants so uh I think that's great news that we were uh awarded the grant again with an increase because I had asked for a
little bit more money because I wanted to be able to increase the program since last year was the first year and offer uh be able to see what we can do uh to make it uh bigger and better since this will be the second year so we're going to need ideas and help from everybody on
the commission and I'm hoping this year uh that we can get a better location hopefully the location I originally wanted last year um to put this on um and uh Ellie I'm gonna need you to go knock on somebody's door that we will
talk offline yeah yeah like I I was gonna say R call me because I was there in person and I know how it was and I want to give a throw some ideas and whoever I need to visit wink wink I will definitely do it because we need to do
this and because I was the reason why I the other reason why I want it in the other location is for you know people with mobility issues it's be much easier for them to access like yourself you've seen that you couldn't get to where we
wanted you to get because of how how how the entrance is to get there you couldn't get down to the tables or anything like that so we need to have it in a better area so that we can really set it up better and and have the the the the mats getting right to where our
tables are tables in front of that so we can have everything there um so uh that's what I I want to do and I'm looking for any help any ideas and I really would appreciate it if we can have all our commission members there um
so I I have to what I have to do is send the tenative date to DCR make sure that date is open for the beach to do it but it looks like tentatively it is going to be in August uh I have to give them three dates my and I want to work around
uh a couple of big events that I know are happening rev so we're not on the same date so it's not going to be it's not going to interfere with the uh sand castles it's not going to interfere with root to rier so I looked what those dates are so tentatively this is just
tenative date that I'm looking at the second Saturday in August but this is just tentative right now uh that you know we'll have to see if that date is available uh but that's what I'm looking to do because uh that date does not look
to coincide with with any of those other two big events question on that Ralph though it sand castle for example that gets a lot of attention would yeah but you they will not if there's a big event down there you can't
have an event there got it so they don't want you even though even attendance and awareness because the purpose is education under disabilities so yeah I thought and that's because they get so many it might yeah and the other the other problem is too is because of an
event like us we need to especially uh if people are coming uh in in Van accessible uh mobility and vans that are accessible they're going to need to Pok right in front of the area that we're having it and events like the sand
castles or like that the beach is closed right and you know what I'm saying so we have to take that into account um and things of that nature R I was wondering is there a possibility I don't know if it is but
maybe get like I would volunteer during the sand castles if we had like a booth or something to spread the word about you know the commission on disability yada Y and connect with other local programs I I just thought I thought of Ita could I've done it for a few events
myself before we haven't gotten a lot of traction um because when you do it there's there's like re you can talk we can reach out to the rare Beach partnership um the the thing with the sand castles is that you have people
coming from all over the place it's not local um so we want to try and do events that are are for the community like any any community events you want to see about tabling at like
when there're um as a suggestion um uh like farmers markets or or things like that that the community has or um they I'm trying to think they they once in a while they run some health
fairs at the high school um you table an event there uh things like that yeah or or the church or I remember there was a couple times Church doing public events at the beach so maybe offline you could tell me what type of events and if I have free I don't mind sitting behind a
table supporting our organization yeah definitely definitely no that's definitely that that that could be uh that could that could work um so I didn't know if anybody else wanted to comment on that but please
think of of of uh activities and things that we could bring to this event to make it a bigger event and if anybody knows anybody in um radio TV ways to publicize this anything like that except for the you know we publicize in the the
local media we publicize it through the rec center we publicize it through the city website through the mayor's office uh emails go out through the city of River's office um so if there's any other ways that we can publicize it
you're always willing to take any suggestions or if anybody knows anyone anybody knows anyone at the local TV at the uh the TV stations or anything like that um because really want to hype this up I'm actually going to talk to um the
winter Commission on disabilities they had a very large event last year I believe at at bellile Marsh um so I want to talk to them about what type of vendors they brought in and paid uh and see if any of those type of vendors we could bring into our beach event if it
if it's if it's something that we could bring to the beach uh also want to see how they publicized it um to get some suggestions on that so anybody that anybody knows anyone or any ideas please feel free to reach out to them and then reach out to me uh you can find costs
whatever you did and then we can we can take it from there have the solid dates yet you're just talking about maybe we um the August but like that's not like definite the dates yet right right yeah tentatively the date that I'm that
I'm targeting is the the second uh second Saturday in August let me take a look I have to give them three three dates and I believe I gave
them August 9th August 2nd and I can't remember and I think maybe August 16th I can't remember the third dat i' have to
look at the letter that I filled out because I I I can't remember if R wrot to R was the 16th or the 23rd um and uh I'm and I think that the sand castles is
usually uh uh is is some time before the before the third weekend of July either the third second or the first weekend in July so I wanted to stay away from those because I looked on their website and the date wasn't set yet so I wanted to tentatively stay away from those dates
right now but I'm gonna I want to do it on a Saturday you don't want to do it during the week you don't want to do it on a Sunday because usually Sunday is more of a family day um and you know it's be tough for people to come on a Sunday
whereas Saturday is a day that people do like to go to the beach and we did have some families that came from um from far away last year and Saturday was a good day for them um because usually Sundays people if they're coming from far away
there's a lot of traffic on Sundays going back home so Sundays is not that convenient for them um so that's why I'm looking at but once once I send in my application to DCR with the exact three three dates I will let everybody know
but I know I am shooting for I really want to have it the second the second Saturday uh in August the 9th you should you should definitely try Ralph contact 7 News since they do a lot of things like that and the family was in
is into those things it may very well help I mean they literally are into so many events they they would love something like that that's how they were that's how he grew up and how he ran his business so knowing that I think uh
seven news Anon family they were that's how best buddies got to where it is because of what they did and all their donations and stuff that's how they are that's how they operated even in South Florida he owned two stations before he passed away with Co unfortunately um
they were they were always like that he they used to be NBC stations and then they became independent that's how he got known yeah for news but one of their things that they're known for doing uh they have an Anon Family Foundation and they do a lot of things and his kids are still keeping it and so the reason I'm
saying is that they love this kind of stuff and like to publicize it and do things about it because they like to put positive things out there so I think you might have a real shot at getting them to you know and they have a huge viewing area so it will including South Florida you never know because they have two
stations you never know what'll happen and it might how trying to reach out to them once we have a date yeah exactly and I would definitely you know I think they'll would you be able to reach out to them I can try once you're have a date I me but I mean I know coming from you it's probably going to be a little
different than coming from me but you know since you're the commission head you know that may as a chair so I'll be happy to try but I figure you know it's worth the try well you can put send reach out and have them contact me but let's once I get the solidify then we could try that yeah definitely yeah I
agree if we have more hands spreading the word the better exactly exactly exactly because this is you know even though it's in Rivier we want this re we would love this to be Regional like the one in the one in East Boston the one that they do at East Boston Constitution
Beach it's not just for residents in East Boston um it's it's actually done by an agency in Malden that uses Constitution Beach and it's from people from all over to go that go to the one that that's run Constitution Beach so that's like that that was my
goal goal I know last year was a little quieter but it was the first year but I really want this to [Music] expand so all right so um did anybody have anything else that they wanted to talk on that or any other
informational with there there none on that I'm just going to go to item number six was r as in its concerns or issues um I just wanted to let everyone know that the Commission on disabilities uh phone uh voicemail is fixed so
voicemails can now be left it's now back back in working so you can leave a voicemail and we will get back to you um there was a little bit of issue but thanks to uh the the Rivier City Hall it department they helped me get that issue
corrected so that is now all set and it's been up and running since um right after our last commission meeting um I got that taken care of um so uh I don't have any residents concerns or issues um that wanted that
anyone wanted me to speak about um next steps is I will continue working on um filing any paperwork that I need for this um Save The Hub to save the bay better Beach grants uh is um I'm not
sure I know that that that paperwork needs to be submitted to DCR by April but I'm not sure uh when they're going to let me know what what date if my date that I picked um is fine with them but I will keep everybody updated on that so
I'll just keep that as a Next Step just any updates on that grant program uh we'll also any updates on the Music Therapy Program collaboration with Rivia pox and Rex will be kept as an update for next meeting and the usual updates
from Pauline and uh regarding calendar for future monthly guests um and uh lastly any updates uh regarding the the the letter that was sent to Belta Riv Beach crossing safety
so I'll keep those items on right on there for uh for next steps um item number eight is our reminder Pauline must have really got stuck in traffic uh she must be she must be stuck coming down Route One um so so I will read the
reminder uh the commission on disabilities office number is 781 286 8267 residents can also call R 311 directly and speak to their staff Monday through Friday they will answer most questions but if they cannot or if you
want to talk to our department directly ask to be transferred to the disabilities office phone number please leave a detailed message and someone will get back to you soon as always don't hesitate to contact us if you want want something discussed or added to our monthly meeting agenda you can also let
us know if you want to discuss any concerns the commissioner is here to help and assist all the disable residents and family brevier um can I have a motion to adjourn motion to ajour and a
second you want be a second did somebody second it re second it okay second and our next meeting will be on Tuesday April 8th uh at 6 pm thank
you as always uh and I appreciate I always appreciate you joining me and uh doing everything that you can I appreciate it and have a good night bye bye good night okay