Take a chance and dance

Posted on March 26, 2015 by comm5775

Story and video by SHANNON O’CONNOR

Watch why people of all ages love to dance.

What does dance mean? Dance is a form of fitness that is fun, physical, mental, and social. Everyone should experience the local dance community because it is tight-knit and welcomes people of all ages, genders, races and body types.

“I started dancing in Utah because people are more open and nonjudgmental,” Myles Ozo said.

Ozo moved to Utah from Virginia. He thought the dance community there was intimidating and the people were snobby. But Ozo felt welcomed with open arms in Utah, and now enjoys the expression of dance.

Elite Dance Studio, located at 4026 S. 2700 East in Holladay, offers classes in jazz, hip-hop, ballet, silks, clogging and choreography. Lesley Smith is the founder and owner of Elite. Her fun-loving personality is shown through her purple, blue, and pink highlights in her hair. Smith is extremely hands-on and goes to the studio almost every day to make sure everything runs smoothly.

Due to Smith’s high involvement in the studio, her amount of family time suffers. “It has impacted my family’s life for the good and bad. I have missed out on a lot of my kids’ childhood … and I’m not home to help with homework or go to games or just hang out.” Even though Smith and her family have made a lot of sacrifices, she believes it has been worthwhile. “It has been a good place for my girls to call home and get to be a part of something special,” she said.

Elite is a special studio that is set apart by the relationship between the students and teachers. The unity at the studio is appealing for those wanting to dance and grow physically while having fun.

“We are a more reasonable dance studio so we have a large number of students,” Smith said. “The teachers care about the kids like their own and it is well known in this community that we are like a family.” The family factor is why Elite celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2014. Everyone at the studio has gained relationships over the years that will last a lifetime.

A local studio that emphasizes fitness more than technique is Baile Dance Fitness Studio at 2030 S. 900 East.

“Get an infusion of fun in your fitness routine,” said owner Joni Chapa.

Baile opened in August 2013. Chapa and her instructors infuse fitness into a variety of dance styles such as pop, rock, ballet, hip-hop, Latin, Jamaican and samba.

“I see bodies changing and people getting better at moving,” Chapa said. She believes people are more inclined to exercise when they take a class where they are having fun while getting fit. Chapa has seen it with her own eyes. People evolve from being reserved to letting loose and enjoying dance.

Dancing is not for a specific type of person. Participants don’t have to be extremely flexible, have great musicality, or even have experience. Individuals can start at any age and level and have fun discovering new possibilities of movement.

Pam Ziebell started dancing when she was 50 and she feels better than ever. “It’s exhilarating and I don’t feel like I’m too old,” she said. “Everybody just goes in there and has a blast!”

Molly Buonforte, 25, started dancing when she was 19 and participates in local dance battles, shows and classes.

“I love to dance because I love getting to be someone I’m not,” she said. “I love getting to be a diva or feel like I own the world, when in reality I’m a huge nerd.” Buonforte said for her and almost every dancer, dancing is more than a physical sport. Dancing is about committing and being mentally in tune with your emotions.

Another form of dance that transforms individuals into someone else is pole fitness. It’s a way to gain strength, a solid core and confidence.

“Pole fitness will give you that hourglass shape that everyone wants,” said Kelley Mountford, owner of La Bombe Pole Fitness.

Mountford opened the studio on Feb. 2, 2012, at 1850 S. 300 West in Salt Lake City. Pole fitness is a form of dance that requires a partner. But instead of that partner being another person, it’s a pole. It “challenges you mentally and physically,” she said.

When thinking of someone pole dancing, it’s natural to picture a physically fit beautiful person. Mountford has been a teacher and a student for many years and says that’s not the case. “I’ve watched people come and go to the studio,” she said, “and their mentality changes to, ‘This is my body and I know what it can do whether it’s big or small!’” La Bombe Pole Fitness is a diverse place where people can let go and progress.

There are local dance studios in Utah for every type of person. Elite, Baile and La Bombe Pole Fitness offer different forms of dance fitness that could be the right fit for you.

“For [first-timers] there is a learning curve and they need to have a positive mentality and just have fun,” Baile owner Joni Chapa said in a phone interview.

Step outside of your house or gym and into a dance studio. Get physically fit by dancing and take a chance and dance!

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My ride-along with Meals on Wheels

Posted on April 17, 2014 by comm5775

Story and slideshow by IAN SMITH

Experience the ride-along as we delivered meals to about 70 homes.

 

From the moment I hopped into the truck I knew I was in for more than I could have ever expected. I saw the route list. I saw the 70-plus houses that I was going to have to visit. I was excited about the journey I was about to embark on.

The emotions that I would feel throughout the day were making me shake. It wasn’t the feeling of fear, however, more of just a heightened sense of things.

The Salt Lake County Meals on Wheels program was the right choice for me to bring out my emotions on paper. The program itself has an eligibility that older adults must meet to become part of the program.

I walked downstairs and met my driver for the day, John Neerings. I quickly noticed his big smile. It put me at ease. Usually there is some tension between two people when they first meet, but that feeling was nowhere to be found when I was with him.

Of course, we took our time so he could show me exactly where all the meals are cooked and processed. He began walking around the kitchen, which is in the basement of the south county building on 2001 S. State St. I was surprised to see how fast all the employees and volunteers worked.

Meals were taken to different trucks, which were outfitted with a refrigerator and a warming oven. Drivers then quickly left on their routes.

Neerings showed me how the holding section of his truck worked. He had controls by the steering wheel that regulated the temperature.

We got everything ready and it was time for my ride-along. He packed me a Coke and muffins for the ride.

Vital to the community

Jeremy Hart, the independent aging program manager of Salt Lake County Aging and Adult Services, said he realized how important the program is to the community once he experienced a ride-along for himself.

In a phone interview, he talked about how vital the meals are for people’s overall health. He told me that the recipients get one-third of their required dietary intake with the meal they get daily.

Hart said the program is growing quickly. Meals on Wheels delivers 1,300 meals per day and currently has around 1,500 clients. In 2013, he said, 330,000 meals — 11,000 more than the previous year — were delivered in Salt Lake County alone.

The volunteer support is substantial. One-third of the drivers who deliver the meals are volunteers. Hart said having them is important to the community and keeps the program from having to start a waiting list for clients.

“The senior population is going to be expanding exponentially by 2020,” he said. “Really soon you’ll have more seniors than you’ll have school-aged kids.”

Meals on Wheels is “a godsend”

As we pulled out of the parking lot, I asked Neerings how he likes his job. The response was more than I had imagined.

“I do love the clients,” he said. “I do care about them. I feel like I’ve got 80 grandmas. I love the job and the people and it gets me exercise.”

Neerings said he enjoys being that “sparkle in their eyes.” That is what motivates him to get going every day — so much so that one of his clients told him the same happy story for about a month straight.

I could see in his eyes that he was struggling when the topic of death was mentioned. I asked if he has many instances of clients who die. He said it happens too often.

I asked Neerings about negative events he’s been through. When he related a few troubling stories, I knew I was in for a long day of emotions.

One client fell during the night and broke her hip. She was unable to reach her phone, so she lay on the floor for hours. Neerings found her in the morning when he brought her a meal. He said he had trouble sleeping for weeks because of it.

Our route took us to places around the city that I didn’t even know were there. Some places I’d like to forget; others were really nice and clean.

One stop after another, we checked homes off the delivery list. We often stayed for longer visits with clients.

June Poulton, 86, who lives near Highland High School, called Meals on Wheels “a godsend.”

“They are the most wonderful people,” she said. “The treat you with respect. They are so comfortable and the food is always so good.”

After visiting about 20 more houses, we talked with Ruth Newbold, 89. She said the food is very good and nutritious and that every once in a while, the driver brings her a treat just to be polite.

Many of the older adults we talked with were very emotional. For example, a woman named Beth was in tears because her son was having some health problems. She looked so lonely. Neerings tried to help her, but there wasn’t that much he could do.

We got back into the truck and an urge to cry came over me. Neerings said he has dealt with instances like that in the past and it is never really easy for him to handle.

“They unload on you when you get there,” he said. “They just need someone to talk to.” He said that Beth was one of the stronger women whom we would be seeing all day.

Neerings also has to deal with frightening situations. Toward the end of the ride, we drove through one of the roughest neighborhoods I’ve ever seen in Utah. As we pulled up to a motel, I was shocked by the awful conditions that Neerings faces weekly. But, he still stopped and said hello to everyone.

As the ride came to an end, he told me about some of his clients who have made him appreciate his job and his health. Neerings, who is 74,  looked forward to returning to the county building in the morning and starting all over again.

Filed under: Aging, Food & Restaurants, Health & Fitness, Nonprofits, Organizations | Tagged: | Leave a comment »

Salt Lake City couple takes PALS program into their own hands

Posted on April 10, 2014 by comm5775

Story and slideshow by STACEY WORSTER

Spend time looking at adoptable pets and meet PALS volunteers Carol and Eric Hochstadt.

The Placing Animals with Loving Seniors (PALS) program managed by The Humane Society of Utah benefits both the owner and animal.

Meghan Zach, a volunteer at the Humane Society, said, “It is very beneficial to both the animal and the owner when the owner is in need of a companion and something to worry about, and the animal gets a new loving owner.”

The Humane Society of Utah, located at 4242 South and 300 West, offers low-price deals to people age 65 and older who are looking for a new addition to their life. The adoption fee is waived when they adopt a dog or cat that is at least 8 years old.

“It gives the seniors something to focus on, a reason to get out of the house,” Zach said.

“A lot of the younger dogs are far too energetic for an older adult to take in,” she said in the foyer of the Humane Society. “That is why we strongly push the older dogs for the seniors to adopt.”

Zach said that when an older adult walks in the door, the adoption counselor on duty always asks about their future plans as a pet owner and arrangements that are in place if an emergency were to occur.

“Unfortunately,” she said, “animals are mostly viewed as property so a lot of people are asked if they have a plan if something unexpected were to happen.”

Zach said helping people pick out their new addition is one of her favorite things to do while volunteering.

“It is different helping seniors pick out their new pet because they have decades of experience,” she said. “It is so fun so hear their stories, they love telling them as well.”

Zach is unsure how many older adults adopt pets at the Humane Society of Utah.

“We don’t keep numbers of who buys what dog,” she said. “I usually do at least two or three senior adoptions a week, and I am just one of six adoption counselors so I am sure the other counselors help seniors as well.”

The Humane Society uses word-of-mouth and advertising to spread the word about the PALS program.

“We have two volunteers that go to the senior living centers, we have the PALS program listed on our website and in newspapers,” Zach said. “Every year the advertising to seniors increases, we are just trying to help them find a friend and companion.”

Eric and Carol Hochstadt have taken the PALS program into their own hands.

“We have been volunteering for The Humane Society of Utah since September of 2009,” Eric said. “After retiring we felt that we could do something more to help the dogs in the shelter, this is when we came across the PALS program.”

The couple has spearheaded the program since October 2013. “Making seniors aware of this opportunity is our hope and desire,” Carol said.

Eric said, “We think our work is effective, and the program is progressing if there is awareness.”

So far, the couple only have anecdotal evidence of the program’s success. They hope counselors will begin noting whether an adoption is through the PALS program so they can gather quantitative data.

“Seniors are smart enough to know that there are plenty of costs that go along with owning an animal,” Carol said.

“Just because they get an animal for small cost or free of charge does not mean it won’t be an expensive purchase,” she said.

The Hochstadts said they are passionate about making older adults mindful of all the options that are available to them.

“Even if they don’t go and adopt an animal, it is interaction for them. As long as we’re helping them, we want to be there,” Eric said.

Carol added, “If seniors decide that owning a pet is not the best idea, they can still come to the Humane Society and walk the dogs. It can give them a sense of responsibility and self-worth.”

Walking a dog can help people strike up conversations with strangers. This is another benefit for an older adult who owns an animal.

“It is very important to have interactions if you want to stay sharp throughout aging,” Carol said. “Having a pet opens up that line of communication. Think of the walks you have gone on and recognized someone’s animal and a conversation started because of the pet.”

The biggest addition to the PALS program is the monthly and sometimes weekly visits the Hochstadts make to different Salt Lake City senior centers.

“We have checked out many different senior centers around the Salt Lake City area. Most of them told us we could not bring animals in,” Carol said. “This defeated our purpose of coming in because having animals there is the whole goal and best advertisement we could have.”

However, Tenth East Senior Center allowed Eric and Carol to bring in animals during their visits.

“The person we talked to at the Tenth East Senior Center was obviously a dog lover and wanted to encourage seniors to adopt a pet,” Carol said.

Because this center allowed the Hochstadts to bring in animals from the Humane Society, they decided to recontact the directors of the other senior centers in the area.

“We told them that Tenth East was allowing us to bring in dogs, and it is a county facility,” Carol said. “They didn’t know what to say so they agreed to let us bring in dogs, but they had to be small dogs, and we have to bring potty pads.”

The couple’s persistence paid off.

“It was great, an employee from a senior center that was adamant about us leaving animals outside the door changed her mind,” Carol said. The employee told her, “If you’d like to come once a month, you should.”

The employees who work at the senior centers give the Hochstadts a call and let them know when there are going to be a lot of people in the building.

“We usually arrive around a quarter to eleven. People seem to be there before lunchtime,” Carol said. “Then we end up talking for awhile and leave around 12:30 p.m.”

The Millcreek Recreation Center put up a table for the Hochstadts to set up their display and talk about the PALS program.

“We sat right next to a fireplace. It was very inviting for people to come and visit,” she said. “It was great because they would tell us their stories about their pets. Even if they aren’t particularly interested in adopting a pet, they are able to tell their stories.”

Many aspects of the PALS program are altered to impress aging adults, but giving people the option to take home a pet can be comforting — as long as it’s a good match.

Carol said a family adopted a puppy for their aging mother, and one week later returned it.

“They came back to the Humane Society and adopted a 10-year-old dog and she loved it. Perfect temperament,” Carol said.

The Hochstadts have found that pet owners find it comforting to care for an older animal.

“Just as they shouldn’t be put out to pasture and considered not valuable because of their age, the older animals that are turned in to the shelter shouldn’t be ignored and considered unadoptable,” Carol said.

The couple said this volunteer job is incredibly rewarding.

“People we have helped adopt a pet still thank us every time they see us,” Eric said. “They say they cannot imagine life without their companion.”

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Aging in place: 50 years in Winnifred Jardine’s home

Posted on April 3, 2014 by comm5775

Story and photos by MARISSA BODILY

Winnifred Jardine is 94 years old and still living in the same home that she and her husband raised their five children in.

She has lived in her home in East Millcreek for 50 years.

Winnifred Jardine sitting in the home she has lived in for 5o years.

Jardine sits in her office surrounded by pictures of her family, books and her computer with large print. She jokes with her granddaughter, Martha Jardine, and recalls memories and details from years ago.

She begins her day with an aide waking her up and getting her breakfast. The aide reads her the obituaries and editorials and they go over the news. “Today the aide never came and I got up on my own,” Jardine said smiling. “That’s a big no no.” She is not supposed to get out of bed and get ready without someone there to help her.

Then, she said she takes a two- or three-hour nap.  “Doesn’t that just sound heavenly?”

After her nap, a neighbor fixes her lunch and reads with her until her granddaughter Martha comes over. “Martha and I have a little routine. We read together and then I do my things on my computer and she does her thing,” Jardine said. Right now they are reading Elaine Cannon’s biography together. Cannon was a former general president of the Young Women organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Jardine writes letters on her computer and corresponds with friends from college and friends from when her late husband, Stu, was in the Navy. She has also started writing a journal. “I have to type it because no one can read my handwriting,” Jardine said.

Winnifred Jardine's office in her East Millcreek home.

Winnifred Jardine’s office in her East Millcreek home.

She is also working on getting her Young Womanhood Recognition with her 17-year-old neighbor. The award is given by the LDS church after fulfilling several requirements, such as doing service and memorizing scriptures.

“I want something to do,” Jardine said. “I don’t want my brain to die.”

Jardine was a food editor for the Deseret News for 36 years before she retired.

The family has a monthly schedule for taking care of Jardine. Everyone’s name is highlighted in green or red or purple on the calendar so they know who is supposed to be with Jardine.

“My daughter is so determined that I am not going to be here alone,” Jardine said. It’s a complicated schedule, but it works.

“Everyone has their own life and their own circle of friends, but this has really brought them together and increased the love,” she said.

Jardine has five children, 14 grandchildren and 17 great grandchildren with three on the way. She is very proud of her posterity.

Jardine’s granddaughter, Martha, walks a couple of miles from her apartment to come take care of her every day. “The aides are always telling me that so many people don’t have family that is so willing to take care of them like Win does,” Martha Jardine said.

Jardine is among the growing number of older adults who are choosing to age at home. Eighty percent of seniors prefer to grow old in their own homes, according to AARP. Aging in place is when a person stays in the place that they’ve always lived as opposed to moving to an assisted-living facility or care center. It is becoming more possible for aging people to stay in their homes due to personal alert systems, non-slip floor surfaces, bathroom grab bars and other safety features that are becoming more widely available.

In addition, other organizations can help those who want to age in place by providing rides to and from medical appointments and meals brought to their homes. An aide brings Jardine breakfast and dinner every day.

“No one’s goal is to go to a nursing home,” said Anne Palmer Peterson, executive director of the Utah Commission on Aging. Because of services like these, it is becoming increasingly feasible for the aging population to stay in their homes instead of having to live in a nursing home or care center. Opportunities to meet other people through activities at senior centers are also available.

A new phone system that is connected to every room was just installed in Jardine’s home, Martha Jardine said. She also has a phone that is attached to a microphone that dictates what she says and allows her to send letters and see what someone on the other end of the phone is saying to her.

“I don’t see or hear very well anymore,” Jardine said.

The new technology helps to ease her family’s mind. However, “it is all the caretakers that have made it possible for me to stay at home for so long,” she said.

“Stu and I always hoped we could stay in our home and our kids are honoring that,” Jardine said. “Everything has worked out remarkably and I am so blessed.”

Filed under: Aging, Health & Fitness, Profiles | Leave a comment »

Emeritus Salt Lake focuses on building relationships with residents

Posted on March 6, 2014 by comm5775

Story and photo by IAN SMITH

Emeritus Salt Lake offers care to its residents.

Emeritus Salt Lake offers care to its residents.

Picture yourself as an elder, and you know your time on this earth is decreasing. You know you can no longer take care of yourself. You need assistance. To everyone else, it may be time for a nursing home.

You pack up your stuff. Where did the time go, you keep asking yourself? How did life flash that fast and how has it come to this? You set off in the car that takes you to the home. As you pull up your first impression is that it could work for you. But you still have many questions and not that many answers.

“No one wants to go into a nursing home,” said Anne Palmer Peterson, executive director of the Utah Commission on Aging. The Utah Legislature created the commission in 2005 to address issues related to the fast-growing aging population in the state. Peterson said it is a young state, but it also is the “sixth-fastest aging state in the nation.” Among other things, the commission has studied housing options for older adults. The findings were published in New Trends in Housing for Utah’s Aging Population.

“We want people to be thinking proactively about their futures,” she said.

Even so, it can be difficult to leave all of your memories behind you.

The idea of a “nursing home” isn’t too appealing to many people, though.

Brian Culliton, the executive director at Emeritus Salt Lake at 76 South and 500 East, said people have very different opinions of nursing homes.

Every facility is different, whether it’s a nursing home or assisted living center. Some facilities, like Emeritus, offer help for certain issues residents might be dealing with. Dementia, for example, is taken very seriously at the assisted living facility.

“We provide a family orientation with a caretaker,” Culliton said in a phone interview. “We have a well rounded understanding of what that resident’s day looks like. We want to keep it routine. We have other care providers that will come and talk to give a better understanding of the disease.”

Culliton said the staff and volunteers who work at Emeritus Salt Lake are passionate about the work they do and want nothing more than to help the people they are caring for.

Emeritus Salt Lake is located at 76 South 500 East.

Emeritus Salt Lake is located at 76 South 500 East.

“I’m really passionate about attracting the right [residents],” he said. “It’s that feeling of leaving home if anyone has dementia, you’re leaving your familiar space. You’ve been there for 50-plus years and now you’re going to a new space. It goes back to that care.”

Culliton knows that some older adults are afraid to be alone. But, sometimes that fear prevents people from seeking help.

He said Emeritus Salt Lake aims to offer more than just the borderline help. Staff go above and beyond to help the new residents by developing a personal relationship with them as soon as they walk in the door. Residents are given an orientation and shown around the building.

“With assisted living, every department head goes and introduces themselves and gives them the care that they expect,” Culliton said. “We look at it as kind of like a marriage. Know each other right up front. If we look at the process at the point when somebody applies, we go to their house or hospital and get to know the family immediately and when they move in, we talk about what is best and how to care for the seniors.”

Markel Martinez, a resident assistant at Emeritus Salt Lake, knows how important it is to build relationships. He has had residents find friends at the facility and even fall in love.

“I would want the resident to know that I’m there to help them,” Martinez said. “To be their friend that they can trust and talk to.”

Filed under: Aging, Business, Health & Fitness, Medicine, Mental Health | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

Jeremy Chatelain hasn’t let quadriplegia deter him from his goals

Posted on November 7, 2013 by comm5775

Story and graphic by ANGIE BRADSHAW

It was a warm summer day in 1998 in the small town of Emmett, Idaho, where Jeremy Chatelain and his family enjoyed a traditional family vacation. That afternoon they floated down the Payette, a river so sluggish that Chatelain said, “The dead fish would beat them down.”

About 15 feet off the water was a bridge where they would jump off of into the water, an old childhood pastime. Connie, his wife of one year, jumped off and Chatelain dove head first shortly after. Seconds later he learned that the water was only 6 feet deep. He is 6 feet tall. He intensely hit the bottom of the gravel filled river.

On impact, one of his bones was violently shoved into his spinal cord, resulting in a vertebral burst fracture. He couldn’t lift his head, let alone get his face out of the water. Struggling to breathe, he mustered up enough energy to blow several modest bubbles and stay afloat. Moments later his family rushed in to assist and pull him to safety.

“Connie, I can’t move,” he gasped while gazing into the clear blue sky.

After waiting for what felt like forever, Chatelain was finally “life flighted” to Boise, Idaho. He didn’t know just how bad it was, until he arrived at the hospital.

After countless hours of surgery doctors informed him and his family that he would live the rest of his life as a high C5 quadriplegic. That day marked the start of some of the hardest days of Chatelain’s life.

Spinal cord injury

“Perceiving a loved one with a spinal cord injury is like distinguishing the same spirited person, alive and eager, confined and despondent, in an unconscious body,” Connie said in an email interview. “I mourned the loss of Jeremy’s body and all the things he did when it worked. We had to adjust and begin again.”

It took 3 ½ months of rehabilitation for him to learn how to live being paralyzed, as well as time and dedication to grasp the basic functions of daily living.

A year later, he was able to gain back some movement in his arms, allowing him to use a motorized wheelchair. It was no easy task, but Chatelain did not let his disability define him and instead confronted it head on. He said that he couldn’t have done it without his wonderful wife and family by his side.

“I would like to let the community know that what people do to help other people really does make a difference,” Connie said.

He slowly started getting back to what he loved, teaching. He started volunteer teaching at a school in Idaho and pursued a master’s degree at Idaho State University, despite not being able to take his own notes. With perseverance he finished up his master’s of education degree in 2005.

Chatelain and his wife eagerly wanted to start a family but struggled with getting pregnant. They eventually started the adoption process and two years later they finally received an answer to their prayers: a beautiful little baby girl. She had piercing brown eyes with a head of softly tufted brown hair. They chose the name Sarah, after Abraham’s wife in the Bible.

“Sarah gave us something else to think about,” Chatelain said.

When Sarah was about 2, the family found out that their precious daughter had been diagnosed with leukemia. The family endured a 3 ½ year emotional and physical struggle, driving from Idaho to Salt Lake City’s Primary Children’s Hospital for chemotherapy treatments.

The family reports that Sarah has been in remission for six years.

Shortly after graduating in 2005, Chatelain and his wife moved back to Utah, where they are both originally from, to be close to family. While in Utah they tried to adopt a second child. Finally, after seven years of a grueling adoption process that consisted of paperwork, home study and required classes, they finally became proud parents to a second child, a baby boy, Dallin.

Chatelain never lost sight of his goals and over the next couple of years he taught at several high schools in the Weber County area as a religious educator for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Today, you can find him teaching seminary at Fremont High School.  He also travels around as a motivational speaker.

Not only is he teaching, he is also pursuing his Ph.D. at the University of Utah with an expected graduation of 2015. His research focus is First Amendment implications in LDS Church history from 1829-1844. Chatelain is proof that overcoming adversity is possible.

“I would like to compare adjusting to a life event like this to running a marathon,” Connie said. “Starting out, you think you can imagine what it will take, you begin to train and teach yourself how to handle the long distance, but you know you haven’t truly completed the course until you reach and proceed across the finish line. It takes determination to convince ourselves to move forward and thrive through Jeremy’s injury. I must say that it has been rewarding to bring ourselves to increase, even though most every day has been difficult. We still have a long way to go, but we’ve sure come a long way.”

Filed under: Health & Fitness, People with Disabilities, Profiles | Tagged: , | Leave a comment »

TRAILS creating paths to success

Posted on November 5, 2013 by comm5775

Story and photo by NATALIE CHRISTENSEN

TRAILS Brochure

After sustaining a spinal cord injury, it’s hard to get back into life as it was before. But, a program in Salt Lake City called TRAILS can help those individuals become involved in recreational sports.

good picture

Sugar House Park is an area where TRAILS participate in preparing for races and other events. Photo by Natalie Christensen.

TRAILS (Therapeutic Recreation & Independent Lifestyle) helps anyone with a spinal cord injury get out and be active in outdoor recreational sports like skiing, hiking, kayaking and more. The main goal of this program is to help people not just physically, but also spiritually and mentally by keeping a tight community of people affected with spinal injuries.

TRAILS is housed in the University Hospital, which provides most of its funding. Medical residents as well as trained volunteers assist with the program by helping participants in the outdoor activities.

“We have a community of people with spinal injuries,” said Tanja Kari, the TRAILS program coordinator, in a phone interview. “Peer mentors are able to help each other.”

Mentors and participants give advice and share feelings and thoughts about this new part of their life with their peers. According to the TRAILS website, “The Peer/Mentor Program is a collaboration with United Spinal Association and links an experienced mentor to a peer who will work on problem-solving, self-management and assist with assimilation into an active lifestyle.”

Wally Lee has been involved with the program for five years and has really enjoyed it and what it has to offer.

“Having a spinal cord injury and trying to do something is an effort,” Lee said in a phone interview. “It’s a hassle to find transportation. Having a spinal cord injury is hard but everything is there (with TRAILS).”

Lee explained that getting any equipment to do anything with a spinal cord injury makes it hard to do recreational sports and is very expensive. But now that he has access to the equipment he is able to participate in activities he used to do before he became paralyzed.

Because of TRAILS Lee has been able to do recreational activities with not only other participants, but also with his family again. Lee is now teaching others with spinal cord injuries how to play wheelchair tennis,  and do sit skiing as well as other sports.

“I really enjoy it (TRAILS),” Lee said. “Having a wheelchair, you get isolated because you don’t want to be around people in wheelchairs so you end up alone, but with recreation you can integrate back into able bodied recreation.”

TRAILS coordinator Tanja Kari had her arm amputated at birth. She has always been an active athlete, and has been involved with sports for people with disabilities her whole life. She was also a gold medalist in cross country skiing in the 2003 Paralympics. However, she agrees that TRAILS has been a highlight.

“Being disabled is limiting,” Kari said. “Seeing people in the hospital then getting back into activities is incredible. It’s a privilege to be a part of.”

Kari and Jeffrey Rosenbluth M.D., assistant chief of the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at University Hospital, started the program in 2006. Rosenbluth, who specializes in spinal cord injuries, had envisioned this program even before Kari came along. But with a professional in the medical field and an athlete who has been involved with sports for people with disabilities, TRAILS has become a success.

Kari explained that many people who sustain a spinal cord injury don’t usually want to be involved in sports, but when they join TRAILS their attitude changes and they end up loving this new way to participate in recreational sports.

Participants don’t have to be a patient at the University Hospital. It is open to anyone with a spinal injury.

People who are interested in volunteerting with TRAILS don’t have to be a nurse or a professional. Volunteers will be trained in how the equipment works and how they can help the participants with spinal injuries get back into activities that they were once involved in, or try a new sport they didn’t know about.

Filed under: Health & Fitness, People with Disabilities, Sports & Recreation | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

You don’t have to die alone from AIDS in Utah

Posted on January 22, 2013 by comm5775

Story and slideshow by SASCHA BLUME

Visit the Utah AIDS Foundation.

It was the day after Christmas, and it was 25 degrees outside with an abundance of snow on the ground. The building inside was bare, disorganized and in the middle of re-creating itself, the building was busy using the holiday weekend to install new paint and carpet.

The only room that was intact was the decorated memorial room.

The Utah AIDS Foundation was started in 1985 to battle the then AIDS epidemic and worldwide AIDS pandemic.

Today, the Utah AIDS Foundation, located at 1408 S. 1100 East in Salt Lake City, aims to prevent and eradicate AIDS.

In the 1980s and early 1990s there was a stigma around AIDS (Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome).

People thought they could get infected with HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) by playing basketball with an HIV/AIDS-infected person.

People thought that if they shopped in a grocery store with an HIV-infected person they would get AIDS.

In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, the U.S. government provided funding for HIV/AIDS prevention and management for large cities/states.

The horrors of living with HIV/AIDS

The victims of AIDS vomit most of the day, they have continuous diarrhea, and develop purple blotch marks on their skin.

They lose their hair, their ability to eat and the function of their blood.

The intellectual and emotional damage a human who suffers from HIV/AIDS leads to self-isolation and a disproportionally high rate of suicide.

A plan was hatched

“No one talks about AIDS,” said Mario Duran, the MSM (Men who have Sex with Men) and HIV prevention coordinator for the Utah AIDS Foundation.

According to Duran, they want to end that stigma.

In response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic, The Utah AIDS Foundation created a five-point program that is designed to educate the general public and HIV-positive men about HIV/AIDS.

The Five-Point Program

(1)  Testing

At the Utah AIDS Foundation, the general public is welcome and encouraged to come in for a free HIV/AIDS test Monday through Thursday. People are also encouraged to get tested for all sexually transmitted diseases while they are at the foundation.

Brianne Glenn, the HIV/STI testing coordinator for the Utah AIDS Foundation, says everyone who tests gets an “anonymous number and they are referred to, as their number” while they receive HIV/STI testing.

“About 100 to 200 people come in a month for testing and one to two people a month test positive for HIV/AIDS,” Glenn said.

When a person has a preliminary positive test, they are immediately given a more comprehensive HIV/AIDS test. This procedure is called a confirmatory test.

The Utah AIDS Foundation’s free testing isn’t just for gay men. Straight males/females, swinger groups, and any other type of sexually at-risk person is encouraged to participate in the free testing program.

(2)  Gays and Geeks

According to Duran, the Gays and Geeks club was started because “there is so much stigma around gay masculinity and hyper sexuality.” The Gays and Geeks program is designed for HIV-positive men to come together in a safe environment for friendship and support.

The program is also designed to break down gay social stereotypes. For example, there is a common stereotype that gay men are only interested in working out, wearing high end fashion and having promiscuous sex with as many partners as possible.

The group meets once a month, usually at a movie, park or somewhere “geek orientated.” The Gays and Geeks meetings typically host five to 20 people per outing.

(3) 3-D Doctors

Duran said the Doctors, Dudes and Dinner program was an idea that was “borrowed directly from a Baha’i tradition.”

The Utah AIDS Foundation and two volunteers from the University of Utah spend a significant amount of time locating a doctor and venue that is willing to host the event. During this program a doctor will give an hour-long lecture on their specialty. The lecture is then followed by a free dinner.

The Utah AIDS Foundation set up this program as a response to the social stereotypes that gay men face. Many of these stereotypes include the idea that gay men are unhealthy and make irresponsible sexual decisions that heighten their risk for HIV/AIDS infection.

Because there is so much focus on gay men’s sexual health, the Utah AIDS Foundation felt there was a need for gay men to receive free health advice concerning other health issues that they might deal with.

According to the Utah AIDS Foundation’s website, “each 3-D event has a different intriguing health topic, (travel health, relationships, self-compassion, nutrition, skin care, etc.).”

The website also states, “3-D is a stepping stone to start the conversation on normalizing health in conversations about the gay community because of the unique way 3D is structured.”

(4) Outreach

Often on the weekend you will see Duran and a group of highly trained volunteers canvass the downtown Salt Lake bars and nightclubs handing out sex kits.

These sex kits include two condoms, one packet of silicone lubricant, and several promotional cards highlighting the work and contact information for the Utah AIDS Foundation. Workers distribute 75,000 kits annually.

We want to “talk about sex openly, we want to get a contact list and we try to get people in to test,” Duran, said.

That is the reason why they canvass.

The Utah AIDS Foundation is not interested in ending gay sexual relations, even if, having sexual relations means an HIV-positive man is involved.

(5) Case Management

Despite the dramatic decrease in HIV/AIDS infectious disease cases, people still get HIV/AIDS. When a person tests positive for HIV/AIDS, the Utah AIDS Foundation relies on a few staff members to help them rehabilitate their lives. One of these people is Zoe Lewis, a case manager for the Utah AIDS Foundation.

“This is a place that fights for people,” Lewis said. Because the Utah AIDS Foundation has been helping people battle the virus for almost 30 years, it’s much easier for people to receive great medical treatment when under the support system of the Utah AIDS Foundation. Lewis explained that many people often get very confused and lost when they try to get medical and insurance help on their own.

Lewis is one of several case managers who make sure the HIV-positive man gets complete encouragement to fight the battle against the virus. Case managers make sure every person is “teamed up with doctors and have a health provider.” They also make sure the individual is introduced to a wide and vast support system. This is why the programs Gays and Geeks and 3-D exist. The Utah AIDS Foundation wants to ensure that all HIV-positive men receive not only physical life management skills but, they also want these HIV-positive men to be emotionally happy and stable.

In Utah, AIDS is not a death sentence

“Most clients are afraid to have sex because they are afraid to pass it on. Abstinence is not necessary for an HIV/AIDS-infected person,” Lewis said. “It’s quite possible to have a good sex life.”

Part of the Utah AIDS Foundation’s objective is to adapt to modern HIV/AIDS medical research and prevention techniques.

“Our programs are always trying to accommodate all people’s needs – that’s why, you always see change,” Duran, said.

Part of this worldwide intellectual change is: gay men who are HIV/AIDS-positive can have safe sex.  The Utah AIDS Foundation has numerous suggestions for safe-sex practice for men who have sex with men. These techniques include wearing condoms, practicing oral sex instead of anal sex and many other techniques.

Despite the Utah AIDS Foundation’s best attempt at getting people to consistently practice safe sex, people in Utah still get HIV/AIDS. Regardless of the modern medical advancement of curtailing HIV/AIDS there still is no clinically proven cure for the virus.

This means people still frequently die from HIV/AIDS.

There is a reason why the memorial room stayed intact during the foundation’s Christmas remodeling. No human dies alone at the Utah AIDS Foundation.

Filed under: Education, Health & Fitness, Hispanics & Latinos(as), LGBTQ, Mental Health, Nonprofits, Organizations, Religion | Tagged: , , , | Leave a comment »

Utah’s gay and lesbian parental rights

Posted on November 8, 2012 by comm5775

Story and photo by KOURTNEY COMPTON

Your worst fear is realized: your spouse and children have been involved in a horrific accident. In the emergency room you find your spouse on life support, and your children being wheeled into various ICU units.

As you rush to their side, an unstoppable force prevents you from walking in. This is not a force of nature or a force of man; it is a force of law and prejudice. For you are of a same-sex marriage and according to the law, you have no rights here.

This is the reality of Jessica Finnegan’s everyday life. She has been a caring parent and the financial provider for her family for the past 13 years. She paid for the expensive process of in vitro fertilization (IVF) using her brother as the donor, so she and her partner could have two children together. They both had children in prior relationships and together with these two new ones they face constant legal hardships.

Jessica Finnegan, center, Jasmyn, left, Jacquelyn, right.

“I have no rights, I have to lie and tell them I’m the babysitter or Katherine (her partner) to get medical care for my own children,” says Finnegan, who lives in Salt Lake City.

Luckily, she works for XO Communications, a company that offers equal health benefits for all domestic partners whether heterosexual or LGBT.

Many Utah companies are following suit. Intermountain Healthcare (IHC) has decided to extend health care benefits to both same-sex and opposite-sex domestic partnerships.

However, even with this progress, it is just a step toward equality, not a final resolution. This became evident once the employees discovered IHC would not be subsidizing the benefits of LGBT couples. Subsidized health insurance means that part or all of the premium is paid for with state or federal funds to ensure that low-income individuals have access to health care. This means they will likely pay anywhere from $100–$300 monthly more than a legally married couple.

“I commend Intermountain for taking the first small step in allowing access to benefits,” said Brandie Balken, executive director of Equality Utah. “We will continue to have conversations about equity in the way those benefits are applied.”

IHC is the third largest employer in Utah; the first and second are the government and the LDS Church. Neither of these extends healthcare benefits to same-sex partners.

According to the Corporate Equality Index, “57% of Fortune 500 companies offer healthcare benefits to same sex domestic partners.”

Healthcare is just one of the many aspects of life where members of the LGBT community face inequality.

In 2000, Utah adopted a law that prohibits anyone cohabiting with an unmarried partner from adopting or fostering children. Gay men and lesbians who live alone may adopt. One individual who asked not to be identified said, “To get around this law, many same-sex couples hide their lives together, pretending their partner is a renter or hiding them completely. We hung pictures of the LDS temples in our house when we knew they were going to come over and we changed all the pictures of us to pictures of just myself.”

In Utah, close to a third of all gay and lesbian couples living together are raising children. There are 2,900 children currently living in homes with two same-sex parents, according to a 2008 report, by The Williams Institute a national think tank at UCLA Law, dedicated to conducting rigorous, independent research on sexual orientation and gender identity law and public policy.

However, even though there are thousands of children living in same-sex parents homes, the children themselves may not have the same legal rights as opposite-sex married ones.

According to Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, New England’s leading legal rights organization, in the event of the parents’ death, their children may not receive Social Security survivor benefits. In the event of the legal parent’s death, the non-legal parent may not be able to win a custody hearing against biological relatives.

Not only do they face multiple difficulties in their union together, but in the event of a separation or “divorce,” the non-legal parent does not have any standing in court.

One LGBT couple here in Salt Lake City is currently in the midst of their partnership break up; they said it was primarily because of these inequalities. “Peter,” who asked that his real name not be used, said, “The top frustration of our marriage has been the extra hoops we have to jump through to gain just a fraction of the legal and financial protections that come automatically with a marriage license.”

In February 2008, the Salt Lake City Council unanimously approved an ordinance to create a citywide domestic-partnership registry, providing a mechanism by which employers can extend health care and other benefits to adult designees of their employees.

While Peter has not had to test the effectiveness of the Salt Lake City Registry with a hospital visitation, he and his partner have encountered other problems. He added, “Even though we have paid the thousands of dollars in legal fees and completed the registry to get the paperwork necessary, oftentimes companies choose to ignore the paperwork when it is presented. By the time we have obtained resolution legally, oftentimes the original crisis has passed.”

Peter also said he is frustrated by lawmakers. “The anxiety I feel every winter when the Utah legislature is in session, wondering what kind of hostile and nonsense laws they are going to try and pass.”

He said if he were given the power, the top thing he would change is to get government out of marriage altogether. He said he would start with the elimination of DOMA, the Defense of Marriage Act, enacted Sept. 21, 1996, as he feels it is unconstitutional and an overstep of federal and states rights.

Jessica Finnegan, whose partner was involved in the accident, said, “I have supported my family for over 13 years, I have paid for the house, the food we eat, the medical procedures to bear our children, yet I feel like a renter in my own home.  I have raised my children side-by-side with my partner, yet should anything happen to her, I have no rights to my own family.”

Filed under: Health & Fitness, Law and Justice, LGBTQ | Leave a comment »

Inequality for same-sex couples in Utah’s laws

Posted on October 30, 2012 by comm5775

Story and photo by ADRIENNE PURDY

“It sucks. It’s just really, really sucky,” Brandie Balken says.

Balken is the executive director of Equality Utah and she has something to say about the lack of fairness of laws in Utah.

For instance, lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender individuals can be evicted or fired because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. Access to healthcare for LGBT couples is limited and adoption in Utah as a same-sex couples is impossible.

It is legal to fire or evict LGBT people in Utah today. It is legal to discriminate against someone because they are or are perceived as LGBT.

Equality Utah Foundation, based in Salt Lake City, is an organization that aims to educate the general public and the LGBT community alike about issues impacting the LGBT community. It also works at passing legislation and raising awareness.

According to the American Civil Liberties Union, Utah’s laws make it illegal to discriminate based on sexual orientation in public employment, which means it is legal to discriminate based on gender identity in public employment, and to discriminate based on gender identity and sexual orientation in non-public employment.

The Utah legislative session is scheduled to begin Jan. 28, 2013.

Utah’s laws are way behind the 17 other states whose laws prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in any form in employment.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) is a pending federal legislation that would protect individuals from discrimination in employment based on an individual’s sexual orientation.

While some states are forward thinking in having equality among all Americans, some states and some national legislation have yet to catch up. This same problem is happening with adoption by same-sex couples in Utah.

According to the Human Rights Campaign second-parent adoption, or adopting the child of a partner, is a legal option in 18 states, a petition option in eight and a possibility in others.

But not in Utah.

A joint adoption, where the couple adopts a child from the biological parents or a child in the custody of the state is a legal option in 18 states, a petition option in two and a possibility in others.

But not in Utah.

Utah is one of two states that prohibit adoption by gay and lesbian couples. The legislation bans any unmarried couple from adopting and since same-sex marriage is not legal in Utah this law extends to the LGBT community.

As Balken says, it is possible to help raise a child for years and still be a legal stranger to that child. Although adoption by same-sex couples is not legal in Utah, it is recognized if completed outside of Utah.

Rocky Dustin, a freelance court reporter, says he does not come across many cases involving same-sex adoptions in part because it’s very uncommon in Utah and adoption legislation has a long way to go.

While Utah may be behind in the adoption aspect, it is much more represented in the case of healthcare.

The Healthcare Equality Index is an annual healthcare survey that rates respondents on their policies related to LGBT patients. Hospitals and clinics are rated based on non-discrimination, visitation and employment non-discrimination policies and training on LGBT care.

The University of Utah Hospitals and Clinics system was a respondent in the poll and qualified in two of the four requirements. This illustrates that as a major health provider in Utah, it is taking steps to improve availability and patient care to all Utahns.

The healthcare system did not, however, meet the requirement for the visitation policy, which “grants same-sex couples the same access as different sex couples.” This includes access to one’s partner as well as children under 18. Until Utah state laws catch up, the Healthcare Equality Index score will remain unchanged.

In 2011 the Salt Lake City School District added medical coverage for domestic partners of district employees. This is the first school district in the state of Utah to do so.

In addition to medical insurance, medical power of attorney is a critical aspect of equality in Utah. For a gay or lesbian couple to be able to have medical power of attorney for their partner, it requires a very expensive process of having multiple documents drawn up to prove that they are indeed able to make those medical decisions. Different-sex couples do not have this problem.

In a phone interview, Peter Asplund, an associate general counsel for the Office of Legislative Research and General Counsel, said, “There are automatic rights with marriage and medical power of attorney is one of them, except in the case of same-sex couples,” he said.

Although laws in Utah regarding equality may be lacking, the overall climate of attitudes toward the LGBT community is changing.

”Forty-two percent said that they have become more accepting,” Balken said, referencing a poll commissioned by the Human Rights Campaign in 2011. “And more than three-fourths now support anti-discrimination laws.”

Equality across the nation and in Utah has been a long time coming and still has a ways to go. But Balken is confident it will happen.

“We saw it first with gender and then race,” Balken said. “This is the next human rights movement.”

Filed under: Health & Fitness, Law and Justice, LGBTQ, Nonprofits, Organizations, Politics | Tagged: , , | Leave a comment »

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