The Bargain Barn is full of Deals.

The Bargain Barn is an offering of wooden Gift Crates and Boxes at the web site of The Nezinscot Guild.   Once at www.thenezinscotguild.com , click on the Bargain Barn icon and discover a wide variety of boxes and crates for sale.  These are all top quality over runs from large custom wholesale orders produced everyday in Turner, Maine, at The Guild’s manufacturing plant.  The Nezinscot Guild is a social purpose enterprise that employs people with wide-ranging disabilities in a dynamic small business.

There is double value to your purchases here because you can buy top quality boxes and crates of all types in small volumes at high volume pricing.  It is a great opportunity for new entrepreneurs, gift givers and home goods makers to package their goods in attractive alternative containers, in convenient small volume lots .  The second value, and perhaps the more  important, is that the proceeds for the Bargain Barn sales go directly back into supporting the operations of The Nezinscot Guild.  The Nezinscot Guild is the work services program of River Resources, Inc., the private non-profit organization, and 501 ( c ) 3.  The  training and employment services offered at the Nezinscot Guild are provided totally independent of tax payer support.  The Guild generates 90% of operational costs from its own businesses and the remaining 10% comes from private donor support.

Check it out.  The items change frequently.  Transactions are easy with PayPal.  All you have to do is pick and click.  Make a deal! Make a difference!

The hidden problem with Mainecare and services for people with disabilities

There’s  been much discussion about MaineCare and how it’s costs are unsustainable.  There is very little discussion about how MaineCare is the primary funding source for services to   people with disabilities.  Since the 1990’s,   the state has  transferred costs for services to people with disabilities from local state to federal Medicaid funding in an effort to have the federal government pay a  for an ever growing state bureaucracy.  I’ve discussed this in past blogs. Please read if you have any interest.

The flaw with the idea of  MaineCare funding all services to people with disabilities is that most people with developmental disabilities aren’t sick or elderly.  And MaineCare, by all definitions, is a medical model, that is rife with restrictions on potential personal growth, independence and productivity.  It was designed to care for the terribly infirmed or people with little or no hope of personal growth.  The majority of people with disabilities don’t fit this restrictive funding model.

So why are we restricting options and services for personal development of disabled citizens with a medical model?  Why have we compromised personal developement options for disabled people?  I think MaineCare created an industry that supports the state bureaucracy and people working “for” disabilities through Medicaid (MaineCare) rather than  developmental service delivery.  As a result,  our citizens with disabilities have a Medicaid ceiling imposed on them.  They are the recipients of very mediocre and very expensive services that emphasize maintenance over personal development.

There has to be flexibility in how Maine funds worthwhile services for its citizens with disabilities.  A medical model doesn’t meet the needs a people who want options for growth in their personal lives.