UCP: Community Issues

CLIENTS/MEMBERS

Problems Clients/Members face:

All of UCP’s clients are mentally disabled. Their disabilities fall all over the spectrum of impairment. There are clients who are basically self-sufficient but still need help in order to focus their attention. There are other clients who need constant care to perform basic tasks such as using the restroom or taking off a jacket. Many clients also have physical disabilities. All of UCP’s clients face many problems in “normative” society because of their disabilities. First and foremost, every client is visibly disabled. When they are interacting in society it is instantly clear that they are not “normal.” Furthermore, all of UCP’s clients are not totally self-sufficient. They all need help with a variety of tasks and none of them are capable of living on their own. Many of the clients realize that in “normative” society adults are supposed to take care of themselves. Therefore, they realize they are not like other adults.

How We Can Solve These Problems:

As a society, we can do two things to address these problems:

1) We can continue to support organizations such as UCP. These organizations provide an invaluable service to the disabled members of our communities.

2) We all can make a conscience effort to treat individuals with disabilities in the same way we treat everyone else. Society is obsessed with the concept of “normal” and therefore we quickly isolate those individuals who do not fit the broad description of a normate. By eliminating the obsession over normal, our society can become more accepting.

3) Education is also a very valuable source for eliminating any pre-conceptions of people with disabilities. Many people never learn about disabilities and therefor form a biased, uneducated assumption about people with disabilities because of what they see on T.V. or because of the highly valued socially sanctioned idea of normalcy. If courses were taught starting from elementary school, people would be much more aware and accepting of people with disablities.

AGENCY

Problems the Agency Faces:

"The biggest problems the agency faces are funding and staffing.

Ways we attempt to overcome problems are trying to be as fiscally frugal

as possible, working at a state and federal level to attempt to make

people understand the challenges of the system, and trying to be

creative in regards to recruitment and retention issues to make the

agency a place people want to work even though we can't pay as much as

we would like."

-Interview with Barry Claypool through email

Many of the staff at UCP feel that their efforts and organization do not recieve enough recognition. After talking with a few of the staff members, their frustration with the salary and governmental funding rang clear, there is just not enough money and attnetion spent on people with disablities. As one staff member said, "We have movie stars making movies like She's All That, and getting paid millions of dollars. I have been working in half-way homes for years, helping these [people with disabilities] people learn to take care of themselves and to function. I love what I do, but where is my million dollars?" - Ellen (Partime UCP/Half-way home worker)

Potential Ways to Overcome the Problems:

• Interaction- By interacting with clients of UCP it is easier to establish a solid foundation on which to produce people in society that are comfortable enough and willing to work with UCP.
• Fundraising- With the help of fundraising, UCP will have an opportunity to retain more resources that they need in order to keep the group functioning properly and helping the clients all over the country.
• Advertising-Spreading the word that there is care and help out there, to those who need, it will allow UCP and fellow organizations to continue to prosper in their services.

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