MOUNT GILEAD — Democrat Women braved bitterly cold rain at its Feb. 4 meeting to learn about Morrow DD’s levy on the March 17 ballot and hear about the new group, Morrow Abilities Partners.
Jennifer Emberg spoke about the MAP group with enthusiasm.
“We are sharing stories of ways that Early Intervention and Whetstone Industries and Whetstone Center supports families and individuals with developmental disabilities,” Emberg said after she told about her family getting the diagnosis of their child’s autism in a cold report on email.
“We want to open opportunities to care, learn and understand people with developmental disabilities,” Emberg added. “MAP is a family who cares about people with special needs.”
A new project for MAP and Morrow DD is awareness with orange lights. Orange light bulbs for porch lights were passed out to the Democrat women and they are available at Whetstone Industries and Whetstone School. March is Developmental Disabilities Month and the orange lights celebrate DD Awareness.
Morrow DD Superintendent Nancy Foglesong spoke about the importance of the 1.5 mill for 10 years levy.
“Morrow County is not immune to emergency challenges that are faced throughout the state such as the effects of child abuse, human trafficking, neglect or the passing of a primary caretaker,” Foglesong said.
She added that the levy would be crucial in teaching and developing social and employment skills as well as meeting the needs of an aging population.
She said the levy is important to ensure availability of residential providers and crucial therapies for children from birth to age three. It will support self-advocacy skills for personal growth and responsibility for age 14 and up. The amount of tax for a $100,000 property is just 15 cents a day.
More information is available at www.morrowdd.com.
Candidate speaks
Democrat candidate Jenny Bell, who is running for the 12th District congressional seat, spoke of her roots growing up in Marion County.
Bell drew a laugh as she recalled, “We used to drive over to Mount Gilead and ‘shoot the loop’ around the monument when I was in high school.”
She graduated from OSU in 2003 with a degree in fine arts and did media advertising several years. She wanted to have a change of profession and decided to try nursing.
“It turned out that I love nursing,” said Bell. She finished getting her RN license and went on to become a Nurse Practitioner. She now works in Columbus at a mental health clinic where she likes being an advocate for patients.
“Our health is such an important factor in many aspects of our lives,” Bell said. “We are losing jobs, homes and our health. What is most important for government to do?”
Most important for Bell is affordable healthcare. She says a good first step is to allow anyone to purchase an affordable Medicare plan on a sliding scale based on income.
She believes this will bring more competition into the health insurance market and will drive down prices on services and medications.
Affordable housing and quality jobs with good pay are also priorities on her agenda. For information about Bell, who accepts no money from corporations, PACs or party, go to jennybell2020.us. Bell’s opponent in the primary is Alaina Shearer of Delaware.
Democratic Party Chair, Susan Grundy announced that Judge Jennifer Brunner, candidate for Ohio Supreme Court, will be the featured speaker at the JFK Dinner on Thursday, April 2, at 6:30 p.m. at Mount Gilead High School.
