Artists wanted: You could be a part of art history

by Beth Finke

If you read the post I wrote last month about how Easter Seals got its name, you know how important those little stickers we send out every year are to us. From that post:

When we started in 1919, we were called the National Society for Crippled Children. But then, eighty years ago, in the spring of 1934, we launched our first Easter “seals” campaign to raise money for our services. The seals were stickers about the same size as postage stamps, and donors placed them on envelopes and letters to show their support

Easter Seals has been using decorative stamps to raise money and create awareness of our programs ever since, and by 1967 the Easter “seal” was so well recognized that we formally adopted the name.

Over the years, the stamps have transformed into our logo—the lily—and now we’re looking for six beautiful original pieces of lily artwork to use on next year’s Easter seals stamps. Visual artists are encouraged to send us their original art depicting lilies, and we will choose six pieces from all the ones submitted to use on our stamps in 2015. Our entry form gives specific details about size and vertical orientation requirements, but here are some general guidelines:

• Your artwork may include one or multiple lilies. However, please be sure to focus only on the lily/lilies, do not include a vase or anything else that will take away from the flowers.
• You may include as many pieces of art as you would like to submit, but you need to include an entry form and artist release form with each piece.
• If your artwork is chosen, the year and “Easter Seals” will be added to it at the printing stage.
• The majority of the entries are signed by the artist, but it’s completely up to you to sign your artwork or not.
• If your artwork is not chosen as one of the final six pieces of art, your artwork will be returned to you.
• We do not accept photography for the Art Contest.
• Entry forms, artist release forms and original artwork must be received by August 14 to be considered.
• Winners will be notified via email or phone by Friday, October 31, 2014.

Nearly 10 million American households will receive our seals in Spring 2015, so submitting art for our Lily contest gives artists a chance to gain national exposure for their creative talents—not to mention help Easter Seals to raise funds to provide programs and services for people with disabilities. For more information about the Easter Seals Art Contest, please call Lisa Hallen, assistant director of direct marketing, at 312.551.7134, or by email at:  artcontest@easterseals.com.

Let’s make fun of veterans

by Rachel Talen

I am so pleased to introduce Kyle Hausmann-Stokes as a guest blogger today. Kyle is a director/producer/writer at Blue Three Productions and former US Army Staff Sergeant/Iraq Combat Veteran.

Is comedic advertising taboo when it comes to veteran Issues?

by Kyle Hausmann-Stokes

Let’s make fun of veterans. Yikes, it feels wrong even typing the words. But this was the initial idea that led to the creation of my most recent, arguably most popular, veteran-centered PSA. It’s just 30-seconds and I dare you not to laugh.

WATCH: The Morning Routine” video.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m a US Army combat veteran of Iraq myself, one who’s struggled with post traumatic stress (PTSD), and one who’s been writing/producing/directing national veteran PSAs since film school, so I know personally just how serious the issues we veterans grapple with can be. That said, from the moment I changed out my sun-bleached Army uniform for the jeans, t-shirt, and Jansport attire of a college kid, I can remember feeling slighted that all the advertising aimed at me, the returning veteran, seemed only to fit in to one of two buckets.

The first I called the, “We Salute You! You’re a Hero” bucket and, while we veterans are extremely grateful for this type of admiration and thanks, it doesn’t do much for us in the way of presenting a product or service that helps us to reintegrate back to civilian life. The second is the, “You Have Issues, You Need Help” bucket and, like the first, while I felt very grateful to any person or organization committed to helping veterans, I didn’t like the idea that people/society seemed to think most if not all veterans are riddled with physical, mental, and emotional issues.

Despite the fact that I had spent the past year of my life leading convoys down the most deadly roads in the world, I was still a consumer of modern media and still as able to appreciate catchy/funny/intriguing advertising as much as the next guy or gal. Why did all the hip, hilarious, viral, oh-my-god-you-have-to-see-this type videos, commercials and advertisements have to be for everyone except us veterans? It didn’t seem fair, and even though I didn’t have the means or resources to do it at the time, I made it a “life mission” to take the combat vet/filmmaker within me and combine them to create veteran-focused content that is funny. Content that is edgy, cultured, artistic, anything but the stuff that seemed to fit so nicely in the two standard issue veteran buckets.

Enter CK&D, an LA-based cause-marketing agency with a client, Easter Seals, that was looking to reach out to veterans in a new and provocative way. It had been over four years since I returned from Iraq, I had been happily producing commercials for the Dept. of Veterans Affairs and by all measures, this seemed to be the opportunity I was looking for.

The stage was set…Easter Seals, one of the largest nonprofits in the country that has been providing services and support to military and veterans for decades, was looking for a fresh way to reach today’s returning vets. I had established a relationship with their agency, CK&D, a few months prior and was fortunate to get a call from them to the effect of, “…you said you wanted to do a comedic veteran PSA? Well this may be your chance.” The rest, as they say, was history.

Phase one was to collect as many funny ideas about veterans and military culture as possible. I worked closely with my friend Trent, a fellow vet I met in the production program at the USC School of Cinematic Arts, and we riffed anything and everything that came to mind. I also reached out to the 1,600+ members of an organization I co-founded in 2012 called VFT: Veterans in Film & Television (vftla.org). We maintain a closed Facebook group, for only our members, and in it I wrote a short post explaining the opportunity and posing the simple question, “What’s funny about us? What would make you laugh if you saw it in a commercial?” The response was overwhelming; dozens of responses came pouring in within a matter of minutes. The message from my peers was clear – they too, were hungry to see veteran-centered advertising that was anything but what fit so neatly in the two buckets.

I presented a variety of concepts to CK&D/Easter Seals and together we picked two. The first, entitled “Morning Routine,” uses humor to show how one veteran’s biggest ‘issue’ is that he is simply too fast and too efficient. The other, “The Bank,” shows a young female veteran that may have the look and feel of a chic businesswoman but, unbeknown to her, still negotiates the slow-moving bank line using the marching maneuvers she mastered in the military.

We came up with narration that was equal parts funny and informative and from there, it was one of the most supportive and enjoyable production experiences I have had to date. Not only did they value my perspective and sensibilities as a filmmaker/veteran hybrid at all costs, but they were adamant the cast and crew of both PSAs be comprised of as many veterans possible. In my less than five-some years here in LA, I’ve come to know a vast array of veterans working in all facets of the entertainment industry, not to mention we are now highly organized under the banner of VFT, so accomplishing this task was an easy and enjoyable feat.

From Jose Sarduy, former Air Force pilot turned comedian that we cast for one of the lead roles, to Chloe Mondesir, who’s just a few years out of the Marine Corps, and booked the other lead role, to Michael Rha, a Desert-era Army vet that has worked as a dolly grip on films as big as Spider Man and as small as my first student film, this production was compelling to the people working in front of and the camera as well as behind it.

The first of the two spots was released this past Veterans Day in November and…wow, the amount of views and shares it received in just a few days was inspirational. The second spot was just released this month. The reception and efficacy of these spots will be reason enough to make more like them.

Never in a million years would I want people to laugh at us veterans but, having seen the completion of a “life mission” 4+ years in the making, I can’t help but smile to think that thousands of people are now laughing with us.

WATCH: The Bank video

Learn more about Easter Seals Dixon Center’s military and veteran services.

You can sign up for Medicaid and CHIP now

by Katy Beh Neas

Spring is the time we think of children and their families being outside without their coats and seeing the bird’s nest if you stand on your tippy toes. As spring came this year, the open enrollment period ended for the private insurance created by the Affordable Care Act. The good news is that enrolling a child or a child’s parent in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) is not limited by the seasons and is available now and next week and next month…come rain or come shine. There is no deadline or enrollment period and signing up is available year round for either one of these programs.

Easter Seals has been committed to helping families stay healthy for nearly a century. That’s why we are so dedicated to helping families know more about basic child development, especially for kids under the age of 5, which is the most crucial time for intervention. We are on a mission to get EVERY child screened so that EVERY parent knows the progress their child is making in meeting his or her developmental milestones. Is my 14 month old walking? When will my toddler start talking? That’s why Easter Seals developed Make the First Five Count, an initiative that works to build awareness and give parents a free, online screening tool—the Ages and Stages Questionnaire—so they can monitor their child’s developmental progress and provide their child with the right support needed to be ready for school and to build a foundation for a lifetime of learning.

With the recent expansion of the Medicaid program in many states, more parents and adults may be eligible for Medicaid then in prior years. People who may have been denied by Medicaid in the past may now qualify. The CHIP program may assist children whose parents are working and make just a little too much to qualify for Medicaid. For more information about programs you and your children may be eligible for, check out the U.S. government’s Insure Kids Now site or healthcare.gov.

Remember, there is no need to wait until you get that heavy sweater out to sign up. Medicaid and CHIP are available for enrollment right now, and that is just true!

Melancholy on Mother’s Day? You’re not alone

by Beth Finke

Mother’s Day can be a mixed blessing for a woman who has a child with a disability. For years after our son Gus was born, I begged my husband not to get me a gift for Mother’s Day. “I’m not your mother!” I told him.

I knew Gus wouldn’t be making me a card. He wouldn’t be presenting me with dandelions picked especially for me. Our son has severe mental and physical disabilities—he doesn’t understand what Mother’s Day is.

Me with Gus at lunch during a recent visit to Wisconsin.

I was determined not to let any of that bother me though. I knew I was a good mother, and I knew my son loved me in his own special way. But then one year—Gus must have been 5 or 6—I burst into tears on Mother’s Day. “I’ll never get to celebrate like all the other mothers do!” I wailed. My poor husband didn’t know what to do.

Turns out our reactions were typical. For a lot of parents, coming to terms with a child’s special needs is like going through a grief process. On that Mother’s Day, I was feeling a profound sense of loneliness, but this article on the states of grief for parents of children with special needs reassures me I am not alone:

These feelings of grief and loss are often experienced but rarely spoken about or shared. Parents may be worried that expressing their feelings of anger, depression or fear may not be welcomed or tolerated by those around them. They may even feel pressure from family and friends to be “strong” or to remain positive, leaving those feelings of grief without a place for expression. It is important for families to understand and talk about these feelings, and to know that what they are feeling is natural.

Ever since that outburst of mine, we’ve gone out of our way to celebrate Mother’s Day. This year we started early. I shopped for clothes last week, and when I couldn’t decide between two outfits, my husband whispered, “get them both.” He said Gus wanted me to have new clothes for Mother’s Day. I wore one of the new outfits this past week when my husband and I went out for a special dinner.

Instead of Mother’s Day, I now celebrate Mother’s Month. For the real Mother’s Day we’ll head to a nearby town to visit my son’s grandmother—my mom, Flo. And next Saturday we’ll head to Wisconsin to visit our grown son in his group home. We’re proud of him. I’m proud to be his mom and happy to celebrate Mother’s Month as a family.

Marines that mesmerized me

by Jim Williams

I was the emcee during a question and answer session after a screening of the new war documentary The Hornet’s Nest at Oakley’s corporate headquarters last month. Audience members were able to talk with four young men who served as Marines in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Mike Boettcher was on the panel, too. Mike is a member of the Easter Seals’ board of directors, and he’s the incredible man who embedded himself in Afghanistan to make the film.

There were hundreds of us in the audience, and all of us in the auditorium were mesmerized by the four Marines on the panel. We’d just seen graphic firefight scenes in The Hornet’s Nest, but listening to the Marines on the panel describe the intensity and the unbelievable circumstances they’d been in, in their own words, made it even more real.

Reflecting on what they’d said made me think about how much more we need to do to help the brave young men and women who have served. I hope we all understand how important this is. As a nation, we have an obligation to the men and women who have served and the families who have sacrificed so much. As an organization, Easter Seals is responding, and we will continue to do even more.

Watch the latest Hornet’s Trailer.

Eat ice cream guilt-free at Friendly’s this week

by Beth Finke

It’s May already—time to start thinking about signing up for summer camp! The idea of sending a child with special needs off to camp can seem challenging to parents and kids alike—how can you be sure that your child will get the attention he or she needs? Will your child be able to participate fully? What about the other kids? Will your child make friends? Will they understand your child’s special needs?

The good news is that there are many camp choices for kids with special needs that can answer all those questions and quell your concerns. Easter Seals Camp Friendly’s is one of these special programs, providing campers with opportunities to focus on the amazing things they can do, rather than the things they can’t.

Every summer Camp Friendly’s programs make it possible for kids with autism and other disabilities to participate in regular camp activities like boating, canoeing, swimming, archery, ropes courses, horseback riding, hiking, basketball and fishing. Friendly’s Restaurants, LLC, has been a corporate sponsor of Easter Seals for years. Since 1981, their Cones for Kids campaign has raised tens of millions of dollars for Easter Seals, and there’s still time to support Easter Seals at your local Friendly’s restaurant this year—their 2014 campaign runs through Sunday, May 11 and features two new elements:

• For a $2 donation to Easter Seals, kids will receive their kids meals served on Friendly’s Frisbees
• Guests can get a discount card good for 10% off all purchases through May 18 for a $1 donation.

So enjoy your ice cream! Now through Mother’s Day, you can support Easter Seals Camp Friendly’s programs every time you visit a Friendly’s Restaurant.

What families with autism ask most often

by Beth Finke

Geneticist Wendy Chung opens a TED Talk called Autism—what we know (and what we don’t know yet) with one question: Why?

“Why is a question parents ask me all the time,” she says in the TED Talk, which I watched on April 30 to cap off the end of Autism Acceptance Month. Chung is a geneticist at the Simons Foundation and is working to characterize behavior, brain structure and function in people with genetic variations that may relate to autism. That all may sound pretty complicated and sophisticated, but trust me, her talk is easy to understand.

In a very short amount of time, Wendy Chung shares what she does know about autism spectrum disorders and explains what she and her team have learned about autism through studies, treatments and, especially, listening and observing people who have autism. Check this TED Talk out.

Related Information on Easterseals.com:

• Autism 101
• Could My Child Have Autism?
• Autism Signs and Symptoms

What’s the model of excellence for supporting veterans and military families?

by Col. David Sutherland

I hate the saying that great ideas come from thinking outside the box. People who claim to think outside the box only see boundary lines. I know this from experience.

By the time I got to Diyala Province in Iraq in 2006, we had already been fighting the insurgents for three years. The military war-gamed for the Cold War, but this was a new type of war, with local fighters operating independently in their communities. At the time I’m sure someone said that we should think outside the box. Instead, we found ourselves boxed in.

As Coalition Force Commander in Diyala, I was responsible for enacting the bold new strategy directed by General David Petraeus. This strategy, called counter-insurgency, removed the decision-making process from Baghdad and put it in the hands of troops like me, on the ground in the villages.

Fast forward to 2014, when 1,000 service members are returning home from military service in Afghanistan each day. Just as we needed to think differently at war, we need to think of better ways to manage the reintegration of our service men and women into our communities. Resources and assistance for veterans and military families need to be better synchronized.  The Department of Veterans Affairs seems overwhelmed with claims, so the great need for more services and synchronization is clear.

The CLASSY Awards being held in San Diego this weekend—May 2 and 3—seek to highlight organizations that drive true social impact in this area. I’m affiliated with a top nominee—one that I chose to join when I retired from the U.S. Army. I selected Easter Seals because of its ability and willingness to wrap its arms around veterans and military families by adapting its community-based model of excellence.

Easter Seals Dixon Center and the other nominees have stopped thinking outside the box and started imagining the fantastic. It is not enough to replicate community programs that already exist—or even to create new ones.

Rather, we must create our own grassroots force at local levels to ensure that veterans and military families thrive where they live. We must recognize that we need programs where veterans aren’t singled out for their unique needs but embraced within existing “civilian” programs.

At Easter Seals Dixon Center, our 550+ affiliates are using existing community-based support systems to serve the millions who have been impacted by conflicts going back to World War II. We follow inclusive practices: if you or your family member wore a uniform, you are welcome.

There is a lot of good being done for veterans and their families, as evidenced by my fellow CLASSY Awards nominees. We need more organizations like them—organizations that are willing to be inclusive, not just create new programs.

So the next time someone tells you to “think outside the box,” don’t do it.

Instead, just think.

What led to Kansas’ autism health coverage legislation

by Jim Leiker

I am guided through my day by the sayings on three cards that sit on my desk here at Easter Seals Capper Foundation:

• Passion , Persistence & Patience
• Something Wonderful Is About to Happen
• Celebrate What Is Right with the World

April is Autism Awareness month , and I am thanking my lucky cards that our passion, persistence and patience paid off: a few weeks ago, on April 16, 2014, Governor Sam Brownback signed legislation for Kansas to become the 34th state in the nation to require health insurance companies to provide coverage for autism spectrum disorders.

Autism insurance legislation advocates across our state diligently practiced the three P’s for many years to help make something wonderful like this happen, and while this legislation has some flaws, it is certainly a step forward, affecting 250 children next year and another 750 children in 2016.

Credit for achieving this legislative milestone goes to the determination and collective team effort of so many parents and advocates across our state. Together, we have made progress, and autism coverage is now a permanent benefit of the state health insurance plan. This new law will help more children with autism get the services they need.

We truly celebrate what is so right about this in so many ways!

Related Content on Easterseals.com:

Learn about Easter Seals Autism Spectrum Disorder Services.

Can people who are blind appreciate art?

by Beth Finke

This afternoon I’m sitting on a panel for a workshop here in Chicago about services and programming that theaters, museums and other cultural institutions can provide to make themselves accessible for visitors who are blind or have low vision. The panel is sponsored by the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium (CCAC), and the topics they’ll be covering include:

• audio description for theater performances, and verbal description for museums/other cultural spaces
• touch tours and tactile experiences
• creating written materials in braille and large print formats
• accommodating service animals
• outreach to the blind and low vision community

The other panelists are a pretty accomplished bunch, including a woman who worked on accessibility for visitors with disabilities at the Metropolitan Museum and Lincoln Center before moving to Chicago to found the Chicago Cultural Accessibility Consortium, the guy who directs Audience Experience at Chicago’s award-winning Steppenwolf Theatre, and a specialist in ancient and Asian art collections who directs the Art Institute of Chicago’s educational programs for older adults and people with disabilities.

I am one of many, many people in Chicago who takes advantage of special services and programming for people who are blind or have visual impairments. I gotta believe that the reason I was singled out to sit up there with these very accomplished and educated panelists is because of my connection with the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2013, I was awarded a writing fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts, and about this time last year, I was the only blind person there among 50 other poets, visual artists and writers at the Vermont Studio Center.

The National Endowment for the Arts’ Office for Accessibility does a lot to help make the arts accessible, and I especially like their Careers in the Arts for People with Disabilities program. The program partners the U.S. Department of Education, Health & Human Services, and the Social Security Administration with the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to sponsor artists and arts administrators with disabilities. You can contact the Kennedy Center for more information on that program, and if you live in Chicago, come on out to the workshop to find out more about what’s going on here to help people with disabilities appreciate the arts. The CCAC workshop is today (Friday, April 25) from 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. at Access Living, 115 W. Chicago Ave in Chicago. The event is free, but you need to register in advance to participate. See (okay, hear) you there!