Cindy's Bi-Weekly Letter 1/9/23

Good Morning Members,

I hope to find you well this morning. I know it has been awhile since you heard from me because I was on break. I had a pretty good break other than a few sad events. I lost my mother and I lost a friend to a tragic car accident. How I am handling my trauma is by putting it in God’s hands and it will be a long road, but I will get through this because I have a good support system.

𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐚𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐲 𝐝𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐲𝐩𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞.I will stay busy with work and that will help me keep going. Especially because through my work I get to advocate for others and I get to help other people which makes it worth it. There are more times that things like this will happen and you have to keep moving forward even when it is hard. 𝐈𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐈 𝐚𝐦 𝐭𝐫𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠.

𝐀𝐥𝐬𝐨, 𝐝𝐨𝐧’𝐭 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝. This is something I have learned throughout life and in the past couple of weeks. That is something I have learned from this. You don’t know if you will be here tomorrow so do what you want to do that day,𝐛𝐞 𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐠𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐲. If you have the chance to start a new day do it and keep going. I really try to tell others I love them when we say goodbye on the phone or in person because of things like this.

I now want to talk to you about influenza (flu). 𝐏𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐞𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐛𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡. You can still wear a mask if you have to be out but want to be careful. I have heard that a lot of people have not gotten their flu shots, but I was able to get mine back in October when you are recommended to get it.

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐠𝐨𝐨𝐝 𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐚 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫. I think getting your shots for the flu and COVID it can really make a difference of how sick you get and it will help keep others save from getting sick or getting hospitalized. 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐤, 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫.

It is still winter even though we don’t have snow. Most people are still stuck inside and isolated. It is that time to start taking down the Christmas decorations and getting ready for the New Year. I am happy that we have been able to see the sun for the last couple of days. I don’t think we have very many days of sun in December so this is nice. 𝐓𝐫𝐲 𝐭𝐨 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐦𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠--𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐥𝐝 it is good to still get out when you can. You can walk down your street or go in your yard for a 𝐚 𝐟𝐞𝐰 𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚 𝐝𝐚𝐲.

Don’t forget to 𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐏𝐞𝐨𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐅𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐭 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐮𝐩! We have the 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭-𝐮𝐩 𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟒:𝟑𝟎𝐩𝐦-𝟓:𝟑𝟎𝐩𝐦 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝟔𝐩𝐦-𝟕𝐩𝐦. On 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝟐𝟑𝐫𝐝 we will be having a 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐀𝐝𝐯𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐜𝐲 𝐃𝐚𝐲. Here you can go up to your state legislators about anything you want to see changed. If there is anything I missed, please look at our website for updates: http://www.peoplefirstwisconsin.org/

There is also voting in February. As a reminder that there is a 𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝟐𝟏𝐬𝐭 for Wisconsin. If you don’t vote you can’t complain. It is important for people with disabilities or anyone who is a minority to vote. Here is 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐩𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 from The Disability Vote Coalition:

𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧?

If you are voting in person, make sure you are prepared to vote!

• 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐝: https://myvote.wi.gov/en-us/Find-My-Polling-Place

• 𝐕𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐛𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧: https://www.vote411.org/wisconsin

• 𝐁𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐩𝐡𝐨𝐭𝐨 𝐈𝐃.Information is on https://bringit.wi.gov/

If you have questions, contact the 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐑𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐖𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐧 𝐕𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐭𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐚𝐭: 1-844-347- 8683 or 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐢𝐥: info@disabilityvote.org

You can call my cell phone @ 414-852-6462 8:30am - 5:00pm, Monday - Thursday. If I am unable to take your call, I will call you back. You can reach the 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐒𝐮𝐢𝐜𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞 at 800-273-TALK (8255) or 988 has been designated as the new three-digit dialing code that will route callers to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (now known as the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline), and is now active across the United States.𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐞𝐛𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐞: https://988lifeline.org/

Please use this as an opportunity to reach out. There are too many people taking their lives, but there are so many of us including me that want to help you. 𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 and even if you need to call me when I am not at work that is okay. I can help you call the hotline. I know this time of year can be difficult for many, but 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐞.

Here is my first 𝐪𝐮𝐨𝐭𝐞 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐌𝐚𝐲𝐚 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐮:: “What is a fear of living? It is being preeminently afraid of dying. It is not doing what you came here to do, out of timidity and spinelessness. The antidote is to take full responsibility for yourself - for the time you take up and the space you occupy. If you don't know what you're here to do, then just do some good.” Maya Angelou

Sincerely,

Cindy Bentley

Executive Director

People First Wisconsin