Back with a Whole New Story!

I last wrote in this blog on February 13, 2008 which, coincidentally, was my husband's 43rd birthday. At that time I had decided that if Oprah wanted to know about iCREATE and the Texas Legacy Arts Incubator, I was better served by stepping away from the keyboard and showing the world what it was all about. Since that time, quite a bit has happened. iCREATE will be part of the STELLAR campus in Manor Texas, I've gotten married and I have a new story to tell. And, yes, I still want to be on Oprah to tell it!

Let me begin by telling you that my husband, Keith Hogan, is a remarkable man. He is 43 and has Spinal Muscular Atrophy. He's outlived his doctor's predictions by about 30 years at this point. His form of the disease is Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 2. And, his film tells a lot of the story.

He entered South Austin Hospital with pneumonia on February 18th and, due to his inability to use his hands or legs, there was somebody with him 24/7 to be sure his needs were fully covered. Any night that I didn't stay with him, his mother did. For the most part he received excellent care from caring staff. There were some notable exceptions, but that's to be expected I suppose.

Keith did not return home until May 27th bringing new accessories: a trache, a ventilator and the need for 24/7 personal care attendants. This automatically doubled our PCA expense to almost $9000/month. We attempted to get help from the state of Texas, but don't meet the poverty level necessary for Medicaid and are not wealthy enough to continue paying out of pocket.

This is where the real work became clear and where our new story begins. The story I want to share with Oprah and the world is about the shameful, unarticulated public policy of impoverishing and marginalizing people with disabilities. To deny access to all the things that make life worth living so that a person might receive moderate support from an uncaring authority is patently un-American. There is no life, no liberty and no pursuit of happiness. We provide more support to visitors to our shores than natural-born productive citizens whose only limitations are physical.

At the present time many potentially productive members of society are being warehoused in nursing homes which are funded by Federal dollars, little of which is spent on quality patient care. This can be changed by the Community Choice Act which is based on the concept that the funding follows the patient, thereby empowering the individual. We are in an election year and have two Presidential candidates who have come down on opposite sides of this issue. Senator Barack Obama is for the Community Choice Act; Senator John McCain is against it.

With her early endorsement, Oprah Winfrey brought Senator Obama to the forefront of the American political scene. Keith and I are grateful for that for many reasons, including the fact that Senator Obama has shown by his actions that he is committed to creating opportunity for all citizens whether they can raise their own hands in support or need assistance.

This is the story we want to tell Oprah.

A Message from Keith Hogan

I am writing to ask you for your help to bring Tariq Baig to justice.

My name is Keith Hogan and I'm a 42 year-old man, with a physical disability. I was born with a form of Muscular Dystrophy known as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Type II, which makes it difficult for me to move on my own. The fact of the matter is that I cannot use my hands, arms or legs, so I need assistance to do everything. To accomplish this, I employ Personal Care Attendants (PCAs) to assist me in all of my daily activities. Late last year, I hired Tariq Baig as a Personal Care Attendant.

Due to my inability to use my hands and write, I have a stamp of my signature, which I use as my legal signature. Recently, I learned that Tariq Baig had taken several checks and stamped my signature to them without my knowledge or consent. He also attempted to commit identity theft. I reported him to the Austin Police Department and he was arrested & released on bail. Afterwards another warrant was issued and in fact there are now three outstanding warrants for his arrest: a felony in Austin, a felony in El Paso and a misdemeanor in El Paso.

I cannot stand the thought of Tariq Baig taking advantage of other people living with circumstances similar to mine. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Please spread the word, he must be caught!

Thank you.

Keith

New Charges Against TARIQ BAIG!


We just got word that a felony charge against Tariq Baig has been issued in El Paso! He must be found before he commits these crimes again. You can learn more about the charges here, just enter "Baig, Tariq" into the Name box.

Choosing Prosperity

I received Elyse Hope Killoran's Choosing Prosperity From the Inside Out! e-zine this morning and it reconnected me with a game I used to play quite a bit as I was really embedding my abundance thinking. It is called The Prosperity Game and it can be played online through Ms. Killoran's website.

The description from the website:

The Prosperity Game, first introduced by Abraham-Hicks (teachers of Deliberate Creation), is a simple, fun, and empowering way to activate one's ability to create prosperity - from the inside-out.

Playing the game alone is a delicious experience, but when we gather together to play it with a group - watch out! As Prosperity Partnership members have experienced first-hand, when you add the power of group energy sponsorship to such a dynamic system, the result is a true amplification of the power of the process.

As Choosing Prosperity is all about supporting a world-wide shift of prosperity consciousness by seeing to it that all interested individuals have access to knowledge and tools to activate our true creative potential, we have created this program as a gift.

And, as there is absolutely no cost to participate in this program, feel free to invite your friends, family, colleagues, clients. Simply send an email to your circle of friends using the Tell A Friend link in the left menu. They can then go directly to the link in the email to register online for the game.

My Personal Experience

While Ms. Killoran specifically relates the game to financial abundance, it has been my experience that that is only one measure of the amazing energetic expansions that came from playing the game. Once I reconnected to the natural assumption of abundance with which I came into the world, the whole idea of scarcity seemed rather contrived. What a release from fear to assume that all would be well. That simple act of faith freed up a whole lot of energy that was tied to the care and feeding of worry, stress and other emotional hobgoblins that kept me disconnected from natural abundance.

I then turned that reclaimed energy to positive pursuits in the realms of mind, body and spirit. I found amazing opportunities opening up around me, people wanted to be around that positive energetic flow so that not only was I awakened, but it inspired others to throw their own windows open to the abundant flow. The greatest gift of all was that just about a year ago I met an amazing and wonderful man named Keith Hogan who has become the partner I've always dreamed of...mind, body and spirit. Individually we are each pretty dynamic...together our abundance energy is irresistable...lol.

I can't guarantee that you'll have the same outcome as me from playing the prosperity game, but I definitely recommend that you open your heart and "Sign Up for the Game"...you've truly got nothing to lose!

rg