Click here to read our 2010-2011 Annual Report.
February Birthdays
Feb 10 ~ Joanne
Feb 12 ~ Brian W.
Feb 13 ~ Nancy B.
Feb 21 ~ Joan
Feb 23 ~ Shane
February Happenings
Coming soon!
many thanks for a banner year
 We express our profound thanks to all of our friends, supporters and volunteers for an exceptional year at Hillside House.
Although we faced a tough financial climate and a huge Medi-Cal provider rate cut (10% of the funding that provides for most of our expenses), our donors came through for us. Our supporters gave more to Hillside House in 2011 than ever before (at least in decades), and we have not had to cut back any of our vital, life-sustaining, life-enriching programs and services. Despite the fact that donations must now provide a far greater percentage of our costs (14% in 2012), the quality of life for our residents has not been compromised, and we are immensely grateful for that.
In 2011 we also made upgrades to our staff training programs and to our CNA care, thanks to having Ricardo Martinez in the new position of CNA Department Supervisor and Director of Staff Development.
We completed a much-needed re-paving and repair of our parking lot and driveways so that residents going outside in their wheelchairs are considerably safer, and access to Hillside House is easier.
Thanks to a grant from the Henry W Bull Foundation, more of our residents were able to experience the extraordinary benefits of the Hearts Adaptive Riding program, a program of therapeutic horseback riding.
Thanks to a grant from the La Vista Foundation we provided needed vaccines to our residents.
The Santa Barbara Foundation provided funds for us to replace the evaporative cooler in our kitchen and repair the housing for the cooler.
Many other foundations, businesses and associations supported our Developing Skills program, our Nursing Care program and our daily operations.
We weathered a lot of comings and goings in 2011, with residents moving to be nearer to families or graduating to more independent living environments and with the sorrowful deaths of some of our residents, which meant quite a few new residents joining our family. It is moving to be a part of the outpouring of genuine love and appreciation with which our residents greet these changes, to see how they honor those who leave and how they embrace so warmly those who come.
Volunteers provided hundreds of hours of support, spending precious, one-on-one time with our residents and hosting special events. This contribution is truly priceless.
Thank you to all who helped us in 2011!
Notes and Lettersfrom our friends
We are grateful for the lovely encouragement we receive from friends and family through hand-written notes and online. Here are a few we'd like to share. This first was posted on Facebook this past month:
"Thank you Hillside House. My sister Tina Z. had CP, lived at HSH for many years. It's been 30 years since she has been gone. Today is her birthday! Thank you for loving her and our family. I am her little sis.. we had so many great times living in our house next door ( little red house, our fam rented from hillside house during the 60's & 70'S). Us children played with all friends at Hillside. I got a job their at 16. Still see some of of older friends today. My Dad cut hair for the kids on weekends. I have many great pics from the early 60's 70's of our friends, and Mr. C.. Great Pic of Danny Thomas holding my sister at the annual festival. Would love to visit this great place after so many years."
"Dear friends of Margaret Mary Craig, I just want you to know that I appreciate the God given care you are giving to my sister Margaret Mary. God bless you all. Love Rita F."
"To all the wonderful people at Hillside House! I will always think about you all at this special time of year." Erika C.
"Our most heartfelt thanks to each of you for your loving care of the residents of Hillside House!" Bob & Lee H.
"We are so grateful for the love and support shown to our daughter on a daily basis." Ellen and Richard B.
2009 Medi-cal rate freeze Upheld
December 1, 2011, as reported by CD-CAN - "The US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday (November 30th)  reinstated the 2009 Medi-Cal rate freeze for intermediate care facilities for the developmentally disabled (ICF-DD) [Hillside House is an ICF-DD]. . . reversing a lower federal district court that blocked in May, the implementation of that freeze for those providers. The decision is a major setback for hundreds of facilities, thousands of workers and for thousands of people with developmental disabilities and children and their families in the Medi-Cal program - and a rare court victory on a budget issue for the State.
While the providers who filed the lawsuits could appeal the decision to the US Supreme Court it is fairly certain that they will not pursue that option."
The appeals court decision does not impact or address the 10% Medi-Cal provider rate reduction that was voted into the state budget early this year, which was supposed to go into effect this past June but has not yet been implemented. We anticipate and have been planning for this 10% cut to be implemented retroactively to June. However, the Brown Administration has said that it will wait until after a Los Angeles court decision on December 19th before implementing the cut. There are also cases in the U.S. Supreme Court arguing against the legality of the rate cut, but a decision is not anticipated until next summer, and the Obama Administration has said that states are within their rights in making these cuts. From the current vantage point, the chances of a reversal of the rate cut seem very low, and we are planning for lower funding from the state for the foreseeable future.
U.N. to Release Stamps designed by Artists with Autism
As reported by Disability Scoop, the United Nations is creating a series of stamps to honor autism awareness. The stamps will be designed by artists with autism. About 1 million of these stamps will be released through U.N. offices in New York, Geneva and Vienna to be used for mailing letters from U.N. locations. Autism is one of seven causes that the U.N. is choosing to honor in 2012. Other causes include endangered species, indigenous people and the environment.
We're on Facebook!
Hillside House now has a Page on Facebook. Visit us and become a fan to receive updates, view videos and photos, and share your stories with us and other fans. You might also want to join our Cause on Facebook: Support Hillside House.
You can also follow us on Twitter!
http://twitter.com/HillsideHouse
If you have a personal story you’d like to share with others about Hillside House or any of our residents, we would love to hear it. We might include it on the site or in our next newsletter. Send it to hillsidehouse@hillsidehousesb.org
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