Posted by David Moreau on January 31st, 2010 at 3:33 pm | 2 Comments »
David Moreau
In Social Awareness Sophie’s asked
If you could change any part of yourself
what would it be? and she thinks very carefully.
The staff are good at this one.
Each participant’s annual meeting
starts with Strengths, which we skip
over quickly and Needs, which we use
to make hab plans, such as, Donnie will refrain
from talking to people he doesn’t know
on ninety percent of recorded occasions
for three consecutive months, or,
Sophie will report to group on time…. Continue reading »
Posted by David Moreau on December 21st, 2009 at 6:24 pm | 2 Comments »
David Moreau
Don’t use it against us
that we become attached
to the people we serve,
that we love them
as we care for them.
Don’t think you don’t need to pay us
enough to have a home,
to make a car payment,
to bring our children to the doctor…
Don’t think we’ll do it
out of the goodness of our hearts –
even though our hearts are good.
Continue reading »
Posted by David Moreau on October 8th, 2009 at 2:16 pm | 2 Comments »
David Moreau
Ellie’s reading the community college brochure
and talking about becoming a CNA or a PT assistant,
complaining to Gina how long it takes,
Just to make fifteen bucks an hour
instead of ten oh nine.
Extra money for cigarettes and tattoos,
I tweak them. I can be an asshole, I know.
It’s more than that really. It’s having enough
to buy oil for the winter or bring your kids
to the doctor.
Of course she wants the government to pay
and remains convinced it’s the Somalians
in Tall Pines or the girl down the street on AFDC
taking all the tax money. I’m always arguing
she’s got it wrong. It’s the rich who cost
more than the poor.
Continue reading »
Posted by David Moreau on September 18th, 2009 at 7:48 pm | 1 Comment »
David Moreau
Donnie yanks his bathing suit around his knees
then forgets what he’s doing
cause he sees a guy from the Water Fitness class
taking off his suit as well.
Like a good support person, being a role model and all,
I avert my eyes and hope Donnie’s gonna do the same.
But Donnie stares right at It and points and laughs
and points down at himself and laughs some more. Continue reading »
Posted by Jenn Craigue on August 25th, 2009 at 2:56 pm | 2 Comments »
Jenn Craigue
Since I developed a disability, I have been struggling to figure out where I fit in. It hit me one night that I will always fit in with DCA because I believe in the mission. And the DCA gives me a way to stay involved with direct care work. I’m also excited to have been elected as vice chair of the DCA’s board of directors. My primary mission is to get more direct care workers involved with the board, to get their input and to give them a way to develop their leadership skills.
Just because I can no longer work as a direct care worker doesn’t mean that the problems my peers face – problems I know well since I used to deal with myself – have gone away. I believe with all my heart that both direct care workers and the people they serve will benefit immensely if the government recognizes and respects the importance of direct care work. The health care system would fall apart without us.
That’s why I wrote this poem. Continue reading »
Posted by David Moreau on August 5th, 2009 at 4:23 pm | 1 Comment »
David Moreau
I’ve been working with adults with developmental disabilities since 1979. I’ve been a vocational instructor, a group home staff person, a site supervisor, an activity supervisor, a counselor, a program director, an outreach worker and a case manager. Right now I’m the team leader of the Activity Services Program at the Social Learning Center in Lewiston, Maine, a job I find deeply satisfying because it mostly consists of teaching people to have some control over their lives.
I’m also a poet who has been known to brag that Garrison Keillor has read my poems three times on National Public Radio’s Writer’s Almanac. This year, Inclusion Press of Toronto, Canada, published a book of mine, If You’re Happy and You Know It Clap Your Hand. It tells stories – and attempts to tell the truth – about the cost of caring for one another.
When Elise Nakhnikian of the Direct Care Alliance asked me to comment for a policy fact sheet about the effect of low wages on the lives of direct care workers, I sent her this poem.
“A Handy Guide to Pay Rates in MR Services” is a simple observation of the ironic fact that the workers who actually do the work make the least amount of money. Which means that, for many of us, the only way we can make a livable wage is to move away from what we love – the hands-on care of others.
Continue reading »
