Disability and Progress-September 11,2025-Made In The Shade 2025!

[00:00:00] Speaker A: KPI.org SAM. [00:00:59] Speaker B: Greetings. You are tuned to KFAI 90.3 FM, Minneapolis and kfai.org this is disability in Progress. I'm Sam Jasmin. We're with me, and Charlene Dahl is in the studio with me, my PR research person. Charlene Good evening, everybody. And in the studio with us joining me is Mike Miner. [00:01:23] Speaker A: Mike hey, Sam. Hey, Charlene. Thanks so much for having me. [00:01:28] Speaker B: Mike is the president of pai and we're going to talk to him about Made in the Shade and all sorts of stuff coming out tonight. So I want to start out, Mike, by giving having you give me a little bit of history. You know, how did you decide you wanted to be in this type of work? [00:01:49] Speaker A: Oh, that's such a great question. It comes from a lot of places for me. I grew up all but four years of my very young life with a father who had a physical disability. And I can't say that that made me come out of the home or high school or college thinking this is the work I have to do. But it's always, always been one of the fields and the type of work that I've been drawn to. My career includes things ranging from military experience to business to nonprofits. And the nonprofits just keep pulling you back in in the best way. And I served on the board of PAI for about six years prior to becoming a member of the staff as president. So I got a look at them and got attached to the mission and some of the people. So that transition was, when the time came, a real no brainer for me. [00:02:48] Speaker B: Gotcha. And it's what you knew right at that point? [00:02:51] Speaker A: Absolutely. It was comfortable from a lot of perspectives for me. Couldn't be, couldn't be happier with that decision. [00:03:00] Speaker B: So tell me about pai. You know, talk about what your mission is and who you serve and where you are and just the type of programs you have. [00:03:10] Speaker A: Absolutely. So, Pai, we're celebrating our 35th year. [00:03:15] Speaker B: Wow, that's a lot of years. [00:03:17] Speaker A: It is. We've been around for a while. We were actually born out of one of the other providers that we'll talk about today. One of our partners in Made in the Shade kind of split off this line of service 35 years ago. And it's just been, of course, I wasn't there for the whole 35 years, but it's just been a fantastic, fantastic experience. I like to talk about what we do from the perspective of the people we serve and support. So if we think about a person with I'll call it a significant intellectual and or developmental disability. That person down to the person could have any number of needs, wants, goals, you name it, and it is all about that person. And how do we provide overall a suite of services, both PAI family, other service providers, the community, what's best for that person to help them live the life they want to live. And PAI plays a few different potential roles in that person's life. Historically, what I might call our core service is called day support Services used to be called dtnh, which is a very, very old term. I won't unpack with you and bore you with that. But these are the services that, that help people fill their, their daytime during the week time with fulfilling and really engaging either learning experiences, other developmental experiences, social experiences, vocational experiences, including getting ready for work and working and all of the related and aspects of employment, both readiness and how to succeed in an employment and providing the supports. Today service providers have always provided all that whole book of services. And our job is to really make it about the person. We work with the individual, we work with family members, we work with a guardian, whether that's a family member or not, case manager and other service providers, probably first and foremost of the residential providers that we'll talk about today to make sure that we're all connected and we understand the needs and wants of the person and that we're delivering against those needs and wants in a way that's relevant and successful for the person. [00:05:59] Speaker B: Where is PAI located? [00:06:02] Speaker A: Great question. We're administratively based and in large part physically based in White Bear Lake. And then we have three physical locations in White Bear, one location in Oakdale. But because we're so established, we draw a high percentage of people really from St. Paul and throughout the north and east metro. So St. Paul, North, St. Paul, Maplewood, Oakdale, Woodbury, Cottage Grove, Vadnais Heights, and out from there. So it's a great service space for us. It's a great category and we have a lot of opportunity to help in that area. And we have a lot of companion providers, providers who do what we do, and providers that provide complementary services in and around our same area. [00:06:55] Speaker B: I'm just wondering what, you know, I can't imagine what it takes to run a program like you're running financially. [00:07:12] Speaker A: Wow, that's a big one. That's such a good question. It's a mix of financial sources. The, one of the really neat things about our service area is that we, we are set up in a very competitive structure. And we also, whether it's Intuitively or out of necessity, we are very collaborative with one another as service providers. So I have literal competitors who do some of the same or all of the same services that PAI delivers right next door, literally down the street in some cases. In one case in particular, we have a provider right down the road in badness heights, a really good provider. And we compete like crazy and we also collaborate like crazy. One of the really cool things that I was lucky enough to inherit at PAI was our partnership with an organization called nutrax. New Tracks provides transportation services of lots of different types for different audiences, but really focused on the participants that we serve and the participants that that provider down the road. They're called Merrick, their participants. We formed it again before my time. It's one of the blessings I was left with as a joint venture. In kind of business speak, it would be thought of as a joint venture. So Nutrax exists because these two other entities formed it and it was formed to primarily serve those two entities and more specifically the people that those two entities serve. So we provide transportation. I'm on the board of New Tracks. My counterpart at Merrick is on the board at New Tracks. So we in fact we had a board meeting this morning. We work very, very, very closely and we fortunately we get along because we also kind of have to get along to make the, make the arrangement work. And it's a win win for everybody. The organizations win. We have a world class transportation organization providing services to almost everybody we serve. Some people get to program or community destination on their own or with the help of a family or somebody at the group home. But most people we, we pick up through New Tracks bring into a location wherever the the day is going to happen in the morning. And then the New Tracks transom transports them back in the afternoon back to home. [00:09:49] Speaker B: So just so I understand, do you have like three locations, did you say? [00:09:53] Speaker A: We do three? Well, sorry, three in White Bear and then the one in Oakdale. [00:09:58] Speaker B: So how many people can that support clientele wise? [00:10:05] Speaker A: Great question. So enrolled Today, we're almost 300. On any given day it can be for certain north of 250. 250 people participating in some program or another. Importantly, and we have, we actually have capacity. And I'll comment on what capacity means. It sounds boring, but it's kind of cool actually. And getting cooler as new services come online. We have capacity to serve many more people because A we have a little more space in some of our program locations and B we have what I'll call Virtual capacity in the community where we're delivering more and more services in the community, either exclusively or as part of the total experience. That includes some in center or in a program location. Services and services in the community down at the individual level. So in a sense, I wouldn't say that our capacity is unlimited, but it's a lot more than just the number of people you can fit into the buildings and serve effectively there. [00:11:14] Speaker B: Ah, yes. Okay. I was just curious because you know, there can be quite a bit, and of course that takes financial ability to, to run that. I want to talk about day support services. So I know you said it's all about learning and, and developmental and social and recreational, but what, what are some of the things that you might actually do? [00:11:46] Speaker A: Great question. First and foremost, the focus down at the individual participant level is based on goals that are, that are established with the individual and with typically heavy, I'll say input, whether that's context or more specifics from a guardian, other family members, other stakeholders, and then the case managers involved as kind of a connector and helping with the administrative side, the authorizations for services and things through the county and the state. So we're working to define the service mix. Part of that process just determines with the help of the person that we're serving, what do they want to do next, what do they want to learn next and then what do they want to do and learn after that? What are their goals, in other words? And some of those again can be work goals, some of those can be learning and developmental goals. Certainly very often those goals are around employment, whether it's getting ready for employment or nope, I've done that and I'm ready to find a job and I'm looking for a job in this particular sector, field or type of environment and this type of work. So really tailoring around that, a lot of, a lot of stakeholders get involved in that process and the whole sector overall has gotten so much better. We can always do more of it, but we're really pushing and pushing and pushing on orienting around that person what's best for them, not just what do they need, but what do they want. Where a lot of services historically were about somebody else deciding what was best or what was most important, that's really turning and has turned 180 degrees to be about the person first. And we're here to help. We're here to facilitate and accommodate and activate whether it's learning or other things, specifically the services. Any day is, any day is different or every day is a little Bit different as a group. If they're say, in a, in a program location, for example, people are doing a lot of social activities. That's a given every day. They're doing some kind of recreational and social kind of intertwined. That might be. Oh boy. That could be an arts based thing where they're working on a theater production, something more ambitious, or it could just be an art project that they're doing with their friends. So. And those are just two among countless examples of what people might be doing. We also have supportive services, additional services that we bring in through either paid services or volunteers. Things like pet therapy. [00:14:52] Speaker B: Yeah, we'll get to that. [00:14:54] Speaker A: Good. That's a big topic for us and our people. Love it. [00:14:58] Speaker B: Excellent. I want to go back to employment services and I understand the concept of employment services, but there's two things I want to ask specifically. Since there's been such a difference in politics and whatnot with things getting cut, I'm specifically going towards dei and, and that. What types of difference, if any, have you noticed in regards to being willing to hire people with disabilities or finding things for people with disabilities in the employment realm? [00:15:43] Speaker A: That's a great question, Sam. In the big picture, there's been so much progress in, I'll say, recent decades for access and opportunity for people with disabilities and certainly employment is part of that. Excuse me. Today it's hard to read. You know, we're really in a, in a what is for now a short term stretch of pullback around whether it's dei. And that letter I is our favorite. Not that we're here to pick favorites, but it's so much about inclusion and including people, giving people access to opportunities for so many things, including employment. I would say overall, private sector and other employers continue to be increasingly open to and interested in learning about opportunities to hire people with disabilities. I'm sure we are confident, I should say we are overall at an all time high in the number of people with a developmental intellectual disability working in integrated competitive employment in the community. Are we, are we maybe experiencing a bit of a sputter, a bit of a stall with that? Maybe, but I don't, I don't anticipate a significant reduction. Maybe it'll flatten for a little bit until we get to a different point either politically or socially or both and. [00:17:16] Speaker B: Talk a little bit about how you find employment for people with disabilities of this sort. [00:17:25] Speaker A: Great question. It's really working kind of both or all ends of the equation back to starting with the individual, with that person who's interested in These opportunities, we take them through a. Typically it depends on their exact personal, individual experiences, but we take them through a process of learning about the world of work and then learning about how to connect with the world of work. Right. So developing those skills to identify where you'd want to work or the type of work you'd like to do. Applying for a job, interviewing for a job. Right. All of those steps that we're so familiar with and then at the same time working the other end in talking with employers both because let's say we have a person who really wants to work in a movie theater or similar settings. So maybe it's a theatrical environment or something like that. We're then going to do that proactive outreach to those venues in the area and introduce the person that we're supporting and see if we can do some matchmaking, get them into that interview process and hopefully land them a job. There is a challenge, and I have to say, and I mean this not in the kind of cliched way, but truly a challenge and a huge opportunity for more employers to open up their hiring, their recruiting. And we're there to help with that. We're there to break down whether it's kind of myths or misperceptions, but also help, I don't want to say fill in, but be, be supportive to the right degree with the person that we're working with and the person who's acquiring that job. And for some people that is a full time job coach or similar level of support. And for some people it's, we check in with the employee and importantly the employer, say once a month and that's all that's required. So we really try to gauge that, to make sure that not only the employee but the employer feels like they've got the support. They can call us in if there's a question and a concern, a situation where they're maybe thinking about adjusting job duties and we'll consult with them on whether, you know, that's appropriate. And of course working with the, with the employee or the person we serve at the same time. So we keep it very collaborative and we're fully engaged, but only to the extent we need to. We're not there to be heavy handed. We're not there to do the work for anybody. We're there to activate and potentiate the people that we support and help them realize their maximum potential in the process. [00:20:29] Speaker B: I believe individualized home support and respite is a new service for you. Could you talk a little bit about those services and what they provide. [00:20:42] Speaker A: Great question. It is a newer service for us, happens to be really great companion services to those day and employment services that we've been talking about. Where in the day services. We maybe start the day at a center at a building, maybe we stay there, maybe we don't. Depends on the day and the interest and what's going on and all of that. Sometimes transportation can be a challenge. So that can be a factor as well. We know all about, you know it well, I imagine. And then the other angle on it from that individualized home support and respite is all of those services start and end in the home and the community. And we have people who are in our day support program or in the employment services program only. We have people who are in individualized home support or respite only and we have people who are accessing both services. So they really work together for us as an organization and especially for some people who want some degree of supportive services, whether it's in house or in the community with us, but really working out of the program location and then they go home and they're getting that same type of support that they need. And that's a wide, wide range of possible specifics of support at home and in the community during either on other days or different parts of the day. [00:22:22] Speaker B: And then let's talk about the mobile programming. What opportunities does that offer and how does that work? [00:22:30] Speaker A: Mobile is a brand new thing for us. It's really people who are enrolled in, technically enrolled in those day support services. They might be attending in a center or we might have somebody who's enrolled and we haven't found quite the right place and they haven't found quite the right place with us or another provider at a location. So they can access this mobile option where I'll give you a kind of a typical example. And this is also a new service for us. So we're starting small learning fast and we're excited about growing it. It's maybe three or four people that we support and one staff person. That's pretty typical. It can be a little different mix depending on the people we're supporting and their needs. And they're out with a vehicle every day or full days and we do some rotating. So we, we get more people connected with that service instead of just having it be a fixed group all of the time. And they're doing what we all do. They're doing shopping, they're going out to get lunch somewhere, they're going to a museum, they're going to a park. They're going to a zoo. They might catch a sporting event if the schedule lines up. Let's go see a movie, let's go to the why, let's do right again. All, all of that is heavy social component, of course, but also still working on those individual objectives and goals of the, of the people that we're supporting. Not only what do they want to do, but what's, what's the best thing for them to either broaden their horizons, learn a new skill, work on something that they need to maybe even get ready for employment, maybe they need to work on the social side because they want to work in that movie theater. But, but they get a little extra shy when it's time to interact with the public. Any number of different situations. And we're learning how to use those real world contexts to even more effectively help people build skills in context. Right? They're, they're out there in the real world. They might be going to a movie theater and we're taking time out to learn about, hey, who's working here and what roles are they playing to. [00:24:46] Speaker B: So somebody I want to talk about because this is a lot of services you have. It's one thing to offer services and it's another thing to offer services. You know what I'm saying? Like you can have a whole list of services, but if you don't have the people to support and work in the company and if things are running short, makes it hard to offer with, to as many people as you might want. How does this work for you guys? Are you having trouble keeping people on with this type of cuts coming down the pike? [00:25:24] Speaker A: Such a great question. I really appreciate your familiarity with some of those dynamics. I'm, I'm hearing some familiar themes already. It is, we have been in a workforce crisis and there's a, there's somewhere a technical definition of that for more than a decade. And that's mostly, I would say, a national phenomenon. There are pockets where organizations are not as challenged because of local economic factors or other factors. But this has been a persistent, really chronic problem. The pandemic taught us just how bad it could get, right? And we are continuing to recover from that and trying to get back to, I would say today we're pretty close to where we were before the pandemic in terms of our ability to attract and retain people. But even that is, that is still under that or within that definition of a workforce crisis. So it's, it's all relative and we have a lot more to do and a lot of upside we have some people waiting for service, but more often today those folks are waiting for the right place for them at the right time. And in of course, the right service category, we, we could, as I said though, serve many more people. And the number one constraint on not growing and not becoming, I would say, more sustainable as an organization as a result of that growth is absolutely all about that direct support staffing, that constraints. [00:27:02] Speaker B: And what do you think? Is it all about money? It feels like it could be multifaceted, but is it mostly money? What is it? [00:27:11] Speaker A: I agree with you that it's multifaceted. It is the most rewarding work I've ever been associated with, both for me personally and the experience that I see with our staff, including our direct support folks, every day. But it's hard work. It's very hard work. I talk about my parents all the time. Already did with you today. My mother was a nurse and. [00:27:39] Speaker B: Right. [00:27:40] Speaker A: I'm sure I picked up some of those habits from her. Same kind of dynamic. Right. That was not a high paying job back then by any stretch. It still isn't, I would say, as far as I know. But poor, rewarding. She literally saved lives. She was an operating room nurse. So I had that presence in my life really literally from day one. And I see it in our people. They're so committed. They see and they experience the difference that they make every day. It's not easy. Not every day is a great day, not every day is a victory. But when they can step back and we help them do that, we remind them of where they are, how that fits into the larger experience for all of us and the especially the people we support and how exceptional they are in that they, they will, and they can do this work and do it so well. Ironically, coincidentally, this week is National Direct Support Professionals Appreciation Week. It's what we shorthand as DSP week. The DSPs are those frontline staff that provide all of these services to folks with intellectual and developmental disabilities and in other sectors as well. It is a fundamental workforce that the country and the world needs way more than most people appreciate or understand. And part of our job is to give them the visibility and give the role the visibility so the public better understands and appreciates the value that they bring every day. [00:29:24] Speaker B: Talk to me about what the qualifications might be to be a DSP or Direct Support Sir Person. [00:29:31] Speaker A: Good question. And it can vary by the type of work they're doing, who they're working with. If you're working with people who need behavioral support, for example, at a particular level, depending on the specific person. We can, I'm going to say theoretically, and it happens, we can take somebody out of high school, provide some, some really solid, fairly intensive training and mentorship and ease them into that role. Most people though, come to us from another experience either in a, in this field or a related field. It could be somebody who works in a school in a disability related educational program, for example, people who are working in parts of health care, people who are building their career towards a job as an lpn. And there could be any number of other similar examples. But. And this, this kind of caring work, supportive work with, with a baseline of technical knowledge and application required can be a really important stepping stone for people in their career ladder towards those kinds of jobs and careers. [00:30:57] Speaker B: Where can people find more information about your services and what you offer and how to get involved? [00:31:04] Speaker A: Well, let me just say we're excited to hear from lots of people, folks who are interested in learning about our services as a potential service recipient. People who are interested in employment, people who are interested in volunteering. We talked a little bit about that. Employers who are interested in learning more about the possibility of hiring people that we support. That's a big one. And anybody. All of those and more can start on two places. One is our website and that's P A I M n dot org. [00:31:41] Speaker B: Can you give that again? [00:31:43] Speaker A: Sure thing. P a I m n.org and they can contact me directly. My email is M minor and I'll spell that M M I N E R at P a I m n.org and we're going to talk a little bit. I think about Made in the Shade too. If people are interested in information about Made in the Shade or our partners in Made in the Shade, same thing. Reach out to me. They can find the event on Facebook. But feel free to contact me and I will connect them with any of the partners as appropriate. [00:32:25] Speaker B: Talk about PAI having volunteer opportunities. I'm presuming you do. [00:32:32] Speaker A: Absolutely. Volunteers are a really important part of what we do and how we do it. It's interesting. I talked about some of the requirements for doing that direct support work and it's a surprisingly. To most people, it's a surprisingly regulated field. In a good way. Mostly. Not, not everybody can just walk in and start working with a person. They have to, they have to have lots of training. [00:32:59] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:33:00] Speaker A: You have to have the right personality for it. Well, start. Right. Right. First things first. You got to have the disposition and the personality and the drive. But you have to have a. We have A very extensive training. Not just a program, but a construct. And our people go through hours and hours and hours of training every year, both to current but also to reinforce everything from working, you know, what are the requirements and the constraints? Meaning what, what, what are the do's and don'ts of working with vulnerable adults and, and so much more. So our volunteers, some of them can go through that training sufficient to be able to support people directly. Most people are bringing in a thing that they're good at, a thing that they are interested in and that. And that our folks are interested in experiencing. Number one on that list, I would say, is pet therapy or animal therapy of some kind. [00:34:01] Speaker B: Of course. [00:34:01] Speaker A: Oh yeah, we've got great licensed or certified pet therapy teams. Almost always a dog, but we'll talk about it, hopefully where some other animals can get involved in those same kind of services. Just yesterday, it was at one of our locations, we had the Raptor Center. A great group showing off the owl and the hawk and the bald eagle. [00:34:26] Speaker B: And the not exactly cuddly things, but, you know, good visuals. [00:34:31] Speaker A: Can I go really un cuddly about the experience? [00:34:35] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:34:36] Speaker A: So this wonderful woman from the Raptor center has got the bald eagle on her arm and we're getting, you know, this really great introduction and orientation to the bald eagle and bald eagles in Minnesota. And I'm just soaking it up. I'm just loving every minute of it, as is everybody else. And once in a while she would reach a kind of like a caliper thing into her. You know, if you have a dog that you've trained, you might have a treat pouch, a reward pouch on your side. Well, she's got a bigger version of that. She reaches, pulls out a piece of meat and she says, yeah, this is rat. Oh, sorry about that. But I was there. There's more to it. I'll spare you the details, but it just made the experience come to life in a different way from a different angle. And of course, she's super professional about it and explaining why they do what they do. [00:35:35] Speaker B: Right. [00:35:36] Speaker A: Yeah, that bald eagle happened to be. Was hit by a car and had a. One of the wings was kind of sagging down, was resting lower, so it can't fly. So you get just all of that background. It was super fun. Anyway, that's, that's. I would call that a volunteer experience. It's a great alignment with what the Raptor center does in terms of public education and awareness. And it's a great opportunity for us to engage our folks into some. In something really really cool. And plenty of stories to tell that night at dinner, right? Well, maybe not at dinner. You got me. You got me. Yeah. [00:36:12] Speaker B: That is. [00:36:14] Speaker A: I should have mentioned that. Don't tell this story at dinner. That's great. [00:36:21] Speaker B: That is. Pet therapy is an amazing thing. I used to bring. We had a pet dog, and I used to bring that into a group home, and one of the guys came up to me, who I barely ever saw in the group, and I told him, I never see you. He says, well, I like cats. You don't bring me a cat. So the next time I brought both my cat and the dog, he comes running out, takes the kitty, disappears in his room for the hour, comes back out at the appointed time, hands me the cat. The cat's purring away. He's all excited. That was his thing. So that was cool. I was. I really enjoyed that. That was. You know, there's nothing like sometimes an animal that makes people smile or just makes them feel good. [00:37:16] Speaker A: Absolutely. We. We see people. We would. In common parlance, we would say we see people come out of their shells, but they get engaged and they connect differently, whether it's with an animal or people. To your question about volunteers, you know, whatever experience they're bringing in or just their personality, to Charlene's point, they just. They connect with people differently. We also bring in that. We pay for it, but we bring in music therapy every single week with a certified music therapist. She's just phenomenal. Same kind of dynamic, bringing people out. [00:37:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:37:58] Speaker A: Getting them involved. And she's expert at engaging people not only in the music and listening, but hearing it and feeling it, using percussive techniques to engage somebody in music, even if they can't. If they can't hear it or they are not able to watch, or they just don't experience it the same way some people do. Those are just fantastic experiences to be part of and to watch happen. [00:38:29] Speaker B: Why I don't want to have you leave without talking about Made in the Shade, which is really what one of the main topics besides Pai that we came to talk about. So tell me a little about that and how that works. [00:38:44] Speaker A: That's great. I can talk about all of them all day long, so whatever time you've got, Sam, I'm ready. Thank you so much. Made in the Shade. We're so excited it's coming up. The big event is next Saturday, the 20th. We're in. We haven't been associated at PAI with Made in the Shade the whole time by any stretch, but Made in the Shade is in his 34th year this year. And Made in the Shade is a. We call it an inclusive walk, run and roll. So it's, it is literally for everybody of all abilities and all backgrounds. And it happens Next Saturday, the 20th at Thomas beach and around Bday Makoska in Minneapolis. It's a collaborative. It's a fundraiser or a fundraising event, but most of the fundraising has already happened. So the event is really about coming together and celebrating in community and celebrating each other, celebrating the people we support and the people who do that work, as we've talked about. And we do it in partnership with seven, six other. A total of seven organizations, some of who do very similar kind of work and services to PAI and some who do more residential or other services, but all supporting many of the same people. I love going to Made in the Shade and seeing people who either attend or participate a pai, but they're there with their residential provider or vice versa. And then it's an opportunity to connect with those residential providers and learn even more about what they do and how we work together. It's just a fantastic event. And I keep saying, I guarantee no rain. There's some fine print there, but we don't have to get into that. [00:40:35] Speaker B: I'm glad to hear you are in good touch with the weather gods. [00:40:42] Speaker A: We do what we can. [00:40:43] Speaker B: Yeah. So just real quick, I, I wonder, you know, obviously you mentioned that there, you know, some of the people that are at Made in the Shade do similar work to pai. What, what do you feel sets you, your company apart from them? [00:41:09] Speaker A: Oh, everybody has their, their specialty. It's a really good question. And I would maybe separate it and this is common in, in services, but it, it has a particular bent in our service. There's what you do and there's how you do it. And from a kind of technical service definition and how the state would set something up and the regulations around it, et cetera, et cetera, they're all, you know, those are pretty similar. So the category of service is. Is often common to multiple organizations and providers. We really hang our hats on how we do what we do. We've done not, not big business kind of branding work, but we've done enough surveying and fielding for, call it keywords or connecting points for people. What do they think sets us apart? And it's really the, the word that comes up most often is heart. And, and we really. That. That isn't something we do as a marketing thing. Right. We're not, we're not doing. We're Not Harding, for to promote ourselves. It's just who we. Who we bring in, how we work with our employees, and most importantly, how they work with the people we support. And they have that heart. And Charlene talked about, you know, you need the personality first and foremost, whether it was a volunteer or as an employee. And it's true. And one of you can't get it on paper often it's hard to see, even in an interview or other introductory situation. But we absolutely are looking for people who care and then have the discipline, I would say, and the drive to translate that care into making a difference for people. [00:43:06] Speaker B: Right. [00:43:07] Speaker A: It's those people who care in a really active sense. If I were to sum it up. [00:43:12] Speaker B: Mike, I want you to give us a rundown one more time on Made in the Shade, since it's just a week away, and how it works, who's there and what time and how people can get involved. [00:43:24] Speaker A: Sounds great. Really appreciate it. We're so excited. Next Saturday, the 20th and the main time, you know, we're showing up about and opening up about 9, 9:30, but the main time for activity is between 10 and noon. One of my favorite things about Made in the Shade is that people, you come as you are, you come when you want to come. You do what you want to do. You hang out, you connect, you learn about us, you learn about and from the people that we and the other organizations support. You maybe walk around the lake or run around the lake or roll around the lake, and maybe not. Whatever works for you. Get. Get lunch. We'll be cooking up burgers and more. Lunch is free. There's no charge for the event. There's no tickets. There's a schedule and a sequence. But it's. It's just, you know, one kind of fun thing to the next, culminating with the walk, run and roll. But by then, plenty of people have started walking, running and rolling. Or they pass on it and just kind of hang out and listen to music and just meet new people and have a great time. So it's. It's a really easy event to show up and we'll see people at Made in the Shade and then walk down the path one way to check out the volleyball courts around the lake and then go the other way and check out what's going on at Thomas Beach. It's a day at the lake for a lot of people, and it's just perfect. And it's a great day for the people we serve to come out in community and be with each other, but be with anybody. And everybody who shows up at the. [00:45:05] Speaker B: Event and who will be there supporting this, the companies. [00:45:10] Speaker A: So it's a collaborative, as I mentioned in all seven of the organizations are nonprofit organizations serving people with developmental and intellectual disabilities. They break out into two and I'll say very broad categories. As we would all remind someone, the specifics really matter. But I'll give you, if I can, a quick overview of the groups. They're generally either coming from services like PAI serves or provides day support services and employment services and then other extended services from there. Or they're coming from a residential point of view. They, they have group homes. Maybe they are serving and supporting people living independently in the community. The whole range of possible residential services and then add on services. The specific organizations are homeward bound and they're one of those residential services or service providers. And they also provide health services and other intensive services out in the community. They have a really broad portfolio. I can't do it justice today, but they've been around for a long time and have have gotten into a full suite of services. The Phoenix residents I mentioned early in our conversation really where PA came from. The Phoenix Residence, as the name implies, is a provider of a wide range of residential services and related services. Another organization with a broad range of services for not just people with disabilities, but getting into people experiencing homelessness and other things. And sometimes it's the intersection of those situations, but sometimes it's a slightly different population that some of these folks work with. Partnership Resources is another day service employment service provider and they also provide other vocational services. Tsc, we talked about Merrick down the street. TSE is down the other street from pai. Good friends and neighbors and competitors. Part of, part of how the system works. It keeps us on our toes that we compete with these folks in very real ways and we collaborate with them. We talked a little bit about that with nutrax, but even on a day to day, week to week, month to month basis, we've got an association statewide where we're learning together, coming up with ideas, advocating the whole ball of wax, but really getting a larger voice out there by cooperating. We love the folks at tsc. Another organization is EGH or Episcopal Group Homes. They offer residential including in home and semi independent living services. And then Wingspan, Wingspan Life Resources. Oh great. [00:48:11] Speaker B: Talk to them a few times. [00:48:13] Speaker A: Wonderful, wonderful. Again coming mostly or kind of baseline residential services in home community services. And, and also they've got a good example of an extended service working and supporting people with significant mental health challenges and of course. PAI rounding out the group. [00:48:35] Speaker B: Mike, thank you. We really appreciate you coming on and giving us your time. [00:48:42] Speaker A: I am so glad to be here. It's a pleasure to meet both of you in person. [00:48:46] Speaker B: Yes. I think we were virtual last time, weren't we? [00:48:49] Speaker A: We were. We were. [00:48:52] Speaker B: Well, thank you very much. It's always a pleasure for us to actually meet people in the studio. So. And you're tuned to KFAI 90.3 FM, Minneapolis and KFAI.org, this has been Disability in Progress. The views expressed on this show are not necessarily those of KFAI or its board of directors. My name is Sam and I've been the producer and host of this show. Charlene Dahl is my research PR woman. We were speaking with Mike Miner, president of pai. If you want to be on my email list, you may email me and give comments or [email protected] that's disability and [email protected] thanks for listening. Goodbye. [00:49:46] Speaker A: KPI dot dot org.