Salt Lake Bound

I get this call several times a year: A person with a disability is seriously contemplating relocating to Salt Lake and of course since we have the toll free phone number I get the initial call. Usually the call is coming from someone of the dominant religious culture and it usually someone newly brought into the “fold” and the new “foldee” is looking to join the “Mother Fold( MF)”. Many times the caller is a person with a disability low income and in need of many supports and feels that the MF will meet those needs.

I of course see it is my responsibility to discourage the caller from moving to Utah if the caller feels they are going to be taken care of—it is just not going to happen in this town or state. The state inherently hates populations which are low-income or minorities. I wish that were not the case but I have been providing services to this group during the time I have been here and animosity to these groups I what I have seen. In fact, I feel, it is my responsibility to inform the caller of these issues, which I did to my morning caller—and low and behold he still wants to come—the sooner the better.

This guy informed me that he was African American and had moved to some Midwest state which starts with a” D” to get out of Chicago. I am not sure why he wants to now relocate further West but one I did recognize is this guy is a survivor and he will do well, really, where ever he winds up. So now he is fully aware of the lack of diversity of the area and he is fine with the lack of diversity. In fact he did not come right out and state it but I think I heard it between the words he did speak. He feels he will get along better in a less diverse culture then say Chicago where he feels, he was always in eminent danger.

This guy is a “talker” all right, a classic system worker someone with definite skills at manipulating systems and programs to his well. I ended up giving him addresses and phone numbers one independent living center and three different housing authorities. Not that he conned be but he conned me and I am glad that he did. Not that this community needs any more people who are low income and disabled but sometimes I feel this community needs another opportunity to exercise its skills at basic humanity.

The front barreled though the county about 2:00 am: lots of wind, thunder and chilly temps. I did not get a whole lot of sleep but enough to get by but the front had lingered today bringing lots of rain, off and on, all day long. I had a meeting across town so I did bring my van into work. The clouds and rain are forecast for the remainder of the day. It maybe a good night to just shut the door and curl up with my current Stephen King.