LCO Elder & Disabled Services monthly news for December

Boozhoo to all,

November has come and gone and we are looking at some colder days within the next few weeks if not days, as stated previously, the LCO Tribal Governing Board has approved recent changes to the Home Repair and Auto Repair policies, there has been an increase to annual individual amounts for Home from $750 to $1000 for Tribal Elder and/or disabled Home owners residing on the Lac Courte Oreilles reservation boundaries, one major change implemented was the working Vs. non-working elder, which was a monumental movement in a positive direction for the Elder and Disabled LCO community. Auto repairs were increased as well from $250 to $350 annually, most repairs that need to be completed are well over $250 and it is a good thing that the Tribal Governing Board recognizes the issues and are completely 100% committed to providing valuable tribal services. I would like to take this opportunity to commend the LCO Elders Advisory Council and the LCO Tribal Governing Board with taking the initiative and making our tribal community a priority for the future.

The LCO Snowplowers are contracted for the upcoming winter season, we are currently operating at 5 plowers and over 230 driveways in various tribal communities, I would very much appreciate your patience and understanding regarding the time it takes to get to your driveway, I have asked each snow plow driver to either beep their horn or contact the clients phone number they provided when they signed up for snowplowing, and give them time to come out and move their vehicle, if it is not moved they cannot perform their tasks and will need to move onto the next driveway, it is not an exact science and I have been involved with this service since 2012 and there is always something more that can or could be done better, I very much appreciate your feedback.

Medicare Part D Open Enrollment period ends on December 7th, 2019

If you’re still thinking about your Medicare coverage choices for 2019, make sure to compare options and select a plan before Open Enrollment ends next week. We’re here to help with your decisions.

Still trying to decide between Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage? Visit Medicare.gov to review Medicare coverage options and compare estimated out-of-pocket costs to help you decide.

Veterans News:

The 2018 LCO Veterans powwow was in my opinion very well received with a lot of community members involved and I am still grateful and thankful of being part of the LCO Veterans Color Guard by leading the group with the LCO Honor The Earth Eagle Staff, I have the honor of carrying it forward until next 2019 Honor the Earth and I am very proud to carry this prestigious honor. I was able to attend both grand entry’s and also welcome some visitors from the Department of VA, Regional Office, Mr. Stanley Walton and Drew Prestebak, they have been coming to LCO for a few years now and always look forward to providing outreach and assistance to our Veterans and families.

The LCO Headstart program held a Honoring our Veterans event at the LCO Sevenwinds Casino on Friday November 9th, There were several speakers in attendance along with myself, I know that there a lot of events going on that same day but I hope if they do plan on putting Veterans Events for future consideration we as a tribal community could help better to advertise and have more tribal entity’s involved and to participate.

I attend meetings with the other Tribal Veteran Service Officers within the State of WI, these meetings are scheduled quarterly by our WDVA Tribal Liaison Shaun Stoeger, and we try to meet several times a year in other tribal locations. I think it’s a great group of Tribal veterans representing each tribe and collaborating and networking together to better help each other and serve our communities.

I am also a part of the County/Tribal Veteran Service Officer Association CVSO/TVSO Association, which consists of all 72 counties and 11 tribes within the State of WI, we tentatively meet twice a year for Spring and Fall events which vary in location depending on the current CVSO President because they are tasked with hosting the fall event in their county/tribe. Something to add on to this, which I am very proud to announce that, I am going to be taking part in the Executive committee meeting annually which could lead to Lac Courte Oreilles being a host to the CVSO/TVSO Fall Event a few years from now, please stay tuned.

We have recently partnered with the Sawyer County Senior Resource Center and they have generously donated over 60 non-perishable food boxes which our staff will be trying to deliver to our homebound meal delivery recipients. We are in the process of identifying the neediest of our list and will be attempting to deliver on Friday November 30th. It is my hope that the broadening relationship between both the tribal aging department and the county senior resource center will continue to be strengthened to work together and make more strides in areas we have yet to discover.

Some Key dates for the LCO Elder Center:

I will be on Travel to Racine, WI on Thursday afternoon, November 29th, and returning Friday, November 30th.

I will be attending the NWCVSO Meeting next Friday in Neillsville, WI on December 7th.

I will be attending on behalf of the LCO Housing Board, the NAIHC – National American Indian Housing Council – Legal Symposium from December 9th through December 13th.

LCO Elder Center Fundraiser event for Staff Dinner – LCO Tribal Office 10-12 or when food is gone, Carol Hamblin will be coordinating

LCO Elder Center – Christmas Dinner is scheduled for Thursday, December 20th, 2018.

LCO Elder Center will be closed on the following dates for the Christmas and New Year’s Holidays

Christmas – Monday, December 24th through Wednesday December 26th.

New Years – December 31st through Tuesday January 1st.

Thank you for taking the time to read and I look forward to hearing from you.

Respectfully,

Terrance Manuelito

Tribal Aging Director

Tribal Veteran Services Officer

13878W North Agency Road

Stone Lake, WI 54876

(715) 957-0077

Terrance.Manuelito@lco-nsn.gov