Recently in Anna Sobering Category

            When Jacquelyn Meiners started dating her boyfriend, she also picked up a hobby and a new means of transportation - biking. Since January, she has lost over ten pounds and stopped driving her car. Instead of burning gas, she is burning calories.

            "I bike almost everywhere I need to go," she said. "It's convenient, fun and much better for the environment than driving a car." 

Jacquelyn Meiners rides her bike that she bought from the Re-Cyclery in Lawrence this spring. The Re-Cyclery, open since 2007, moved to downtown Lawrence in April. 

            After retiring her Wal-Mart mountain bike, Meiners, St. Louis senior, hunted for a used bike to fit the kind of riding she does around town. At the Re-Cyclery in Lawrence she found what she wanted, a recycled road bike at a low price with no environmental costs.

            The Re-Cyclery is just one of many recycled bike shops that are popping up across the nation. Since 2005, almost every major city in the U.S had established some sort of bicycle recycling program or shop. Chicago and Austin top the list with 4 recycled bike shops, New York City has 3 and Los Angeles has 1. 

            Bicycling, in general, helps both the environment and the body.  It improves mental health, helps to reduce stress and lower the risk of developing chronic diseases such as stroke and coronary heart disease.

            Matt Farnsworth, Springhill Sophomore, describes bicycling as a both a physical and mental addiction. "If I'm not on a bike for an extended period of time I start getting really depressed," he said. "Just exercising in general makes people feel better, releasing all those endorphins and whatnot."

            If the health benefits don't convince you to start riding a bike, maybe the savings will. The League of American Cyclists estimated that the cost of operating a bicycle for a year is less than $150 compared to AAA's estimate of almost $10,000 a year to drive a mid-sized sedan.

            In 2008, National Public Radio deemed bicycle recycling "the next green thing." Now, shops like Recycle-a-Bicycle in New York City and Free Ride Recycled Bike Co-op in Pittsburgh are taking old bikes, refurbishing them then reselling them at lower prices. 

            The Re-Cyclery, at 7th and New Hampshire, is the only bike shop in Lawrence that sells used and refurbished bicycles. With about 240 bikes in the shop, Dane Randell, a mechanic at the Re-Cyclery, said, "I don't know any other shop around here that sells used bikes. We also sell our stuff at lower prices. Our full service, working on bikes, is definitely priced lower than any other shop in this area."

            Matt Farnsworth, a mechanic at the Re-Cyclery, said that most of their customers are on a budget. "Our market is geared towards people who don't want to spend a lot of money on high end bikes, they just want something to get around town," he said.

            Because of the efforts made by bike recycling programs, charities and youth programs have been created thanks to the bikes that have been recycled instead of thrown away.

            In addition to selling recycled bikes, Pittsburgh's Free Ride Recycled Bicycle Co-op also offers a youth education program, Earn-a-Bike, where, "participants take part in a series of classes where they learn basic bicycle repair and maintenance, environmental awareness, and a recycling ethic while fixing up a bike of their own to keep."

            Jessica McPherson, director of the Earn-a-Bike program, said that, "Kids love to learn how to fix things, and they are excited about having a chance to keep the bike they worked on." 

A street vendor sells cotton candy from a used bike he received from Pedals for Progress. The charity, founded in 1991, has received, processed and donated over 115,000 bicycles to partner charities in 32 developing world countries. 

            Pedals for Progress, a non-profit charity out of New Jersey, emphasizes that, "every year Americans throw away millions of old bikes and buy about twenty-two million new ones." With these unwanted American bicycles, Pedals for Progress recycles them and ships them to economic development projects in places like Nicaragua, Ghana and Uganda. 

            In New York City, Recycle-a-Bicycle has been "repairing abused, remaindered, broken, or worn bikes and funneling them back to consumers" since 1999.

            Lisa Stein, executive director of Recycle-a-Bicycle said, "It's a friendly environment. And buying from us is a way to feel a part of the community. It's a way to think about sustainability."

            Now with two shops in the city, Stein said she expects the appeal of these recycling programs to continue to grow. "They're in line with the trends," she said. "There's the green aspect and the environmental awareness. And people want to live better."

            Two cats look out the window of a quaint two-story, pastel trimmed house in East Lawrence. Inside, the high ceilings and neutral grey walls direct attention to the colorful vintage furniture adorned with floral fabrics of sunshine gold and chartreuse. Basildon Beauregarde, a fluffy orange cat, stretches out his arms to scratch one of the floral chairs and is promptly squirted with water by his owner.

            Sara Thompson, 22, lives in this house, with her cat and two roommates. Wearing a familiar crimson and blue T-shirt, Thompson sports a lip ring and hair cropped short. Originally from Salina, Thompson moved to Lawrence to go to the University of Kansas. Double majoring in environmental studies and civil engineering, she is also involved in Queers and Allies, Environs, KJHK and the Potter's Lake Project.

In Kansas, only 38 percent of the population finds homosexuality an acceptable lifestyle. The other 62% of residents, including Thompson's parents, believe that sexual relationships and marriage should be between men and women.

            Until she was 16, Thompson had an ordinary childhood in the middle-class suburbs of Salina. She was involved at school, made good grades and got along with her family: her parents, Bob and Sue and her brother, Drew. During her sophomore year in high school, her parents, on their way to see her play in a JV basketball game in Manhattan, collided with a grain truck on a two-lane highway outside of Salina. Rescue workers had to use the 'jaws of life' to get her parents out of the car. They were then airlifted to a hospital in Wichita. "They were really lucky to be alive," Thompson said. "Four days after the accident my parents came home and hospital beds were set up for them in the living room. I remember people constantly being around. Relatives, friends and people from the church brought food and helped change bandages. I tried to help out, but I couldn't help feeling overwhelmed."

            Thompson no longer talks to her parents. Her freshman year at the University, Thompson realized that she was attracted to girls when she fell for one of her suitemates in Templin Hall. In the summer of 2007, Thompson called her parents and came out with her sexual orientation, which she describes as "queer." She returned to Salina to find her mother gone on vacation and an aloof father. She was informed at that point that she would "no longer receive any financial or emotional support from her parents."

            That fall, Thompson met Ryan Campbell, 22, at a Queers and Allies meeting on campus. "I remember seeing her and thinking she was really cute. I always find people who are sort of androgynous to be very naturally beautiful," Campbell said. He and Thompson became close friends and, to his surprise, she asked him to marry her the following spring. Campbell, who is also queer, never had any expectations to get married. "If I did get married, I thought it would be to a man," he said. Because of their close friendship and the conventional benefits of marriage, Thompson and Campbell were married on March 29th 2008, by Potter's Lake. In doing so, they redefined marriage to fit their individual lifestyles. "Sara is such a wonderful person and I am truly humbled to be her husband," Campbell said. "Because of her difficult family situation, my family has taken her in like a daughter. Spending holidays and birthdays with us, she is definitely part of the Campbell clan." 

            Anna Hoard, 22, a friend of both Thompson and Campbell, said that their marriage is not conventional yet they love each other and get along better than many straight couples do. "They play in a grey area around the definition of marriage between a man and a women," she said. "Technically, this is the only gay marriage that is legal in Kansas." 

Sara Thompson airs the Dick an' Dyke show at the University's campus radio station, KJHK.

            Thompson and Campbell frequently share lively conversations about sexuality and attraction. One particular night, over a bottle of wine at Henry's on Eighth, the two came to a joint realization that their conversations were entertaining and that others might also be interested in what they had to say. "We discussed the fact that KJHK had no queer-related content," Thompson said. "So we applied and made a demo for our own show." The producers at KJHK were impressed and offered the show a spot on air. Their program, the Dick an' Dyke show, airs on Saturdays from 6 to 8pm. "The time we go on is prime real estate for a radio show," Campbell said. "We cover a lot of ground. It's a social commentary. We talk about queer-related news and lots of sex." The show also has regular segments like homo history, the Lindsay Lohan and Samantha Ronson relationship update and queer-related news briefs.

            Anna Hoard said she listens to the show whenever she can. "Sara and Ryan are so caddy and have such robust conversations. It's like tuning into a great conversation with friends." Dick an' Dyke, like a queer version of the Howard Stern show, pushes the boundaries of accepted conversations and topics discussed on air.  "It is racy," Campbell said. "But people like it and its good to have a queer program aired at such a good time." 

            Thompson, the coordinator for this year's Queers and Allies pride parade on April 27th, likes discussing sexuality and attraction with other people. "I call myself queer because I don't like to be put into a box," she said. "I prefer women but I'm also attracted to men. I view sexuality as a continuum of sorts. It's not defined as just straight and gay. It's fluid and that's what makes it interesting."

              It's going to be a hard year for community mental health centers in Kansas. After

receiving a disproportionate amount of budget cuts from the state, already underpaid employees are absorbing most of the costs from the financial crisis. 

Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services 

           In Lawrence, Bert Nash Community Mental Heath Center is no different. Rick Spano, Associate Dean of the University of Kansas School of Social Welfare and member of the Bert Nash Board of Directors, said, after limping through this year

financially, next year is going to be even worse. 

            In January, Governor Kathleen Sebelius proposed a $7 million cut in state aid to community health centers and another $265,000 is likely to be slashed in July.

            David Ambler, Former Vice Chancellor Emeritus at The University of Kansas and member of the Bert Nash Board of Directors said that all of the community mental health centers in Kansas need to come together to get through the budget crisis.  "Budget cuts are going to hurt on terms of our service priority. In these economic times, we all need to share in the resolution of this," he said.

            In February, Kansas received $71.5 million in Medicaid stimulus funds and is expected to receive another $440 million additional funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

            David Johnson, chief executive officer of Bert Nash, said that Medicaid funds from the stimulus package would not be spent on non-Medicaid costs. "Medicaid funds don't even cover what they are supposed to let alone anything else," he said. 

            As the year progresses, Bert Nash is expecting to see more patients needing treatment. Research has shown that in economic crisis' stress levels go up and the suicide rate increases. "There is usually resilience early on," Johnson said. "But, four to five months down the road, as the economic crisis takes its toll, stressors increase and more people will need mental health care."

            Due to its reserve funds, Bert Nash is in better shape than many other community health centers that are now panicking due to cuts in state funding. Johnson said that he hopes the legislature won't forget how much community health centers have been affected by the crisis. "We hope that the legislature will restore the cuts from grant funding," Johnson said. "We have asked the state senate not to forget community mental health centers as they have received a disproportionate share of the cuts."

David Johnson has been the CEO of the Bert Nash Center for 8 years. The center, that serves seventy-five to eighty-five hundred people annually, will be cutting its divorce education and STEP (Steps for Effective Parenting) programs because of budget cuts.

 

            If she is confirmed, many of the budget decisions coming from Washington will be in the hands of the new Health and Human Services Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius. Many Kansans were surprised at the nomination from the White House, as Governor Sebelius hasn't done much to support the health care system in Kansas during her six years in office.

            Republican Brenda Landwehr of Wichita, who chairs the House Health and Human Services Committee, said, "I think the governor is a really surprising choice for HHS secretary. She has done nothing in her six years in office to reform health care in Kansas." 

Kathleen Sebelius is currently serving her second term as Kansas' governor. After 6 years in office, President Barack Obama nominated her for the position of Health and Human Services Secretary. If confirmed, Lieutenant Governor Mark Parkinson will take over the position as governor for the remainder of the term.

            And while she has not been exceptionally engaged in community mental health, David Johnson said she would be an asset in Washington. "I am confident that, if confirmed, she will help us. We really struggled throughout the last administration," he said. "With Sebelius concentrating on healthcare, I am confident she will make positive changes." 

State Budget Crisis Puts Pressure on Local Non-Profit

         In response to Governor Kathleen Sebelius' proposed budget for 2010, along with the Bert Nash Homeless Outreach Program and the Lawrence Art Center, The Shelter, Inc. could face cuts in the funding it receives from the city of Lawrence in 2009. 

         The Shelter, Inc. has provided services for children and their families in Douglas County and surrounding areas since 1981. Located on 11th street, The Shelter is a non-profit organization offering a wide range of programs in addition to their emergency shelter for juveniles.

         Although its name may be deceptive, The Shelter is not a drop-in center like the Salvation Army or the Lawrence Community Shelter. Judy Culley, executive director of The Shelter, said, "We take in children at risk of being in the custody of the state. The kids we work with could be picked up by law enforcement, in police protective custody, or placed privately at the shelter."  

         Other programs include a juvenile intake, pre-filing diversion, foster care, adoption services, specialized case management and high school truancy diversion programs. "The juvenile intake service is very important to the community," Culley said. "Our staff is on call 24-hours a day to law enforcement officers to help them with crisis intervention for families."