Yvette Walker
With KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker. This is IE Latino Voices, where we invite representatives from Latino led and Latino serving organizations to share their stories and their impact in our region. Joining me today is Susie Pittman, Chief Executive Officer of OPARC. Thank you so much for being with us today, Susie.
Susie Pittman
Thank you for having me.
Yvette Walker
Okay, Susie, so for those that are not familiar with OPARC, please share an overview of its mission and work.
Susie Pittman
So OPARC has been around for 75 years in the local community. We just celebrated our 75th anniversary gala and had a lot of wonderful stakeholders. So we provide services and support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and that might include things like autism or Down syndrome or cerebral palsy, and our mission is to really transform their lives by making sure that they have access to all of the same activities and employment and housing and education that someone without a disability would have.
Yvette Walker
So Susie, tell us a little bit about what drew you into this work to assist and cultivate those with disabilities.
Susie Pittman
Well, you know, my background educationally is in clinical psychology, and when you have that degree, you typically go into mental health, or you go into, in California, something where you're doing a service system like disability work. And so I've always worked in this service system. For 30 years, I've been a leader in this system, and I worked at a regional center, which is our major funding source for people with disabilities in California. And I've just always been so inspired by the people themselves. I feel like, if we are putting people with disabilities in the room where the decisions are made, that's where the inspiration for a career like mine comes from.
Yvette Walker
Talking about inspiration and the folks that you assist. Can you share a story that touches your heart and you know, strikes a chord when you think about your work?
Susie Pittman
Yeah. So we have an ambassador, an OPARC ambassador, who is a participant in our work program. Her name is Kristen, and she's been at OPARC for years, and it's somebody who benefits from multiple facets of the system, where you either live at home with a family or you live in a group home. You have supportive services in that living arrangement, and then you also get support to have a job so that you can be a contributing member of the community. And Kristen works in our culinary kitchen at OPARC in Montclair, and she has a cookie recipe that we use when we cater events, and so it's become known as this recipe that she cultivated. She may have gotten it from a family member, and she helps OPARC be out there in the community, showing how even somebody with a disability has an opportunity to have their own business and can contribute in a way that's meaningful to the people around them.
Yvette Walker
Today, what does the Latino participation look like in OPARC?
Susie Pittman
You know, disabilities do not discriminate. It's across all socioeconomic status. It's across all races. So the people that we support who are Latino, it reflects the local demographic. We do place a high value on ensuring that our staff demographic reflects the demographic of the local community. We do that by making sure there are job descriptions, say bilingual Spanish or bilingual Korean or whatever the demographic is. If there's a family that needs services, then we make sure that we are having a concerted effort to hire people that can meet those families where they are.
Yvette Walker
With that said, what are some of the biggest challenges facing OPARC?
Susie Pittman
You know, right now, our biggest threat is funding. We're facing threats to Medicaid. The state of California is unique in the way that it provides services to people with disabilities. It's attached to a piece of legislation from the 50s called the Lanterman Act, where the state of California made a promise to people in California with disabilities to fund services and supports to make sure that they can participate in their community. And so that's where funding for services like OPARC comes from. There really isn't a bigger threat right now to our service system and to people with disabilities than these Medicaid cuts.
Yvette Walker
So that is a tremendous barrier and potential financial impact. How can people that are listening, that have family members or friends that suffer from some type of disability connect with OPARC? And what's the best way to do so?
Susie Pittman
The best thing to do for somebody with an intellectual or developmental disability is to connect with your local regional center. And so in this area, we have the Inland Regional Center. It's the largest regional center of the 21 regional centers in California. So if somebody needs access to our services, then they start at the regional center, and the regional center determines their eligibility, assigns them a case manager, assesses their needs, and then refers to service providers like OPARC to provide those services that are identified in their individual program plan.
Yvette Walker
Thank you so much for your work, Susie.
Susie Pittman
Thank you so much for having me. Our guest has been Susie Pittman, Chief Executive Officer of OPARC. Join us again next week for IE Latino Voices. You can find this story and others on our website at kvcrnews.org/ IELatinoVoices. IE Latino Voices is produced by KVCR Public Media, and is funded by generous support from the CIELO Fund at IECF, uplifting and investing in the IE’s Latino community. For KVCR News, I'm Yvette Walker.
