My STOP THE BURN project has a double meaning (burn from the sun and burn from an arm extended in the air for a long period of time) - picture this if you will ... an amazing sunny day, breeze blowing, sunglasses on, BBQ sizzling and 4 group homes coming together for a great evening. Now get a little closer and watch as the sun starts to join the party, hot and bright, taking in all of the fair skin that we've brought into one gathering, skin that is made more susceptible to the sun's rays by some medications, conditions and diagnosis. For me, just being a nice shade of porcelain makes me burn ... now look to the right ... to the left ... front of the yard ... back of the yard ... hmmm ... NO SHADE ...
Now, picture if you will ... staff ... dedicated, caring supportive staff, arms high in the air holding the biggest, gaudiest umbrellas in captivity. Arms shaking after hours of taking turns holding them, trying to provide shade for the people we support and each other. We draw straws to see who has to actually stand holding the umbrellas because they won't stay standing on the uneven ground and the only other alternative is in the garage where in order to join the rest of the party, it would require xray vision to see through a cement wall that is between the garage and the yard.
If only we had some shade ... perhaps a couple of shade trees!!
Unfortunately with the government funding, a request for something like this, which would richly enhance the lives of the people we support is laughable. There is no room in our limited funding for such 'frivolous' things.