GREETINGS EVERYONE!!!
I
hope this
message finds you well this month of November. November
is a beautiful month for its significance toward the
improvement of humanity. It is a month of reflection and
gratitude for that which we have. We want to wish
everyone a great Thanksgiving holiday, full of joy,
happiness, reflection, and motivation to become better
people. While we get lost in the trivial, insignificant,
and quiet frankly, unworthy, many are going hungry,
being exploited, are homeless, are being abused, or are
dieing, not knowing or enjoying some of the things we
take for granted. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday to
appreciate true happiness as this stems from within
one's soul. Remember and be grateful for the people who
enhance our lives with their presence and those that do
with their absence; be grateful for the abilities we
have and the ones we're going to learn if we're
permitted; be grateful for your life as many are
fighting for theirs, not appreciating theirs, or have
lost theirs; and be forgiving of those who hurt us and
those we hurt with our flaws. When you leave this earth,
no one is going to care how much money you had, what
brand of clothing you wore, or what car you drove. But,
if you made a difference in one person's life, that will
immortalize you. For this month, our newsletter will
feature the following:
·
A recap of
TACIL’s activities
·
Tips for
holiday shopping
·
Recipe forTurkey
Leftovers
·
Appreciation
of our collaborators
RECAP OF THE
MONTH:
Since our
last newsletter, a lot of good actions have been
completed at The Ability Center. Many lives have been
affected and improved to enhance the quality of life of
these persons with disabilities.
·
Our
Independent Living Program continues providing quality
services to persons with disabilities in southwestern
New
Mexico. We continue providing
Information and Referral Services, Advocacy, Independent
Living Skills Training, and Peer Mentoring along with
our Food Bank, Equipment Bank and other services we
offer at The Ability Center. We have been conducting
Rural Outreach, either in person or electronically, to
market The Ability Center and educate communities on
Independent Living.
·
Our Social
Security Payee Program continues to educate Payees on
money management, with Consumers sticking to their
budgets, learning about savings, and expanding their
financial literacy abilities.
·
Our grant
implementation for an award from the Carl C. Anderson,
Sr. and Marie Jo Anderson Charitable Foundation
continues on schedule. All forty individuals continue
receiving their monthly food rations without any
impediments or delays.
·
In
collaboration with NMCDHH, we have begun providing ASL
classes again. We have a beginner session and an
intermediate session. Turnout has not been as expected,
but things will pick up eventually as we are
aggressively marketing this grant.
Our
McCune foundation grant is on schedule as Consumers
continue to receive computer training from typing to
business document development.
TIPS FOR
HOLIDAY
SHOPPING
Consumer
World offers these holiday shopping tips to help bag the
best bargains:
1.
Read the Ads: Check local newspapers on Thanksgiving
Day. They will be chock-full of circulars and last
minute deals. Friday’s papers will include additional
sales. Get on retailers’ email lists, and look for deals
and coupons listed on their Facebook pages. Preview the
Black Friday sale circulars now at bfads.net, and get a
list of sale items at all stores combined by category,
like all GPSes, at
blackfriday.gottadeal.com.
2.
Evaluate the Deals: Not all advertised items are great
deals. To separate the ho-hum from the good deals, use
several of Consumer World’s pricing tools, such as the
Price Checker at ConsumerWorld.org (to compare prices at
many online stores instantly), DealAlerter.com (to get
notified when an item’s price drops) and
PriceHistories.com (to compare today’s price for an item
to what was charged over the past six months). If
shopping online, find out the total price including
shipping and tax (if any), and what the reputation of
the seller is using BizRate.com or ResellerRatings.com
.
3.
Research the Right Product: A low price on a lousy
product is no bargain. Check websites where
professionals evaluate products, such as Consumer
Reports, Steves-Digicams.com (for cameras),
Ecoustics.com (TV/hi-fi equipment), PCMagazine.com
(computers), best/worst toy lists, etc. Also, nothing
beats reading customer reviews by real owners of the
products you are thinking of buying. Check Epinions.com,
and read the user comments posted after most product
descriptions at Amazon.com.
4.
Save with “Triple Plays”: To save the most, combine the
primary ways to save: buy items at a good sale price,
use percent-off/dollars-off coupons offered by some
stores to lower that price even more, and look for items
that also have a cash back rebate.
5.
Be an Early Bird: Toys-R-Us opens at 10pm on
Thanksgiving, Kohl’s at 3am, and Sears and Target at 4am
on Friday. Wal-mart (WM) will open at 12:01am Friday
with all its Black Friday deals except for electronics
which go on sale at 5am. Plot your route from store to
store based on store opening times, and since quantities
are very limited, arrive before the doors open. Send
family members to different stores if opening times
conflict.
6.
Beat the Early Birds: Wal-mart and Sears have been
running pre-Black Friday sales on weekends, with better
than Black Friday prices on some items. To plan for the
real Black Friday, scope-out key retailers on Wednesday
before Thanksgiving to learn each store’s floor plan in
advance. Avoid the crowds by ordering online since some
Black Friday deals may be available on Thanksgiving Day
or Friday in the wee hours.
7.
Check the Return Policy: Before buying, find out the
store’s return policy. While many stores have extended
their return deadlines into January, others are clamping
down by imposing restocking fees on certain categories
of items, or by using a blacklisting database or returns
tracking system to deny refunds to returns
abusers.
8.
Get a Gift Receipt: Make returns easier for gift
recipients by asking the store for a gift receipt and
include it in the gift box. Without a receipt, a refund
may be denied outright, or may be limited to only an
equal exchange, or to a merchandise credit for the
lowest price the item has sold for in the recent
past.
9.
Use the Right Credit Card: Certain credit cards offer
valuable free benefits. For example, don’t be pressured
into buying a service contract when you can get up to an
extra year of warranty coverage free just by using most
gold or platinum credit cards. Ask your credit card
issuer what length warranties qualify for an extra year
of coverage, if any. Some credit cards also offer a
return protection guarantee (they will refund the
purchase price within 90 days if the store will not), or
a sale price guarantee (they will give you back the
difference if an item goes on sale within 60 days of
purchase).
10.
Save More with Price Guarantees: The bargain shopping
process does not end with a product purchase. Keep
checking the prices of the items you bought. Since many
stores offer a price protection guarantee, you may be
entitled to get back some additional money if the seller
or a competitor offers a lower price before
Christmas.
RECIPE OF
THE MONTH
Here is a
great recipe for turkey
leftovers.
TURKEY POT
PIE
ingredients:
2 cups leftover
turkey
2 cans (10-1/2 oz. size) chicken gravy
1
package (10-oz. size) frozen mixed vegetables
1 can
(10-oz. size) refrigerated
biscuits
Directions:
·
In 2-quart
casserole mix leftover turkey, gravy and
vegetables.
·
Bake at 400F
for 15 minutes. Top with biscuits and bake for 12-15
minutes more.
·
This recipe
serves/makes 4
THANK YOU TO
ALL OUR COLLABORATORS
THANK YOU TO
ALL OUR COLLABORATORS
The
Ability Center wants to
take the time to thank the following individuals and
(or) organizations for the great contributions they have
made to the Center helping to fulfill our
mission:
·
Aging and
Long Term Services: Traumatic Brain Injury
Program
·
Blas
Rel
·
Carl C.
Anderson Sr. & Marie Jo Anderson
Foundation
·
Casa De
Oro Care Center
·
Chris Van
Horn
·
Christina
Little of the United Way of Southwestern New Mexico
·
Deming
Luna
County Commission
on Aging
·
Independent
Living
Resource
Center of
Albuquerque
·
Lowe’s
Pay-n-Save, Tularosa, NM
·
Our
Dedicated Board of Directors
·
Our
Dedicated Staff
·
Rehabilitation
Services Administration
·
San
Juan
Center for
Independence
·
Sandra
Williams
·
Social
Security Administration
·
The McCune
Charitable Foundation
·
The New
Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing
Persons
·
The
New
Mexico Division of Vocational
Rehabilitation Area 3 Office
·
The New
Mexico Governor’s Commission on
Disability
·
Wal-Mart on
Valley, in Las Cruces, NM
Most
importantly, our Consumers for having faith in us and
coming back to us for assistance to live a high quality
of life in their communities free of exploitation and
institutionalization.
