Macomb County Resource Lists

Dan Pfaff is a Family Independence Manager at the Warren DHS office. Dan is a 34 year employee of the Department of Human Services. He was awarded the FIA Employee Recognition Award by Director Doug Howard in August, 2002. He has served on the HSCB Interagency Communication Workgroup, the Metropolitan Detroit Refugee Task Force, the Macomb  Regional Interagency Coordinating Committee, the United Way Housing Workgroup, and for six years was chairperson of the Accessing Mainstream Resources Subcommittee for the Macomb Homeless Coalition. His committee, together with the whole Coalition, planned and implemented the Community Connection Day in January, 2007,which won an award from the National Association of Counties. He created and maintains a resource website, http://macombresources.info and moderates an email group for human services professionals and caring individuals in Macomb County.

Dan's speech at Disability Networks' fundraiser 8/5/10:

 I want to start by saying thank you to the staff at Disability Networks for honoring  me  with The Community Spirit Award for 2010.  It means a great deal to me--I will treasure it always.  But I feel like there are many people who are more deserving of this award--indeed many of you here in this room--who do so much for the disabled,  and also for other groups in need  such as the elderly, the homeless, low income persons,  and victims of domestic violence or  mental illness or substance abuse.  The workers at Disability Networks are my heroes, they have my praise and admiration for the urgently needed work that they do day in and day out.  And all of you are my heroes as well--everyone who works in any area of human services, or supports the work that we do--in short everyone here!  

But there is another group of people I must also thank tonite.   And they are the disabled persons whom we jointly serve: our clients, our customers.  It has been my job as a supervisor  at DHS to  watch over and assist our staff who make the eligibility determinations various programs like for cash assistance, Medicaid, Food Assistance, and Emergency payments.  But I also take many calls from customers who are denied assistance, who are desperate for help--I hear the most amazing and distressing stories you could ever imagine.   These phone calls were  my motivation for creating a website to tell people how to get free prescriptions, and how to find the free clinics and other free programs and services.   As you may know there is an ongoing health insurance crisis in America.  Yes, Social Security Disability and SSI DO exist, but for many or most applicants, there are no benefits until after the Judicial Hearing, which has a wait of two years or more.  There IS Medicaid for the disabled,   but only if they meet a strict disability test--which can take months to gain, and many never qualify at all.  The new federal legislation will help, but not until the year 2014.  There IS cash assistance from the State for the disabled, but it only pays $269 per month--and it is almost as hard to get as Social Security.  To qualify for these programs, you have to be unable to do ANY work--but you are without the health insurance you need to be ABLE to work! Into this incredible nightmare many people fall--no health insurance, no income, and no way to get them.  How they are able to live with nothing at all, on the charity of family, friends, and neighbors--is a mystery and an inspiration to me.  In their phone calls they calmly describe often incredible problems, privations, burdens--not least the pain and anguish of untreated medical conditions, and the growing isolation that comes with disability. I often wonder if I were in their shoes and had to endure even a 10th of what they have to handle if I could do what they do, or if I would crumble.  But they do survive, and persevere, and even help each other and us.  What they have to go through is a travesty and a shame on our country, but their toughness, their incredible resilience is tribute to the endurance of humankind.

So how can we respond to the needs of the disabled?  We must do more, we must listen with our hearts,  we must work tirelessly, but above all we must  collaborate-- collaborate within and and among agencies and organizations--because by sharing our knowledge and  experience and information and by helping each other, we multiply what we can accomplish many, many times over.

So for this award I say thank you to everyone here, but most of all thank you the people we serve.  You have given us so much without even knowing it.  Thank you, and God bless you!