media contact: David Perry / (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

HIGHGATE SENIOR LIVING COO ENDORSES BLUE WILLOW SYSTEMS

REVOLUTIONARY AUTOMATIC FALL DETECTION, PERSONAL WANDER MANAGEMENT AND AUTOMATIC ALERTS 

21April 2017 – Menlo Park, CA: Highgate Senior Living, Chief Operating Officer, Marjorie Todd’s top priority is the safety of her residents and staff. In the business of caring for people, Highgate brings a “Holistic approach” to caring for their residents. http://www.highgateseniorliving.com/

Marjorie Todd, COO of Highgate Senior Living, says : “No matter how our residents choose to live, the care they receive is uniquely Highgate. We place a high value on the relationships that form between our care partners and residents, as this close bond greatly enhances each resident’s physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.”

Todd continues: “We are delighted and surprised by how quickly our residents and staff adopted Blue Willow Systems. Our ability to receive an immediate alert about a resident’s fall or wandering can be the difference in life and death. We can now effectively track and trend our resident’s patterns of behavior to try and predict when they may be vulnerable to a fall or wandering. Today, with Blue Willow Systems we can respond more quickly and provide the greatest peace of mind to our resident’s families.”

“Blue Willow Systems is tremendously pleased to be working with Highgate. They have a very strong focus on high quality care and are using best of breed technologies to help them deliver that care.” said Richard Heaton, CEO of Blue Willow Systems. “Advanced technologies like Neural Network based Artificial Intelligence is now available to detect critical care needs, like falls, to more effectively respond and care for residents with Blue Willow Systems. “ he continued.
 
Blue Willow Systems is a revolutionary SaaS resident safety platform that automatically detects falls, manages wander with indoor location, analyzes real-time resident and staff activity and distributes event notifications, while providing sophisticated incident and trend reports allowing operators to deliver better care, reduce overhead and manage staff workflow, resulting in increased revenue, staff effectiveness, resident and family satisfaction which may decrease insurance and litigation expense. http://www.bluewillowsystems.com/

Media Contact: DP&A, Inc., (415) 767-1067 / news@davidperry.com

Ten Percent. TV Listing – April/May 2017

Ten Percent — LGBT-TV for Northern California

Wednesdays, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursdays – Tuesday, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturdays & Sundays at 10:30pm
On Comcast Hometown Network Channel 104 in Northern California and in High Def on Channel 819

Episode # 347
Wednesday, April 19, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursday – Tuesday, April 20-25, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday, April 22 & 23, 10:30pm
David Perry of 10 Percent TV speaks with Prince Manvendra of India. Known as “Oprah’s Favorite Royal”, His Highness is the only openly-gay member of a royal family in the world. He is building a first-of-its-kind LGBTA center in India.

Episode # 348
Wednesday, April 26, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursday – Tuesday, April 27 – May 2, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday, April 29 & 30, 10:30pm
David Perry of 10 Percent TV interviews Dani Sheehan-Meyer, owner of Cliché Noe Gifts + Home in a conversation about the power of “shopping local” and marketing to the gay community. Perry also speaks with filmmaker Dan Goldes and Karen Topakian about the new documentary Arrested (Again), chronicling Topakin’s work with Greenpeace and other political actions including the recent “RESIST” banner over the Trump White House.

Episode # 349
Wednesday, May 3, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursday – Tuesday, May 4 – 9, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday, May 6 & 7, 10:30pm
David Perry of 10 Percent TV interviews Ruth McFarlane of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, discussing economic disparities within the LGBT communities and the ongoing impact of the Trump Administration. Perry sits down with Joe D’Alessandro, President & CEO of San Francisco Travel, talking about this year’s “Summer of Love” 50th Anniversary and the “Trump Effect” on inbound tourism.

Episode # 350
Wednesday, May 10, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursday – Tuesday, May 11 – 16, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday, May 13 & 14, 10:30pm
David Perry of 10 Percent TV discusses the growing significance of the “Gay Dollar” with Dawn Ackerman, President of San Francisco’s historic “Gay Chamber”, the Golden Gate Business Association (GGBA). Perry “scores” an interview with Brian Andrés Helmick, CEO/founder of San Francisco’s first professional soccer team, the SF Deltas, joined by one of the team’s stars, goalkeeper Romuald Peiser.

Episode # 351
Wednesday, May 17, 7pm
Rebroadcast: Thursday – Tuesday, May 18-23, 11:30am & 10:30pm
Saturday & Sunday, May 20 & 21 10:30pm
David Perry of 10 Percent TV sits down with the legendary Carole Migden: former California State Senator, Assemblywoman and noted political activist, discussing the documentary about Migden and her lesbian colleagues, Political Animals. Perry sits down with historian and Rainbow Honor Walk board member Kathy Amendola, owner of Cruisin’ the Castro Tours, one of San Francisco’s most popular walking tours, delving into the history of the historic LGBT neighborhood.

Ten Percent is also available 24/7 through the “On Demand” Feature through your Comcast Cable Network. Choose “Get Local” and “Comcast Hometown” to access Ten Percent. Past shows may also be viewed online at www.comcasthometown.com.

Become a fan on Facebook: 10 Percent on Facebook

About Ten Percent:

Comcast Hometown Network (CHN), Comcast’s regional cable network covering Northern and Central California, continues its commitment to quality original programming with Ten Percent, a weekly interview series that focuses on lesbian, bisexual, gay and transgender (LGBT) issues. The half-hour show, created and hosted by long-time San Francisco media professional David Perry, airs on Channel 104 and is available to all Comcast digital cable customers throughout Northern and Central California. Each episode will then be available online at www.comcasthometown.com as well as on Comcast’s popular ON DEMAND platform, which is free to Comcast digital customers.  To view Ten Percent ON DEMAND, Comcast Digital Cable customers can tune to Channel 1 on their Digital Cable lineup or press the ON DEMAND button on their remote control, then click on the “Get Local” section, then click on “Comcast Hometown.”

“I jokingly call the show ‘Charlie Rose for the LGBT world,” said David Perry, Producer/Host of Ten Percent. “We may be only ten percent of the general population, in round numbers, but our issues are one hundred percent front-and-center in today’s world. Whether it’s the fight for marriage equality or debates about gay clergy or the right to serve openly in uniform, our issues are reflective of the world at large.”

“David has a well-known and unique voice that bridges many communities,” said Jason Holmes, Executive Producer at Comcast Hometown Network. “David’s talents and the launch of Ten Percent further enhance Comcast’s commitment to our communities and Comcast Hometown Network’s compelling, community-based regional programming,”

Media Contact: David Perry / cell (415) 767-1067 / news@davidperry.com

The Night Shift Premieres at International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival

“Dystopian Nightmare” by San Francisco Filmmaker Adam Gold
Premieres April 8, 9 & 10 in Phoenix

27 March 2017 – San Francisco / Phoenix: What is a person willing to do to survive? Many timely themes of work and social issues play out in the nightmare future world of Adam Gold’s short live-action film, The Night Shift. The Night Shift has been selected to screen at the prestigious International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival (http://www.horrorscifi.com/films/) in Phoenix, Arizona the weekend of April 7TH. The film will screen as part of the Sci-Fi Shorts A program on Saturday, April 8th at 3:50pm, Sunday, April 9th at 2:05pm, and Tuesday, April 11th at 12:30pm. All IHSFF screenings will take place at the Harkins Scottsdale 101, 7000 E. Mayo Blvd. Phoenix, Arizona.

“Does everyone have a price?” Gold asks. “The Night Shift, asks the question what is a person willing to do for a paycheck? Better yet, what is a desperate person willing to do for a small paycheck?”

In his film, Gold’s corporate entity, Child Care and Control, appears to be helping with the “over-population epidemic”: but at what cost? A San Francisco native and SFSU Cinema graduate, Gold wrote the screenplay and directed the live-action short film during his time at San Francisco State University.

The film follows a new trainee, Peter Lowry (Hunter Ridenour) during his first day of work on the night crew of Child Care and Control. He must decide whether he can follow the process or whether his daily tasks are beyond his capabilities.

The film has screened at two local festivals in recent months: SF Indiefest’s Another Hole in the Head last October http://sfindie.com/festivals/another-hole-in-the-head-film-festival/ and more recently, at the I Hella Love Shorts Festival in Oakland in early March http://ihellaloveshorts.com/index.html — IHSFF will be the film’s first screening outside of the Bay Area.

The International Horror and Sci-Fi Film Festival  is a  501(c)3 non-profit organization under the Phoenix Film Foundation and is a sibling of the Phoenix Film Festival, Phoenix Film Society, IFP/Phoenix, the Arizona Student Film Festival and the Phoenix Critics Circle. Our mission is to support and develop the artistic appreciation, educational opportunities and growth of independent film within Arizona.

Media Advisory / Request for Onsite Coverage:

WEDNESDAY, March 22 – 11am (PST)

Disability Advocates Decry Cuts
Call on Congress to Preserve Gains for Disabled Americans!

Media Contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. / (415) 676-7007/ news@davidperry.com

WHEN: Wednesday, March 22: 11am

WHERE: The Independent Living Resource Center SF
825 Howard Street, San Francisco

WHAT: Disability advocates and allies from around the Bay Area will rally at 825 Howard Street in San Francisco in order to press upon Congress the importance of preserving access to community life for thousands of Bay Area residents. Advocates will focus on preserving Community First Choice Option (CFCO), an optional Federal funding incentive that provides additional funding for community-based services for all people with disabilities, as well as other vital medical care and other long term services and supports needed by people with disabilities.

Congressional Republicans are moving legislation that eliminates CFCO by 2020 as part of a strategy to introduce block grants and cut Medicaid. Members of the Disability Community will express to Representative Pelosi, Senator Feinstein and Senator Harris their concerns that the GOP is using CFCO and block grants to play partisan politics without consideration for the many people with disabilities whose lives are hanging in the balance.

The concern is that eliminating CFCO restores the Medicaid bias toward institutionalization that the Disability Community has long fought to reverse. The right to live in the community was first recognized in Federal law in the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. LC case. The years since have seen the growth of centers for independent living as Disability Rights organizations have made community integration one of their primary concerns.

media contact: David Perry & Associates, Inc. (415) 676-7007 / news@davidperry.com

BAY AREA ADVOCATES DECRY MASSIVE CUTS

— Independent Living Centers Call on Congress to Preserve Hard Fought Gains for Disabled Americans –

News Conference at 11am, Wednesday March 22 at ILRCSF

21 March 2017 – San Francisco, CA: The Independent Living Resource Center of San Francisco (ILRCSF), the Marin Center for Independent Living, the Silicon Valley Center for Independent Living and disability advocates throughout the Bay Area joined advocates nationwide today in calling on Congress to reverse its draconian cuts to community based Medicaid services as part of its repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Tomorrow / Wednesday March 22 at 11am, the three groups will hold a news conference at the ILRCSF offices (825 Howard Street, SF) to raise awareness and announce advocacy plans.

“The proposed cuts will turn back the clock on hard fought access to community based living and the significant community and societal contributions made everyday by the disabled community in America,” said ILRCSF Executive Director Jessie Lorenz.

Congressional Republicans are moving legislation that will eliminate vital healthcare services and force thousands of Bay Area residents with disabilities out of the community and behind closed doors to institutional facilities. The proposed legislation eliminates the Community First Choice Option (CFCO) by 2020 as part of a strategy to cut Medicaid funding for disabled individuals. CFCO, which was introduced as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is the only current Medicaid program aimed at ensuring disabled people’s right to live in the community. By providing enhanced Federal funds to states that have adopted the program, CFCO gives Medicaid beneficiaries greater access to home- and community-based services, enabling them to live in their communities rather than in expensive nursing facilities or institutional settings that rob them of their civil rights and fundamental liberties. CFCO saves states millions of taxpayer dollars and grant disabled citizens the freedom to decide where they want to live.

In the states that have implemented it, CFCO has become a vital tool in moving disabled people out of nursing facilities and other institutions and into their own homes. Members of the Disability Community have expressed concerns that GOP is using CFCO and block grants to play partisan politics without consideration for the many people with disabilities whose lives are hanging in the balance.

“This community contributes so much and has come too far in the past 25 years, to be set aside without regard by the Republicans in Congress,” said Sheri Burns, Executive Director of the Silicon Valley Center for Independent Living. “Quite simply, the proposed bill (the AHCA) is a death sentence for millions of Americans and is unacceptable.”

"Our country is aging and as a consequence, aging into disability.  Removing healthcare for older adults and people with disabilities will result in higher costs and greater incidence of hospitalization,” said Eli Gelardin, Executive Director of the Marin Center for Independent Living. “There are opportunities to improve our nations healthcare system and ensure that individuals maintain coverage while lowering costs but the American Healthcare Act is not one of them. Republicans and Democrats in Congress have spoken out against it and the CBO has determined that millions of will lose coverage.  We must do better."

The concern is that in capping or block granting Medicaid congressional Republicans are setting limits on how many disabled people can transition from institutions into the community, and eliminating CFCO restores the Medicaid bias toward institutionalization that the Disability Community has long fought to reverse.

The right to live in the community was first recognized in Federal law in the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. LC case. The years since have seen the growth of centers for independent living as Disability Rights organizations have made community integration one of their primary concerns.

ILRCSF, staffed almost entirely by people with disabilities, offers support, advocacy, and information regarding the rights of people with disabilities to individuals, educational institutions, and the small business community. Programs at ILRCSF include everything from peer counseling and help with assistive technologies, to economic empowerment workshops and accessible housing advocacy. In recent years, the agency has expanded outreach to include a program geared towards youth empowerment and has now become home to a number of peer support groups including a Veterans’ Art Guild, in which military veterans living with service-related disabilities work on creative projects ranging from photography and sculpture to creative writing.

For more information visit www.ilrcsf.com, www.svilc.org, and marincil.org.