Made in New York City
A map of NYC start-ups, incubators and investors. Also includes information about companies that are hiring if you’re in the market.
Important story from ReportingonHealth.org member Vanessa White: (via Vietnamese Elders Struggle With Depression Years After War - New America Media)
Just three supermarkets serve an area with 66,000 people. The Pasadena Public Health Department wants to set up a farmers market there next year.
(Source: Los Angeles Times, via reportingonhealth)
One of several ill-advised tweets from a trio of Hill staffers for Rep. Rick Larsen, a Washington Democrat. Other tweets also insulted the Congressman and described the staffers drinking on the job. Larsen’s office has fired them.
Ahead of the game
With many home care agencies bracing for managed care, some are already prepared
By Matt Drange
Carmelo Gonzalez likes being his own boss.
After a brief foray into acting and a stint in film school, the 43-year-old started an online distribution and marketing website almost five years ago. Gonzalez runs the business – ccenterprise.biz – from home with the help of his partner, Carlos Sanchez. The pair say business is doing well, and they have plans to expand.
“When you have your business, no one can fire you,” Gonzalez says with a smile.
But the company isn’t the only aspect of Gonzalez’s life that he’s taken control of. Above all else, he values his independence.Born with cerebral palsy, Gonzalez has extremely limited use of his arms and legs, and lives with a severe speech impairment. For help with daily activities he relies on a team of personal attendants who work round the clock in his home. Gonzalez receives his home care through Independence Care System (ICS), a nonprofit Medicaid managed long term care program based in New York City.
Herman Cain’s new foreign policy brochure, in which he endeavors to “clearly distinguish between our friends and our adversaries.”
"I don’t even have to pretend to try to be nice to people I don’t like."
— Rep. Barney Frank, a Massachusetts Democrat, sharing one reason he’s looking forward to leaving office after serving in the House for 30 years . (via officialssay)
Occupy Wall Street raises more than $538,000 through WePay
Where is it coming from?
Date Total Occupy Donations Day-over-day % Change
11/18/2011 $538,443.60 2.54%
11/17/2011 $525,097.64 3.11%
11/16/2011 $509,276.47 2.59%
11/15/2011 $496,403.33 3.88%
By Matt Drange
It was billed a nationwide Day of Action, with protests and demonstrations around the country marking the two month anniversary of the Occupy Wall Street movement on Nov. 17.
But while keeping track of the demonstrators around New York City — many of whom were arrested earlier this month — is difficult, tracing the money that’s come in through hundreds of campaigns to support the movement is harder still.
There are a number of online revenue streams that supporters have donated to over the last eight weeks, with a spike in donations reported late last month. In addition to the digital support, the group also receives a large chunk of its funding through designated drop boxes set up in Manhattan’s Zuccotti Park, dubbed Liberty Square.
But members of the finance committee — the group set up to manage the money flowing into the movement — have not released the latest balance sheet, and were not available for comment after the Day of Action events. According to a balance sheet released last month, the group had nearly $400,000 in assets as of Oct. 18. Of that, more than $121,000 was listed under “park donations,” with the rest coming from checks and online donations.
The bulk of the movement’s funding is now funneled through the nonprofit group Alliance for Social Justice, which runs an account through the website WePay.com, where anyone can donate money to Occupy Wall Street. Alliance co-coordinator Chuck Kaufman said the “fiscal sponsorship” agreement between the nonprofit and the finance committee was signed on Sept. 28, and that the “Support Occupy Wall Street” button on Alliance homepage came shortly after.
Fighting for independence
Anthony Trocchia waits for a friend in Manhattan earlier this month. Photo | Matt Drange
By Matt Drange
Raul Velilla picks up the dining room chair and carries it with both hands through the bedroom door, taking care to align the wooden legs of the chair with the desk. A personal assistant for Anthony Trocchia, Velilla asks him if he needs anything else. Before turning to leave, he leans over Trocchia’s electric wheelchair and kisses him on the cheek.
“Thank you,” Trocchia says as Velilla turns to go.
“Don’t thank me,” Velilla says in firm but gentle voice. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Trocchia was diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy type 3 as a child, a disease that worsens with age and severely limits voluntary muscle movement. By the time he was 11 he could no longer walk.
Now 42, Trocchia still lives in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, not far from where he grew up. With limited use of his arms and legs, he relies on round the clock care from a quartet of personal assistants, with the bulk of the hours picked up by Velilla. But finding quality assistants isn’t always easy.
