Letters That Say "I Mean Business!"

Sometimes letters need to be written to people other than friends and family. Although these types of letters are not really what The Letter Writing Revolution is about, I do think they are worth mentioning. I know that if I need to get a point across to my local politician, I am not sending my message via email. The email can so conveniently be deleted or tossed into a file somewhere. I suppose the same goes for a hardcopy as far as it being tossed in the recycling bin. But there is something about physcially opening the envelope and holding the paper in your hand as well as your ink signature that spells out, "I MEAN BUSINESS."

When our daughter was just a newborn in the NICU at our local Children's Hospital, I was both excited and terrified to bring her home. I just assumed that they would send us home to fend for ourselves. How grateful we were to learn that there were programs in place to help us along this journey.........funding for medical supplies, funding for family relief, and funding for night nursing. I don't think we would have slept much in the last 5 1/2 years had we not received night help.

Our daughter at 5 days of age just moments before we learned she
suffered a severe brain injury at birth. Dec. 2003

I have had to write letters in the past few years with regards to our daughter. When you are a caregiver of a family member who is medically fragile, you do receive some financial assistance from the government as the cost of caring for a child like this at home far exceeds the usual cost of raising a child. As well, if both parents were working outside of the home prior to the birth of their child, one of the parents must stay home to be a primary caregiver resulting in a siginifcant loss of income.

Caring for our daughter.
Photos by Erin Egan

As time has passed, I have noticed some "holes" in these programs. Don't get me wrong, I am still very grateful that we live in a country that supports families like ours. I never take that for granted. The thing is, programs that are created by government committees that base the programs on statistics and very rarely on common sense, often results in programs that are not working at their maxium efficiency. The families who are using these programs can very quickly identify where improvements can and should be made not only to benefit the individuals using the programs/funding pot but also the government at large.

Photos by Erin Egan

I have never been one to complain for the sake of complaining and I am also very solution-oriented so if I identify a problem, I very quickly think of a solution to that problem. Writing a letter expressing your views can actually make a difference. If you are going to write a letter for change (see sample at bottom of post), follow these important steps to make your letter most effective:

1) Set the Stage: In the first 1-2  paragraphs you need to give the reader a brief description of your situation so that they have some background information to go on. It is important to leave emotions out of it. Simply write the facts.

2) Identify the Problem: After the reader gets an idea of what your particular situation is, let them know why you are writing and what the problem is.

3) Offer Solutions: This is really important!! A letter written that is negative and full of complaints will likely not be taken seriously and will result in the recipient becoming defensive. By offering some ways that the problem can be rectified, you are demonstrating that you are willing to work towards finding a solution. It also shows that you have thought about this and that you are not just complaining for the sake of complaining.

4) Stating Your Expectations: After you offer some possible solutions and the benefits to changing the way things are currently being done, you can then close your letter by stating what you expect. This part needs to be firm, not wishy-washy. For example, "I expect to hear from you very soon to arrange a meeting in person to discuss this further." will get more attention than, "I hope you don't mind me writing and I hope to hear from you if you're not too busy."

After the initial letter is sent off, give the recipient three weeks to acknowledge that they have received and read your letter. If after three weeks you do not receive a response, then you can write a follow-up letter. This letter is brief and to the point and should have the original letter attached to it in the event that the first letter got 'lost' somehow.

There is a skill to writing an effective letter of this type. If you have a letter like this to write but worry that you will not be able to get your thoughts on paper, ask a friend or family member to help you. A well written letter of this type can get things moving. Also have someone edit your letter to make sure it doesn't contain spelling/grammatical errors.

Finally, if your letter writing gets you nowhere which is often the case when dealing with government officials, then your next letter may need to be one to the media. Make sure to send a "thank you" note to the recipient of the original letter and let them know that since they were obviously unable to help you that you feel you have no choice but to take your cause to the media. Just watch how fast you get a response.

Here is a sample letter that I wrote a couple of years ago to our local Member of Parliament:

August 25th 2008

Dear Mr. John Yakabuski;


I want to bring your attention to an issue that is not only affecting our family specifically but many families in your riding and across the province. We are the parents of a five-year-old child with severe special needs. As a result of the complex care involved with our daughter we receive much needed and much appreciated help from various pots of funding provided by the government to care for our child at home. One of these support systems is night nursing since our daughter is fed exclusively by gastronomy tube due to risk of aspiration. We have been informed that as of August 26th 2008, we will go from consistent night nursing of six nights/week to two nights/week due to the severe shortage of nurses. Presently, our case manager at the Community Care Access Centre (CCAC) is working closely with local agencies to come up with some type of plan to ensure that we receive as much care as possible until this problem can be resolved. Unfortunately, we expect that the problem of nursing shortages is only going to get worse as time goes on.
Our daughter suffered a severe lack of oxygen at birth (Dec. 5th 2003) resulting in a significant brain injury. Consequently, she was diagnosed with severe cerebral palsy and also suffers with Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD). She receives many medications to assist with her digestion, spasticity and anxiety and as mentioned above, she is exclusively g-tube fed. Her care is extremely complex and therefore she cannot be cared for by family members/friends, etc. but requires specially trained caregivers. We have two trained Family Relief Workers who each provide 18 hours of day care per week. Since our daughter was just over one year of age, we have received night nursing support, which started at 2x/week and has increased to 6x/week as her care has increased in complexity. We have had our primary nurse with us for the past 3.5 years but due to recommended bedrest by her OB, she will be on permanent leave as of August 25th 2008. At present, there is no one to replace her. The other two nurses who are trained to care for Meredith each do one night per week and will try to take on an extra shift where they are able.
As the beginning of September approaches, I am very concerned for the well-being of our family in managing the one-on-one care of this child while doing so in a significantly sleep-deprived state. The funds provided by the provincial government for the night nursing care will be sitting unused with CCAC. Meanwhile, our family, as well as many others, are entering into a crisis period with no end in sight. One of our two remaining nurses will be done working for the agency in December, as she, too, is expecting a baby.
Providing the extraordinary, on-going, one-on-one care for a child with severe special needs is draining at the best of times and would be impossible if we did not have the support of relief workers and night nurses. Our daughter is extremely dependent and must have a caregiver with her every minute of the day and night. She does not nap and nights are often unpredictable with episodes of retching, discomfort and wakefulness for up to three hours at a time. On the nights when we are without night nursing support, my husband or I will get about 5 hours total of broken sleep. Her day begins at 5:30am and she does not go to bed again until 7:30pm. Our very real concern right now is that in a very short amount of time, we will become physically and mentally drained without this necessary support that we have been receiving up until this point.
We are asking the government to take this situation very seriously and to give it immediate attention. By considering the solutions that I am proposing (see below), the government will not only be protecting the well being of children and their families but will also save significant amounts of money. Presently, our nursing agency bills the Community Care Access Centre approximately $40/hour. About half of this is used to pay the nurse’s hourly rate and the other half is used for administrative purposes. With self-directed funding, the middleman is removed, so to speak, and dollars are saved. This would also allow families to have more hours in relief support as the dollars would stretch further if the hourly rate was $20/hour as opposed to $40/hour.

I propose:

• That families be given the option of self-directed funding when a service cannot be provided due to a shortage of staffing within an agency
• That families be given the option of hiring their own staff whom they will train and monitor therefore not having to depend on an agency that is clearly unable to provide the necessary staffing
• That funding remains in the hands of an agency to prevent abuse of this system and that the family invoice the hours of their worker (s) to that agency. Monies will then be directly deposited into the family’s bank account and the family will pay their workers accordingly (i.e. Special Services at Home format)
• That families whose children can be cared for by trained caregivers other than nurses be given the option of hiring and training these caregivers so that the nurses can be used for the families who absolutely have to have nursing care (i.e. where monitoring/ clinical assessments are necessary)

By providing exceptional care to our child in our home, we already save the government a tremendous amount of dollars each year (estimated at $400, 000). We are well aware of the cost of care if she had to be cared for at the Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, which would be the only suitable facility for a child with such serious special needs. Of course, we could place her in foster care knowing full well that another home would not be able to meet the demands of caring for such a complex child.
We urge you to give this matter your immediate attention and to raise this issue in the Legislative assembly on our behalf. The well being of our daughter's primary caregivers (her parents) is paramount and in order for us to continue to care for her at home, where she belongs, we need to work towards alternate solutions in spite of the nursing shortage. I look forward to hearing from you as soon as possible. I can be reached at ***-***-****.

Sincerely;
Julie Keon

June 2009

Ottawa Citizen Article

In honour of Canada Day, I wanted to share this timely article that was in yesterday's Ottawa Citizen. Thanks, Em (and Tim), for bringing it to my attention. Enjoy!

One Sunday afternoon in 1965, Ottawa high school teacher Norm Sheahan woke from a nap with an ambitious Centennial project in mind: He would write to the country’s political leaders, asking them to explain why they were proud to be Canadian.
The father of four young boys wasn’t sure Canada’s then prime minister or the provinces’ premiers would respond. But when they did — some, including Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson, with moving, personal letters — Sheahan had a memorable gift for his children on July 1, 1967. With Canada approaching its 150th birthday, Sheahan has reprised the project. He has again written to the country’s leaders, asking them why they’re proud of the nation; his cover letter included a photo of the current Sheahan family, which now boasts 10 grandchildren.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Governor General Michaëlle Jean and eight premiers have responded to the overture. Norm Sheahan, 75, and his wife, Diane, hope the latest letters will offer inspiration to a new generation. “We’re very proud to be Canadians and we’re trying to pass that on to our grandchildren,” he says. Only the premiers of Quebec and Alberta have yet to reply. Sheahan’s favourite new letter undoubtedly comes from Newfoundland and Labrador Premier Danny Williams. The combative Williams, who once ordered all Canadian flags removed from provincial buildings during a dispute with the federal government over equalization, sent a thoughtful, heartfelt letter in which he compares the country to a family. Like the Sheahan family itself, Williams says, Canada is composed of members with their own strengths and dreams — individuals made stronger by their ties to one another. The country is one family, he says, united by its shared experience, good and bad. “In all families, there are times when you don’t see eye-to-eye and you challenge each other,” Williams writes in the letter, addressed to the Sheahan grandchildren, “but those are times when you can work out wonderful solutions that help you grow — solutions that provide opportunities to celebrate the kind of co-operation that binds families closer together than ever. Some members of the family are older, some are bigger, some are smaller — but all of you are equally part of the one family. This is how it is with Canada. We are one federation — one family.” Williams’ letter is the longest in the collection and stretches to two full pages, single-spaced. He invites the Sheahans to visit his province: “The stories we tell are so vivid, the ocean so blue, the whales and icebergs so huge, the music so lively and the people so eager to invite you in that you cannot help feeling a strong sense of family when you come here.”
Williams wrote the letter less than two months before travelling to the U.S. for heart surgery.
The letter brought tears to Sheahan’s eyes. “It’s just what we wanted to tell our grandchildren,” he says.
Diane Sheahan was equally moved: “It was beautiful, the whole thing,” she says.
The letter-writing exercise has given the Sheahans newfound respect for the the country’s oft-maligned politicians, particularly those like Williams who took the time to offer a meaningful response.
Sheahan, who spent 35 years as a science teacher and guidance counsellor in Ottawa-area high schools, calls his two sets of love letters to Canada a “treasure.”
He shared the first set with the Citizen in 1992 as the country faced a national unity crisis. He’s sharing the latest in response to the Citizen’s published request for readers’ stories about their Canada Day memories. Sheahan describes himself as a proud Canadian. He has travelled with his family to every province during summer camping trips.
“The people of Canada are very special and the country is magnificent,” he says. “We’ve gone to a lot of countries and I don’t think you’ll find any landscape better than Canada’s.”
In early July, the Sheahans will hold their annual reunion in Kingston where each family member will receive a bound copy of the letter collection.
2010
“I have been fortunate enough to travel the breadth of our vast country, and have witnessed firsthand the magnificence of our geography, the strength and the ingenuity of our diverse population, and the richness of our abundant natural resources … Each time I return from travels abroad, I am reminded of how truly blessed I am to live in Canada, a model of freedom, harmony and prosperity.”
Prime Minister
Stephen Harper
“I realize that this letter may be put away as a keepsake for a few years until a future Premier is asked to answer this important question for a new generation of Sheahans. Perhaps another 50 years will pass, or more. Just as the Sheahan family will endure, so too Canada will endure and Canadians will prosper as we continue to work together in the spirit of family.”
Newfoundland
and Labrador Premier Danny Williams
“As Canadians, we have many cherished values, but it is our collective belief in tolerance, respect and understanding that I see as one of the true cornerstones of our society. By embracing these values, we send a clear message to the world that we are a nation that is committed to protecting the rights and dignity of every citizen in every community.”
Ontario Premier
Dalton McGuinty
“We do have a lot to celebrate. From the evolution of the automobile, telephones, keyboards and coffee shops, the creation of the Canadarm and technological advances, we all have stories to tell and memories to share. The celebration will be a great time to stop and say, ‘Wow, we have come a long way!’”
B.C. Premier
Gordon Campbell
1967
“In comparison with many other countries, particularly those of Europe and Asia, our own country is young, yet it has quickly become a great nation. Providence gave us a great and beautiful land blessed with vast natural resources. These assets are a guarantee to a tremendous future, provided, of course, that all Canadians do the best they possibly can for that future by working together in mutual understanding and respect.”
Prime Minister
Lester B. Pearson
“In my opinion, the greatest single lesson which our Canadian history teaches is the need for tolerance and mutual understanding ... Each one of us must try to understand his fellow citizens of whatever race, language or creed they may be, respect them, love them and help them.”
Quebec Premier
Jean Lesage
“Sixteen years ago, after thorough consideration, we chose to become Canadians. There has not been a day in all the years since then that we have not been given another reason to be proud of our new country.”
Newfoundland Premier Joey Smallwood
“Love your parents, love your country and be proud that you are Canadians, free citizens of a free country under God!”
Saskatchewan Premier Ross Thatcher
“My conviction in Canada’s future rests on the growing recognition on the part of government and the people of Canada that the education of our youth is of the highest priority. With an educated citizenry, and possessing the natural resources which Canada has, from coast to coast, there is no question that this is the country of the future.”
Ontario Premier
John Robarts