08/13/2025
Dear friends of Pete,
I am writing to ask for your assistance to keep Pete's services. Pete has been told that funding for his employment support services is ending and being replaced with a personal assistant. This is not a change that Pete requested, wanted or was even consulted about. Pete is fighting to keep his employment support funding so he can continue to provide scooping services and make memory stones for the community.
Pete receives funding for services via a Medicaid/Medicare-funded waiver called "The OBRA Waiver". This waiver is meant to provide services to support Pete and allow him to live in the community and remain as independent as possible.
I have worked with Pete for over 10 years and the personal growth that I have observed during that time has been phenomenal. Pete has learned to use a smartphone, access email and Facebook Messenger and these skills make it possible for him to be more connected to the important people in his life. Pete handles his own banking and has a better understanding of his finances which makes him less likely to be taken advantage of.
Peter supports Canine Partners for Life and Paws for People. He is a vendor at their annual fundraisers and often donates a stone to the vendor baskets. Peter also had a booth at the Kennett Farmers market and through these avenues he has become well known in the community. Knowing others and being known helps keep Peter safe. The regular contact with others improves his communication and conversation skills and helps him maintain his mental health. I could continue but let me just say that as someone who has a family member with a disability, Peter has everything that families have been striving for for decades. Losing services means that Pete loses a lot of what is important to him and the community loses an important, contributing member.
You can help by writing a letter on Pete's behalf. If you have had the privilege of being a customer of Pete, either his scooping or his memory stone business, please consider sharing your experiences. Below I have included names and addresses, Juliet Marsala is primary and is deputy secretary of the office of long-term living which administrates the OBRA waiver. The others are Peter's state and federal Representatives, I have found that they can be very helpful in these situations. Please mention Pete's full name, Peter VerNooy, that he lives in Oxford, PA and receives funding through the OBRA waiver. I realized that actually mailing a letter is more time consuming than sending an email but emails are usually deleted, miss sorted, etc. where an actual letter sits on a desk and gives a visual reminder that this is important to someone and a stack of letters says this is important to more than one person. Also, if you are a constituent please let that be known in your letter.
If you would like you could email me your letters and I will print them out and mail them together in a large envelope. Please send any email to [email protected].
Pete and I would like to thank everyone who has supported him in the past and are sincere thanks to everyone who's willing to help Pete get what he needs.
Deputy secretary Juliet Marsala
Forum Place, 555 Walnut Street, 6th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
State representatives
Rep. John Lawrence
1 Commerce Boulevard
Suite 200
West Grove, PA 19390
Sen. Carolyn T. Comitta
17 East Gay St.
Suite 301
West Chester, PA 19380
Federal Representatives
Rep. Crissy Houlahan
Office
709 E. Gay Street, Suite 4
West Chester, PA 19380
Sen. John Fetterman
200 Chestnut Street, Suite 600
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Sen. David McCormick
200 North Third Street
Suite 14A/14th Floor
Harrisburg, PA, 17101
