ALLYnceFun -- Best of October, Southern California Events

ALLYnceLife -- Build An Emergency Special Needs Binder

Donate For Free!

Do you have a favorite charity? Are your budget and time maxed out from giving? Here are some simple ways to give for free:

Goodsearch will donate 1 penny to your charity for every online search you do. It doesn't sound like much, but if you're like me (if you run to the computer to answer every random question that pops in your head), it adds up quickly. The Goodsearch website offers other ways to garner donations for your charity: Goodshop provides donations based on your online purchases, and Gooddining makes donations based on restaurant tabs. IGive is similar to Goodshop: Shop online through their portal, and a percentage is donated to your designated charity.

The Ralphs Community Contribution program will donate up to 4% of your total grocery purchases to your favorite charity. There's no cost to you, and you don't lose any of your shopping points or other rewards. Create an account at ralphs.com, register your card, and designate your charity. (You will have to re-register once a year, starting September 1.)  Vons and Pavilions have a similar program, but limited to schools: they will donate a percentage of your grocery bill to your favorite school if you register your card at eScrip.

By the way, you can support ALLYnces™ and Jay Nolan Community Services by using the Goodshop button on the left side of this page. We get a penny every time you use our search button, too, Woo! Hoo!

New Feature

You may have noticed our front page got a little fuller. We have added links to all ALLYnce posts, including those from the School, Community, Legislation and Just For Fun pages, as main page posts, and we will continue this practice in the future. This will allow you to see a list of all new posts in one location, scroll archives of all ALLYnce posts, and subscribe to feeds or email notices of all new posts. We hope you enjoy the new feature.

ALLYnceFun -- Go Camping! And Fishing!

ALLYnceSchool -- Free Tutoring and Homework Help

ALLYnceLife -- Learn Something New Every Day

Buses in L.A.? No Way!

Holland is full of interesting things to learn, including even the Los Angeles bus system. There are places, like Downtown, I will only go by bus now. But I don't know if I ever would have even noticed the buses had I not needed to teach my son how to get around town without a car.

Contrary to popular belief, Los Angeles does have buses. Not only buses, but also subways and trains. And they work. And they're usually on time. And they can be faster and easier than driving. (Well, at least the Color Lines can be faster and easier

ALLYnceLaws -- Minimum Wage Increase (AB10) Passed

You're Invited

to our next editorial board meeting, Tuesday, September 17, at 5:00 pm, 15501 San Fernando Mission Blvd, Ste 200, Mission Hills, CA 91346. We want to be your website, come tell us what you'd like to see. Times and places for future meetings will be decided at Tuesday's meeting and posted on the ALLYnces calendar. We hope to see you there!

ALLYnceSchool -- Best Kept Secret

ALLYnceFun -- More Great Ideas!

Health Care Reform For People With Disabilities

Starting January, under the Affordable Care Act ("ACA"), Medicaid will be expanded to cover almost all low-income Americans, even those under 65, and even those without children or disabilities.[1] The maximum income levels to qualify for Medicaid will vary depending on the year, the size of the family, and other factors, but for 2014, single people making under about $15,280 may qualify for Medicaid, and a family of three making under around $25,975 also may qualify.[2]

Another major change starting in 2014: Health insurers can no longer deny coverage to people due to their disabilities or other "pre-existing conditions." Thus, people with

ALLYnceSchool -- Get Organized!

ALLYnceLaws -- Coming To A Regional Center Near You!