U.S. Rep. Rick Nolan is in town while Congress is on recess for the summer, and had a full slate of events here Wednesday.
Nolan
met with the family of Brayden Jordan, a 4-year-old with hemophilia.
Nolan's office assisted the family in adopting Brayden from China. His
new parents David and Briana thanked Nolan as well as staffer Enid
Swaggert for their help in expediting the adoption paperwork.
Briana
and her 3-year-old biological son Graham also have hemophilia, a
genetically inherited disorder that inhibits the ability of blood to
clot. Cuts and bruises that would easily heal for a person without the
disease pose a serious risk for someone with hemophilia, as they keep
bleeding long after being cut.Briana didn't know she had hemophilia until her son was diagnosed. Only days after David and Briana discussed possibly opting never to have children again due to the risk of passing on the disease, they discovered Brayden. The couple formed an immediate connection with him when they saw his photo, and learned his family in China likely gave him up for adoption so he could receive adequate treatment for his hemophilia.
"I couldn't stop thinking about him," Briana said Wednesday.
Thanks to the family's tenacity and good luck combined with Nolan's help, the adoption process took only about six months, practically unheard of under normal circumstances.
Tour of North Star
Nolan also met with staff from Brainerd Housing and Redevelopment Authority and toured the nearby North Star Apartments, which the HRA runs. His aunt was once a resident in the building.
The Brainerd HRA recently celebrated its 50th anniversary and receives a significant portion of its funding in grants and subsidies from the state and federal government to provide housing to low-income residents. Brainerd HRA Executive Director Jennifer Bergman showed Nolan around the building, including the "showroom," or an empty room intended to demonstrate what the typical dormitory in the facility looks like. Informed that residents must provide their own air conditioners, Nolan offered on the spot to donate the old air conditioners from his house, as he's switching to central air.
Having public housing like North Star was vital to the health of the community, Nolan said.
Congress is in the process of making permanent a 4 percent tax credit for capital investment in new affordable housing facilities. In addition, Nolan said he supported increasing a different tax credit for local HRAs from 4 to 9 percent.
However, federal government has been cutting money for operating expenses for public housing facilities, Nolan said, which is detrimental.
"It diminishes the quality of the housing, it increases the cost of the housing, and makes it less affordable, for people with very limited incomes," he said.
Nolan was also scheduled to walk along downtown Brainerd with Mayor Ed Menk, and rounded out the day with a barbecue at "TheShop," a nonprofit whose mission is to provide a safe space for local youth to be engaged in the community.
source : http://www.brainerddispatch.com/news/4078192-nolan-meets-constituents-hemophilia-tours-north-star-apartments
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