Advocates rally against corporation that has failed to keep institution residents safe

Last week, a coalition of advocate groups protested at the main offices of Alden Village Nursing Home.  Many residents, including many children, have died at Alden nursing homes.  In addition, Alden has failed to pay fines issued as a result of the deaths.

Here is coverage of the protest in the Chicago Tribune.

Here is release issued by the group:

“CHILDREN DYING IN NURSING FACILITY AT THE HANDS OF POWER AND POLITICS”

Disability Rights Activists Respond by Demanding Fines Be Paid Immediately

Chicago, IL – At 11am on Friday, November 19, at 4200 West Peterson, disability rights activists are responding to numerous deaths of children who resided in Alden Village North, a “home” for children with severe disabilities, by protesting at the main office of Floyd Schlossberg, the president of Alden Management Services.

Access Living’s Power to the People Coalition, Chicago ADAPT, Jane Addams Senior Caucus, The Community Renewal Society and other activists are meeting at the main Alden office to bring to light the seven deaths of children since 2008 due to neglect and poor staffing at the facility and ultimately, to force Schlossberg to pay for these deaths and for the deaths of other residents of Alden institutions.  To date, he has only paid $20,000 of the $190,000 fine.  While Schlossberg has failed to pay the fines, he has made more than $200,000 in contributions to politicians in Illinois and around the country in the last 2 election cycles

In addition to holding Schlossberg and Alden accountable for the deaths at Alden, advocates hope to raise awareness around the need for more community-based services for children with disabilities.

Adam Ballard, the Youth Leadership Coordinator at Access Living states, “Apparently it’s not enough that he has made a fortune warehousing people who could and should be served in their own homes and communities. Now, he chooses to disrespect the memories and families of those lives lost by implying that he should not be held accountable in any way for their deaths. The disability community and our allies are here today to remind him that he is responsible, and to demand that these fines be paid in full.”

 

 

Young woman files Fair Housing Complaint against a condominium association

Last week, attorneys with Access Living and with Seyfarth Shaw filed a fair housing complaint on behalf of a woman who has been denied a reasonable accommodation.

The woman is a dog owner and she lives in a building that allows pets.  The woman, who uses a wheelchair, is unable to access the dog route, which includes steps.  The building association requires that pet owners take their dog in and out of the building through the dog route rather than the front door.  The association has denied the young woman’s request for an accessible dog route.  Rather, the association insists that she take a route that is both inaccessible and dangerous.

Here are a few links to coverage of the issue:

FoxChicago

CBS Channel 2 News
WBBM Radio Coverage

 

 

 

Building resident files discrimination complaint against condominium association

Chicago – Today, Allison Kessler, a 25-year-old medical student who uses a wheelchair, filed a complaint in the Northern District of Illinois against a condominium association in Chicago’s Streeterville Neighborhood.  The complaint alleges that the 401 East Ontario Condominium Association refused to provide reasonable accommodations and also retaliated against the 25-year-old woman’s attempts to assert her right to an accommodation.

Like many other residents at 401 East Ontario, Ms. Kessler owns a dog. Residents of the building at 401 East Ontario are allowed to keep dogs as pets.  Under rules of the association, dog owners are not allowed to bring their animals in and out of the building through the main lobby entrance.  Association rules require that dogs travel into and out of the building through a separate entrance.  The alternative route includes a stairwell.  Because Ms. Kessler uses a wheelchair, she cannot use the alternative dog route.

Ms. Kessler requested that she be allowed to walk her dog in and out the main, front door of the building, which is accessible to her, as a reasonable accommodation.  She also proposed another route that would enable her to bring the dog in and out through a fire door.  The condominium denied each request.  Instead, the condominium association insists that she use two alternative routes.  These alternative routes require that she travel through the building’s parking garage, share entry and exit lanes in the garage that are designed for use by cars, and travel up or down very steep slopes.

After several unsuccessful attempts to navigate the alternative dog routes proposed by the condominium association, Ms.Kessler told the condominium association that the routes are unsafe and inaccessible.  Yet, the condominium association continues to demand that Ms. Kessler use these routes.  Because of the association’s insistence, Ms. Kessler has not walked her dog on her own since mid-June and instead relies on her boyfriend and a dog walking company, which she pays for, to walk her dog.

“Like every other dog owner in the building, I just want the chance to walk my dog,” Kessler said.   “I can’t do that because the condo association is not allowing me to take an accessible and safe route in and out of the building with my pet.”

Rather than grant Ms. Kessler’s request for a safe, accessible route, the association has alleged that she has violated certain association rules, for which she has been fined $850.  Ms. Kessler believes that she has followed all the association’s rules, and that the fine was levied in retaliation for her requests for accommodation. In addition to the condominium association’s refusal to provide an accessible dog route and its alleged retaliation against Ms. Kessler, it has rejected Ms. Kessler’s request for an accessible parking place.

Ms. Kessler believes that the actions by the 401 East Ontario Condominium Association constitute discrimination against a person with a disability under the Fair Housing Amendments Act.  According to the Fair Housing Amendments act, it is illegal to refuse to make accommodations in rules and policies if the accommodations are reasonable and necessary to enable people with disabilities equal opportunity to use and enjoy a dwelling.  It is also illegal to “coerce, intimidate, threaten or interfere” with a person protected by the law if he or she is attempting to exercise his or her rights under the law.

The complaint filed by Ms. Kessler alleges that the condominium association’s recent fines against Ms. Kessler are attempts to intimidate and threaten.

Ms. Kessler is represented by lawyers from Access Living and Seyfarth Shaw LLP.  The case is ALLISON KESSLER v. BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF THE 401 E. ONTARIO CONDOMINIUM ASSOCIATION.

 

Arts and Culture Events the Week of November 1, 2010

Arts and Culture Events the Week of November 1, 2010

This year, Access Living teamed up with the Chicago Humanities Festival to incorporate disability events into the festival.  From film screenings and dance performances to lectures on ‘beauty,’ this week’s Humanities Festival includes a number of disability arts and culture events.  For ticket information, and more information, visit the the Chicago Humanities Festival website.

In addition to the Chicago Humanities Festival events, Access Living is hosting a  disTHIS! event.  See below for a listing of four Access Living and Humanities Festival events this week.

Friday, November 5, 2010

On Friday, November 5, Lawrence Carter-Long of disTHIS will present a show at Access Living

Deaf Divas, Crippled Clowns and Sexy Spastics — A Showcase of mind-blowing shorts from New York City’s disTHIS! Film Series.

Access Living, 115 West Chicago Avenue, 4th Floor Event Space, Chicago, Illinois

Time: 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Admission: Free

For more information: 312-640-2122 voice, jcharlton@accessliving.org

 

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Chicago Humanities Festival:  Hollywood Images of Disability— A panel of activists, scholars, and performers discusses how film has shaped the social consciousness of disability.

University of Illinois Forum– Main Hall C
725 West Roosevelt Road
Chicago, IL 60608

12:30 p.m. to 2 p.m;  Admission: $5

For more information:  312-640-2121 voice, snussbaum@accessliving.org

Sunday, November 7

GIMP performs in Chicago on November 7 as part of the Chicago Humanities Festival

Chicago Humanities Festival:  GIMP — a gleaming milestone in the progress of contemporary dance and theater, proving that the term ‘disabled dancer’ is an oxymoron.

Francis W. Parker School – Diane and David B Heller Auditorium
2233 N Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60614

4:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.; Admission:  $15

This events will looks at variation inside the body

Chicago Humanities Festival:  Beauty and Variation — Riva Lehrer and Norman Lieska note the slippery play between so-called normal and variation.

The Art Institute of Chicago Fullerton Auditorium, 111 South Michigan Avenue Chicago, IL 60603

3 p.m. to 4 p.m.; Admission:  $5

Election Day Disability Helpline!

On November 2, our state’s Protection and Advocacy Agency, Equip for Equality, is standing by to make sure YOU have access to voting!

Equip for Equality will have advocates available by telephone from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, November 2, 2010, to answer questions about any problems experienced by voters with disabilities when they go to vote.  The toll-free numbers to call are: 1-800-537-2632 and 1-800-610-2779 (TTY).

Don’t forget to vote this election season!

Change in Senior Designation Plan opens up affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities

Members of the Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing at a rally to preserve independent living services in the summer of 2010

In 2009, the Disability Rights Action Coalition for Housing (DRACH), a group of people with disabilities working to open up more housing opportunities in Chicago, launched a campaign to lower the age of senior housing at the Chicago Housing Authority from 62 years old to 55 years old.  The campaign was designed to open up available housing units to people with disabilities.  At the time, hundreds of Senior Designated Units within the CHA remain vacant while the need for accessible, affordable housing within the disability community continued to grow.  Lowering the age limit would strengthen CHA Communities by filling vacant units while finding new homes for hundreds of people in search of housing.

 

In June of 2009, DRACH scored a victory when, at a public hearing, CHA agreed to lower the age limit at Senior Housing from 62 to 55.

The change in the Senior Designated Housing Plan is now official.  A few days ago, the Chicago Housing Authority released a statement announcing the change. Click here for the CHA Release.

This is great news for people with disabilities in search of housing.  Congratulations to DRACH.

 

Advocates rally to eliminate IQ testing at VR Services

On October 6, a group of about 50 advocates from Chicago traveled to Springfield, Illinois to rally against IQ Tests run by Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Programs.  While vocational programs are supposed to help people with disabilities secure employment, people with disabilities believe that the IQ tests serve as an impediment, rather than a pathway, to employment.  The goal is to eliminate IQ tests from VR Services. 

As a result of the rally yesterday, led by DAWWN (Disabled Americans Want Work Now), the community secured a meeting with Michelle Saddler, Governor Quinn’s Chief of Staff. 

Below is a news release issued by DAWWN.

Click here for coverage of the event by local media. 

(Springfield, Illinois) To put an end to IQ Testing connected to Illinois Vocational Rehabilitation Services, about 50 advocates with disabilities rallied today at the Department of Human Services Division of Rehabilitation Services (DRS) in Springfield.

For decades, people with disabilities have struggled with an unemployment rate much higher than the general population.  Though many unemployed people with disabilities are able to work and eagerly seeking employment, discrimination and social employment barriers have kept the majority of the population from finding work.  “Considering how high the unemployment rate of people with disabilities is it is essential that employment programs designed to assist people with disabilities are user friendly and accessible,” said Earl Smith of DAWWN, a network of people with disabilities working to increase employment opportunities.

Since 2007, DAWWN, which organized today’s rally in Springfield, has approached the DRS and the governor’s office in order to identify and remedy problems within Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) services.  Though VR services are designed to help secure employment, barriers within the program have made it difficult for people with disabilities to utilize the services.  One significant barrier identified by people who use VR services is IQ testing.

“IQ tests are not valid in determining various employment-related outcomes, nor are they the only predictors of success for job seekers,” said Jane M. Garza of DAWWN.  Instead, IQ Tests have been used to discourage people with disabilities from seeking employment and pursuing higher education.  “Just as some experts maintain psychological exams are biased and disproportionately impact ethnic minorities, our experience shows these tests exclude and segregate people with disabilities,” said Garza.

Today, disability advocates rallied in Springfield in order to secure a commitment from DRS and the governor’s office to address and remedy problems identified by the disability community.  At the rally, disability advocates met with Rob Kilbury, the Associate Director of the Division of Rehabilitation Services.  Kilbury committed to coordinating a meeting between disability advocates and Michelle Saddler, Governor Pat Quinn’s Chief of Staff, in order to address the issue of IQ Testing. 

For more information, contact Michelle Robbins at 312-640-2194 or Earl Smith at 773-405-8377 

 

 

Housing advocate testifies in Washington, D.C. in support of the Inclusive Home Design Act

The Inclusive Home Design Act aims to increase the number of homes accessible to people with disabilities by applying visitability standards.  The principle of visitability seeks to create homes that are affordable and sustainable, and utilize a design approach that integrates accessibility features into newly-built homes.  Last week, Beto Barrera, Access Living’s Manager of Community Development, testified in support of the Act in Washington, D.C. in front of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity.  Below is his testimony.

The Inclusive Home Design Act of 2009 – Introduced by Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky

Testimony submitted by Alberto Barrera, Manager of Community Development, Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago

September 29, 2010

Introduction

I would like to thank Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and the members of the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity for allowing me to testify today on an issue that is at the heart of all the advocacy work that I do.  My name is Beto Barrera.  For the past 20 years at Access Living, I have been personally involved in advocating for visitable housing in publicly assisted housing.

Access Living: Our Mission and a Brief History

Access Living is Chicago’s only Center for Independent Living, serving the 600,000 people with disabilities in metropolitan Chicago.  For the last thirty years, we have dedicated ourselves to the self-determination and independence of people with all kinds of disabilities.  We do this by fighting for disability rights and by supporting our community with independent living services run by people with disabilities, for people with disabilities.  Our work affects people with disabilities not only in Chicago but across the nation.  We have fought to increase access to public transit, public education, employment, health care and access to housing.  Above all we look to find ways to liberate our people from systemic segregation and warehousing.  Housing is key to our freedom.

Availability of Usable Housing for People with Disabilities

Public assisted housing is the main source of housing for people with disabilities earning SSI and SSDI incomes.   In most cases these incomes are at 15% or less of the area medium income, (AMI). Access Living receives an average of 4,000 inquiries for accessible, affordable housing annually. And an average of 60 people come to our monthly housing counseling sessions.

The Chicago Housing Authority, or CHA, has reported that in 2009 they received 84 requests from residents with disabilities requesting retrofit modifications and for ground floor no step entry units. So far this year the CHA has received 62 such requests. We at Access Living think the actual demand for accessible housing is much higher.

Requests Received By Access Living for Access Modifications

For the past 10 years Access Living has administered an access modification program funded by the CHA. Our modification program assists people with disabilities in CHA’s Home Choice Voucher program. What started as a pilot program with $30,000 has now reached $145,000 annually. We assist 60 to 70 very low income residents with disabilities. Of course this does not begin to address the total need in our community.

Access Living’s retrofit fund covers very basic modifications: wider entryways, accessible switches and outlets, ramps, and bathroom modifications such as grab bars and accessible sinks.  These are some of the basic access features included in the Inclusive Home Design Act.  There are other modification programs throughout the country, but we cannot depend on retrofits for basic access, most have long waiting lists and it’s not unusual for people to end up in a nursing home or dying while waiting for modifications.

Comments on the Inclusive Home Design Act

This legislation has been in development for twenty years and in Congress for the last eight years.  It came out of a joint effort between grassroots people, Congresswoman Schakowsky, and advocates such as Eleanor and many other activists, who were deeply concerned with the exclusion of people with disabilities from housing opportunities. The national grassroots disability rights group ADAPT has also worked with us to support this bill and it is part of ADAPT’s housing agenda.

This legislation will begin to end the practice of “exclusion by design,” which is a form of disability oppression. Simply put, requiring that all newly constructed publicly assisted homes contain a no-step entrance and useable space on the ground floor will finally provide real access to options for people with disabilities in our struggle to locate affordable, accessible and integrated housing. 

 The Inclusive Home Design Act is the missing link of the Fair Housing Amendments Act of 1988.  Its passage will complete the circle of civil rights in public assisted housing, guaranteeing full and equal access for all! The Inclusive Home Design Act is a step forward to end the culture of social isolation currently accepted and practiced in our country, against people with disabilities.  It will provide equal opportunity for very low income Americans with disabilities to have equal access to all public assisted housing.   We believe that the passage of this bill, along with the Money Follows the Person demonstration project and the hope for- passage of the Choice Community Act will provide the structure needed to honor the spirit of the Americans with Disabilities Act—the spirit that said every person with a disability has a right to full access to society.

 Thank you again for conducting this hearing and for having me here today.

Events at Access Living the Week of September 20, 2010

The week of September 20, Access Living will host two community events that are free and open to the public. 

Thursday, September 23

Universal Design and Special Education

New Directions in Special Educations

Join author Thomas Hehir, author of New Directions in Special Education: Eliminating Ableism in Policy and Practice, for a talk titled “Universal Design and Special Education” at 3:30 p.m. on September 23 at Access Living.

Thomas Hehir is a Professor of Practice and the director of the School Leadership Program at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. He is a former director of the Office of Specialized Services at the Chicago Public Schools.   He also served as director of the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs from 1993 to 1999.

To RSVP for this event, please contact Rod Estvan, Education Policy Coordinator at Access Living, (312) 640-2149 or restvan@accessliving.org.  ASL interpreters will be provided.  Please contact us ASAP especially if you will require disability related accommodations.

Friday, September 24

Blood on the Tracks: A Disability Culture Cabaret

 

Blood on the Tracks:  A Disability Culture Cabaret

Join Access Living’s Arts and Culture Project for an event featuring  comedy, drama, song, poetry, stories and more.

 

 

Featuring performances by:   Mike Ervin, Rahnee Patrick, Pennie Brinson, Carrie Kaufman, Bartholomew Thomas, Laurence Clark, Riva Lehrer, Rob Rotman, Beth Finke

Emceed by Susan Nussbaum

Friday, September 24 from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at Access Living.  The event is sponsored by Access Living, Bodies of Work and UIC’s Department of Disability and Human Development.

Annual Review of Chicago Public Schools Budget

Rod Estvan-testifing at Chicago Public Schools meeting in August of 2010

Access Living’s Summary Analysis of the CPS FY 2011 Budget

Every year Access Living’s Education Policy Analyst, Rodney Estvan, reviews and presents an analysis of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) Fiscal Year Budget.  CPS currently has about 54,000 students with disabilities enrolled in its 680 traditional, charter, and contract schools.  The total FY2011 budget for CPS, including for capital and debt payments, is about $6.4 billion.

Background of Funding

 The CPS, unlike all other school districts in Illinois, receives funding for special education using what is called a block grant. The Chicago Block Grant uses a methodology by which CPS is allocated funding for special education programs through block grants based on proportions that were calculated in 1995. The Block Grant funding formula was determined as part of the Corey H settlement Agreement and is legally protected by the settlement agreement. 

Advocacy efforts by Access Living 

Earlier this year, the CPS Board unanimously approved giving the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools the authority to increase class sizes to offset the projected budget deficit.  Access Living spoke in opposition to this policy change, and the threat of larger class sizes, at the June 15, 2010 Board meeting.  Access Living stated that increasing the average size of classrooms increased pressure on general education teachers, who often modify curriculum for students with disabilities in general education classrooms in order to improve the academic skills and outcomes of students with disabilities.   Access Living expressed concern that this pressure could force some students with disabilities out of general education classrooms and into segregated educational settings, reversing positive trends the CPS has experienced over the last ten years. CPS informed the Sun Times that 2,700 teachers would be laid off as a result of the class size increase, which would create a savings of $125 million.

Thirteen days following the CPS Board’s approval of a resolution allowing for a dramatic increase in class sizes, the CEO of Public Schools rescinded all proposed class size increases for elementary schools and reduced the proposed class size increase for high school classroom from 35 down to 33.45. Access Living is happy that the board agreed not to change the class size for elementary schools, but is still concerned about the effects on high school students with increased class sizes.

In previous reviews of CPS budgets, Access Living urged the Chicago Board of Education to re-establish a budget or audit subcommittee. The CPS is one of the largest employers in Illinois and its fiscal issues are extremely complex, requiring budget or audit committee meetings that are subject to our state’s Open Meetings Act. The Board we believe needed to have a standing finance oversight or audit committee, just as publicly held corporations do.  This year, CPS has finally agreed to re-establish a budget audit committee of the Board.

According to the FY 2011 CPS budget, a limited number of special education teaching positions have been eliminated, but there has been an increase in aid positions. The special education positions eliminated have been primarily outside of the classroom and citywide positions.  Though the reduction is limited, because performance outcomes of students with disabilities have struggled to keep pace with outcomes of students in general education, even this limited reduction could have a negative impact on students with disabilities; one of the major issues is that the cuts create a lack of resources and experts available to assist special education teachers in the classroom.

Access Living has consistently expressed concern with the broad definition of “special education teachers” in schools.  As a result, CPS has tightened its definition, attempting to conform with definitions established in the Special Education Personnel reimbursement program that is authorized in the School Code.

Recommendations

In response to the Chicago Public Schools FY 2011 Budget, Access Living offers the following recommendations:

● When developing the FY 2012 Budget, Access Living strongly recommends that CPS show great restraint in making budget deficit estimates early in the appropriations process. Making estimate after estimate based on evolving state funding estimates reduces the creditability of the CPS budget process.

● Access Living recommends that CPS pass a rule limiting the time frame for RtI (Response to Intervention) interventions for students suspected of having disabilities. Access Living recommends that CPS adopt a policy limiting the length of interventions to no more than 12 weeks if the school cannot demonstrate the student is making academic progress and move to a full case study evaluation for these students to determine if they have a disability as defined by federal and state law.

● The CPS Board should approve a property tax rate increase to the current cap. Even though the money realizable under the current tax cap is limited, in the current environment, every dollar counts.

●Access Living supports the Board’s proposal to utilize all reserve funds in order to limit any additional layoffs or class size increases. Access Living recognizes that if the State is not able to keep payments flowing to CPS during FY 2011, CPS will be required to make mid-year budget adjustments including possible program changes with associated layoffs.  Access Living strongly recommends that CPS not utilize any additional short term borrowing against any expected State payments.

●Access Living believes that the proposed cuts to citywide special education services are excessive. Some of the citywide service cuts will impact special education outcomes. Even though the FY 2011 Budget attempts to protect and increase special education support services in schools, these efforts can be undermined by the reductions in citywide services.

●Access Living applauds the creation of a Board of Education Finance and Audit Committee. Access Living strongly recommends that CPS model the Illinois State Board of Education Board’s budget process and its use of a subcommittee.   

●Access Living urges CPS to aggressively lobby the Chicago City Council to retrieve excess funds currently in Tax Increment Financing (TIF) accounts. CPS should request fiscal impact studies on any new TIF districts that are proposed in the future and act in the best interests of CPS in relation to tax dollars lost from such proposed TIF districts.

For a copy of the Full FY 2011 Budget Analysis, visit the Access Living website or www.accessliving.org, or contact Rodney Estvan, Access Living’s Education Policy Coordinator at 312-640-2149 or restvan@accessliving.org

No place like home, April 16, 2010

 

Access Living offers peer oriented, independent living services to individuals with disabilities. One such program is the Deinstitutionalization (DI) Program.   The program was created in response to Illinois disproportional support of institutional care.  Though the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Olmstead Supreme Court ruling of 1999 both give people with disabilities the right to receive services in their own home, thousands of people are forced into institutions because no community options exist.  Through the DI program, counselors assist individuals with disabilities move out of nursing homes and into their own homes.  An event was held at Access Living on April 16^th to celebrate moving the program’s 250th consumer out of a nursing home to their own home.  The event was called “No Place Like Home.” 

Sam Martorano, who moved out of a nursing home through the DI program, hosted the event.

Below is a transcript of the event.

Sam:   Hi Good Afternoon, I am Sam, I am from Access Living and we are here today to celebrate the DI group’s 250^th person that we moved out of the nursing home.  We are here to have a party and a celebration.  We are here to have some great testimonials, some great food and some great entertainment.   I am just going to ask this, I want to see with a show of hands of how many people are no longer in a nursing home who have been in a nursing home.  All right I am just going to come around to a few people and I want you to tell me in one word how you feel about being out of a nursing home. Relaxed, marvelous, great, free, elated.  All right.  I work here at Access Living but I was once a person that was also in the same situation.  I was in a nursing home just like a lot of these other people that you are going to meet today.   I was in a nursing home for almost two and a half years, and through the help of Access Living and through their DI program here I was able to get out of the nursing home get a place of my own,  and help  volunteer here at Access Living and eventually become a staff associate here at Access Living today.  And we are going to have a couple of testimonials from some people that have moved out of nursing home that we have helped.  The first one is Chivon Nicole, come on up Chivon.  So Chivon can you tell everybody your story and what it is like for you now that you are out in the community.

Chivon:   It is real great to be back in the community, to be able to be in my own home. I want to thank everybody at Access Living the whole staff for being a great support.   It is kinda dull in a nursing home.  Everybody should you know, the people that couldn’t get out, god bless you all and I want God to bless the ones that are out.

Sam:  Thank you Chivon, I am looking for Robert Fletcher…Come on up Robert.  Robert is another one of our consumers that we have helped move out of a nursing home back into his own home.

Robert:   My name is Robert Fletcher, but hereby call me Fletcher.  I was in a nursing home myself, thanks to Access Living, I am out now, enjoy my place, beautiful place I got there.   In the nursing home there is a lot we got to think about, you know as we was up in there. We think a lot during our stay,  makes you want to think about what you want to do  if you get out ,you get a lot to think about how you are feeling, why you are been there, a lot of us have been through that.  Being out should be a joy and a blessing to everybody you know.  To be really back here in society, where we really belong.  Coz Nursing home ain’t for everybody, it is for some people that really need it the ones that don’t really need it, it is best that they be out here.  Thanks to Access Living and a program like this here.   It is a joy for me to meet up with them and probably joy for you all to meet up with them too.  As I was there in the nursing home, I also used to be the President of resident council, when I was there in my nursing home in Bronzville.  I helped out a lot of residents there, if they had any problems or concerns  , they would bring it to me and I would take it to the administrator , you know, and we tried to get things done , I think I did  pretty good up in Bronzville . And try to keep a lot of things in order with the residents and myself.  If you look at it, some time it is not everybody but there are people who take advantage of other people, while you are up in there.  So I was making sure that at least majority of them   had something to look hopeful too. I also got a couple of people to join Access Living or get to the department of Aging.   I know how it is I was there myself for 3.8 months.  So that time up in there you go through your ups and down, we all go through that, I am glad to be out and am glad to see you all you here being out, enjoying and loving your place and just try to do good to society.  I hope everybody well, and enjoyment party out.

Sam:  Ok thank you Robert now the next person who will be coming here to speak is Tom Wilson

Tom Wilson:  Thank you Sam.  I have a few remarks today I am really glad you could all attend and congrats to all those who have gotten out of the Nursing home.  We salute you in your success in leaving the Nursing home and living in the community.  We know you have more rights greater safety living in the community.  You know better than anyone (the rest of Tom’s speech was cut off)

Sam:   Alright one other thing I need people here that were in our DI program that are now out in the community if you would take time, some time before you leave today to sign our banner we would proudly hang it up on our dept at Access Living so people can see the names of the people we helped get out of the Nursing home in the past few years.  If you take the time to do that and sign our banner it would be greatly appreciated. Beto Barrera is next he wants to come up and speak.

Beto:   Congrats you all.  I just saw walking in two members or staff of CHA. Left is Amanda and Jessica and out of the 250 people that are free now they were responsible for more than 70 vouchers to get you all out.  They have committed to another 50 until June of this year and they are applying to the US dept of housing and urban development to get 200 more real people out.  Thank you to CHA, Jessica, Amanda thank you very much.

 Sam:  We are going to have one more speaker Damien.

Damien:   Good afternoon everyone. Ladies and gentleman this is what we have all been talking about. We, Ladies and gentlemen.  This is what we have been talking about.  Nursing home is not good for all other people who are in the Nursing home; it is time to come out of the Nursing home.  Enough is enough, look at the people in the Nursing home, do you all want them to stay in the Nursing home  forever no, do you all want to find a home  for your family and you yes ?  Nursing home is not a place for nobody. I am sick and tired of telling of who the Nursing home people, enough is enough.  When we go to Springfield next week we are going to ask congress stop acting like a … people….

I fear the holy ghost is coming here.  I got the news for you. Next week when we go to Springfield, I want all of you and you and you  and all of you , to go with us to Springfield , to demand the senator, the republicans, the house and the senate and the  governor to stop it the nursing home from closing us. Look at the people who are in the Nursing home it is time for them to come out and move to their own home.  Thank you all very much. God Bless United states of America and God bless the world.

Sam:  Thank you Damien for the inspiring speech. I would like to take about a minute or two of silence for all the people who have died in the nursing home and for the people that have died whom we have helped move out of the nursing home.

Ok thank you.

You could also listen to the event online at:-http://www.chicagopublicradio.org/Content.aspx?audioID=41730#