The week of July 16 is the third – annual National Disability Voter Registration Week.  The week is coordinated by REV UP to increase the political power of people with disabilities while engaging candidates and the media to recognize the disability community.  REV UP stands for Register Educate Vote!  Use your Power!  The League of Women Voters will be at the library twice during this year’s NDVRW to register voters and answer questions. Drop in!

Monday, July 16, 6 to 8 p.m.

Wednesday, July 18, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Arlington Heights Library.  500 North Dunton Avenue. Arlington Heights Illinois.  847-392-0100.  AHML.info

A resident of Lyons and a member of the Board of Directors, Linda Marek has been a part of the Progress Center community since 2002.  She identifies as an advocate. “I can’t help it,” she said. “When I find things wrong, I advocate.  I advocate every day.”  This included her time living in an institution. Like thousands of other people with disabilities in Illinois, especially before the State began transitioning people to the community through Olmstead consent decrees, Marek was placed unnecessarily in a nursing home.  “People died,” Marek answered when asked about life in the nursing home.  “I’d make friends and then they’d be gone.”  Marek knew she had to get out of the nursing home in order to avoid the same fate. “I am a survivor,” she said.  “But people won’t survive in a nursing home.  That’s why you have to escape.”  Even though the nursing home tried to keep Marek drugged up, she managed to get out of the institution. With the support of Progress Center, she transitioned out of the nursing home in 2002.  She moved into an apartment in Melrose Park. “Now I’m out and aware,” Marek said. She thinks everyone should get out of the nursing home.  “People confined in nursing homes should be out and active in the community with services.”

Advocacy continued outside of the institution. In 2007, she moved to Franklin Park, where she wound up with a landlord who didn’t respond to building issues. The landlord “wasn’t doing repairs,” Marek explained. “I took the landlord to court.”  She won.

Marek was re-introduced to Progress Center several years ago.  In 2012, during a visit to a mental health center in Franklin Park, she saw a flyer about a legislative training at Progress Center.  She joined the class, which was led by Advocacy Coordinator Larry Biondi. “She’s a firecracker,” Biondi said, who refers to Marek as Progress Center’s Public Relations Advocate.

Following the legislative training, Marek signed up for an internship at Progress Center, then joined the Membership and Outreach Committee. On the committee, she served as secretary for three years. According to Marek, her tenure as secretary was good preparation for service on the Board of Directors.  At her first full board meeting, she was appointed “Reporting Secretary.”

In addition to her service on board and committees, Marek got involved in outreach and advocacy efforts, speaking about Progress Center at churches, and participating in actions. In 2015, she protested at Northwestern University, when advocates rebelled against a speaking engagement by Peter Singer, a bioethicist who has argued that severely disabled babies should be killed.

Marek also invited Biondi and Progress Center’s Clark Craig to present at a mental health centers, where they spoke about advocacy issues.  For Marek, spreading the word about disability supports at places like mental health centers is important, especially now.  “People have been going to psychiatric hospital wards more often because they are worried about losing benefits, losing houses,” Marek said.  “They should do something about it.”

Marek has always been one to ‘do something about it,’ but Progress Center has helped when she needed it. “They’ve supported me so much,” Marek said, referring to Progress Center. “I had trouble making decisions on my own. Now I do better.”

In addition to outreach at Mental Health Centers, Marek has also presented about disability issue and Progress Center at town hall meetings, churches, and legislative offices.

Because of Marek, Progress Center is also doing better. In the midst of the Illinois State Budget Impasse, she helped with fundraising, selling Avon Products and stuffed animals, with a percentage of the sales going to Progress Center. “We reciprocate,” Marek said.  “We hold each other up.” This holiday season, she is selling a stuffed animal, a lion named Rory.  “Rory,” Marek says, “Get it?”  Everywhere she has been, and everything she has done, Marek has made a difference for herself, Progress Center and other people with disabilities. It’s hard miss her ROAR!.

People with disabilities don’t need ‘compassion’

In his budget address, Gov. Bruce Rauner said structural reforms will enable Illinois to be “as compassionate as we want to be,” and later he said, “compassion is in the DNA of Illinois.” As a person with a disability who works with a disability organization, I think compassion is the wrong approach.

Disabled residents of Illinois need sound policy, not charity. The disability community is protected by civil rights and should expect Illinois policy to support those rights through the integration and independence of people with disabilities. Yet, up until now Gov. Rauner’s policies have attacked the Illinois Home Services Program — a resource that supports thousands of people with disabilities living in their own homes instead of in nursing homes — and have kept open large state-operated developmental centers that are expensive and segregate people with disabilities.

With a $150 million cut to Medicaid in the proposed budget, and with no mention of institution closure in the budget address, it seems the governor has neither structural reform nor compassion in mind for the disability community.

But Gov. Rauner has a chance to improve his record in the final year of his first term. To do so, he must listen to, respond to, and partner with people with disabilities.

Gary M. Arnold, program director, Progress Center for Independent Living

If not now, when?

When is the right time? It seems like after every school shooting, Republican so-called leaders come out of their cuckoo clocks to regurgitate the same Republican gun control mantra — now is not the time to discuss this issue. This year alone, from what I’ve heard on TV, there have been 18 gun-related incidents at schools in the U.S.

It’s time we ask the cowards in Washington, who are beholden to the NRA, when is the right time to discuss gun control? After the fourth shooting? The eighth? The 12th? The 15th? When?

Rudy Mendoza, Oak Forest 

Roskam, brought to you by the NRA

The NRA has given my congressman Peter Roskam, R-Ill., over $20,000 during his political career, including $2,000 in the last 2016 election. Of course, as with any political contribution, there is no quid pro quo for the dough. But it is more than a bit peculiar that as with every gun massacre in America, including Wednesday’s 31 shot in Florida, Roskam remains utterly silent on endless gun tragedies debasing life in America.

How silent? Search Roskam’s website for “American gun massacres/violence” and not a single link appears. That’s zero, zilch, nada. We should all get this tri-color mailing from him in this year’s election:

‘Peter Roskam … faithfully serving the NRA for 12 years.’

Walt Zlotow, Glen Ellyn 

LGBTQ community concerned about Lipinski 

As a woman, a lesbian and hourly-wage worker, I was surprised to learn of your endorsement of Dan Lipinski for Congress (“ENDORSEMENT: Dan Lipinski for for 3rd District in Illinois Primary,”  Feb. 14). I wasn’t aware that standing for ordinary workers was incompatible with promoting and sustaining laws that guarantee women the right to have autonomy over their bodies or ensuring equal rights to the LGBTQ community.

I’m also sure you will find women and members of the LGBTQ community within the ranks of “ordinary” workers. Your endorsement is especially disheartening when considered against current economic realities in which affordable health care has become a misnomer for too many of us, wage growth has stagnated for decades, and the rights of women and the LGBTQ community are under siege.

Annie Pike, Evanston

WASHINGTON – In response to news that Congress has passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, NDRN Executive Director Curt Decker issued the following statement:

“Today, the Congress passed, and the President will sign, a tax reform bill that does little to help low and middle income Americans or people with disabilities.

“The tax reform bill was about rewarding the already wealthy and creating an environment where federal programs can be slashed and decimated to make up for budget deficits that are made worse by this bill.

“Even before the ink was dry on the final bill, lawmakers on Capitol Hill were demanding cuts to all sorts of programs that help support people with disabilities, including Medicaid, Medicare, Social Security, Vocational Rehabilitation services, and many others. This hypocrisy must be called out for what it is and ultimately defeated.

“This legislation shows the worst of the American political system. Rather than working in a bipartisan way to address the problems our country and people with disabilities face, they have taken the first step to undercutting important, needed, and critical federal programs.

“To make matters worse for people with disabilities, the legislation passed today repealed the individual health care mandate. Without the mandate, health insurance premiums will skyrocket, making it impossible for many Americans to afford health care.

“NDRN will continue to be at the forefront of the fights over the coming years to protect these important federal programs from devastating cuts.”

# # #

The National Disability Rights Network (NDRN) is the nonprofit membership organization for the federally mandated Protection and Advocacy (P&A) Systems and the Client Assistance Programs (CAP) for individuals with disabilities. Collectively, the Network is the largest provider of legally based advocacy services to people with disabilities in the United States.

For Immediate Release         
December 20, 2017

Contact: David Card
202.408.9514 x122
press@ndrn.org

Also, here is a statement from the National Council on Independent Living (NCIL) about the bill. Click here for Statement

Throughout last year and this year, disability advocates and disability allies were key in the effort to end the budget impasse and support community services that help people with disabilities live independently in their own homes.  Though Illinois has a budget, there is still much work to do to protect the independence and rights of people with disabilities.  Here are a few issues that disability advocates are working on now:

1. HR 620:  The ADA Education and Reform Act.  Though “ADA” is in the name of the legislation, this bill is no friend of disability rights. The proposed legislation would dismantle Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act and steal away the rights of people with disabilities. Read more about the legislation at this link:  Click here for more information.

2.  The Disability Integration Act:  This legislation would support community integration across the country.  It would require both public and private insurances that cover any kind of long term care to give equal coverage to home and community support services.  Read more about the legislation at this link:  Click here to read more.

3.  The 2017 Tax Bills. On November 16, 2017, the US House passed a tax bill. The US Senate is now working on a tax bill. Both the House and the Senate version are devastating for the supports of people with disabilities.  The Senate version would also cut key provisions of the Affordable Care Act. The loss of these provisions would mean the loss of health care for many people with disabilities. Here is more information from a blog post by Family Voices Indiana. This information is taken from AUCD.  Click here for the blog post.

In October, Progress Center welcomed Gary Arnold as the organization’s new Program Director. 

 Announcement: 

Dear PCIL Families, Friends, & Supporters,

On behalf of the Progress Center for Independent Living’s Board of Directors and Executive Committee, it is with great pleasure that I announce to you that Gary Arnold has been selected as the new Program Director at Progress Center for Independent Living. Gary is currently the Public Affairs Manager at Access Living in Chicago; he is also the President of Little People of America, Inc. 

We all knew that replacing someone of Rebecca Thompson’s dedication and experience would be difficult.  But we believe that the energy and background that Gary brings to PCIL will ensure the continued success and vitality of our programs. It has been an arduous process, which could not have been accomplished without the dedication and hard work of our staff.

Thanks to all of you for your continued support. Feel free to share this information, and be sure to pass it on to anyone inadvertently left off this email. Please join me in welcoming Gary to Progress Center when he comes on board in mid-October.

Best Regards,

Horacio Esparza

Executive Director

The Illinois House voted 71-42 in favor of overriding Gov. Bruce Rauner’s vetoes of a budget package Thursday, giving the state its first spending blueprint in more than two years and ending the nation’s longest fiscal stalemate since at least the Great Depression.

http://abc7chicago.com/politics/illinois-house-approves-state-budget-ends-historic-impasse/2187933/