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Freedom Ride '05: A Smashing Success! The following are excerpts from media coverage of the event: Disabled advocates rally for independence
Judy O’Malley of Godfrey, 64, ceremoniously rolled her wheelchair through black crepe paper jail "bars" at end of the rally. She said she was looking forward to the trip. Freedom Ride supports legislation EFFINGHAM--A tour, billed as “Freedom Ride ’05,” stopped in Effingham Monday. Freedom Riders illustrated their core issue during a luncheon at the Effingham Knights of Columbus Building. A small group was seated away from the main group of about 30 participants and given choice over their food, when they would eat and other options. But the bulk of the group was treated as Community First Act proponents say nursing home patients are — with little or no choice over any aspect of their lives. Opportunities for Access/Center for Independent Living (OFA/CIL) sponsored the Effingham stop on the tour. Executive Director Mike Egbert said the goal of the tour was to increase awareness of the disparity between community-based and institutional funding. “We want to raise awareness among communities and legislators so that community-first programs are fairly funded,” Egbert said. State Rep. David Reis, R-Ste. Marie, attended the event to visit with Freedom Ride participants. Reis said he hadn’t decided how he would vote on the Community First Act. “I’m here to learn about it,” Reis said. “This is the best way. Lobbyists in Springfield are fine, but the best way to find out about an issue is straight from the people who are most affected.” Group pushes for end to institutionalization of disabled, seniors
Curtis will visit Springfield this week to take part in the Freedom Ride by the Campaign for Real Choice in Illinois, which stopped in Urbana Tuesday morning. About 30 people are on a four-day, 700-mile tour to push for an end to institutionalization of seniors and the disabled. Curtis said it's unfair to force people to live in institutions if "they don't need to be there. "'Freedom riders' rally support JOLIET--The "freedom riders" rolled into Memorial Stadium on Tuesday in an effort to drum up support for legislation that would help them live at home, in group homes or on their own. Joliet was the fourth stop. The ride will end Oct. 20 in Springfield at the Capitol Building Rotunda. As they pulled into the stadium parking lot, freedom riders were cheered by clients from the Will-Grundy Center for Independent Living. Prior to the freedom riders' arrival, center clients gave testimonials about their stays in nursing homes and why they prefer to be on their own. Many were in wheelchairs. Some were blind. Others limped. But they all had a story to tell and a cause to believe in. State Sen. A.J. Wilhelmi, D-Joliet; State Rep. Jack McGuire, D-Joliet; County Executive Larry Walsh; and Recorder of Deeds Laurie McPhillips Weglarz attended the event. Dan Campus, the city's deputy liquor commissioner, represented Joliet Mayor Art Schultz. Disabled activists rally today GLEN ELLYN--This morning, the Freedom Ride ’05 van tour rolls into the DuPage Center for Independent Living in Glen Ellyn for a rally in favor of the Community First Act. Activists say Illinois has lagged in keeping up with a 1999 U.S. Supreme Court decision that concluded states should place people with disabilities in community settings rather than institutions when appropriate. “We all agree the job is not done, there’s more work to be done,” Illinois Department of Human Services spokesman Tom Green said. But he noted the state had moved 1,000 people out of institutions in recent years. Right now the department is working on plans to meet the goals of the U.S. Supreme Court decision, Green said. “We are in favor of moving people into the least restrictive setting possible,” Green said. Freedom Riders seek home options: Campaign calls for seniors, disabled to have a choice GALESBURG - Freedom Riders stopped here Wednesday. Their message? Seniors and the disabled deserve an opportunity to live independently in the home of their choice. Wednesday was the third day of a four-day swing through Illinois. "We know that some type of segregation is still happening," Gerard Broker, director of the Statewide Council on Independent Living, told the audience comprised of the Freedom Riders, representatives from Stone-Hayes Center for Independent Living and other agencies that deal with the issue, as well as politicians and interested individuals. "It's the ignorance of society that says to these people they can't live among us because they are disabled. ..." Addressing independent living for seniors and the disabled, state Rep. Don Moffitt, R-Gilson, noted that his association with Stone-Hayes dates back many years. "We all want to live as independently as possible," Moffitt said. "We all want our own home. ... I support your efforts." State Sen. Dale Risinger, R-Peoria, observed, "Better care at less cost, it seems like a no-brainer. ... We need to get into the modern-day century to provide the services to the people who deserve it." Freedom Ride comes to town BLOOMINGTON -- The 90-minute rally marked the final stop of the Freedom Ride, a 700-mile, four-day drive throughout Illinois to drum up support for the legislation. About 65 people with a variety of disabilities and from throughout the state were at the rally, then drove to Springfield for a rally in the state Capitol rotunda. "The dollars should follow the person," said State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, who will be a co-sponsor of the bill. "Why spend tax dollars on things (nursing home services) that they don't need?" Brady asked. "It's a waste." "Hear our voices, we want choices!" chanted rally-goers wearing matching Freedom Ride shirts that said "Riding for the Choice To Live at Home" on the back.
Funding for disabled subject of rally: Attendees request state move away from institutions SPRINGFIELD--Disabled residents ended a statewide, grass-roots Freedom Ride on Thursday with a rally at the Capitol calling for state government to transfer funding of institutions to community-based settings. The nearly 200 attendees at Thursday's rally urged state officials to break free from the trend of institutionalization in Illinois. Participants collected more than 5,000 signatures in support of Senate Bill 1324, called the Community First Act and introduced last spring by Sen. Maggie Crotty, D-Oak Forest. The measure calls for state funding that would have been spent to house an individual in an institution to instead be spent on placing that person in a community-based setting. Rally attendees strung pages of the petition and then encircled the Capitol rotunda with the "chain of bondage." Jennifer Wilson of Springfield cut the symbolic chain. Wilson, 21, is one of nine plaintiffs suing the state for failing to place developmentally disabled residents into community-based settings, thereby forcing them to reside in nursing homes or at home. The advocacy group Equip for Equality is representing the plaintiffs. The armful of petitions were then given to Blagojevich's deputy chief of staff for social services, Louanner Peters, who attended the rally.
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© 2008 Campaign For Real Choice In Illinois, All Rights Reserved. |
ALTON--"Freedom Ride," a four-day caravan organized by Campaign for Real Choice in Illinois, is to promote rights of disabled people to live in their homes with whatever support is needed. The group is pushing for passage of the Community First Act, which was introduced in the Illinois General Assembly this spring. If enacted, the law would allow a person with a disability to have the state transfer funds it spends, or would have spent, on the person in an institution to pay for long-term care services in the community.
URBANA--Lois Curtis spent most of her teen and adult years in state-run institutions for people with disabilities. After her repeated requests to live in the community were denied, she and another woman sued the state of Georgia in 1995. They won, the state appealed, and the case wound up in the U.S. Supreme Court. The court's landmark decision declared that unnecessary institutionalization amounts to segregation and violated the Americans with Disabilities Act. The case has had nationwide implications, prompting Illinois and other states to re-evaluate how they support those with disabilities.
