Published: July 10, 2009 11:19 am      

Families express fears at rally

TEUTOPOLIS — Proposed human service budget cuts have struck fear into the hearts of many who have loved ones requiring such service.

Developmentally disabled people and their families expressed some of their fears at a rally Thursday in the ARC-CSS Developmental Training Center.

“I’m scared to death about what would happen to my daughter if we are not there to fight her battles,” said Sharon Mendenhall of Newton.

More than 275 people filled the cavernous training center to hear Mendenhall and about 20 other speakers vent their concerns about the proposed $1.78 million budget cut that has caused ARC-CSS to already cut programs and staff.

Gov. Pat Quinn has already vetoed two budgets submitted to him by the Illinois General Assembly. The legislators are expected to pass yet another budget sometime next week.

But ARC-CSS executive director Dick Reimers said the agency is proceeding like the cuts are final.

“It’s not a myth — not a fallacy,” Reimers said. “We’ve been ordered to cut our budget.”

Reimers said ARC-CSS has already cut $976,119 out of its budget for the fiscal year that began July 1. He said change will only come when enough people have expressed their passion about human service funding to elected officials.

“We are not a priority in Illinois,” Reimers said. “We need to get active because we can’t stand for this anymore.

“They (developmentally disabled people) should not be pawns in political games,” Mendenhall added. “What’s next — the concentration camps?”

Mendenhall directed several of her comments to area legislators invited to attend Thursday’s gathering who did not show.

“Please stop playing games with people’s lives,” she said. “I hope the people who are not here never have to go through what we are going through.”

Shellie Campbell, whose son Joshua has cerebral palsy and a lung disease, said she has to be a voice for her son, who cannot speak, walk or do anything for himself.

“If I don’t speak up, who the hell will?” she asked.

Campbell criticized the absent legislators.

“How would they like to step in our shoes for one day, one hour, or even 15 minutes?” she asked.

Quinn has suggested an income tax increase to help pay for human services — an idea that has been opposed by many legislators. But Kristin Gharst of Watson wondered why the proposed increase from 3 to 4.5 percent would be so bad.

“I don’t think there’s been an income tax increase for 20 years,” Gharst said.

Anna Ballinger of Neoga, mother of a Down’s syndrome son, said ARC-CSS has helped her become a “special parent.”

“Our Bonnie (Patton, an ARC employee) taught us to show our son the ways of being normal,” Ballinger said.

Tammy Jackman said her son, who has autism, was only able to stay in school with services from ARC.

“His kindergarten teacher told us to put him in an institution,” she said. “But he’s going to be in a regular class this year.

“It took Bonnie and other people at ARC to get us this far.”

Not everybody who spoke Thursday had children being helped. Carolyn Boland talked about her 81-year-old uncle who lives with her despite having a genetic disorder.

“We got him enrolled here in ARC and he got his first paycheck when he was 75 years old,” Boland said. “He’ll be devastated if he has to stay home.”

Reimers encouraged all who attended Thursday’s rally to inundate the governor’s office and legislators with phone calls and e-mails.

“We have to become more politically active,” he said. “This is going to affect everybody in Effingham County.

“People don’t understand how far-reaching this can be,” added ARC board president Greg Bean. “If I can’t go to work because I have to stay home with my child, that’s going to hurt my employer.

“It’s going to touch all of us.”

Reimers said a number of area legislators were invited to Thursday’s rally, including Reps. David Reis and Roger Eddy, and Sens. John O. Jones, Dale Righter and Kyle McCarter.

Jones and McCarter were in Vandalia to meet with those who would be affected by cuts at the Vandalia Correctional Center. Reimers said Righter and Reis were on vacation, while Eddy was working in Springfield.

Bill Grimes can be reached at 217-347-7151 ext. 132 or bill.grimes@effinghamdailynews.com.