Impasse threatens those in need

A lack of cooperaton among our legislative leaders and the governor threatens to grind the operations of numerous social service agencies to a halt -- the very agencies that are helping people survive economic difficulties every day.

Because the social services sector is already bruised from having to absorb the impact of cash flow interruptions and budget cuts, Catholic Charities cannot afford to float its most needed programs on its own.

If the government cannot hold up its end of the partnership to serve the vulnerable, it will cause a state of emergency unlike any we have seen in Illinois.

Seniors will go hungry without their Meals on Wheels. Nursing home residents will suffer as staff are sent on furloughs because we can't meet payroll. Kids in our day-care programs will have to stay home with alternate care, halting their parents' necessary work activities.

On behalf of those who will be most affected by this budget impasse, particularly children, senior citizens, the infirm, veterans, and the abandoned, we at Catholic Charities urge lawmakers to take action and resolve this preventable and unnecessary crisis.

Rev. Michael M. Boland

Administrator,

President and CEO

The Catholic Charities

Chicago