Dire fate seen for human services

Governor Quinn and our legislative leaders must get serious about negotiating a sensible, sustainable and balanced budget without cutting vital human services. Real people's lives are at stake. To the rest of the legislature, vote for a balanced budget even if it means increasing taxes.

I work for an agency that receives funding from the state. If we take a 50 percent cut, we will find work for fewer people who are blind or visually impaired. During these difficult economic times, we need such programs more than ever. Blind people have an outrageously high unemployment rate of 70 percent. Ask any person with a visual impairment what they want most of all and they'll tell you: a job. Working people who are blind buy homes, spend money in local businesses and pay taxes.

I also sit on the board of directors for a local center for independent living. A 50 percent cut means 4.5 staff positions will have to be cut, and this center will serve 79 fewer consumers than it did last year. Those who are not served will either become homeless, be denied access to transportation services, or worse yet, may end up in a nursing home rather than living in the community, which costs the taxpayers of Illinois less.

Imagine that one of these people is your family member or best friend. Imagine they are young, with their whole lives ahead of them. Yet, they are in a nursing home, with no privacy and being told when they have to get up and go to bed each day, eat and how often they'll get to take a shower. This is what will happen if a balanced budget is not reached and centers like our local center have to make draconian cuts in staff and service.

Ray Campbell

Glen Ellyn