Elgin-based nonprofit AID to lay off 80, cut programs
Letters will be arriving at 1,100 families' doorsteps in the coming days, bearing the grim news.
State budget woes are forcing the Elgin-based Association for Individual Development to lay off 80 workers and cut 10 of its programs.
The nonprofit's programs, which serve about 4,200 individuals across the Fox Valley, are set to close their doors July 13. They the include an early intervention program, the work program for disabled adults, the homeless youth program, alcohol and substance abuse case management, the Indian Trail supervised living program, and case management for the developmentally disabled.
Still, officials worry that there may be more cuts to come.
"We have no idea which way this is going," AID Vice President Kathy Hazelwood said. To continue to provide for as many individuals as possible, the Association's remaining 320 employees are taking 5 percent pay cuts, effective Monday.
On July 1, Gov. Pat Quinn vetoed a portion of the state's budget that funds nonprofit social service agencies, which legislators had cut by about half. The veto leaves the state with no budget for those services, prompting the nonprofit to let 80 staffers go.
Although the 50 percent budget cuts are not a certainty, officials with the nonprofit said they were unable to wait any longer to make the cuts.
Quinn this week presented an alternate proposal with more moderate cuts to social service agencies, which legislators will review when they return July 14.
"If you asked me a few days ago, I would have said this is very grim," Hazelwood said. "We're hoping (legislators) will look at things and say 'We can't possibly cut 50 percent.'"
In the interim, the association is dependent on donations.
Checks can be made out to the Association for Individual Development and mailed to the association, Attn.: Kathy Hazelwood, 1135 Bowes Road, Elgin, IL 60123. Contributions can also be made online at www.the-association.org.
"We can't sit on pins and needles forever," Hazelwood said.