- YezhAfrikaans Argentina AzÉrbaycanca
á¥áá áá£áá Äesky Ãslenska
áá¶áá¶ááááá à¤à¥à¤à¤à¤£à¥ বাà¦à¦²à¦¾
தமிழ௠à²à²¨à³à²¨à²¡ ภาษาà¹à¸à¸¢
ä¸æ (ç¹é«) ä¸æ (é¦æ¸¯) Bahasa Indonesia
Brasil Brezhoneg CatalÃ
ç®ä½ä¸æ Dansk Deutsch
Dhivehi English English
English Español Esperanto
Estonian Finnish Français
Français Gaeilge Galego
Hrvatski Italiano Îλληνικά
íêµì´ LatvieÅ¡u Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuviu Magyar Malay
Nederlands Norwegian nynorsk Norwegian
Polski Português RomânÄ
Slovenšcina Slovensky Srpski
Svenska Türkçe Tiếng Viá»t
Ù¾Ø§Ø±Ø³Û æ¥æ¬èª ÐÑлгаÑÑки
ÐакедонÑки Ðонгол Ð ÑÑÑкий
СÑпÑки УкÑаÑнÑÑка ×¢×ר×ת
اÙعربÙØ© اÙعربÙØ©
Degemer / Rummadoù / Lansing, fall 1995 46
ADAPT (965)
Detroit Free Press Saturday, October 28, 1995 Hugh McDiarmid Politics [Headline] GOP in a dither to find Bonior foe Demonstration Redux: Engler's staff went ape and his wife, Michelle, loudly condemned it. But the governor's own reaction to Tuesday's demonstration at the governor's residence by 200-plus handicapped home-care advocates was...well, softer. On WWJ-AM radio's "Ask the Governor" Thursday, he labeled it "guerrilla theater, 1990s style." But he said the goal was to get media attention and, in that, they were "pretty effective."
ADAPT (967)
[Headline] Wheelchair protesters [Subheading] Activists with disabilities travel so they can stay home Yvonne Duffy The 300 or so members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) who stormed Gov. John Engler's residence and blocked entrances to the state Capitol in Lansing last week have dispersed, perhaps leaving in their wake more questions than answers. Who are these Wheelchair "terrorists," as administration officials called them, who demonstrate against government leaders and the health care industry to seek less Medicare spending for nursing homes and more money for in-home care? They are dedicated men and women, most with significant disabilities, who spend their own money to travel from all over the country to participate in ADAPT "actions." Some cut their protest teeth back in the 1960s. Others have come more recently to the disability movement, and are new to the idea that they may be able to influence their destiny. Many are former nursing home residents who have experienced firsthand the mind-numbing isolation, indifferent care (at best), and lack of freedom that inevitably accompany institutionalization. The woman who screamed from the governor's driveway, "Let (lawmakers) lie all night in their own (waste)" probably is a former nursing home resident. She understands all too well that once one undergoes such degradation, one is changed forever. The World Institute on Disability defines personal assistance services as "assistance of another with those tasks which individuals would normally do for themselves if they did not have a disability." ADAPT maintains that adequate personal assistance services and other support could enable one of every 10 nursing home residents to live in his or her own home, resulting in a better quality of life and reduced cost to taxpayers. [Image] [Image caption] Wayne Becker of Austin, Texas, and Hector Racine of Brandon, Vt., were among protesters at governor's house. File photo by Julian H. Gonzalez/Detroit Free Press. Why did ADAPT choose to turn the national spotlight on Michigan? As Republicans attempt to return more government power to the states, members of the Denver-based organization seek federal legislation that would unify the hodgepodge of services now administered by states. Since Engler is perceived as an influential force in a national welfare reform, ADAPT wants to educate him on the need to include community-based personal assistance services in the final package. Engler also is regarded as a close associate of House Speaker Net Gingrich, who was targeted by ADAPT last May. Gingrich has verbally endorsed the idea of national legislation governing personal assistance services. Yet he has not introduced in the House ADAPT's proposed Community-based Attendant Services Act (the measure's acronym, CASA, means "home" in Spanish). That bill, if passed, would make these services a reality. ADAPT members believe people with disabilities are the real experts on what they need. An essential feature of the CASA bill is consumer control, based on need rather than age or specific disability. This approach to independent living contrasts sharply with the medical model now used by most states to determine eligibility. To finance the proposed program, ADAPT calls for redirecting 25 percent of the current Medicare allocation for nursing homes. The proportion now earmarked for in-home assistance is less than five percent. The need is crucial: A 1992 Families USA study reported that 64 percent of Americans who needed personal assistance services could not get them. In Chicago last year, personal assistants struck for a day to protest their low wages and lack of benefits, stranding the employers who relied on them to get out of bed. Hiring honest, responsible people to provide personal assistance, for little more than the minimum wage and without health care or retirement benefits, is fast becoming next to impossible. In a healthy economy such as ours, these essential jobs are among the first to go unfilled, as demand for workers opens up higher-paying positions. What drives ADAPT members to undergo financial expense and personal hardship as they demonstrate around the country year after year, to try to focus attention on an issue about which few Americans care? They keep on because they are acutely aware--often from personal experience--of what most other people with disabilities can scarcely bear to acknowledge, because the specter is so horrifying. Each of us who must depend on personal assistance services to live is but a heartbeat away from a nursing home. Yvonne Duffy writes the "Disabled in America" column for the Free Press
ADAPT (968)
The Detroit News Thursday, October 25, 1995 [Headline] Disabled intensify protests [Subheading] Activists demonstrate in Lansing for third straight day; police arrest five. [Image] [Image caption] Protesters line up outside the Capitol on Wednesday, calling attention to fears that disabled people will be forced into nursing homes and out of private homes or other community care. The group of nearly 300 blocked entrances to the Capitol briefly. Photo by: Dale G. Young/The Detroit News
ADAPT (969)
Detroit Free Press 10/26/95 [Headline] Capitol Blockade About 300 members of Americans Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT), a group dedicated to better rights and services for the disabled, disrupted business Wednesday at the Capitol by blocking building entrances for about 45 minutes. State Police reopened an entrance at 1:30 p.m. and the protesters began to disperse at 3:30 p.m. after meeting with a representative of Gov. John Engler. Five were arrested for trespassing or disorderly conduct in the group's third day of protesting, State Police Inspector Gary Post said. ADAPT wants Engler, among other things, to ask House Speaker Newt Gingrich to propose earmarking 25 percent f the Medicaid nursing home budget for home and community services. [2 Images] [Caption for both images] Left: A worker jumps out a window at the Capitol in Lansing after demonstrators blocked all exits and entrances to the building Wednesday. Below: A student from Garfield School in Adrian breaks through the crowd of protesters at the Capitol. Students were touring the building and were blocked in by the demonstration. Police later cleared an exit.
ADAPT (970)
The Detroit News AND Free Press Metro .. Sunday, October 29, 1995 [Headline] Engler staff lapse led to security breach of governor's home GEORGE WEEKS Gov. John Engler and First Lady Michelle Engler are rightly outraged at misguided demonstrators who pounded on doors and windows of their home while they were gone and their triplet daughters were in the kitchen with their nanny. The Englers are also understandably concerned about the rare and baffling security lapse that allowed wheelchair-bound demonstrators to scoot through an open gate on a driveway leading to the official governor's residence in the fashionable Moors River Drive section of Lansing. Make no mistake, an elite state police detail provides excellent around-the-clock security for the first family. When Engler travels, it is with well-trained plain-clothes troopers who know what to do and do it well. They are hard to spot, but they are there, and well armed. There is 24-hour security at the residence, assisted by a variety of electronic devices connected to monitors that guard outposts. An intruder would be foolhardy to try to scale walls or rush the residence day or night. Yet, in broad daylight on Tuesday, about 70 demonstrators, many in wheelchairs, were able to get to the front porch of the residence after the gate opened for a delivery. There should have been sufficient warning. The Denver-based ADAPT (American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today) declared in advance by press releases that they were coming to Lansing to protest planned GOP changes in the federal Medicaid program. There were about 200 demonstrators, most from outside Michigan. They had 150 rooms at the Radisson Hotel, two blocks from the Capitol. On Monday, they seized the GOP state headquarters for several hours, taking over the switchboard and blocking some staffers in their offices. They demanded to see Engler, who ironically supports their call for more funds for more care. They said they targeted Engler because "He's a high profile potential v-p"; he has the ear of House Speaker Newt Gingrich; and he frequently lobbies Congress on welfare and health care issues. Engler declined to meet with them, but Communications Director John Truscott did meet with them and outlined Engler's position in writing. Law enforcement authorities knew that ADAPT planned to demonstrate Wednesday at the Capitol where Michigan Militia demonstrators planned on Tuesday to protest against the UN. Extra security personnel were at the Capitol on Tuesday. Truscott said, "We had no idea they would hit the residence." But on Tuesday, although they did not announce it in advance, the handicapped demonstrators assembled at a park near the residence. They carefully watched the comings and goings at the residence before they made their move. Apparently they were not watched with sufficient care. Once they began going through the gate, security personnel were reluctant to swing the gate shut for fear of injuring some of them. The massive swinging gate, with black iron bars, takes about 10 seconds to close. Truscott said "It was a slow gate and they had very fast chairs. They came flying." Although 11-month-old Margaret, Hannah, and Madelene did not hear the protesters, Truscott said they were "so rattled" by all the security and other activity within the residence that they had a sleepless night. All of Michigan should feel violated because protesters, no matter how just their cause or how difficult their lives, were able to storm right up to Michigan's front porch. The way to agitate for funds for home care is not to attack someone else's home. It remains to be seen if they awakened interest in home care or caused a backlash. But by breaching the security ring around the governor's residence they delivered a wake-up call. Truscott said "Clearly, we'll take a very serious look" at security arrangements. For starters, there will be a gate that closes faster. Furthermore, when the gate is open, there will be more security personnel to thwart a rush on the residence.
ADAPT (971)
[This page continues the article from 974. Full text is available under Imgae 974.]
ADAPT (972)
A A News 10/27/95 [Headline] Protest outrages Michelle Engler FROM the Associated Press LANSING --- First Lady Michelle Engler says her support for free speech and the right to assemble gave way to fear and outrage when handicapped protesters demonstrated outside the governor's residence. "It was frightening. I felt totally helpless," she said Thursday of the protest two days earlier. "And I am still outraged and appalled by these tactics." Neither Gov. John Engler nor his wife was home when about 200 pro-testers gathered outside the governor's residence. But a nanny was there with the Englers' 11-month-old triplet daughters when nearly 70 of the protesters pushed through the outside gate and mussed on the front porch, shouting and chanting slogans and briefly pounding on the doors and windows. Six were cited for trespassing. "When they called me and told me what was happening, I was terrified...frightened," said Michelle Engler, who at the time was in Detroit, attending a luncheon where she was honored for her promotion of breast cancer awareness. "All I could think about was my 11-month-old babies." Michelle Engler, an attorney, described herself as "an avid advocate" of First Amendment rights of free speech and peaceably assembly. But Tuesday's demonstration was "over the line" she said. "It they want to picket, they should stay outside the gate. They can picket me, they can picket him," she said, referring to the governor. "But just stay away from my family." [Pulled quote] "It was frightening. I felt totally helpless." — Michelle Engler [article continues] The demonstration was organized by American Disabled for Atm:, tendant Programs Today, a Denver-based group that opposes Republican-backed changes in the federal Medicaid program. Those changes might deny home care for disabled persons and force them into nursing homes. The Medicaid changes are pending in Congress. But ADAPT officials said demonstrations were held in Lansing because of Republicans Gov. Eaglet's high-profile role in advising GOP lawmakers on welfare and Medicaid changes. The triplets were in the back of the house and were not directly exposed to the protesters. But Michelle Engler said they had sensed: the tension and anxiety. Michigan ADAPT organizer Bob Liston of Ypsilanti: "This is a nonviolent organization. We have not hurt anyone and do not intend to hurt anyone. But if Gov. Engler is going to get into national politics, he has to answer to folks nationally. We were doing what we felt was necessary to call attention to this critical issue."
ADAPT (973)
ADAPT (974)
[Headline] A CRY FOR CARE [3 Images] [Image caption for all 3 images] ABOVE Michigan State Police troopers drag Philadelphia resident Eileen "Spitfire" Sable away from the Capitol. CENTER: Topeka, Kan., resident Pepper Daniel leads a group of protesters as a young girt walks by. TOP: Jell McAlvey, a legislative liaison to Gov. John Engler, meets with three ADAPT protesters. Photos by: State News/MATT CONAHAN [Subheading] ADAPT blockades Capitol; group demands to see Engler By LEE JERNSTADT STATE NEWS STAFF WRITER LANSING--About 300 people with disabilities stormed the Capitol on Wednesday, where they attempted to prevent people from entering or leaving the building so state officials could feel what it's like to be "trapped." During the demonstration, which was organized by the group American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, hundreds of wheelchair users and other ADAPT members banded together to block every Capitol entrance. They chanted, waved signs and pre-vented many Capitol workers from entering. This is the group's fourth Lansing-area protest this week where ADAPT members decried the practice of putting people with disabilities into nursing homes instead of providing them with in-home care. They said laws trap people in nursing homes and do not give them any choice in their medical care. The protesters said they would not leave until Gov. John Engler met with them and listened to their concerns. "Putting people in nursing homes is a capital offense, so we're going to turn this Capitol into a nursing home," shouted Bob Liston, ADAPT Michigan organizer, as he lined up protesters in front of the Capitol steps. But Engler spokesman John Truscott said Engler will not meet with ADAPT members. "We will not meet with groups that resort to illegal tactics," Truscott said. ADAPT members broke through gates and approached the governor's mansion in Lansing on Tuesday during a protest. Throughout the more than four-hour demonstration, police arrested five people for trespassing and disorderly conduct because they were blocking doors, said Gary Post, an inspector in the executive division of the state police. All had disabilities. No injuries or damages were reported. As protesters chanted and tried to pull people away from doors, dismayed Capitol workers returning from lunch wandered from entrance to entrance, searching for a way in. Curious onlookers inside the building peeked out of windows to see what was going on. Many workers had to be escorted by police to get past the protesters and enter the building. "I think it's nuts," said East Lans-ing resident Chad Linzey, who works in the House Clerk's office in the Capitol. "I just want to go in and do my job." The demonstration ended peace-fully when state police Lt. Tom Ambs negotiated an agreement with protesters, Post said. The crowd dispersed after several ADAPT members entered and delivered a letter to Engler's office stating their demands. Jerry Lawler executive director of the Capitol Committee, which oversees the Capitol grounds -- said the protesters only were able to completely close off the building for about 30 minutes. Police were able to clear at least one door the rest of the time. "It's just an inconvenience," Lawler said. "Nothing's been stopped." Both the state House and Senate held session as scheduled Wednesday. Lawler said two groups of school children who were at the Capitol for field trips entered the building during the protest, and many were in tears after being rushed through the group of protesters. The rally began with speakers before the crowd moved to the doors. Charlie Buck, an ADAPT member from Nashville, Tenn., who attended the protest, said his group has asked U.S. Rep. Newt Gingrich, R-Georgia, and other ranking Republicans, to change laws that require states to provide nursing home care with Medicaid dollars, but not at-home care. "We're all about community, and if they're in support of families and communities, why can't they set aside 25 percent of (Medicaid) mon-ey so those people who choose to live at home, can," he said. Engler supports ADAPT's cause but not their methods, Truscott said. "Michigan is one of the most progressive states in the country," he said. But Liston said Engler has consistently ignored his group's concerns.
ADAPT (975)
Chicago Tribune, Thursday, October 26, 1995 Section 1 5 [Image] [Image caption] Michigan protest: Demonstrators in wheelchairs block the steps of the State Capitol in Lansing, Mich., Wednesday. They want federal laws favoring in-home care over nursing home care.
ADAPT (976)
Thursday, October 26, 1995 The Ann Arbor News E [Headline[ Disabled keep up protests, block Capitol FROM THE ASSOCIATED PRESS LANSING — On their third day of pro-test, a group demanding better services for the disabled got a meeting Wednesday to voice their views. But it was not with Gov. John Engler. Three members of American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today met with Jeff McAlvey, Engler's legislative liaison, and then ended the protest of about 300 people who had blocked some entrance ways to the Capitol building. They had requested a meeting with Engler. The protesters rallied briefly at noon in front of the Capitol steps. They broke into smaller groups to block entrances to the Capitol. One entrance remained open for 45 minutes before being blocked by protesters. Michigan State Police reopened another entrance at 1:30 p.m. Five were arrested for trespassing or dis-orderly conduct, state police Inspector Gary Post said. Three of them were booked at the Lansing city jail and released on personal recognizance bonds. The group dispersed about 3:30 p.m. after meeting with McAlvey. Verna Spayth of Ann Arbor, state coordinator of the Denver-based group that has staged sit-ins and other protests for better home care, said ADAPT was disappointed Engler did not meet with its members. "I don't think a meeting would have been too much to ask. He apparently thought he could wait us out. But our constituents are outraged and we vow to stay in his face," Spayth said. Engler spokesman John Truscott said the governor was not available. He declined to say where the Republican governor was. [Image] [Image caption] State Police prepare to move Bob Kafka, national organizer of ADAPT, from entrance to Capitol at Wednesday's protest. Photo by: ANN ARBOR NEWS BUREAU PHOTO
ADAPT (977)
[This page continues the article from image 981. Please refer to 981 for full text]
ADAPT (978)
[This page continues the article from image 981. Please refer to 981 for full text]
ADAPT (979)
[This page continues the article from image 981. Please refer to 981 for full text]
ADAPT (980)
[This page continues the article from image 981. Please refer to 981 for full text]