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+ Robin McGee 1
ADAPT (707)
Access USA News June 1992 page 21 [This article appears to be in 3 parts, we do not have the first part. The article continues in ADAPT 702 but that text is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO in the center of the article: A mass of people in wheelchairs are lined up against the windows at the front of a building. The rows of people are 2 deep in many spots. Then there is a pathway along the sidewalk and another group of people is packed on the other side. One of the protesters in a manual wheelchair is facing away from the camera and on his back is a large poster that says "HELL NO! I Won't Go Back." Someone in a scooter (Rhona Schnall?) is rolling down the end of the pathway. Caption reads: ADAPT protestors converge on Chicago. ADAPT from page 3... "They're paying these people to work and, instead, they're standing out here and watching us. Yet I can't get my PCA money. What's going on?" asked 31-year-old Michael Graver, of Orland Park, Ill., during ADAPT's demonstration at the State of Illinois building on Wednesday. ADAPT shut down access to the upper floors of the building when the facility manager shut off the elevators and escalators so that protestors in wheelchairs could not reach the 16th floor, the office of Gov. Edgar. Many people employed by offices on upper floors chose to stand on the balconies overhead and gawk at the activities below. Graver has been attending Southem Illinois University at Carbondale - until now. He has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair. The college junior currently is unable to attend school at SIU because of the state cuts in PCA funding. No new clients have been accepted for in-home services since February 1. ”I can afford the apartment," he said, ”but not in-home services.” ”Tell them to give you the escalators and give us the elevators,” one ADAPT member told able-bodied individuals who complained about the group cutting off access to the upper floors. ADAPT blocked off the escalators with wheelchairs and bodies when members were told the elevators would not be made available to them. A small-framed, middle-aged woman attempted forcing her way through the unit blocking an escalator, emphatically stating, "I’m from Wisconsin, I can't do anything for you." She was detained. A man, approximately age 50, succeeded in forcing his way through the demonstrators, only after stepping over their wheelchairs, over people and finding himself crawling on the ground before getting to the other to the side. Another man of about the same age walked down the escalator and when he began trying to make his way through, said, "I have nothing against you people." A man in his 20's tried finding a route up an escalator, but met face to face with a female ADAPT protestor. ”Back off and try to understand what we're doing," she told the young man. ”This is beautiful," said the Rev. Hatcher, who uses a wheelchair and was at the State of Illinois building on behalf of the Coalition for United Community Labor Force, not with the ADAPT group. ”I really support this. I showed up to meet with the Governor's office to protest some things. This Governor is insensitive to the black community and handicapped community." Most able—bodied individuals continued trying to find elevators, escalators or stairs leading them to upper floors. Many stood on the ground-level floor in amazement, then complained that this was unfair to them. A few were curious enough to ask questions, read the fliers and express support. "James Edgar, shame on you. ”People are dying, shame on you. "Hey, hey, ho, ho, budget cuts have got to go." ADAPT’s verses were in unison, clear and loud as the crowded state building remained in chaos all day. "When l used to travel around the country, I would brag about Illinois and our in-home services,” said Judy Savage, Chicago ADAPT member and employee of Access Living of Metropolitan Chicago. "They've already limited the number of people who can get these funds and Democratic legislators are recommending more cuts.” Insert Text box: "In the nursing home, they don't let you do things yourself. I have to ask for permission to go out." -Louis Summers Article continues: As the fourth and final day of ADAPT’s demonstrations dragged on at the State of Illinois Building, able-bodied individuals became more irritated. ”Edgar's going to have to stop all this," one man said. “l have a grandmother in a nursing home and I know what they're like," a woman said, "but blocking off the elevators and escalators won't change that.” "This is wrong. This is even a fire hazard. You can't deny other people the right to go out and support their families. They’ re denying us our constitutional rights,” another man said, angry that he could not get to an upper floor. "This is wrong.” Thirty-nine year-old ADAPT member Mary Kay Strasser, who also belongs to Disabled Americans Rally for Equality (D.A.R.E.), sat at the opening of one of the elevators all day Wednesday, her personal attendant standing nearby. "This is a disgrace," she said. "We're human beings just like they are. People walk by and don't ask us what we're fighting for. You can tell their attitudes by the looks on their faces. The people in the nursing homes don't realize they treat us like we're nothing. I was in a nursing home for 3-1/2 years and it was the worst experience of my life." ADAPT passed out nearly 10,000 fliers during the Chicago rally. Fifteen people were arrested, mostly for trespassing, including 10 late Monday afternoon outside the Health and Human Services offices. The bulk of police-protestor interaction took place outside the AMA building Tuesday as demonstrators attempted to stop paddy wagons from leaving the area. One man being moved by police was dropped out of his wheelchair and his head struck the sidewalk; his injury appeared the next day to be a minor abrasion on the side of his head. At that time, a Chicago police officer wearing badge number 215 asked able-bodied ADAPT member Robin McGee why they were not protecting the people in chairs better, why they were allowing them to do this and get hurt. Louis Summers, age 31, was hit by a train while working and has lived in a nursing home the past three years. Father of three kids, Summers gets $422 a month in social security payments. He took his place among ADAPT members blocking an escalator on Wednesday. "I want a part-time job so I can pay child support and buy the things I need," said Summers, who uses a wheelchair and is deaf, but speaks clearly. "($422) is not enough for food and rent and payment on a loan." "I don‘t know why the government pays nursing homes more than they pay personal attendants. l can afford an apartment, but I can't afford the personal attendant. In the nursing home, they don't let you do things yourself. I have to ask for permission to go out."