ADAPT (715)

$[Headline] Local activist fights for independence in Chicago Desert Sentinel By Gary Bosworth Special to the Sentinel It is not normal Mothers Day present from a very unusual person. Susan Cote travelled to Chicago for Mothers Day, not to be with her mother, but instead to fight for the right of all mothers to live independently in their own homes instead of being forced to give up their independence in nursing homes. Cote has had cerebral palsy since birth, which has caused her need the assistance of wheelchair. She is joining about 250 other people from around the country. The will be all converging on Chicago in their wheelchairs to lobby for re-directing 25% of the existing nursing home federal dollars into attendant services so people are not forced to live in nursing homes against their will. American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) has chosen Mothers Day for this intensive lobbying effort because over two-thirds of the people in nursing homes are somebody's mother. What better way to express gratitude to mothers everywhere, than show solidarity with the dreams of living independent lives. Cote, a mother of two teenagers herself, expresses it by saying, It is important for people to understand that people do not end up in nursing homes because of the disabilities they develop. All persons with disabilities, no matter what their age are entitled to the right to be given the opportunity to live independent, productive lives in the community by being allowed to continue to live in their own homes. Over $20 billion dollars a year are spent by the federal government to subsidy nursing homes at an average cost of well over $30,000 per person each year. An equivalent amount of attendant services cost from $4,000 to $8,000 a year--a mere fraction of the nursing home cost. Cote, who eight years ago, worked herself as a Certified Nurse's Aide in a nursing home facility sees it as a simple choice for the government to make. Why spend four times the money on something people don't need, don't want, and limits their own freedom.$

[Headline] Local activist fights for independence in Chicago

Desert Sentinel

By Gary Bosworth
Special to the Sentinel

It is not normal Mothers Day present from a very unusual person.

Susan Cote travelled to Chicago for Mothers Day, not to be with her mother, but instead to fight for the right of all mothers to live independently in their own homes instead of being forced to give up their independence in nursing homes.

Cote has had cerebral palsy since birth, which has caused her need the assistance of wheelchair. She is joining about 250 other people from around the country. The will be all converging on Chicago in their wheelchairs to lobby for re-directing 25% of the existing nursing home federal dollars into attendant services so people are not forced to live in nursing homes against their will.

American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today (ADAPT) has chosen Mothers Day for this intensive lobbying effort because over two-thirds of the people in nursing homes are somebody's mother. What better way to express gratitude to mothers everywhere, than show solidarity with the dreams of living independent lives.

Cote, a mother of two teenagers herself, expresses it by saying, "It is important for people to understand that people do not end up in nursing homes because of the disabilities they develop. All persons with disabilities, no matter what their age are entitled to the right to be given the opportunity to live independent, productive lives in the community by being allowed to continue to live in their own homes."

Over $20 billion dollars a year are spent by the federal government to subsidy nursing homes at an average cost of well over $30,000 per person each year. An equivalent amount of attendant services cost from $4,000 to $8,000 a year--a mere fraction of the nursing home cost.

Cote, who eight years ago, worked herself as a Certified Nurse's Aide in a nursing home facility sees it as a simple choice for the government to make. "Why spend four times the money on something people don't need, don't want, and limits their own freedom.