GOV. MEETS ADAPT

Advocates Win Talk with Paterson

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Approximately 150 people with disabilities recently filled Gov. David Paterson’s (D-N.Y.) waiting room, at his Albany office, many of them wearing ADAPT t-shirts.

They had traveled from across the state to protest the governor’s proposed cuts to independent living centers and home care. The ADAPT activists chanted loudly, making sure they could be heard upstairs by the governor and the legislators who were meeting in special session.

“Cutting funding to independent living centers and eliminating cost of living increases to home attendants will force many people with disabilities into institutions,” said Bruce Darling, ADAPT organizer and executive director of the Center for Disability Rights in Rochester

Rights in Rochester. “I moved to New York City from Alabama, where services are deplorable, because I was afraid of ending up in a nursing home,” said Melina Cowan, “I don’t want to have to start worrying again.”

The protest escalated as the ADAPT activists, led by Darling and New York City ADAPT organizer,Nadina LaSpina, moved towards the glass doors of the governor’s office. When the state police opened one door to try to let some people out of the office, the activists moved forward and prevented the door from being closed again.

The quick move brought the protest to a showdown as the troopers tried to push the activists back. But the governor’s staff soon intervened and allowed Darling, La Spina and six other people, representing different regions, in a meeting with Paterson, which lasted almost an hour.

“This is the first time that a governor meets with us in person,” said Darling. “Usually we only get to meet with his senior staff.”

“After the director of the Binghamton Center, Maria Dibble, who is blind, made the first personal connection with the governor, I made the second,” said La Spina. “I reminded him of his long-standing relationship with the New York City disability community, a relationship that included speaking at rallies and demonstrations and serving as board member of the Harlem Independent Living Center.”

“We told the governor we could show him more effective ways to save money, such as expanding the consumer-directed personal assistance services program,” said Chris Hildebrandt of Rochester ADAPT.

“The governor listened carefully and agreed with everything we said,” said La Spina. “He was extremely personable and apologetic as he explained that in this time of economic crisis he was forced to use the ax instead of the scalpel and make across-the board cuts. But he pledged to meet with us regularly in the future, find ways to improve the delivery of long term care and use our input when the 2009 budget is prepared. Though we didn’t accomplish our goal of stopping the cuts, we had a tremendous impact and opened a very important dialog with our governor.