Irony at DNEC

The irony of working for an ILC in Connecticut is profound. Advocates spend all day helping people with disabilities to live independently, achieve their goals, get jobs, and remain in the community. This is a difficult, and specialized job which requires a great deal of specialized knowledge. While we provide many services (check out the website for more details on our services), and save the state of Connecticut a large sum of money each year through our Nursing Facilities Transition Project, and by keeping people OUT of Nursing Homes, the ILC's have not seen an increase in their funding in years, and have, in fact, lost some funding.

At the risk of sounding like a complainer, I will state, unequivocally, that most of the people working for an Independent Living Center are not paid a living wage. We have employees, WORKING in our centers who qualify for food stamps, and are having their electricity shut off because, with the increase in the cost of everything, and no COLA for the centers, they cannot afford to pay their bill.

The services we provide are incredibly important-- not just to the people who receive them. Businesses get good workers, tax payers save money by having our consumers in the community and paying sales tax, property tax, income tax etc, and the cost of state covered services are less when provided in the community, yet the people who are instrumental in helping people recieve these services cannot afford to live independently.

Please call your senator or Representative today, and ask them to include Independent Living Centers in the 3% COLA for non-profits.