Action Alert: Independent Living Center Funding

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Action Alert in bold white letters on a red background

This Action Alert comes from the New York Association on Independent Living ...

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Help ensure Independent Living Centers have the funding they require to keep providing crucial services!

Independent Living Centers (ILCs) provide a wide array of supports and services that help people get the supports and services they need to live independently. With the pandemic tearing through nursing homes and other congregate care facilities over the past year, the work of ILCs to help people transition back into the community with supports and services is more crucial than ever.

ILCs rely on the State for funding to provide these vital services, but the State has failed to adequately fund centers for the better part of two decades, leaving centers struggling to continue providing core IL services.

Unfortunately, Governor Cuomo’s proposed Executive Budget once again failed to give centers the additional funding they need to meet the needs of their communities, and even cuts their funding! But it isn’t too late for these cuts to be restored and for the ILCs to get an increase in the final budget!

The budget needs to be passed by the end of the month and so budget negotiations are ongoing this week between the Governor, the Senate, and the Assembly. We need your help to make sure ILCs are not forgotten!

What You Can Do:

Make three calls today in support of increasing funding for Independent Living Centers by a mere $5 million in this year’s final budget! Use the talking points below.

  • Call Senate Majority Andrea Stewart-Cousins at 518-455-2715 or 518-455-2585

  • Call Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie at 518-455-3791

  • Call Governor Cuomo at 518-474-8390

Talking Points:

Please ensure Independent Living Centers are not cut in this year’s budget and get the funding increase they desperately need by including an additional $5 million for the network of ILCs across the State in the final budget. ILCs have been underfunded for years while the cost to provide services increases every year.

ILCs help people with disabilities to live independently in the community with necessary supports and services. Their work to help people leave nursing homes and move back to the community is more vital now than ever before.

An increase of a mere $5 million would ensure ILCs are able to meet the needs of their local communities.

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If you are interested in these or other disability advocacy issues, contact Colleen Downs, Systems Advocate at:

colleen@ncci-online.com
518-563-9058 Ext. 110

The Mission of the North Country Center for Independence is to help people with disabilities to live more independent and productive lives, and promote better policies and community understanding of disability issues. NCCI serves people with disabilities, families, and the community on issues related to physical and mental disabilities. NCCI is led and staffed mostly by people with disabilities. It is one of the 41 Independent Living Centers in New York State. There are also hundreds of similar centers throughout the United States. NCCI serves Clinton and Essex Counties, New York.