Clients know advantages of local agencies
By Meg Handley - editorial@nwherald.com
Daily errands such as grocery shopping or going to the dentist used to be a huge strain on Peggie Klabunde. Her husband, Christopher, was diagnosed with advanced Alzheimer’s disease four years ago, a condition that made even simple tasks difficult to manage for the couple.
But about a year ago, Klabunde learned about Family Alliance, a Woodstock-based agency that provides adult care programs. Her husband now visits the center five times a week to participate in support groups and therapy while Klabunde runs errands.
“He loves going there,” Klabunde said. “It’s a break for me when I can get things done and know he’s well taken care of.”
But because of stalled budget negotiations in Springfield, Klabunde’s husband might not be able to return to the program that Klabunde called “a godsend” after the end of the fiscal year June 30.
To help bridge a looming state budget deficit of $11.6 billion, Gov. Pat Quinn has proposed more than $9 billion in spending cuts, most of which affect community-based and state social service agencies. McHenry County agencies estimate more than $6.7 million in funding losses, which would affect at least 12,300 residents, agency officials said.
Among those residents affected, Klabunde said losing the services Family Alliance provided would be devastating.
“It would be a big hardship on me,” she said.
“It’s very helpful for me to know that I’m not the only person taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s, Klabunde said.”
Above all, she said Family Alliance provided an alternative to nursing home care.
“People are living longer and their children aren’t able to take care of them because of responsibilities with work,” Klabunde said. “These people don’t have to be in nursing homes. They need to be somewhere where they’re watched and cared for and stimulated.”
Although funding woes abound for community-based organizations around the state, the financial impact on families who rely on the programs is profound, Family Alliance executive director Carol Louise said.
“Some of our caregivers will have the decision, ‘Do I quit my job and be on unemployment? Or will I place my person in a nursing home?’ “ she said. “What a decision to have to face as a caregiver.”
Louise noted that nursing home care and assisted living could cost 3 1/2 times as much as services provided by the Family Alliance.
Funding cuts are affecting other vulnerable populations as well. If lawmakers cannot reach a compromise by the end of the fiscal year, youth delinquency intervention programming provided by the Youth Service Bureau (YSB) in Woodstock will cease to exist, YSB executive director Susan Krause said.
‘We’re going to be cut in half,” Krause said. “The thing that is most devastating for my agency [is losing] grants for delinquency case management to keep kids out of the Department of Corrections.”
Nick Howell of Crystal Lake participated in YSB delinquency programs as a teen and said discontinuing the services would be a shame.
“I can’t help but think about the people who are exactly like me and not going to have that opportunity,” Howell said. “They [YSB] showed me how to be a useful member of society. I was going down a pretty dark path.
“Had I not gone there, I would’ve returned to jail. Today, I’m able to live a life free of courts and drugs and alcohol,” Howell added.
The Youth Service Bureau and other local agencies are mobilizing supporters in hope that success stories from clients will provide perspective to budget debates and persuade legislators to reconsider the proposed funding cuts.
But, with budget decisions still uncertain as the end of the fiscal year nears, community organizers and clients know programming reductions and eliminations are just a heartbeat away.
“I just don’t know what I’d do,” Peggie Klabunde said. “At this point, there are no alternative options.”
