ACTION
ALERT!
Dear Friend of Westchester Arc:
You are needed now to take an immediate step to
prevent disastrous consequences to people with developmental disabilities and
their families. Please
ACT NOW!
Governor Paterson has asked the
legislature to approve an immediate cut in state dollars for all
nonprofit agencies serving people with developmental
disabilities. The best estimates indicate that this cut will be
in the range of 10% for the last five months of the state fiscal
year which ends on March 31st. The overall impact is in the
range of $150 million with an annualized impact of $375 million
to the OMRDD budget for services.
We are asking you, along with all
our board and family members, self-advocates, staff and
supporters, to contact the Governor’s office. The legislature is
scheduled to reconvene on November 10th to consider the
Governor’s deficit reduction plan. We must send the Governor the
message that this is not the correct way to deal with the New
York State deficit.
Please take just a minute to sign
the attached letter and mail it to Governor Patterson. If you
would like to write your own personal message, please do so,
although the important thing is to get the letter out as soon as
possible so that it will be counted.
PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE.........HELP
US GET THE MESSAGE TO THE GOVERNOR AND THE LEGISLATURE THAT THIS
IS THE WRONG WAY TO SOLVE OUR STATE’S FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES.
If the proposed cuts are enacted,
the consequences will be:
- Severely limited ability to
provide integrated, community-based
services—which we have fought for so many years to achieve.
- Staff members losing their jobs
and families being forced to
provide services for their loved ones.
We are committed to upholding the promise that we
make to every family we serve: to enable people with disabilities to reach their
full potentials. With your help, we will keep our promise.
Yours truly,
Richard P. Swierat
Executive Director