Disabled rally for housing upgrades
Members of the disabled community urged Gov. Timothy M. Kaine yesterday to redirect $43 million earmarked for renovation of buildings at Central Virginia Training Center in Lynchburg to smaller, community-based group homes.
Virginia is one of the few states that cling to outmoded institutional settings for the intellectually disabled, said Heidi L. Lawyer, executive director of the Virginia Board for People with Disabilities. She said Virginia is 46th in its funding for community-based services.
About 250 disabled people and their advocates rallied at the Bell Tower in Richmond's Capitol Square to urge the change in funding.
Gordon Hickey, spokesman for Kaine, said the budget is in the developmental stage and Kaine will look at their proposal.
Del. M. Kirkland Cox, R-Colonial Heights, who addressed the rally, said money is so tight that the General Assembly will be able to do little for the disabled community in the 2009 session. But he said redirecting the renovation funding might be doable.
Central Virginia Training Center houses 456 people with intellectual disabilities, said Meghan McGuire, spokeswoman for the state Department of Mental Health, Mental Retardation and Substance Abuse Services. It is one of five centers in the state.
McGuire said the $43 million is intended to upgrade the Lynchburg facility to meet safety standards. She said the department is sympathetic to the advocates' concerns about smaller settings and is considering whether it has the flexibility to divert some of the bond money for that purpose. But she said there also are concerns that some of the residents can't live safely outside the institutional setting.
"Some of the bond funds must be used to ensure their safety and to ensure compliance with code standards," she said.
Advocate Katherine Montgomery told the rally: "It doesn't matter how many posters you put on the cinder blocks, an institution is not a home."
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