First, the Access; Then, the Advocacy?

Over the months of January and February, staff and consumers at Access Living in Chicago (many of whom are also ADAPTers) have been visiting our state legislators to educate them on the importance of not cutting human services in Illinois. Today, Rachel Siler, Amber Smock and Tom Wilson visited the Chicago office of State Senator Antonio Munoz, and came across a problem our community faces not infrequently: lack of physical access to our elected officials' offices. We cannot let stairs or lack of other forms of access stop us, however; our goal is to FREE OUR PEOPLE! The photo at left shows Rachel on the left in a power chair and Amber on the step to Munoz' office. We will be scheduling a follow up meeting in an accessible location to advocate against state budget cuts and to educate about the people's need for access to politicians' offices.