More than 100 people participated in the “Going Home” rally yesterday
at the Illinois Statehouse in Springfield, calling on legislators to
support the closing of state institutions and expand community living options for people with disabilities.
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Chicago) has put his Washington, D.C. townhouse up for sale, citing the need to pay medical bills for the treatment of bipolar disorder.
Gov. Pat Quinn’s plan to close two state centers for the
developmentally disabled has angered some lawmakers and the state’s main
public employees union. But advocates for the developmentally
disabled believe Quinn’s move will actually help the lives of hundreds
of disabled residents.
A proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn to close multiple state facilities – including prisons and also centers for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled – could unravel.
“In Springfield, proposed facility closures are not infrequent, but enacting the closures are,” acknowledged John Maki, director of the John Howard Association, a prison reform group lobbying to close the supermax prison in Tamms, but lobbying to keep open the women’s prison in Dwight.
Hundreds of protesters were met by dozens of Chicago police officers
outfitted with riot gear in front of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s North Side
Ravenswood home Saturday afternoon. While the Mayor wasn’t home, his
house was guarded by a line of officers who created a makeshift barrier
using their bicycles.
The protesters, many of whom sat down in the middle of North Hermitage Avenue for about 20 minutes, decried Emanuel’s closing of six city mental health facilities. Some of the mental health advocates in attendance were patients of the now-defunct clinics. Read more »
A proposal by Gov. Pat Quinn to close multiple state facilities – including prisons and also centers for the mentally ill and developmentally disabled – could unravel. 
Hundreds of protesters were met by dozens of Chicago police officers
outfitted with riot gear in front of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s North Side
Ravenswood home Saturday afternoon. While the Mayor wasn’t home, his
house was guarded by a line of officers who created a makeshift barrier
using their bicycles. 