Print friendly
E-mail story
Tip Us Off
iPod friendly
Comments
Bookmark This
del.icio.us.
Digg!
furl
google
newsvine
reddit
technorati
Facebook
Yahoo!Rose and Kindell, located in Sacramento, is currently working with advocates of state-funded services for the disabled in order to fight budget cuts that will affect community-based services to these disabled individuals, such as at-home assistance, transportation and early intervention programs for infants.
The budget cuts would affect many individuals who have come to rely on them, as they have contributed to their integration and well-being in the community. The cuts to community-based programs represent over 70% of the total cuts to services to the disabled. I have attached a set of charts with the numbers.
Maria Sandoval, a resident of Santa Maria, wrote to Governor Schwarzenegger last December to bring to his attention just how tragic the budget cuts would be to her.
Attached, you will find her letter, which she has allowed us to share and quote.-Sarah Abravanelli, Rose and Kindell, Grayling Communications
Dear Arnold,
I knew you June 26, 1994 at the Special Olympics State Games in UCLA. I was a swimmer. We had a picture taken together. You liked me and I like you. My name was Maria Sanchez.
Today I am married 9 years on February 26, 2009. My husband’s name is John. Now my name is Maria Sandoval. John has a disability too. We want the American Dream to be happy. We get help in our home three times a week by an “Independent Living Instructor.” Her name is Tammy. She helps us pay the bills, be sure we have enough food, and anything that has to do with money or important papers like social security or taxes. If we didn’t have her, we could accidentally get in a lot of trouble with the law by not paying our bills right or not paying our taxes right. We could also mess up our social security. Or, we might not have enough food at the end of the month because it is hard to budget if you do not understand numbers too good.
I have a job. I work at Ross Dress for Less three days a week. It is just part time for now. I would like to work more, pero [Spanish for but] I can’t. I have a job coach. Her name is Brenda. She works for VTC Enterprises, where I have received services since 1985. She helps me understand my job, figure out what to do if there is a problem, checks my work to be sure it is good, asks my boss how I am doing, and teaches me new work at my job if my boss wants me to learn it. If I did not have a job coach, I would be lost. I might get confused, might accidentally oversleep, might forget my schedule, might have a hard time learning parts of my job, or I could accidentally lose my job.
I am worried about California’s budget. Pero I am even more worried about cuts to the services for people with disabilities. If I lose my services, I could accidentally get in trouble with the law, lose my job, lose my home, and starve to death. This is very scary to me. Some of my friends have less skills than I do. What will happen to them?
Please help us by not taking away money for services that help me pay my rent, buy my groceries, keep my job, pay my taxes, pay my bills, and keep me out of trouble. I do not want to be any trouble to California. This little bit of money goes a long way to keep me from using more of California’s money.
I have always been a good citizen and I don’t want to accidentally get in trouble because numbers and written words don’t make sense to me.
[You can contact me at these numbers and addresses .]
Or, you can call my friend Kathy Cook. She wrote down my words for me because I can’t write down the words. I know Kathy 23 years. She knows my family and I know hers. You could call Kathy at [numbers deleted for letter's publication in Independent]. You can call Kathy at work because she is “la heffa.” (Spanish slang for boss.)
Say hi to your wife, Maria Shriver, and your kids for me. Tell Maria she has a really beautiful name. It is the same name as mine. We even have the same initials, “M.S.”
Your Friend,
Maria (Sanchez) Sandoval
P.S. Remember to be strong and save services for people with disabilities.
P.S. S. I believe in you!!
Previous Month
Comments
Discussion Guidelines
Post a comment