Choice. Independence. Inclusion. These three simple words have been driving our mission at Envision Unlimited for the past 75 years to help individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities live their best lives.
Most of us take these rights for granted, but they’re not easily attainable for people with disabilities. There’s no better example of this than Lois Curtis and Elaine Wilson, two women with mental illness and developmental disabilities who were denied their rights and confined in a state-operated Georgia hospital years after they were deemed ready for a community-based program.
This notable case led to the Olmstead decision by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1999, which states that segregation of people with disabilities from community life is discriminatory and a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
The disability community recently celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead decision. As we reflect, I’m thinking about the number of lives changed by this important ruling, particularly at Envision Unlimited.
In the past two years, we have transitioned nearly 400 people with mental health disabilities from Illinois-operated institutions to safe homes in communities of their choice. That marks the largest movement for any organization offering such services in Illinois. And through our short-term stabilization program for people with developmental disabilities, nearly 100 people with behavioral challenges have successfully transitioned back to community life. Our programs provide support for people through every step of the transition process and beyond, ensuring they can remain stable, safe and healthy in the communities they choose.
While we see the daily impact of our programs and services on people with disabilities and their caregivers, there’s still much more ongoing work to advance disability rights, advocate for increased funding and improve access to community-based services. Thousands of people with disabilities still wait to access community services and live self-directed, integrated lives. At least 200 people in state institutions have expressed their desire to move out, but there is not enough community capacity. Our team has had the pleasure of meeting many of these individuals, and it is heartbreaking to see their desperation.
That’s why we continue to look for new opportunities to create impact. Our new operations in Springfield help people at the state-operated psychiatric hospital re-integrate into community life, and we have begun a major expansion of our Community Living Program that will create 20 new homes to serve 80 more individuals with developmental disabilities. And that’s just the first phase of our plans.
Envision Unlimited will continue to work tirelessly to provide even greater choice and independence to people with disabilities. Providing evolving care with empathy every time and everywhere should be a collective commitment to people with disabilities, their families and the funders investing in support services.
Mark McHugh, president and CEO, Envision Unlimited
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Itching to vote after Republican antics
Just when you think it can’t possibly get any worse, I read not one but two disgusting events that involved the Trump campaign. Surprise! Surprise! One is the altercation with a cemetery worker when Donald Trump and his team visited the Arlington National Cemetery. The other is JD Vance telling Kamala Harris to “go to hell.”
I don’t like cold weather, but Nov. 6 can’t come quick enough.
Linda Padgurskis, Clearing
Trump has no respect for those who serve
Donald Trump visited Arlington National Cemetery to honor those slain three years ago during the Biden administration’s heavily criticized, but Trump-initiated, military pullout from Afghanistan. Despite cemetery personnel explicitly informing Trump staffers that photo-ops in Section 60 were prohibited, photos and videos of Trump were taken and will inevitably be incorporated into Trump’s campaign advertisements.
If it had rained on Monday, would Trump have bypassed this solemn event as he had done in 2018 when, as president, he skipped visiting an American military cemetery in France that he reportedly dismissively claimed was filled with “suckers and losers”’?
It should be obvious to those who’ve served our country that the expression “Thank you for your service” means only one thing to Trump: “Thank you for your vote.”
Paul L. Newman, Merion Station, Pennsylvania
Arlington incident not a deal-breaker on Trump
If the main reason I wrote letters to the newspapers was to see my name in print, I would focus my letters on criticizing Donald Trump. Trump is a flawed person. I am too. You probably are too. We just have different flaws.
The problem here is that we only get two choices for president.
I think we can do a much better job in choosing who those candidates are. I have written extensively on how to do that, but the people who make those kinds of decisions are content with what we have.
Sun-Times reader Dawn Kristensen (“Trump and his aides behaved badly at Arlington National Cemetery”) wants us to simply dismiss Trump because of some things that happened at a cemetery. I can easily write a list of 10 to 20 things that people need to consider when choosing their next president. Behaving badly at Arlington National Cemetery wouldn’t be on that list.
Larry Craig, Wilmette
Abortion rights support at DNC was disappointing
I watched Kamala Harris’ speech at the Democratic National Convention. Her oration did not surprise me. I expected the blasts towards Donald Trump and the magnified claims of her political achievements. The gestures of sympathy towards the middle class were evident throughout her podium act, just short of saying “I am one of you.”
As Harris rallied the crowd into excitement in sharing their joy of Trump punches, the mood at the United Center was like a rock concert. Applause, screams of approval and raising of posters continued. Then Harris moved on to her next topic — reproductive rights.
I stared at the TV screen in suspense, anticipating silence, perhaps an inaudible “boo” from the assembly. To my astonishment, the crowd kept cheering. Harris talked about abortion as a woman’s inalienable right. And the men and women, the young and old, Blacks, whites and Hispanics in the crowd rejoiced.
The vice president announced to the world that citizens deserve the right to end life, and the audience applauded. Did everyone at the convention agree?
I learned in high school that inalienable rights are the rights given to us by our creator, as stated in our Declaration of Independence — the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
And now, Harris and the Democratic Party would like to add “reproductive rights” to this list. Was there anyone in the crowd bothered by this? How did our nation arrive here? I saw mothers, fathers, and grandparents clapping. Did they understand Harris’ point or were they just ignorantly applauding for the jargon she delivered?
While we can all argue as to when life actually begins, or when abortion becomes necessary, I hope we can all agree that abortion is ending a life of a human being.
Tears of disappointment drizzled down my face. It was not what Harris said that disturbed me, it was the homogenous response of the diverse crowd, lacking in diversity of thought. A gloomy glimpse of our future enveloped my mind — a country moving away from the Constitution, devoid of wisdom, virtues and humanitarian principles. It is a sad day, America.
Charlotte Vicente-Brandon, Batavia
Vance’s views ignore friendship, love
Sen. JD Vance’s pronouncements about childbearing and marriage are off-base in part because he never talks about the key elements essential to their success: love and friendship.
In his infamous attacks against “childless cat ladies,” Vance appears to equate humanity with farm animals: They are born to breed the next generation for work. There’s also a hint of prurience in his remarks, given his obsession with the sex lives of others.
For large segments of the population, the pattern of birth, rearing and reproduction is their fate because of choice, limited circumstances or lack of imagination. For some, their lives are happy under this arrangement, but statistics about divorce and the excess of loveless marriages say something else.
When I was a teenager, we learned about love, sex and marriage through books, which fired our imagination, as well as family, friends and the media.
Most teens were first exposed to thoughts above love after reading Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” in school. For those fortunate and diligent enough to go to college, they might have more food for thought with Plato’s “Symposium,” Jane Austen’s “Pride & Prejudice” or Leo Tolstoy’s “Anna Karenina.”
The Bible is a source of learning, too. Vance claims to admire the religiously pious, but he never talks about the wisdom of the “Song of Songs,” a Biblical poem celebrating sexual love.
Ironically, Vance and some of his fellow Republicans want to shield children from drag shows and other expressions of homosexuality out of concern for their innocence.
The road to recovery of our national imagination might be blocked if Republicans gain power in the next election. Book-banning is core to their political program.
Craig Barner, Lincoln Square
CTA Red Line extension should be a holistic endeavor
I wholeheartedly endorse the Sun-Times’ ongoing push for thoughtful increased investment and development to accompany the extension of the Red Line to 130th Street.
However, I add the caveat that any investment and development must take into account the resources available in the region that promote health and wellness among the population. Local and regional organizations have fought for decades to counter the legacy of industrial pollution, the resulting health impacts and the inequitable access to green space. Any development needs to be in concert with local communities and organizations such as the People for Community Recovery, the Southeast Environmental Task Force, as well as regional groups such as Openlands, who have worked for years to attain environmental justice.
Opportunities for investment include the following:
At one end of 130th is Wolf Lake, a mistreated body of water governed by both Indiana and Illinois. The Association for Wolf Lake Initiative has lobbied for years for funding to clean up the lake, and to reduce pollution constantly seeping into it. Kitty-corner from the lake is a Superfund site. From Wolf Lake, 130th runs past Altgeld Gardens a public housing development that uniquely sits on acres of green space that can be enhanced and developed, including with community farms, particularly since this area is a food desert.
Additionally, nascent recreation opportunities, such as the African American Heritage Water Trail and the Major Taylor Trail, can be built upon to benefit local communities. The Cook County Forest Preserves and volunteer community stewards continue to work to restore habitat in area preserves such as Beaubien Woods, a scrappy little preserve around a man-made fishing lake, and Eggers Grove, featuring wetlands, among others.
All of the above organizations, initiatives and places can serve as a blueprint for development and investment initiatives, bringing wider recognition and increased financial support for equitable green spaces and resilient opportunities on the Far South Side.
Colleen McVeigh, Ravenswood