Vineland Developmental Center closure protested at rally with the Rev. Al Sharpton
Published: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 5:07 PM Updated: Tuesday, April 26, 2011, 5:46 PM
VINELAND — The voice of the Rev. Al Sharpton boomed with urgency over a crowd of hundreds rallying to keep the Vineland Developmental Center (VDC) open on Tuesday morning.
“They’re after us collectively, and we must fight collectively. We’re not going to be closed down. We’ll stand together and fight the fight. ... Like the civil rights movement when I was just a young boy, we’re back together, down here where they thought we wouldn’t come, here together to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
At Tuesday’s rally, organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Sharpton followed AFSCME International Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders, AFSCME International Vice President and Executive Director of AFSCME Council 1 Sherryl Gordon, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Action Network local chapter President Steve Young.
Freeholders Jim Dunkins and Jane Jannarone, former VDC employee and politician Laura Pizzo, Vineland Mayor Robert Romano and other impassioned speakers also protested the proposed closing of the VDC and demanding “a better New Jersey for all,” as the crowd repeatedly chanted.
“I want to live in a country that takes care of people, not throw them to the side,” Saunders said. “You don’t get out of a deep hole by dragging people in, you build a ladder to climb out, and that’s by strengthening families and social services.
“This isn’t about a political party, or left or right; this is about what is right and what is wrong. ... What’s right about putting women out of the only home many of them have known?”
The rally in Vineland was the morning component of an all-day show of support for the VDC, with buses taking speakers and any interested members of the crowd to a panel discussion at Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton and a “Collective Bargaining and Workers Rights Solidarity Rally” at City Hall in Newark.
Christie has proposed to close the VDC’s west campus by June of this year and both campuses by June 2013; the VDC is one of seven centers currently targeted for closure in this state. Closing the VDC’s two campuses would eliminate the 1,459 full-time, part-time and temporary jobs currently held there to care for nearly 400 women with developmental disabilities.
The rally speakers besought the crowd to make their voices heard as a unified middle class and in representation of the VDC residents, many of whom do not have the ability to speak.
“We’re not letting a bully split and divide people. We will fight in unison for what is right. Keep the faith,” said Weingarten.
Romano voiced 100 percent support on behalf of the city of Vineland for the efforts to retain the residents and staff at the VDC. Gordon pointed out that the elimination of over 1,400 jobs in a county with rampant unemployment would bring local businesses and the entire community down.
“We’re not here just to collect a paycheck, we’re here because we care,” Gordon added. “This is a labor of love, from the heart. It’s time for New Jersey’s working families to stand together. A worker united will never be defeated.”
Last year, the governor announced that closing the center’s west campus would save the state $160,000. According to New Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS) spokeswoman Pam Ronan on April 1, the closure of the VDC east campus is expected to save the state an estimated $1.5 million in fiscal year 2012.
In addition to these budgetary justifications, the NJDHS website detailing the VDC closure cites the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision, which declares “states must provide community living options and other supports to individuals with disabilities who do not require institutionalized care.
“The proposed closure of VDC advances New Jersey’s progress in this regard,” the website reads.
Ronan said the seven developmental centers targeted to be closed “continue to have a reduction in census as indviduals move to community homes and developmental centers” through Olmstead efforts. Last week, Ronan said 18 VDC residents had moved to Green Brook Regional Center, 25 had transferred to New Lisbon Developmental Center, 24 had moved to community homes and three women had gone into nursing homes.
However, VDC psychologist Valessa Rocke called the proposed closing Christie’s “backdoor way” of “hiding behind the guise of the Olmstead” decision.
“He doesn’t want to pay pensions. They’re spoon-feeding hatred to the public against state workers,” said Rocke. “It’s a shame the governor is attacking the most vulnerable.”
Rocke added that while interdisciplinary teams at VDC meet to discuss patients’ transitions to other forms of assisted living on a case-by-case basis, “some ladies are having rebound behaviors because they can’t adjust to the change, and it’s too haphazard and quick.”
Marilyn Nobles, a VDC employee for 31 years, whose mother, father and sister have all worked at the center, explained the level of services she and her fellow staff are providing to the VDC residents.
Nobles said residents require intensive instruction on life skills that many don’t consider in their daily lives, such as how to eat with a spoon, how to put clothes on or how to go to the bathroom. She explained the process of moving from a facility like VDC to another center, a group home or apartment-style living is not as easily done as Christie’s proposal seems to presume.
“We are doing a good job here; we take care and provide for our ladies. Are we our sisters’ keepers?”
“Yes we are!” the crowd shouted in response.
The state Legislature is expected to present a finalized budget, including a decision regarding the closure of the VDC, in June.
“They’re after us collectively, and we must fight collectively. We’re not going to be closed down. We’ll stand together and fight the fight. ... Like the civil rights movement when I was just a young boy, we’re back together, down here where they thought we wouldn’t come, here together to say, ‘Enough is enough.’”
At Tuesday’s rally, organized by the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), Sharpton followed AFSCME International Secretary-Treasurer Lee Saunders, AFSCME International Vice President and Executive Director of AFSCME Council 1 Sherryl Gordon, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and National Action Network local chapter President Steve Young.
Freeholders Jim Dunkins and Jane Jannarone, former VDC employee and politician Laura Pizzo, Vineland Mayor Robert Romano and other impassioned speakers also protested the proposed closing of the VDC and demanding “a better New Jersey for all,” as the crowd repeatedly chanted.
“I want to live in a country that takes care of people, not throw them to the side,” Saunders said. “You don’t get out of a deep hole by dragging people in, you build a ladder to climb out, and that’s by strengthening families and social services.
“This isn’t about a political party, or left or right; this is about what is right and what is wrong. ... What’s right about putting women out of the only home many of them have known?”
The rally in Vineland was the morning component of an all-day show of support for the VDC, with buses taking speakers and any interested members of the crowd to a panel discussion at Shiloh Baptist Church in Trenton and a “Collective Bargaining and Workers Rights Solidarity Rally” at City Hall in Newark.
Christie has proposed to close the VDC’s west campus by June of this year and both campuses by June 2013; the VDC is one of seven centers currently targeted for closure in this state. Closing the VDC’s two campuses would eliminate the 1,459 full-time, part-time and temporary jobs currently held there to care for nearly 400 women with developmental disabilities.
The rally speakers besought the crowd to make their voices heard as a unified middle class and in representation of the VDC residents, many of whom do not have the ability to speak.
“We’re not letting a bully split and divide people. We will fight in unison for what is right. Keep the faith,” said Weingarten.
Romano voiced 100 percent support on behalf of the city of Vineland for the efforts to retain the residents and staff at the VDC. Gordon pointed out that the elimination of over 1,400 jobs in a county with rampant unemployment would bring local businesses and the entire community down.
“We’re not here just to collect a paycheck, we’re here because we care,” Gordon added. “This is a labor of love, from the heart. It’s time for New Jersey’s working families to stand together. A worker united will never be defeated.”
Last year, the governor announced that closing the center’s west campus would save the state $160,000. According to New Jersey Department of Human Services (NJDHS) spokeswoman Pam Ronan on April 1, the closure of the VDC east campus is expected to save the state an estimated $1.5 million in fiscal year 2012.
In addition to these budgetary justifications, the NJDHS website detailing the VDC closure cites the Supreme Court’s 1999 Olmstead v. L.C. decision, which declares “states must provide community living options and other supports to individuals with disabilities who do not require institutionalized care.
“The proposed closure of VDC advances New Jersey’s progress in this regard,” the website reads.
Ronan said the seven developmental centers targeted to be closed “continue to have a reduction in census as indviduals move to community homes and developmental centers” through Olmstead efforts. Last week, Ronan said 18 VDC residents had moved to Green Brook Regional Center, 25 had transferred to New Lisbon Developmental Center, 24 had moved to community homes and three women had gone into nursing homes.
However, VDC psychologist Valessa Rocke called the proposed closing Christie’s “backdoor way” of “hiding behind the guise of the Olmstead” decision.
“He doesn’t want to pay pensions. They’re spoon-feeding hatred to the public against state workers,” said Rocke. “It’s a shame the governor is attacking the most vulnerable.”
Rocke added that while interdisciplinary teams at VDC meet to discuss patients’ transitions to other forms of assisted living on a case-by-case basis, “some ladies are having rebound behaviors because they can’t adjust to the change, and it’s too haphazard and quick.”
Marilyn Nobles, a VDC employee for 31 years, whose mother, father and sister have all worked at the center, explained the level of services she and her fellow staff are providing to the VDC residents.
Nobles said residents require intensive instruction on life skills that many don’t consider in their daily lives, such as how to eat with a spoon, how to put clothes on or how to go to the bathroom. She explained the process of moving from a facility like VDC to another center, a group home or apartment-style living is not as easily done as Christie’s proposal seems to presume.
“We are doing a good job here; we take care and provide for our ladies. Are we our sisters’ keepers?”
“Yes we are!” the crowd shouted in response.
The state Legislature is expected to present a finalized budget, including a decision regarding the closure of the VDC, in June.
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