| 4.17.03
Hundreds Rally to Save The Fernald Center
[Cofar Position Statement Opposing Closure]
[Potential
Impact of the Fernald Closure on Residents]
[4.24.03 - More Than 9,000 Signatures
delivered to Governor Romney
by COFAR]
[5.09.03 - House Budget Includes Amendment
to Protect Closure of Fernald Center and Other Facilties for the Severely
Disabled]
[5.20.03
- Advocates for the Retarded to Present Research Showing That
No Money is Saved When the Retarded are Moved from State to Community
Facilities]
[5.22.03
- Advocates for the Retarded Take Fight to Save Fernald Center to the
Senate and Present Cost Study Showing that No Savings are Realized When
State Facilities are Closed]
[View
the fact sheet]
[View
more photos]
With accounts
of the compassionate and competent treatment their loved ones have received
at the Fernald Developmental Center, advocates and supporters of Fernald
kicked off their drive Thursday to stop the Romney administration's
plans to close the Waltham facility.
Under sunny
skies but amidst windy and chilly conditions, the supporters held a
curbside rally at the Trappelo Road entrance to the Fernald grounds.
The message from the speakers, who included state legislators, a Waltham
City Council member, family members of the Fernald residents, and staff
and union officials, was consistent: Governor Romney has not made the
case that closing Fernald and the other remaining state facilities for
the retarded in Massachusetts will result in either state budgetary
savings or in equal or better care for the current residents there.
"There
is no other place in the Commonwealth where your tax dollars are being
better spent," said state Representative Thomas Stanley (D-Waltham),
drawing cheers from the crowd, that numbered over 100 people.
Stanley
echoed the sentiments of many in the crowd when he remarked that "I'm
afraid the real reason (for the planned closure of Fernald) is a power
grab for the land."
Fernald,
the state's oldest facility for the mentally retarded, houses some of
the state's most profoundly retarded residents. In February, Governor
Romney announced that he planned to close Fernald in the coming fiscal
year and potentially five other state facilities for the retarded as
part of his efforts to close a projected $3 billion budget shortfall.
Several speakers at Thursday's rally noted that Romney has declined
invitations to visit Fernald and has not produced a cost/benefit analysis
supporting his decision to close it.
State Senator
Susan Fargo (D-Lincoln), who, like Stanley, is supporting upcoming budget
legislation that would require a cost/benefit analysis before closing
Fernald, maintained that the Governor's projected savings don't exist.
"If there isn't a savings, why are we doing it?" she asked, drawing
cheers.
Several
supporters in the crowd held signs, some in the shape of hearts, with
messages that read: "We Are Part of the Community," and "Hey, Gov.,
Get Your Mitts Off Our Home." Cars and trucks repeatedly honked in support
of the rally as they drove by on Trappelo Road.
COFAR members
gave accounts of the high caliber and professionalism of the treatment
their family members have received at Fernald. Catherine Gover, whose
sister, Patricia, has been a resident there for more than 30 years,
said her sister's afflictions were considered so serious when she was
born that she wasn't expected to live past the age of 12.
"Patty
is 38 and pushing 39, and it's a testament to the fine level of care
at Fernald," Gover said. "This is the only large facility for the mentally
retarded in the greater Boston area. If it closes, all the professional
services there will be scattered to the wind."
Tom Frain,
President of COFAR, referred to a "continuum of care," of which Fernald
and the other state facilities "hold a legitimate place." Frain maintained
that the state will realize no savings in closing the facilities because
the cost of care there "rises and falls with the person's disability,"
and will follow the residents when and if they are transferred into
the community.
Diane Booher,
who has two brothers at Fernald, said that as a result of budget cuts
last year, the long-time caretaker of one of her brothers was laid off.
The result was that her brother began to develop extremely agitated
behaviors, including kicking and flailing with his arms.
Booher
coordinated the collection of more than 4,000 signatures from around
the state, which oppose the closing of Fernald and the other state facilities.
The petitions will be presented to Governor Romney in the State House
in Boston next Wednesday (April 23 at 11 a.m.), when COFAR takes its
fight directly to the Governor and the Legislature. COFAR members will
also stroll around the State House, starting at 9:15 a.m. that day,
contacting their legislators and pressing their case.
At Thursday's
rally, Kathleen McMenimen, Waltham City Councilor at Large and Dean
of the City Council, said the entire City Council had unanimously passed
a resolution oppose the closure of Fernald. "We are not NIMBY people,"
she said, referring to the Not-in-My-Back-Yard appellation. "We want
Fernald to stay here."
McMenimen
said Waltham officials are willing to work with the administration to
reconfigure the campus in order to allow other uses on its 187 acres,
while retaining it as a home for its current residents.
Beth Gray-Nix,
head of occupational therapy at Fernald, described the ordeal of a mentally
retarded man named John , who is spastic and a quadriplegic, and who
was lying virtually neglected in a nursing home where he was fed through
a tube and had lost 60 pounds. Gray-Nix arranged for his transfer to
the MarQuardt Nursing Center at Fernald, where the feeding tube was
removed and John soon began eating on his own and then regained the
weight he had lost.
[Cofar Position Statement Opposing Closure]
[Potential Impact of the Fernald Closure
on Residents]
[4.24.03 - More Than 9,000 Signatures
delivered to Governor Romney
by COFAR]
[5.09.03 - House Budget Includes
Amendment to Protect Closure of Fernald Center and Other Facilties for
the Severely Disabled]
[View the fact sheet]
[View
more photos]
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