Illinois Grants an Increase!

Gerry Beagles • July 12, 2023

Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle. Happiness never decreases by being shared.

Gautama Buddha

Dear Friends of Garden Center Services; the picture of me this time is of me finding a fun way to announce to our wonderful employees the news regarding a substantial increase to our rates from the Illinois Department of Human Services! To share important information like this I some times take on the persona of newscaster Gerry “Specs” Beagles😊!!

Through the efforts of the They Deserve More Coalition, the Illinois Association of Rehabilitation Facilities, and the Institute on Public Policy for People with Disabilities, all of which Garden Center Services belongs to, an incredibly focused and convincing message was delivered to the Illinois legislature advocating for a much needed increase in the rates we are funded at for the services we provide.  The positive outcome is that the state has granted an increase of $2.50 per hour effective January 1st, 2024, to help raise the hourly wages for those employees that work directly with our participants, and to cover other costs as well. This increase is one of the largest the state has awarded for some time, and gets us closer to the amount of necessary funding as identified by the Guidehouse Rate Study.  

We have a profound understanding at our agency that the quality of the services we provide our individuals is directly tied to the value of our workforce, and how well the management of GCS is taking care of them. At agencies such as ours there are always many things we can spend money on, but we are choosing to flow through 100% of our increase to our incredible staff! This is borne of our promise to keep strong our mission of “Advancing lives of connection, contribution and meaning for persons with disabilities and the individuals that support them!!  And we will accomplish this by always holding true to the agency’s core values of Respect, Empowerment and Compassion!!!

I’d be remiss if I didn’t take this opportunity to thank all of you that took the time to email, write or phone your legislators. It is really so true that the squeaky wheel get the oil!! Your efforts are also part of the reason for the increase.

We still have uncovered expenses at the agency and that is why we continue to hold various fundraisers throughout the year. I want to express my gratitude to all of you that helped to make our 2nd Annual Sunny Smash Softball Tournament such a success! After costs we netted over $34,000 to help support the agency’s programs and to maintain our physical properties. And as a reminder, our next event will be the Walk & Roll that will be held September 23rd at St. Christina’s field in Mt. Greenwood.

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By Gerry Beagles April 17, 2025
Any of you that listened to Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s remarks yesterday about the “autism epidemic” would have spent your time more intelligently if you had watched an episode of the Three Stooges. Kennedy referred to autism as a ‘disease’, versus a developmental disability, and stressed how it destroys families and greatly limits the contributions that persons with this neurological condition can make to society. What a bunch of hogwash! There are many individuals dealing with autism that are living contented, productive lives filled with connection, contribution, and meaning. There are people in the arts, playing sports, employed, paying taxes, enjoying loving relationships, and certainly sitting on the damn toilet! The Secretary’s message is just more misinformation and simply reinforces the stigmatization that holds individuals with an autism diagnosis down and keeps so many in our country from experiencing the gifts and positive impacts that they share.  Please join us and the many advocates supporting persons with neurological differences in seeking a future for these incredible, courageous individuals, where they are suitably championed to create and enjoy the lives they deserve!
By Gerry Beagles March 3, 2025
The joy and happiness of inclusiveness and acceptance were all around us, fanned by the heavy beat of 70’s rock music being played by the volunteer DJ. It was our agency’s Valentine’s dance, hosted by the varsity baseball team over at St. Laurence High School, and both the individuals we support, and the student-athletes were having a blast. One of the major changes I have personally experienced over the last 50 plus years around services to persons with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities has been the movement to see all of us as people first, realizing that it is all the marvelous differences that brings life its’ juiciness! I was very impressed with the welcoming spirit of the baseball team and their strong determination to ensure that our folks would have a terrific time. The entire coaching staff, led by head coach Pete Lotus, demonstrated true leadership as they jumped in and enjoyed the party as well. Whatever the baseball teams’ record is at the end of the season, the Valentine party was a huge W! Sadly, it only took a few days for the elation we had experienced from the dance to change into stress and anxiety due to statements and actions taken by President Trump and those that seem to be blindly following his agenda. Initially, it was the attempt to stop Federal funding that was a threat to the continuation of our services which caused intense fear and worry with many of our parents, guardians, and families. There was a short reprieve as that executive order was rescinded, only to be followed by the next gut punch in the form of a bill that would cut $880 billion in Medicaid funding, which is the main source of financial backing for disability services in Illinois and throughout the country. It has become the highest priority for all of us to communicate to state and U.S. legislators the unfathomable negative ramifications of this bill becoming law! Some of my colleagues and I are traveling to Washington D.C. next week to share our collective stories with as many congresspeople as possible. Inside the March/April special issue of The Leaflet are some heartfelt reflections by persons whose lives are uplifted daily by the services we provide. I hope you will take a few minutes to reflect on the stories they share. May you be safe, and LOUD!
By Gerry Beagles February 28, 2025
Across the many neighborhoods that make up the metropolitan Chicago area, people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) rely on an array of support services to live, work and thrive. Nationally, 69% of the community providers that deliver these services are turning away new referrals while 39% are discontinuing existing services because they lack the funding needed to recruit and retain qualified workers. This puts access to services in jeopardy at a time when nearly 512,000 disabled Americans are languishing on their states’ waiting lists. Now, another crisis looms. Community-based services are almost exclusively funded by Medicaid, and in Congress, the House recently approved a budget resolution directing the committee that oversees Medicaid to slash $880 billion in spending. Such a drastic cut will all but dismantle the federal Medicaid program, leaving hundreds of thousands more Americans without the services they need. As a provider of these services, I know firsthand that every community, including this wonderful city of Chicago, is better when it includes everyone— regardless of their disability. If Senators Durbin and Duckworth and Representative Casten agree that our community is stronger when it includes people with disabilities, then they must reject any proposals to cut funding from the federal Medicaid program. Sincerely, Gerry
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