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State Sen. Donne Trotter listens as
Anixter Center program participants sound off
Trotter
commends Anixter Center’s consumer advocacy
| FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE |
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| Contact: |
Betsy Storm, Director of Public
Relations, bstorm@anixter.org
Aricka Flowers, Public Relations Specialist,
aflowers@anixter.org |
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| Phone: |
(773) 973-7900, Ext. 243 or 228 |
(Chicago, September 1, 2006)
- State Senator Donne Trotter (D-17) of Chicago visited Anixter
Center on August 25 to discuss constituent concerns about state
human services policies. One of Chicago’s largest nonprofits,
Anixter Center provides high-quality vocational, residential and
educational options, substance abuse prevention and treatment,
and health care. More than 5,000 individuals a year are served
through 70 programs at 35 locations throughout the Chicago area.
The town hall meeting took place at 2032 North Clybourn in
Chicago.
Trotter, whose district covers Chatham, East Side and Hegewisch
neighborhoods, Burnham, and parts of Calumet City and Lansing,
listened as Anixter Center program participants voiced their
displeasure with the state’s lack of affordable, accessible
housing and human services funding. As Chair of the Illinois
Senate Appropriations committee, Trotter acknowledged the
importance of allocating funding for affordable, accessible
housing. Chicago.
“We need to make sure that everyone who is capable and wants to
live independently can afford to do so,” says Trotter. “We have
made some progress in terms of supporting accessible, affordable
housing initiatives, but there needs to be more. It is important
that you continue to voice your concerns because that is the
only way legislators will know how to address them.”
Obtaining jobs in the community is another high priority for
Anixter Center program participants at the meeting. According to
a National Organization on Disability/Harris Poll survey in
2000, three out of ten (32%) adults with disabilities of working
age, 18 to 64, work full or part-time. This percentage compares
to eight out of ten (81%) adults in that population without
disabilities. Trotter says Anixter Center program participants
exemplify the reality that people with disabilities can
successfully integrate into the community.
“I commend all of you for what you do here everyday,” says
Trotter. “You are proof that people with disabilities can work,
live and contribute to the community. The more people see you
involved in the community, the more people will understand you
can take part in the workforce.”
Caption information
Sen. Trotter, Anixter Center program
participant Walter Riggs, Anixter Center President and CEO Allan I.
Bergman
• • • • • • • • • • •
The mission of the Lester and
Rosalie Anixter Center is to assist people with disabilities to live
and work successfully in the community. Anixter Center is a leading
provider of high-quality vocational, residential and educational
options, substance abuse prevention and treatment, and health care.
Anixter Center is an advocate for the rights of people with
disabilities to be full and equal members of the community. More
than 5,000 individuals a year are served through 70 programs at 35
locations throughout the Chicago area. Anixter Center recently was
named the 13th-largest charitable organization in Chicago by Crain’s
Chicago Business.
Note to reporters and editors: for
more information about Anixter Center, please visit our media room
at
http://www.anixter.org/mediaroom/index.htm.
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