Fw: Arc and New Life After Howe

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Interesting, coming from an opponent of closure...

Ellen

Ellen Garber Bronfeld

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Arc and New Life After Howe

The Arc of Illinois

April 18, 2011

Leaders in The Arc:

Here is a story of one families experience after moving from Howe into the

community.

LIFE Campaign materials will be posted on The Arcs website: www.TheArcofIL.org

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Tony auski

The Arc of Illinois

815-464-1832

Mother, Daughter Find New Life After Howe

By Donna Vickroy

dvickroy@... | (708) 633-5982

When Betty Turturillo watches her 58-year-old daughter accomplish the seemingly

simple task of clipping a wooden clothespin onto the rim of a plastic bucket,

she is genuinely impressed and tells her oldest child so.

That was great, Angel, she smiles. Want to do it again?

Of course does, for hours, under the watchful eye of her doting mother.

She seems to be adjusting, she seems to be content, Betty says, stroking her

daughters arm.

It has been more than a year since was moved from Tinley Parks Howe

Developmental Center to a ranch-style group home in New Lenox.

Shes nonverbal, so I have to go by what I see, Betty says.

What she sees, for the most part, is a return to normalcy.

shares a home with five other adults. She attends workshops and goes out

into the community to see the doctor, dentist and podiatrist.

In the world of the developmentally disabled, there is comfort in routine, there

is joy in simplicity. And there is a dependence on familiarity. Thats one reason

many family members of Howe residents were upset to learn in 2007 that the

facility would be closing.

Now, as the dust settles on the ambitious project to relocate 263

developmentally disabled adults, Betty is at peace with her choice of a small

group home over a large state-run facility, which is where most of the former

patients ended up.

I hand-picked this place, she said.

The New Lenox home backs up to a wooded area. It is run by nonprofit Trinity

Services, headed by former Howe director Art Dykstra.

Ive known him since the 70s, Betty said. Trinity has a good reputation.

She suspects that the state will eventually shut down all of its large

residential facilities.

And she is hopeful her daughter wont have to be moved again.

I just turned 80, Betty said. Its always a concern whos gonna be around for her

when Im gone.

For now, Betty makes the 20-minute trek from her Tinley Park home to the group

home dubbed twice a week. She also brings home one day on the

weekend for a few hours.

can sense when her mother is due to visit.

She starts to whimper and cry right about the time Im expected, Betty said,

adding that recognizes people, which makes the high turnover rate among

staff an ongoing struggle.

Most of the workers are young and not paid very well. Of course they want to

move on, Betty said.

Its not a perfect world for , but then it never has been.

But the disabled are treated a lot better now than they used to be, Betty said.

suffered brain damage at birth. Though Betty soon realized her toddler

was not like other babies, a diagnosis of cerebral palsy was not made until

turned 3.

It was kind of a relief to finally know, she said. Because now we could address

it. Back then, doctors told me to just take her home and raise her like the

other kids.

She did just that, until turned 11 and became increasingly active.

When Betty realized her daughter needed full-time care, her options consisted of

big state institutions or small schools that parent groups had started.

was brought to a state-run facility in Dixon. For her family, who lived

in Chicago at the time, the location was hardly convenient.

Then, in 1974, became one of the first patients to move into the newly

built Howe Developmental Center. Howe offered group home settings on a sprawling

80-acre site, with onsite medical care and opportunities to travel to workshops

offsite.

The convenience was magnified when the Turturillos moved to Orland Park in 1986.

Later, they moved even closer to Tinley Park.

As president of the Howe Friends and Family Association, Betty was among the

most vocal opponents of Howes closure. She scoffed at the nonprofit advocacy

group Equip for Equalitys recommendation to close the facility based on

allegations of abuse and neglect.

Nevertheless, in 2007 Howe was decertified, and plans were launched to shut it

down.

The majority of its residents went to other state-run facilities. In June 2010,

the last of Howes residents was moved out.

Now, with the transition and the controversy behind them, Betty can once again

enjoy quiet moments with her daughter.

She really does like to work, she says, watching meticulously place one

clothespin after another onto the rim of the bucket.

I watched what she was able to do, she said. I taught her by learning from her.

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