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Day Center for Disabled Adults in Florida Struggling to Remain Open after Budget Cutbacks

In Collier County, Florida there is only one day center for disabled adults- Sunrise Community Center.  Sunrise currently provides all day activities and services for 56 developmentally delayed adults.  The community center provides a service that is both valuable and necessary for many families in the area.  If Sunrise Community Center is so important, why is it on the verge of closing?

Cuts in state funding and a change in the Medicaid waiver system for classifying someone's developmental disability for services are to blame.  Sunrise has been losing over $100,000 a year on its day program.  Supporters have worked hard to raise enough funds to keep the center open but the community can only give so much. 

Currently the state pays $35 a day per client.  However, this amount does not go far when trying to attend to individuals needing a lot of support services.  Sunrise is expecting another round of state cuts this year, and will lose between 7.5 and 10 percent of their current funding. 

Joseph McMackin is the chairman of the Sunrise board of trustees.  He and his board have worked tirelessly to raise funds in an attempt to keep the valuable community center open.  In fact, Sunrise did raise $60,000 some years and may be able to do it again, but with out a reliable income the future looks bleak.

 "Fundraising we have done ad nauseam," he said, pointing out that it is not easy to raise money for beneficiaries such as those at Sunrise because "they are not cute, not going to get better and are not photogenic."

The families of the day campers are understandably upset.  Edwina Huffman is mother to Wesley, 31.  Wesley has been disabled since birth.  He has been going to Sunrise every weekday for the past 11 years and loves is.

"He calls it going to work," Huffman said. "They still feel like they are productive members of society and there they are."

The staff at Sunrise has helped her son, who is blind, find a way to bowl during bowling outings.  They not only assist him in finding new and exciting activities, they also provide him a place to fit in and feel productive. 

Sunrise Community Center is not alone in its struggles.  Budget cutbacks in Florida have caused many people with disabilities to rethink the services they receive. 

Cuts began in the spring of 2007.  The latest round of cutbacks took place on Wednesday, October 15.   The Legislature asked for there to be four new Medicaid developmental disability waivers.  Three of the four tiers are capped, meaning that depending on the level of disability, a person may lose a good portion of their current allotment.  All of this leads to the underpayment of facilities such as Sunshine Community Center and hard decisions for Floridians with disabilities.

In an effort to be fair, clients are asked to choose which services they believe they can do without.  Though this is a nice idea, the decision can be nearly impossible, given the limited services many are already receiving.  

As for the residents of Sunshine, what will they do if the center does indeed close?  Nobody is sure.  One thing however, is certain; cutbacks aimed at some of the states most vulnerable residents can only lead to bigger cracks in an already broken system.   

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