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Another hostage pleads for mercy

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* WUIS

Across Illinois - social service providers are having to make cuts. The head of one shelter says without a state budget, its future is bleak.

Sojourn Shelter in Springfield oversees five counties in central Illinois. It provides care for domestic abuse victims, mostly women and children. There are 32 beds, often full, and the goal is to help survivors become independent. It helps with court advocacy, education and employment.

Angela Bertoni is the CEO. She says the shelter is supposed to get $400,000 annually from the state through the Department of Human Services. Without that money, employees have been laid off and other cost saving measures have been taken. “You get to a certain point where there’s nothing left to eliminate. I mean, we already worked on a very streamlined budget for the entire time we’ve existed (since 1975). There’s no more fluff to cut.”

Bertoni says as things stand, its unclear whether the shelter will be able to keep up with its around-the-clock care. “We have to be here 24/7, 365 - we’re a lot like the police and fire departments. People need us when it’s (a) crisis.” Many such agencies are waiting to see what sacrifices will have to be made if the legislature can’t approve a budget that the governor would sign off on by the time the new fiscal year starts in July.

Ms. Bertoni gave an extensive interview with WUIS, so click here to listen.

posted by Rich Miller
Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 11:49 am

Comments

  1. This dangerous budget game being played has to stop and stop NOW!

    Comment by ILGOV2018 Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 11:57 am

  2. It would be a major setback for abused women and children if Sojourn Shelter had to close. Legislators, pass a budget and then override the inevitable veto!

    Comment by Me Again Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 11:58 am

  3. Listen to the interview, maybe even a couple of times, from 2:05 to 4:22 and reflect. If you need to go sit in a park or take a long walk with the dog or visit a pub- reflect on how these words parallel what is being done to our State.

    Comment by Anon221 Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 12:13 pm

  4. I am the board of The Women’s Center which serves 8 southern Illinois counties. We too are owed $400,000 by the state for services provided in FY 17. Domestic violence funding was omitted from the stopgap funding that passed a year ago. HB3259 would correct that oversight. It passed 113-0 in the House. I have heard second hand that Gov. Rauner has indicated he would sign the legislation. It has bipartisan sponsorship in the Senate, and an earlier bill, SB1695, had broad bipartisan Senate sponsorship. I am not sure what is going on with HB3259 in the Senate now. It needs to be called for a vote by Senate President Cullerton. The Women’s Center is losing valuable staff because of the uncertainty and I fear that women whose lives are endangered are delaying leaving because of news stories about the possibility of the shelter closing. Every day that there is a delay in passing HB3259 costs services and threatens lives. Of course, we need a budget for FY18 as well—but HB3259 seems like it should be able to pass without as much controversy as a budget of fy18. I do not understand the delay.

    Comment by Redeft Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 12:32 pm

  5. Yeah, but Bruce is the happiest he’s been in 20 years!!

    Comment by Anonymous Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 12:42 pm

  6. No worries — the Cellini Gang will buy it low, turn it into a document warehouse and score another big lease with Rauner’s CMS.

    Comment by wordslinger Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 1:42 pm

  7. When battered women don’t have services, Bruce Rauner feels very warm inside, then he goes to a brewpub, and buys another house, and dreams about when he can go get a $100,000 bottle of wine.

    Comment by Chicago Smartalek Sunday, Jun 25, 17 @ 4:22 pm

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