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Seniors, Disabled Take to Streets in SF to Protest State Budget Cuts

By Riya Bhattacharjee
Tuesday June 23, 2009 - 05:46:00 PM
Riya Bhattacharjee
Riya Bhattacharjee

More than 200 seniors and disabled citizens rallied at the San Francisco Civic Center Tuesday to protest cuts to social, elder and disability services, which they said would force them from their homes and into institutions. 

Marching from Civic Center Park with banners, posters and paper tombstones bearing the words “The budget is killing me,” the protesters congregated in front of Gov. Schwarzenegger’s office at the State Building at 455 Golden Gate Ave. 

Chanting slogans, the marchers, some of whom came from as far away as San Jose, asked the Legislature to include revenues in the budget solution instead of taking away in-home support services for disabled and frail seniors. 

The “People’s Day of Reckoning” rally coincided with the 10th anniversary of the Olmstead decision, in which the Supreme Court ruled that people with disabilities have a right to live in the community and receive support services. 

Nicholas Feldman, owner of Berkeley’s Dare to Dream Attendant Services, was one of people leading the march. Also present were Gina Sasso and Leslie Gordon, co-directors of Berkeley’s Easy Does it and Tim Lynn, a member of Berkeley’s disability community.