Last night on August 28, ONE Northside leaders, allies and elected officials gathered in Uptown to celebrate victory for the Mental Health Justice Team!

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For the last year, the Mental Health Justice Team has been fighting to increase the personal needs allowance (PNA) given to people living in certain classifications of nursing homes. The PNA is allowance that nursing facility residents are given each month from their SSI check. For 30 years, individuals in nursing facilities in Illinois have been forced to live off of $30/month or $1/day. Illinois was 1 of 5 states that had never increased their personal need allowance since it was set federally in 1987. This has not only been impossible to live on, it has forced people to live a life with no freedom or dignity.

In July 2017 through the Budget Implementation Bill (BIMP), people living in Specialized Mental Health Rehabilitation Facilities (SMHRFs) and certain facilities for people living with developmental disabilities received an increase to $60/month!

We continue to monitor closely the implementation of this victory and ensure that the PNA does not get rolled back in the future.

At our celebration, we re-lived the path to victory by sharing stories from the campaign. Our campaign began with countless research meetings and a big public launch at our 2016 Convention. Once launched, we recruited allies, built our base at social service agencies and SMHRFs, and met with legislators. At the heart of our campaign, we were making bi-weekly trips to Springfield to testify at hearing and bring on more cosponsors. The campaign culminated with a public rally, publishing a letter to the editor, and collecting almost 800 letters of support!

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We are very proud of our hard work and know that this would NOT have happened without the hard work of the Mental Health Justice Team and our allies in this fight. We’re so thankful for our allies who rallied with us, testified, advocated in Springfield, and signed letters of support. Our allies include Access Living Independent Voices, Chicago ADAPT, Chicago Disability Activism Coalition, Community Behavioral Health Association, Edgewater Chamber of Commerce, Edgewater Community Religious Association (ECRA), Health and Disability Advocates, Heartland Alliance for Human Needs & Human Rights, IL Association of Long Term Care Ombudsmen, IMPRUVE, Jewish Council on Urban Affairs, Mental Health Summit, NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) Barrington Area, NAMI Chicago, NAMI Illinois, Next Steps NFP, Popovits Law Group, Sarah’s Circle, Solutions for Care, The Night Ministry, Thresholds, Trilogy Inc.

We also want to recognize and thank our lead sponsors of SB1353 who took the lead on waging this fight both legislatively and through the budget process: Senator Heather Steans, Representative Elgie Sims and Representative Sara Feigenholtz. Without their commitment to the principle that people living with mental illness should be able to live with dignity and independence, this victory would not have been possible.

In addition, we want to thank the Senate co-sponsors on the bill: Sen. Jacqueline Collins (chief co-sponsor), Sen. Julie Morrison, Sen. Donne Trotter, Sen. Mattie Hunter, Sen. Napoleon Harris, III, Sen. Melinda Bush, Sen. Omar Aquino, Sen. Daniel Biss, Sen. Iris Martinez, Sen. Kimberly Lightford, and Sen. Patricia Van Pelt

As well as the House co-sponsors on the bill: Rep. Robyn Gabel (chief co-sponsor), Rep. Ann Williams, Rep. Kathleen Willis, Rep. La Shawn Ford, Rep. Michelle Mussman, Rep. Deb Conroy, Rep. Kelly M. Cassidy, Rep. Litesa Wallace, Rep. Stephanie Kifowit

Lastly, we’d like to thank our legislators who voted in favor of SB1353 and the BIMP following through on the commitments they made at our 2016 Convention.

We are proud of the victory we have accomplished and know that the fight for true mental health justice is far from over! If you want to get involved in our next campaign, contact Ellen Glover: eglover@ONENorthside.org or 773-769-3232 x12.

Help spread the word by sharing our victory post on Facebook!