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Brian Nelson
From: Douglas County
Impact of Budget Cuts: Loss of HCBS/PD Waiver Services
Brian Nelson Lives in
Douglas County, he is blind and is currently in
remission from cancer. He lost his PD waiver
services due to having a score of 25 points. He
has lived on his own successfully for nine years with
the help of the waiver. He received 2 hours per day of
assistance. He does not know how he
will accomplish routine activities such as grocery
shopping and paying his bills. As Brian says
"Believe it or not blindness is a handicap and
requires some aid and I have paralysis on my right
side caused by a cancerous tumor." He also received
assistance with laundry and housekeeping, and does not
know how he will keep up - says Brian, "it helped my
esteem the way I felt about myself." On a more
personal level his attendants helped him read the
songs that his pastor would give him to sing in
church, as they could not translate the hymnals into
Braille.
Marty Simpson
Age: 47
From: Shawnee, Johnson County
Impact of Budget Cuts: Lowered Protected Income Level
Senator: Nick Jordan (10th)
Representative: Stephanie Sharp (17th)
Marty is a Vietnam Veteran and suffers from depression,
high blood pressure, and other physical problems.
Marty's client obligation will go from $97 to $168 because
of the lowered protected income level. Marty needs
his medical card because it pays for his medicine, and for
minimal PCA help. "I don't know what I would do
without my medical card. I'd probably be dead,"
stresses Marty. Recently Marty's rent went
up. When you compound that with the state budget
cuts, Marty has no money for food. Marty has to go
to the local church to get food, and even then he says his
brother many times has to help him with the expenses.
"If it hadn't been for the church, I wouldn't have been
able to eat," he says. Marty says he tries to
just be a good Christian and do as much as he can.
The budget cuts not only hurt him, but it scares him that
there could be no end to the cuts. As he says,
"This is really going to hurt me. Where is the
end? What's it going to be next month? I will
find myself having to choose between medicine and
food."
William McClain l Contents l John Beasley
Statewide Independent Living Council of
Kansas
www.silck.org
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