ALTON – Over a 30-year period, IMPACT CIL, located at 2735 East Broadway, Alton, has never closed on a Friday, but beginning Friday, Feb. 5, it will be due because of the State of Illinois Budget impasse.
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IMPACT CIL will remain closed on Fridays until funds owed are received or a state budget is passed, said Cathy Contarino, IMPACT CIL executive director.
“This will mean that all of our staff of 18 will be furloughed on Fridays, resulting in a 20 percent decrease of salary and individual services to our consumers,” she said. “IMPACT is currently owed over $100,000 by the state.”
Contarino said she is sad that the state government has chosen to ignore and allow services to individuals who need it the most to be held hostage.
“This is a major thing for those who with IMPACT,” she said. “It is like a 20-percent reduction in pay for families. It will be very difficult for them and I am afraid I may lose some very good staff. I would say this is the most difficult time for IMPACT that I remember.”
Contarino has been associated with the organization for 29 years, in recent years she has served as the executive director.
IMPACT CIL is a non-profit, self-help, advocacy organization operated by and serving
individuals with various disabilities of all ages in the six counties of Madison, Jersey, Greene, Macoupin, Bond and Calhoun. IMPACT CIL’s mission is: To promote pride and respect for people with disabilities by sharing the tools that are necessary to take control of one’s own life. IMPACT CIL advocates full community participation, with supports, of all citizens.
IMPACT CIL saves the state money by assisting individuals with disabilities to live in the community instead of in nursing homes or institutions, Cathy Contarino, IMPACT CIL Executive Director, said.
Contarino added: “It saddens and angers me that our state government has chosen to ignore and hold hostage services to individuals who need it the most.”
The IMPACT executive director is concerned this budget situation will not be worked out anytime soon.
“I am not hearing good things, nobody knows anything,” she said. “I have heard from some that the budget situation could go all the way through the November elections. It is like you are hanging.”
Contarino said there is no guarantee they will get the thousands of dollars IMPACT is owed through the state.
“In Gov. Rauner’s address, he talks about working together across isles, but it will taking everybody putting aside their politics and moving forward,” she said. “It is not just the General Assembly but everybody. We have met with Senator Bill Haine and Representative Dan Beiser and they are supportive of us, but it goes much deeper than that.”
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