A Richmond family protesting over the proposed closure of a group home for developmentally disabled adults is stepping up the pressure on the B.C. government.
Lynette Pollard-Elgert and her 41-year-old daughter Aurora (Rory), were among a group of disabled residents and their families who gathered with members of the NDP in front of Vancouver General Hospital on Monday to draw attention to budget cuts and highlight the closure.
Rory has lived at the group home on Williams Road for 19 years, where she will be among four residents forced to relocate against their will.
Pollard-Elgert and her partner, Cheryl Bucar, don't know where their daughter will end up when the home closes.
"I was told ... that we need a plan in place by Aug. 21," Pollard-Elgert said, noting that no fixed date has yet been set for the closure.
"I want Rory to stay where she is," she said, adding that she's not comfortable putting Rory in a home share and fears her daughter will miss her friends and lose the sense of community she's developed over two decades.
Since 2009, funding to Community Living British Columbia (CLBC), the Crown agency that handles assisted living, has been steadily eroding, according to information provided by the NDP.
In 2006 and 2007, each client of CLBC received annual funding of $51,183. In 2011, that amount dropped to $45,320, and it is expected to decrease to $41,449 by 2014, the NDP said.
According to the CLBC, however, the province has increased its operational funding every year since the agency's creation in 2005.
For 2011-12, its budget increased from just over $690 million in 2010-11 to $701 million.
Paul Sibley, the CLBC's director of regional operations for Vancouver Coastal and the North, said the number of clients in need of assisted living continues to increase each year, which means fewer dollars per person.
That budget crunch has led to the closure of an estimated 63 group homes across the province since 2009, MLAs Jenny Kwan and Nicholas Simons told reporters.
Earlier this month, officials from CLBC told the Williams Road residents and their families that they would have to apply for accommodation in home shares - private homes that provide no on-site health care or social workers.
Family members say they want the government to restore funding to the organization that runs the home, which provides long-term accommodation for developmentally disabled adults in addition to 24-hour assistance, security and supervision.
