Schlossberg, Schweyer: Tour further highlights needs of service providers, nonprofits
Policy Committee May 13, 2021 | 2:08 PM
LEHIGH, May 13 – At a tour of the Lehigh Valley Center for Independent Living, PA House Democrats saw first-hand the strain on nonprofits that provide services to people living with disabilities and shared how the PA Rescue Plan could alleviate some of those challenges with an investment of federal funding.
The tour, led by the center’s executive director, Amy Beck, highlighted how empowering people living with disabilities is an integral component of operation. LVCIL is one of 17 centers for independent living in the state. Centers are governed, managed and staffed at all times by a majority of people with disabilities.
State Rep. Mike Schlossberg said, “This pandemic has exposed significant injustices and shortfalls in our world. In most of our communities, access to emergency resources starts with the friendly face and compassionate heart of community-based nonprofit organizations. While performing miracles, these organizations have seen their bottom lines take enormous hits. The staff are overworked and underpaid. Volunteers have put their health on the line with no expectation of personal gain. The Pennsylvania Rescue Plan will offer these organizations, serving our most vulnerable neighbors, extra support to offset increased expenses and lost revenue from contributions or events so they can meet demand in our community.”
“The PA Rescue Plan provides a unique opportunity for us to invest in humans, not government,” added state Rep. Peter Schweyer. “It allows us to invest in healthcare opportunities, small businesses who have struggled during the pandemic, and to invest in our nonprofits, who are not only employers, but provide some of the most valuable services to our community.”
The PA Rescue Plan includes investments in direct-care workers’ training and wages, a paid sick and family leave program, and hazard pay for frontline essential workers.
“The PA Rescue Plan is an investment in the people of this commonwealth. It will help people get back to work, it will invest in child care, and the programs our state needs to restore dignity to the working class. This tour across the state has shown the great potential of our state and how an investment of federal dollars could help Pennsylvania recover, restore and reimagine. As we recover from this pandemic, we want our state to be better than before and we have the tools to make that happen,” concluded state Rep. Ryan Bizzarro, chairman of the House Democratic Policy Committee.
The PA Rescue Plan aims to ensure federal American Rescue Plan funding is invested for immediate impact and long-term success. Additional information about the plan is available at www.pahouse.com/parescueplan.