Lehigh Valley residents fear state cuts to human services programs

The Lehigh Valley Fair Budget Coalition held a legislative forum Friday to hear the stories of local residents who would be affected by proposed state budget cuts.

Allentown resident George Clark was shattered when his fiancee died during Hurricane Katrina. After years working through his grief, he was finally able to land a job.

But not a month into it, tragedy struck again — Clark was in a serious car crash that required $300,000 worth of medical care.

He says it’s only because of the Lehigh County Conference of Churches’ Daybreak mental health drop-in center that he’s able to function.

“If it wasn’t for the conference of churches and different agencies they referred me to, I would be on the wayside,” he said. “Mentally, I’m getting the kind of help I need now.”

Daybreak is among the dozens of Lehigh Valley human services programs likely facing cuts under Gov. Tom Corbett’s proposed budget, officials said at a meeting Friday organized by the Lehigh Valley Fair Budget Coalition.

Corbett’s budget includes a 20 percent cut to all county human services departments, which fund most of the local programs, according to Alan Jennings, executive director of Community Action Committee of the Lehigh Valley.

State Rep. Steve Samuelson, D-Lehigh/Northampton, called the proposed 20 percent cut to human services funding “unprecedented.” He said it would be left up to the counties how to enact the cuts.

Friday’s legislative forum was the second ever held by the Lehigh Valley Fair Budget Coalition, which formed after Corbett’s first budget in 2011 included significant cuts to human services programs and education, Jennings said.

Lehigh County resident Susan Johnson said she’s been helped immensely by a human services program called Family Answers that helps keeps children with their family and out of foster homes. When her daughter died of an unknown heart condition at age 29, she and her husband took in their two grandsons.

But her husband’s Parkinson’s disease has been difficult on the family — especially financially — and the program, also known as SHAPE, has helped the family find an affordable place to live and obtain a car loan, Johnson said.

“If it wasn’t for them, our lives would be so much different. The boys would be probably — I’m 99 percent sure — they would be in foster care,” she said.

A program that helped Bethlehem resident Jody Allen save her home from foreclosure has already been cut, Jennings said.

The Homeowners Emergency Mortgage Assistance Program helped Allen keep her home after she had to stop working when she learned last year that her breast cancer had returned and spread to her bones.

“This is real people representing their very real issues,” Jennings said.

The Lehigh Valley Fair Budget Coalition invited the region’s 13 state representatives to the meeting held at Northampton Community College’s South Side campus but only Samuelson, Sen. Lisa Boscola, Rep. Bob Freeman and Rep. Joe Brennan attended. Rep. Justin Simmons and Sens. Pat Browne and Bob Mensch sent representatives.

The four attendees, all Democrats, said they don’t need any convincing that this year’s state budget should include more funding for education and human services programs. They encouraged the 130 attendees to contact the region’s Republican representatives.

Boscola said state revenues have been coming in higher than expected and that some funding cuts will likely be restored. The state budget has to be passed by June 30.

Boscola, whose late brother was disabled, said she was personally touched by the personal stories shared at Friday’s meeting.

“You have kind of empowered me right now with your stories,” Boscola said through tears. “This is the only way to get change in Harrisburg. If you don’t like a budget, the only way to change it is advocacy.”