September 15, 2011
MN-CCD hosted a Town Hall Forum in Moorhead on Thursday, September 15th at the Hjemkomst Center to bring elected officials and community members together to talk about the state budget impact on our neighbors who are aging or living with disabilities. Many of the same services that are provided to people with disabilities are also provided to our aging neighbors – cuts to disabilities impact aging in many of the same ways.
Over 50 community members joined MN-CCD, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota, the Alzheimer’s Association and Lakes and Prairies Community Action to hear a presentation from MN-CCD about specifics of the state budget impact and to be trained on how to tell their story to legislators.
Elected officials joined the community members to hear their stories. Elected officials present for the evening were County Commissioner Jon Evert, Rep. Paul Marquart, Rep. Morrie Lanning and Senator Keith Langseth. Ten members of the community testified and shared their stories – several stated that they had no intention of testifying when they arrived that evening, but were moved to do so after what they had learned. Check out Cuts to services hit close to home for some in Minnesota from the Fargo Forum for some highlights from the public testimony. The event was also covered on the evening news at WDAY.
There are more Town Hall Forums hosted by MN-CCD around the state throughout the fall. Check out this list for Town Hall information in your community.
-Susie Schatz, Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota
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