STOLEN LIVES: Real People, Real Voices, Real Choices!

ADAPT and other disability rights activists will be gathering in Washington DC Saturday, May 10th through Thursday May 15th.

Across the nation, ADAPT is collecting the pictures and stories of people who have been unnecessarily institutionalized in nursing homes and other institutions to put a human face on the need for the reform the institutionally biased long term care system. We want people from every state in the country to be represented!

ADAPT will be making a "human collage" of these stories and photos. We will take the collage to Washington DC and demand a formal apology from President Bush and the leadership of Congress for the policies that resulted in a portion of these people's lives to be stolen. ADAPT will also be calling for the President and Congress to support passage of MiCASSA.

We encourage every person who has been in a nursing home or other institution to join us in Washington, DC May 10th-15th.

Samples of STOLEN LIVES . . .

Rick James Inappropriately Institutionalized: 5 years "It was fucking hell, and it is better in my own home."

Kurt Breslaw Inappropriately Institutionalized: 15 years of pure hell! "You don’t live in a nursing home; you only exist in a nursing home. I love living in my own house. I get better care in my own home that I ever did in the nursing home."

Carolyn Finnel Inappropriately Institutionalized: 5 years "It was hard getting out, but I knew that the older I was, it would be. I never regretted getting out. It has been over 27 years."