Putnam Group Home Saved From Closure

United Action by DDS workers, families and legislators saves Putnam Group Home

When Commissioner Peter O’Meara announced plans to close the state group home on Pomfret Street next to the John Dempsey Center in Putnam, 1199 workers sprang into action, uniting with family members and area legislators to save the facility, the clients and the positions.

In October 2007, workers at 380 Pomfret Street were told the home would be closed early in November and all the clients transferred to other facilities. The union and client families were told the closure was necessary because the building was not fully ADA-compliant and would be too expensive to bring up to code. When one of the client’s families offered to write a check for $500,000 then and there, the Commissioner had no response.

Vowing a “fierce fight,” 1199 organized labor-management meetings, met with family members and local legislators and enlisted the support of Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams, who took the lead in fighting to preserve our services and protecting our clients. As the Norwich Bulletin put it, “The fight paid off.”

Following meetings with DDS and pressure from legislative leaders, and less than two weeks after a highly successful news conference at the Dempsey Center, (click here for news coverage) Governor Rell abruptly announced that the home would remain open after all, saying that “the impact on the residents and their families far outweighs the cost benefits of closing the facility” – exactly what 1199er Wayne Riendeau and other staff at the group home had been saying all along.

Governor Rell Orders Group Home in Putnam To Remain Open; Pomfret Street Group Home Will Continue to House DDS Clients

News coverage links:

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1909890964

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1475336871

http://www.norwichbulletin.com/homepage/x1855990868