Contact: Geana Connelly Together For Choice 773-273-3297 [email protected] CHICAGO, Feb. 6, 2017 – Together for Choice, a new coalition of service providers, family members and concerned citizens, today announced that it is launching a national initiative to push for solutions for an often overlooked population: individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) who face a growing shortage of suitable housing and vocational opportunities. Millions of Americans with disabilities are on multi-year waiting lists, while nearly a million parents older than 60 are caring for a grown son or daughter with disabilities at home for lack of adequate independent housing. “Together For Choice is uniting representatives of providers that serve individuals with I/DD, family members and concerned citizens in order to advance individuals’ rights and expand choices,” said Gary Solomon, President of Together for Choice. “We do so at a time when increasingly complex federal and state rules, combined with fiscal tightening, are effectively reducing housing, vocational and support service choices for the I/DD community.” “Thousands of families feel their right to choose is being denied and want to organize to stand together in contradiction to the perspective that one size fits all,” said Sister Rosemary Connelly, RSM, Executive Director of Misericordia/Heart of Mercy, a campus residence in Chicago for more than 600 people. “We know that choices in a community setting that includes families' voices are the best way to share life with those who have a disability.” Together For Choice will leverage local and national advocacy networks to advance choice and resources for individuals with I/DD to have a broad array of residential, vocational and recreational choices that can enrich their lives. Its initiatives will include educating the public and key influencers on the need for Medicaid funding of choice-based housing, employment and training, and developing policy reform initiatives addressing the myriad of I/DD community needs. For more information about Together for Choice and its initiatives, visit www.togetherforchoice.org. About Together for Choice Together for Choice (TFC) is a pending 501 (c) (3) grassroots advocacy organization that was formed as a result of the increasingly complex array of federal Medicaid and state agency rules governing housing choices, access to supportive living services and lifestyle choices. For more about the communities we bring together

and the depth of experience and compassion of our team, please go to our website www.togetherforchoice.org.