Bob Porter

Perhaps Bob Porter was best known for his yearly Christmas tree giveaway to families who could not afford a tree. The continuation of this endeavor will be a living memorial to him in years to come.

Less well known but maybe more important was the advocacy role Bob Porter played within the disability community. His persistence in obtaining services for other men and women while managing his own severe medical needs made him a role model for self-advocacy.

His participation in the activities of the Committee for the Rights of the Disabled, a storefront advocacy organization on Pico Boulevard, was but a microcosm of Bob Porter’s impact.

On a larger scale, Bob Porter became well known throughout Los Angeles County for his ability to win more hours of In-Home Supportive Services for low-income persons with severe disabilities who are dependent upon attendant care in order to survive in their own homes. His tenaciousness won out over the discouraging fair hearing process one must go through when denied services by the Department of Public Social Services.

How ironic that Bob Porter’s premature death coincides with a crisis in funding for the program with which he constantly battled but which, at the same time, kept him alive in his own home rather than in a nursing home. Los Angeles County’s Department of Public Social Services has projected a $27.5 million shortfall in the 1985-86 In-Home Supportive Services budget. If the California Department of Social Services approves the deficit reduction plan submitted by county department, 2,800 of Los Angeles County’s frail elderly and disabled will have their In-Home Supportive Services terminated and another 44,000 will have their services reduced. The key to rejecting this inhumane plan is in Gov. George Deukmejian’s hands.

Bob Porter’s Christmas tree project was, and is, great. I believe a better tribute to his memory would be adequate funding for Los Angeles County’s In-Home Supportive Services program now, in 1985-86, and in the future. The state and county must allocate sufficient funds to cover the 4% yearly caseload growth and must realign eligibility and funding based on need for services.

KAREN J. GILMAN

Van Nuys

Gilman is legislation and advocacy coordinator of United Cerebral Palsy/Spastic Children’s Foundation of Los Angel e s and Ventura counties.