Nov. 3 Deadline : Drive to Save Homes for the Disabled Lags

With a Nov. 3 deadline looming, the owner of four homes providing care for severely handicapped people in the San Fernando Valley said Thursday she fears that she will not be able to raise almost $100,000 for repairs needed to keep the residences operating.

Mary Williams, the owner of New Start Homes in Chatsworth, is under a court order to install safety features at the residences to meet Fire Department regulations. If emergency exits and pathways are not added to the four homes by Nov. 3, the state will seek to move the residents.

The improvements will cost $100,000. So far Williams has received $2,000 in donations.

The state Department of Health Services tried last month to remove 19 residents, primarily because of safety-code violations and understaffing. But all the adult clients, most of them paralyzed in accidents and hooked to respirators, stubbornly refused to budge. To leave would mean returning to hospital intensive-care units, they said.

In a court settlement, the state agreed last month to continue sending Medi-Cal payments to New Start if it increases its staff, complies with nutritional standards and meets fire-code requirements.

Thursday, the residents and about 50 friends, relatives and staff members crowded into the living room and dining room of one of the homes to discuss the need to raise funds quickly.

‘We’re Still Here’

“We’re still here,” said Williams, who was greeted with cheers. “We’re not going to go away without a fight.”

The relatives said they will donate money, but acknowledged that would not be enough. Selling T-shirts was the only other idea advanced.

During the meeting, one parent, Bill Battraw, presented Williams with a $1,000 check. His son, David, is paralyzed, cannot swallow and requires an aide to frequently apply suction to his throat.

“I decided to donate the money . . . to keep my son out of an institution,” Battraw said. “We’ve been to institutions; we visited them. It’s a place for the dying--that’s my feeling. New Start Homes is a place for the living.”

The court-ordered repairs have begun at two of the four New Start homes. Williams is selling two other residences to raise money for other expenses incurred in day-to-day operations that she says Medi-Cal has not covered.

Staff members said they do not expect any profits from the sales, however, because the residences are heavily mortgaged.