SKIL offices are located throughout southeast Kansas, offering support to those in the community with disabilities and their families by connecting them to resources and opportunities.
“SKIL is an independent resource center. We try to find resources for the disabled or the elderly. Really, if you walk through the door with a need, we will try to help you.” Independent Living Advocate Sharron Traylor said.
SKIL is a fiscal agent to assist in and an advocacy organization, Traylor said. They also try to offer events that foster connections with the broader community.
Chanute’s SKIL Office offers unique open-mic events, called SKIL Jam Sessions. Individuals can sign up to play a few tunes, or just come and listen. Traylor said individuals can bring their own dinner. SKIL Jam Sessions take place on the third Thursday of the month, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Local music legend, Greg “Doc” Hockett can often be found playing the blues there.
Not only does SKIL advocate on behalf of those with disabilities, the organization hires disabled individuals, and encourages them to advocate for themselves on the local, state, and national levels.
Rick Macias is a receptionist at Chanute’s SKIL office, and according to Traylor has been very active in the Chanute community, petitioning the City of Chanute for wheelchair- accessible curb cuts, and working with businesses to improve their accessibility for years.
In May, SKIL sent Macias to Washington D.C. to advocate against Medicaid cuts, which passed in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“It’s going to hurt a lot of people,” Traylor said.
Macias advocated alongside members of the American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, known primarily as ADAPT. ADAPT is an organization of disabled individuals advocating for affordable, accessible housing, medical care, and programs that allow individuals to maintain their independence and autonomy.
While there, Macias said he spoke with legislators about the importance of maintaining medicare funds, why certain services are needed, and how to improve housing accessibility.
“They need to consider the things that we go through,” Macias said.
Macias said advocates lined the hallways outside of a session of Congress’s House Energy and Commerce Committee. Advocates entered and interrupted the session; wheelchair users crossed the floor and chanted “No cuts to Medicaid.”
“People feel very strongly because they know they’re losing their health care,” ranking member and New Jersey Democrat Frank Pallone said after the interruption. “Many of them are disabled and I don’t want to see them further hurt with their disability in the process of being arrested.”
Twenty-six activists with ADAPT were arrested, including Macias. He said he and many who were arrested are choosing not to pay the $50 fine for their charges of unlawful demonstration, and instead plan to take the case to trial.
Macias said this was not the first time he has been arrested for participating in protests to advocate for those with disabilities.
Macias said he plans to return to the capital later this year with ADAPT.
Of his experience, Macias said despite the potential danger of protesting in this way, it is worth it to have an impact on other people.
“It feels great because I like to help people struggling with the same things that I did,” Macias said.
He said in the beginning, it was hard to find appropriate accessories for his wheelchair.
In addition to working with the city and business on physical accessibility, Macias said he has also worked with the city to become an affiliate for the UCard program through United Healthcare. Macias said this card helps individuals pay for utilities, groceries, or other necessities.
Macias said he does advocacy work purely to help others, and he said he was inspired to do so after getting involved with SKIL as a teenager.
“They give disabled people a lot of support and a lot of encouragement to be independent,”
Macias said.
Macias has been recognized through awards for his advocacy. In July, he will celebrate 14 years of working with SKIL.
He encourages others who may need resources from SKIL to contact the organization.
“Reach out. Find the resources. Ask questions; never be afraid to ask questions,” Macias said. “Use your voice. Let people hear you.”
Macias said he could not do what he does without the home and community-based services he receives, which allow him to work and live independently. These home and community- based services are resources that could be impacted if Medicaid cuts are approved according to Macias.
Manatt Health estimates that 13,000 Kansans would lose Medicaid coverage and the state could lose up to $3.77 billion in funding over the next 10 years if federal cuts are approved, according to a Kansas News Service report from Bek Shackelford-Nwanganga. House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Brett Guthrie has said no one would lose coverage, except for “able-bodied adults” and noncitizens.
“We are prepared to stop the billions of dollars in waste, fraud, and abuse in the Medicaid program by beginning to rein in the loopholes [and] by ensuring states have the flexibility to remove ineligible recipients from their rolls,” Guthrie said. “These are all common sense policies.”
To learn more about SKIL, call 620-431-0757, visit https://www.facebook.com/ SKILResourceCenter, or stop by the monthly jam session this Thursday, June 19. The SKIL Office is located at 4 E. Main.
