The Going Home Coalition was founded as the Campaign for Real Choice in 2004 by Lester and Barbara Pritchard. Lester Pritchard was the first Chairperson of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities with a Significant Disability. They both graduated from Illinois Partners in Policymaking.
The couple, along with former Director of the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities, Sheila Ramano, organized a campaign for the Lincoln Developmental Center in Lincoln, Illinois to remain closed after it was shuttered in 2002 due to cases of abuse and neglect. Utilizing grassroots direct action techniques, members of The Campaign for Real Choice forced their way into a closed virtual Task Force meeting held between the cities of Chicago and Springfield. The Task Force had been meeting in private to organize the reopening of Lincoln Developmental Center without the input of people with disabilities or the community. 40 activists in Chicago and 35 in Springfield demonstrated in opposition to Lincoln Developmental Center. After this action, the State agreed to open the Task Force meetings to the public, and 8 years later the decision was made to permanently close the Developmental Center.
The Campaign for Real Choice organized actions that mobilized the disabled community throughout the state of Illinois to advocate for their rights to live fulfilled, autonomous lives. Their campaigns spanned the entire state and included the campaign to close Howe Developmental Center, the Freedom Ride, and Freedom Quest. Notably, in 2005, the group founded Speak Up and Speak Out, a conference led by and directed towards people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities. SUSO continues to be a pivotal conference in Illinois two decades later and is now completely run by people with disabilities.
After Lester Pritchard’s death in 2009, Barbara continued his work. Eventually, the former Executive Director of The Arc of Illinois, Tony Palowsky, collaborated with Barbara to transform The Campaign for Real Choice into The Going Home Coalition, which officially launched in 2010 and was funded by the Illinois Council on Developmental Disabilities. The Going Home Coalition continued the work, contributing to the efforts to close three Developmental Centers: Lincoln, Howe, and Jacksonville.
The Coalition has been funded by the Coleman Foundation and HSRI since (insert year here)
In the years since its founding, The Going Home Coalition has continued to advocate for the closure of Developmental Centers throughout the state of Illinois. Their work now includes building a vision for a new disability system that is person-centered and empowers individuals to choose where they live and how they want to spend their time. Nothing About Us Without Us!
Going Home Coalition
