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Press Release - Thursday, April 27, 2006Cathy Ficker Terrill of
Ray Graham Association receives DuPage Bar's Liberty Bell Award WHEATON, Ill. - Cathy Ficker Terrill of Elmhurst, IL, received the DuPage County Bar Association's 2006 Liberty Bell Award for her work with the Ray Graham Association for People with Disabilities. The Ray Graham Association provides services and support to more than 2,300 children and adults with developmental disabilities including mental retardation, cerebral palsy and autism. These services include vocational, respite, educational, recreational and residential programs. The award was presented at the DCBA's Law Day Luncheon on April 27 at Klein Creek Golf Club in Winfield. In addition to serving as CEO of the Ray Graham Association, Ms. Terrill has made numerous volunteer contributions impacting laws affecting the disabled. She helped draft and gain passage of three key legislative measures to assist the disabled: the Illinois Early Intervention Act, which allows families with disabled children early access to educational and support services; the Illinois Family Support Act which provides cash subsidies to children with mental health and developmental disabilities; and the Transition Act which mandates transition services for young adults with developmental disabilities who are leaving school to enter the adult world. Ms. Terrill spearheaded a national Family Support Act which empowers individuals with disabilities and their families with greater options and assistance from the government in living situations. She also helped pass one of the first laws to authorize comprehensive health insurance programs for uninsured individuals with disabilities. Ms. Terrill's impact on the lives of disabled in DuPage County includes developing volunteer and pilot projects funded by the State of Illinois for children with developmental disabilities. She was instrumental in helping obtain funding for families to pay for services that allow children to remain in a home environment rather than an institutional setting. DuPage area families can now apply to receive funding for after-school care, respite care, recreational activities and camp programs. President Clinton appointed Ms. Terrill to the President's Committee on Mental Retardation in 1998 and again in 2002. Her long service record includes President of Illinois T.A.S.H., an international association that assists people with disabilities in gaining opportunities and societal inclusion, as well as the American Association of Mental Retardation. She has volunteered with the International Christian Children's Bureau, which helps families of children with disabilities in the Baltic States and Eastern Europe. She worked with UNICEF in Poland to establish early intervention family and parental support groups, and has helped reunite children in Russian orphanages with their families. She also has participated in a conference in Southeast Asia to establish laws and supports for people with disabilities. "Law Day celebrates the liberties we enjoy and rededicates the American ideals of equality and justice under law," said DuPage County Associate Judge Brian J. Diamond. "Cathy Terrill believes that a single person can make a difference in the lives of others, one child at a time, and she has proved it through her own example. I have seen first-hand the remarkable impact of her efforts on the legal rights and protections of people with disabilities here in DuPage County and throughout Illinois. Her devotion to advancing these legal rights has extended across the globe." The DCBA presents its Liberty Bell Award annually to a non-lawyer for contributions to the law in observance of Law Day, celebrated every May 1st since 1958. Previous recipients include Rick Arndt and Kay Hedeen of CASA of DuPage; Theresa Dear of Bridge Communities; and Betsy Panozzo of the Care and Counseling Center. |
