BINGHAMTON, N.Y. - Mental health advocates continue to speak out against the looming closure of the Broome Developmental Center. Community members were able to share their concerns in a video call with the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities Tuesday.
For many families, the Broome Developmental Center was a lifesaver. Sandy Williams remembers taking her blind and disabled son to the campus years ago.
She says his life changed dramatically over a span of just 7 years.
"This is where he learned to stand, walk and to feed himself. I don't know what we would have done without it. It was a lifeline for us," said Williams.
With the center scheduled to close in a few short months, residents are concerned. As of next year, there will be just two developmental centers in New York, with the goal of integrating more patients into the community.
Williams believes placing them into homes when they aren't ready will stunt any progress they've made through the years.
"I really disagree with that because I've worked with these individuals," said psychologist Dr. Robert Russell. "I've worked in these homes and I've seen the individuals who have come out of the center and I see what wonderful homes they live in."
Some feel places like the Handicapped Children's Association in Binghamton would be the perfect location to continue their growth.
"They live there with dignity and respect," Russell said. "They have a great quality of life and they're closely supervised. The community is not at risk."
While the main worry is for the future of the residents who attend the campus, public officials are raising concerns over what will now be more than 80 acres of vacant land.
"What's going to happen with this property? There's been absolutely zero communication with us, the county, or even with some of the state representatives," Dickinson Town Supervisor Michael Marinaccio said. "There's been no communication whatsoever. What are the plans that are going to take place here?"
Meanwhile, leaders and residents are still holding onto the slim hope that the Office of People with Developmental Disabilities might reconsider. Broome joins Plattsburgh, Tupper Lake and Hudson Valley, who will all lose their developmental centers next year.