By VINAYA SAKSENA

CENTRAL FALLS — The coalition of activist groups that gathered outside VFW Post 1271  Tuesday were not just disappointed with the budget that went into effect that same day; at least one feared it could jeopardize the lives of people like her.

Elvia Sanchez recounted how she had been a victim of domestic violence. Her abuser, she said, once tore flesh off her back with his teeth. Abuse by the same person, she said, also contributed to a miscarriage when she was pregnant with what would have been her second child.
Sanchez said she pursued the matter in court with the help of a court advocate, who helped her overcome the challenges of being in an abusive relationship and not knowing a means of recourse — legal or otherwise.
During the ensuing court proceedings, she said, her former abuser threatened to shoot her on Broad Street in Providence.
“I cannot imagine getting through this without my court advocate,” Sanchez said.
“I was very fortunate to have one. And I am very sad that (others) will not be as fortunate as (I).”
According to other speakers at Tuesday’s protest of recently announced state budget cuts, court advocates are just one of the services facing significant cuts as a result of the cuts. Zulma Garcia, director of policy for the Rhode Island Coalition Against Domestic Violence, said that as a former court advocate, she was now seeing from another perspective the value of the position she once held.
“Women come into court, and there are all these things (about) court proceedings they don’t understand,” Garcia said. “We help them figure out their options and connect them to the services they are (seeking).”
Meanwhile, Eleanor Brown-McSwain said she was disheartened to learn recently that among the services to be cut as a result of the state’s fiscal crisis is the transportation to a day program provided to her developmentally disabled adult daughter. Brown-McSwain said this had enabled her to remain working during the day, and that without the day program — and the transportation to it — she is faced with the prospect of deciding between keeping her job or remaining home to take care of her daughter.
“Do I not work and become homeless?,” Brown-McSwain asked. “Do I put my daughter in an institution? There’s no answer to that for me.”
Laura Brion of the Rhode Island Public Interest Research Group (RIPIRG), meanwhile, expressed dismay at a court decision announced that day overturning a jury verdict against manufacturers of lead paint. Attorney General Patrick Lynch, who made a legal fight against these manufacturers a cornerstone of his time in office, also expressed disappointment with the ruling.
Donna Williams, Director of Advocacy for the Blackstone Valley Advocacy Center, spoke several times in between the other speakers, expressing disappointment with the budget and, at one point, leading the protestors in a chant of “The people united will never be defeated.” Those organizing the protest had expressed a desire to see no more cuts made to human services in the 2009 fiscal year, and to have the effects of the budget cuts monitored by the Executive Office of Health and Human Services. She gave a parting message to those present as another participant held up a sign with a phone number for the governor’s office.
“Call the governor and ruin his summer like he’s ruined ours,” William said.