Last week, we received a very generous donation of $50,000 from Paris Hilton. We are so thankful to community-members that see the value of our work, and we are even more thankful when they want to help support our work on behalf of Utahns with disabilities.
Paris has been a tireless advocate for kids in residential treatment facilities, shining a light when so few were paying attention. We have been honored to work with her and her team at 11:11 Media, and we look forward to a continued partnership with them to ensure the safety of children.
At a time when there are efforts to expand institutionalization and roll back decades of progress in the disability rights movement, funding like this is vital to the DLC in monitoring youth facilities, ensuring facilities are safe and provide necessary treatment, reporting abuse and neglect to regulators, and advocating for the expansion of community-based services.
We cannot thank Paris and her team enough for this incredible gift, but we commit to putting it to good use by combatting the harms too many have faced in these settings.