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Linda

Photo by Abby Whisenant

Linda and her husband Walter have welcomed more than 25 special needs foster children into their home over the years.  They adopted four of the children.  Linda, who is a trained nurse, dedicated herself to making these children’s lives as meaningful and fulfilling as they could be, but she experienced repeated denials by the state in obtaining needed services and equipment necessary to care for her children, services and equipment that they had the right to receive by federal law.

After contacting the Tennessee Justice Center (TJC) about her year long struggle to obtain wheelchairs for her children, the family agreed for several of their children to be plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit, John B. v. Goetz, which TJC filed on behalf of children who were not getting the medical services they had the legal right to receive.  The lawsuit has helped Linda and Walter’s children receive the services they needed.  It also has helped other children across Tennessee receive the care they desperately require.  There are 670,000 children who rely on TennCare for their health care, and throughout the decades, the Allens have stood up for these children as well as their own.  They have told their story in public hearings, to the media and in federal court.

Their adopted daughter, Megan, who has moderately severe Cerebral Palsy and is a quadriplegic, was having trouble obtaining a communications device that she needed to attend college.  Knowing that the device should have been provided to Megan by law, Linda contacted TJC again.  With the help of a pro bono attorney, Megan got her communications device and is now attending Middle Tennessee State University.  Not only has Linda’s tireless advocacy benefited the many children with special needs lucky enough to be in her home, but children across the state who have more hope because of Linda’s perseverance.

Michele Johnson, managing attorney at the Tennesssee Justice Center, said, “For more than a decade I have had the privilege of being inspired by this family.  Their commitment is extraordinary – both to their own family and the children they have dedicated their lives to.  Their vision for a stronger Tennessee challenges us all to keep going.  Their focus is always on using their own experience to make sure other families don’t suffer the same way theirs did.  When I met Megan she was an amazing 9 year old who couldn’t fully participate in her school life because she couldn’t get a wheelchair to get around her classroom.  Eleven years later, she couldn’t participate in college because she couldn’t get the equipment she needed to communicate in college.  Tennessee children deserve the kind of health care system that lets them reach their God-given potential.  Linda and Walter have worked tirelessly to make it so.”  

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