Staff

Wendy Meltzer

Executive Director

Wendy Meltzer graduated from Northwestern Law School in 1974.  First at Northwestern's Legal Clinic, then at the Legal Assistance Foundation of Chicago as a staff attorney, she became an expert in Medicaid law, litigating a series of significant class actions which expanded both eligibility and benefits for indigent Illinois residents. 

Since 1988 Ms Meltzer has worked for Illinois Citizens for Better Care, currently as its Executive Director.  With her leadership, Illinois has made significant strides in the protection of nursing home residents, including the enactment of the nation’s strongest laws against the use of physical and chemical restraints, regulations requiring regular gynecological care for women residents, air conditioning in Chicago facilities, review teams for sexual assaults and unexpected deaths, appropriate services for residents with mental illness and developmental disabilities, minimum standards for Alzheimer’s units, and protections against evictions for residents who exhaust their resources and must apply for Medicaid.  Most recently, Ms Meltzer worked closely with the reporters from the Chicago Tribune and The Chicago Reporter on their ground-breaking series of stories about nursing home safety and racial disparities in staffing levels and then spent months in Springfield advocating for the needed changes.  The bill signed by Governor Quinn in 2009 will substantially increase nursing home staffing levels, improve the ability of the state Department of Public Health to conduct investigations and impose penalties, and protect vulnerable residents from those with a history of violence.  The next year she did similar advocacy on behalf of developmentally disabled children and adults living in nursing homes, which resulted in another major reform bill signed by Governor Quinn in 2010.

Ms Meltzer received the Janet Tulloch Memorial Advocacy Award from the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform in 2008, and the Student Funded Public Interest Fellowship Program Alumni  Public Interest Advocacy Award from the Northwestern University School  of Law in 2011.  

Amber E. Williams

Community Outreach Coordinator

Amber E. Williams is the Community Outreach Coordinator for Illinois Citizens for Better Care. She is responsible for coordinating internships, planning volunteer activities, overseeing our family council project, planning outreach events, and updating our website. She also helps families with nursing home selection. 

Ms. Williams graduated from Clark Atlanta University with a bachelor's degree in psychology.  She received her Master’s Degree in Mental Health and a Certificate in Health Disparities and Health Inequality from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and a Master's Degree in Public Service Management from DePaul University.  Before joining ICBC, she worked as a Program Developer for Cincinnati- Hamilton County Community Action Agency and volunteered with community-based nonprofits.   

In addition to her work at ICBC, Ms. Williams is a graduate student at National Louis University, pursuing a doctorate in Community Psychology.  She is also a Junior Board Member of Mental Health America of Illinois.