Furloughs began across the state Wednesday as lawmakers continually have failed to pass a budget.

They are expected on the last Wednesday of every month for at least six months, according to officials. Nonprofit organizations were forced to close their doors without money to operate.

Abilis, which lost 10 percent of its funding and provides services for more than 700 special needs individuals, hosted a rally in Greenwich to urge legislators to address the ongoing budget crisis.

"We need to preserve the funding of organizations like Abilis that help individuals that can't help themselves," says Dennis Perry, the CEO and president of Abilis.

First Selectman Peter Tesei agrees.

"It's really harming the most vulnerable citizens of our state," he says of the furloughs.

Gov. Dannel Malloy also agrees and says the cuts for Abilis would be less if the legislature passed his "mini budget" proposal.

"Many of those social services cuts, if the mini budget had been passed, would have gone from about 10 to 11 percent down to about 2.5 percent," he says.