tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-15425510617237411942024-03-12T21:05:32.068-07:00Latitude Media Archive 2009 - PresentUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542551061723741194.post-29301542251536160232010-12-17T08:20:00.001-08:002010-12-17T08:22:26.200-08:00Lexington Herald-Leader Op-Ed Bruce Burris, Crystal Bader<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; mso-outline-level: 1;"><b><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 14pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">Ky. voices: State not getting enough input on disabled</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Lexington Herald-Leader</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Bruce Burris and Crystal Bader <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dec 16, 2010</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Recently, the Fayette County Coroner's office denied an inquest into the death of Roland Campbell, a 21-year-old man with autism who died in a way that left many questions unanswered.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The events that unfolded around his death are very complex and perhaps, as Coroner Gary Ginn and others suggest, may never be entirely resolved to everyone's satisfaction. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">While this may be so, we have seen this type of lax follow-up many times in cases involving those who are considered to have disabilities. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">The coroner seems to suggest that it might have been a waste of taxpayers' dollars to have gone further with his investigation, but we feel this is precisely what we pay our hard-earned tax dollars for.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">However, this is not about questioning the work of our coroner; he is admired by the public for the difficult decisions he must make every day. Instead, this is about all of us. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When so many of us know so very little about the daily lives of those considered to have disabilities, is it any wonder situations such as this are the norm?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A few weeks ago, we heard the Kentucky Department for Behavioral Health, Developmental and Intellectual Disabilities had been working for many months with Medicaid to restructure and implement changes in the Supports for Community Living Waiver (House Bill 144). </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">We were informed we had a couple of weeks "to send our ideas in," though we were never told to whom to send our ideas, or what the current ideas are. Much of the funding for services for those with disabilities falls under this waiver.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">These provisions provide essential supports which enable people to live active and meaningful lives, and the provisions tell us how they will be administered. Nothing could be more important. The department chose only to involve professional lobbying associations, university-affiliated programs and a few others. This process effectively shuts out most of our community. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">It is especially discouraging in a time when the idea of transparency in government seems to be on everyone's lips, that those few organizations included did not feel any responsibility for encouraging the larger community to contribute by opening up the process or notifying those outside their own constituencies. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">This practice only serves to further remove the larger community from participating in the lives of those with disabilities. It contributes to ignorance and suspicion and further insulates those with disabilities from their community, leading ultimately to the type of attitude exemplified by our coroner and others. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Unfortunately, it is very human to see less value in the lives of those with whom we are unfamiliar. Not long ago, we heard a respected advocate for those with disabilities say she felt life was "mostly good enough" for people with intellectual disabilities because "they don't know what they are missing." </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Quality of life is a difficult notion to pin down but we cannot assert strongly enough that life is anything but good for the vast majority of those we serve every day. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">If we are seeking to improve services, we must work together as an entire community. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span lang="EN" style="color: white; font-family: "Times New Roman", "serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Bruce Burris and Crystal Bader are co-owners of Lattitude Artist Community in Lexington.</span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542551061723741194.post-77600539941336438302010-12-17T07:31:00.000-08:002010-12-17T07:31:21.786-08:00Rally for Easy Access For All<div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Ace Weekly July 2009</span></b></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Rally for Easy Access for All in Lexington</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><br />
</span><i><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">By Bruce Burris</span></i><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">A couple of years ago the British punk group Heavy Load recorded an anthem called “Stay Up Late,” that song, about the lack of late night social opportunities for people with disabilities in Great Britain has helped energize and inspire an international movement based on the idea that those of us considered to have disabilities ought to be able to … stay up late. The members of Heavy Load know all about it, three of their members have disabilities and they are getting real tired of losing much of their audience at 10pm when an almost nationwide residential facility staff- shift change occurs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Though things are different in the US, the problems are just as pronounced. Transportation and basic accessibility problems with sidewalks, entrances to businesses and uncomfortable and generally inaccessible interior spaces and bathrooms are consistently problematic issues which prevent many adults from enjoying the social opportunities many of us take for granted.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Some months ago Sandy Cowan contacted Latitude’s Project Easy Access Lexington to announce that much like our friends ‘Heavy Load’ — she was ready to lead us in bringing attention to the need for late night supports for people with disabilities in Lexington.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Sandy says, “I was born in Louisville in 1949, nothing unusual about the birth but when I was three months old I became very ill. It took the doctors awhile before they could put a name to what I had. I was diagnosed as having Cerebral Palsy. I’m in a wheelchair because I have no balance to be able to walk, my CP affects my movements of all limbs, and my speech to a point. I have my BA in Social Work from the University of Kentucky. I have been married and have a daughter and am a grandmother.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When Sandy mentions that a lot of people are affected by accessibility issues, she raises an excellent point.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">There are some 40,000 people considered to have a disability in Fayette County and while many are able to get out and enjoy an active social life on their own without public supports, many are simply not. This ought to be a real concern to the Lexington business community because simply put—businesses are losing money when potential customers do not have access past a certain hour.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morry Latour is the current chairperson of LFUCG’s, Commission for Citizens with Disabilities. Under Morry’s leadership transportation issues have really moved to the forefront and while people with disabilities are very much under-served Morry points out that LexTran is gradually beginning to make improvements to their para-transit and Wheels programs.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Morry says “LexTran has been stepping up and continually improving the para-transit program. I think LexTran is willing to work with people, particularly<br />
groups of people, since it’s important to demonstrate demand. The broader issue is in getting total community involvement and making sure that people with disabilities have the opportunity to go to concerts, restaurants, and the various social opportunities many of us take for granted. Some people with disabilities are inhibited from participating in a full range of social activities due to accessibility issues and generally in not feeling welcome. We seem to be making this effort for visitors to Lexington for the WEG Games and I think we need the same sort of welcoming efforts for our own citizens”.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">For, college student, Melissa Amaral, the primary issue remains one of transportation, though in a followup conversation Melissa mentioned that this was natural as she rarely has been able to get to a place in which she could socialize. She expressed concern about what a restaurant or club experience might be like once she did get inside. Would the bar be too high to place an order? Would she be able to navigate through a packed a dance floor and find a bathroom and would that bathroom really be accessible? Et cetera.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Melissa says, “I am a student at UK and I am disabled. I have not always been disabled. In fact, I used to drive and could go where I wanted to go when I wanted to. Much control is taken away from me now that I have to rely on a transportation system that stops running too early. I used to drive to the college library and stay as late as I needed. Not only is it frustrating that I am unable to do this, but it is unfair and discriminating.”</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Downtown Lexington is changing for the positive and it really is time that we invited everyone to the party. Highlighted here are only a few of the issues that some disabled tax-paying citizens endure when trying to create a social life in Lexington. It is our responsibility as a community to accommodate everyone and this can be accomplished if we understand that we have a stake in creating a Lexington that works for all people.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Stay Out Late! Rally<br />
Do you have a disability?<br />
Do you depend on public transportation?<br />
Do you want to … Stay Out Late? </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">When:</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Monday August 3rd, 11am- 1pm</span><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">Where:</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Triangle Park (downtown Lexington, intersection N. Broadway and Main St.)</span><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">What:</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> A very positive, fun, rally to bring attention to the need for late night transportation for people considered to have disabilities!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: 18pt; margin: 0in 0in 10pt; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto;"><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">11am - 12:15pm:</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> RALLY bring colorful posters, noise makers etc. and help get our message out to the world</span><b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">12:15 - 12:45:</span></b><span style="color: #252525; font-family: "Helvetica", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"> Speakers, PUSH (Cross-country US Cycle Team), <a href="http://www.pushamerica.org/events/JOH"><span style="color: #24405a; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">http://www.pushamerica.org/events/JOH</span></a></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542551061723741194.post-42353367045563268622010-12-17T07:16:00.001-08:002010-12-17T07:25:50.280-08:00Stay Out Late<strong>Stay Out Late </strong><br />
<strong>Disabled access to local hotspots to be focus of August rally</strong><strong>Business Lexington July 2009</strong><br />
<strong>Joe Gillespie</strong><br />
<strong>LEXINGTON, KY - </strong>Members of Lexington's disabled community want to "join the party" and enjoy the new restaurants and night spots opening downtown. For the physically handicapped however, this environment can be less than welcoming. Project Easy Access and the Latitudes Art Community are holding a "Stay Out Late Rally" August 3rd, at Triangle Park. Bruce Burris, co-founder of Latitude, hopes this event will make the public aware of the situation.<br />
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"A disabled person," says Burris, "has to cross a minefield, to get inside a bar for a drink and entertainment." Serious imperfections in sidewalks called "cuts" are perilous for those in wheelchairs. Entrances to some venues have doors that open outward and can be hard to navigate. <span class="lpsitetag"><a class="lpsitetag" href="http://www.blogger.com/ESiteTag-9611.113117-LexTran.html">LexTran</a></span> which is important to this audience, has less service later in the evening .<br />
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Burris says <span class="lpsitetag"><a class="lpsitetag" href="http://www.blogger.com/ESiteTag-9611.113117-LexTran.html">LexTran</a></span> and most businesses are following the "letter of the law," but are unaware of the hardship posed for potential customers. Lexington's streetscape plan is expected to solve some of the problems and <span class="lpsitetag"><a class="lpsitetag" href="http://www.blogger.com/ESiteTag-9611.113117-LexTran.html">LexTran</a></span> is making some modifications. He says the disabled are often an unseen population but with some attention to easier access they will become more involved and be good for business.<br />
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He points to the success the city has had in attracting cyclists to downtown. "Several years ago," he says, "a cyclist was a rare sight." Now the bike lanes, and special considerations, have changed that and had a positive impact on business. This can be an example for the issues with the disabled, he continues.<br />
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The rally on August 3rd, is being held to foster positive communications. Hours are from 11:00 AM until 1:00 PM. Comments from council members, as well as entertainment are on the agenda. Short walking tours will allow attendees to experience some of the problems faced by the disabled downtown.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1542551061723741194.post-22698286242852987642010-12-17T07:10:00.001-08:002010-12-17T07:12:32.802-08:00Lexington Could do more for the disabled<div style="background-color: transparent; border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; color: black; overflow: hidden; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><h1><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Lexington could do more for the disabled</span></h1><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: black;"><span class="byline">By Merlene Davis</span> <span class="grd">at 12:00am on Aug 2, 2009</span> <span class="creditline">— Herald-Leader columnist</span> <span class="moddate">Modified at 6:39am on Aug 2, 2009</span></span></span><br />
</header><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="tagline"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"></span></div><div id="fb_iframe_container"><span style="color: black;"></span></div><aside><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="assets"><ul class="asset factbox"><li class="ceebox_factbox scrollable" jquery1292695074592="35"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Stay Out Late Rally<br />
When:<b> </b>11 a.m. — 1 p.m. Monday <br />
Where: Triangle Park </span></li>
</ul></div></aside><span style="background-color: white; color: black;"></span><br />
<div class="story_body"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">If President Barack Obama had invited members of the physically disabled community in Lexington to have a beer with him late one evening at a local pub, many of them would have had to decline.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Or, if one of the disabled was offered a third-shift job that starts after bus service stops, they would have to pass on it.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Those who depend on LexTran or the Red Cross Wheels service — which stop running at midnight on some routes and as early as 6 p.m. on others — must rely on taxis or friends and families to travel after those hours.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Shouldn't a community like ours ensure access for all its citizens to all available events or employment opportunities? </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Project Easy Access Lexington and the Latitude Artist Community believe we should.</span><br />
<div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">The organizations are hosting the "Stay Out Late Rally," planned for Triangle Park from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday. The aim is to highlight the lack of affordable transportation in Lexington after hours.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">John Glisson, a counselor at Independence Place which offers services to disabled people, is blind.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"At my age, I don't stay out late," he said. "But I do feel for the younger folks who want to experience the fullness of their community."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">His dilemma as a counselor is that he can't rush through a session because he has three minutes to catch the last bus or Wheels. "I can't just get up and leave," Glisson said.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Advocates, government representatives and others hope to bring more attention to a problem we may have overlooked.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"What we want is something that people with disabilities have just come to realize we can have," said Bruce Burris, co-founder of Latitude who has been an advocate for the disabled for 30 years.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Unfortunately, those changes require money that cash-strapped government agencies just don't have.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Nonetheless, five people from Lexington headed for Washington, D.C. in July to learn how other communities have solved their access and transportation problems. The group, comprised of advocates and government officials, are devising an action plan that can be put in place at the first opportunity.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Morry LaTour, president of the Blue Grass Council of the Blind, chairman of the Mayor's Commission for Citizens with Disabilities and one of the five on the D.C. trip, said we all need to make that happen.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"There just needs to be some kind of transportation network in the Lexington-Fayette County area," said LaTour who is legally blind. "Public or private, service oriented or institutions, all working together where it could be benefiting to all people with disabilities."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">That network could be in the form of a call center that can take individual transportation requests and provide the service when it's needed, LaTour said.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Cabs are always available, but they are not always financially feasible, he said.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Other communities provide the disabled with debit cards that can be used for transportation as they choose, LaTour said. It could be bus services during the day and cab services as night. The cards are supplemented by government funding.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"They call, set up their need and it is deducted from their card," he said. "It allows people who are not as well off financially to get out and enjoy some of the night's entertainment."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">LaTour said he uses ITN Bluegrass, a 24-hour transportation service geared toward older residents and the visually impaired.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Gale Reece, ITN Bluegrass executive director, said the service can serve an adult in a wheelchair as long as the chair is collapsible and the adult is age 60 or older, or at least 18 and visually impaired. They must be able to transfer their weight from the chair to an automobile, she said.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Although that service is convenient, it costs $3 for pick-up and $1.50 per mile. There is also a $50 membership fee. </span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Some people can't afford that every day.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Although he knows the funding is not available now, LaTour said Lexington needs to "create a more positive and pleasant transportation network for this community."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">David Riggins, director of community affairs at LexTran, said LexTran is willing to work with the disabled community to provide for their transportation needs. LexTran buses are equipped with wheelchair lifts and the Red Cross Wheels service, which LexTran operates, is an on-demand door-to-door service for the elderly and disabled. Both have the same operating hours. </span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">LexTran costs 50 cents one way for the elderly and disabled with an identification card. Wheels costs $1.60.</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"We're open to talking with anyone about service," Riggins said. "But it will depend on demand."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">The need for after-hour service has not come up in formal discussions, he said. </span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">"Demand equals service around here," Riggins said. "They kinda work together."</span></div><div class=" "><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">It is difficult to determine how many people would use the service, Burris said. But before the public was informed about community gardens, we couldn't have guessed we'd now have as many as we do in Lexington. </span></div></div><div class="shirttail"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Reach Merlene Davis at <span class="skype_pnh_print_container">(859) 231-3218</span><span class="skype_pnh_container" dir="ltr"><span class="skype_pnh_mark"> </span></span>.</span></div><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: black;">Read more: </span><a href="http://www.kentucky.com/2009/08/02/882238/lexington-could-do-more-for-the.html#more#ixzz18UJF4ucT" style="color: #003399;"><span style="background-color: white; color: black;">http://www.kentucky.com/2009/08/02/882238/lexington-could-do-more-for-the.html#more#ixzz18UJF4ucT</span></a></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com