Live, work and play in Memphis
By Christina Clift
On Wednesday, July 18, 2018 members of the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities met at city hall to discuss how to make Memphis a better place for people with disabilities to live. During the meeting reports were given by the council’s four committees which include transportation, education and employment, housing and community access, and disability awareness. Each committee provided an update on their progress towards meeting the strategic goals which the council set in August 2017.
The Transportation committee is chaired by Deborah Carter. She is a public transit rider and understands the need for improving transportation services as well as its impact on the lives of people with disabilities. The committee is currently working on ensuring that the Memphis Area Transit Authority complies with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) in regards to making stop announcements on the fixed route. They are also working on shortening the recertification process for MATA’s paratransit riders. Finally, they are monitoring the community’s complaints regarding the continued capacity constraints when scheduling rides with MATAPlus.
The Disability Awareness committee chaired by Carlene Leaper, Executive Director of the Arc Midsouth, is working on organizing the 2018 disability awareness summit. The summit will focus on assistive technology, sports and recreational opportunities for people with disabilities. Demonstrations. A resource fair will provide a variety of venders for attendees to meet and learn about what services they provide. The summit is scheduled for Wednesday, September 12, 2018 at 3030 Poplar from 10-1:00. This is an event open to the public and light refreshments will be available.
The education and employment committee is being co-chaired by Tashara Tolbert with UT Knoxville, Lynn Tune, Executive Director at Clovernook Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired, and Lou Conley a grad student at the U of M and long-time advocate for people with disabilities. The education and employment committee is working on providing ADA training to local employers and encouraging them to hire more people with disabilities. It also works with programs such as Tiger Life, Project Search, Shelby County Schools, and other educational programs that provide services to students with disabilities.
The housing committee is chaired by Gary Smith. He worked for the Department of Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities, Vocational Rehabilitation. The committee is focusing on inventorying the resources available to assist Memphians with home modifications to make their homes more accessible. There has also been discussion about how to make homeless shelters accessible for all, so that individuals with disabilities aren’t left out in the heat and cold simply because they are blind or use a mobility device.
Finally, Paula Polite with the city of Memphis stated that money had been set aside in the 2018-19 budget to improve ADA access to 10 local libraries. Funds have also once again been allocated to complete the city’s ADA transition plan. The ADA transition plan will examine and evaluate all city divisions for ADA access compliance. This has been done through gathering community input and meeting with each city division. The evaluation covers not only physical access but also programmatic access. When the data has been gathered, it will be prioritized and a recommendation to fix identified issues will be made. These recommendations will be drawn up and written into the final ADA transition plan which will be presented to the Mayor and City Council.
If you’d like more information about the MACCD or are interested in joining a committee or council, you can contact Ms. Polite at (901) 636-6746 or via e-mail at:
paula.polite@memphistn.gov.
The MACCD needs dedicated individuals with and without disabilities to help us make Memphis a city of choice where people with disabilities can live, work, and play to their fullest potential.
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