Memphis Disability Summit 2024

Reflections on the MACCD Disability Summit: Building a More Inclusive Memphis

I recently attended the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities (MACCD) Disability Summit at Orange Mound, and the energy in the room was palpable. Although 50 people were signed up, I’d estimate about 75 attendees came together for this important event.

The summit opened with remarks from Mayor Paul Young, who spoke candidly and passionately about the theme of inclusion. He pledged to lead the most inclusive administration in Memphis history—a bold and encouraging commitment to a city striving for equity.

Voices of Advocacy and Expertise

The summit showcased diverse voices from the MACCD, each focusing on critical areas of concern:

• Kim Dourghty, chair of the Disability Awareness Committee, emphasized the importance of raising awareness.
• Carlene Leaper, from the Arc and Christina Clift, of Disability Connection Midsouth, addressed the persistent challenges in transportation.
• Mr. Calvin Poole spoke about the pressing need for accessible and affordable housing.
• Jolanna Chapman highlighted barriers and opportunities in education and employment.

Their insights painted a comprehensive picture of the systemic changes needed to make Memphis more inclusive for its disability community.

Rethinking Safety and Inclusion

As I listened, I found myself reflecting on the intersection of safety, poverty, and implicit bias. Often, we frame safety as a standalone issue, imagining it as something solvable through police or government intervention. Yet, “safety” is deeply intertwined with economic disparities and societal biases. True safety requires addressing these root causes, not just their symptoms.

Personal Stories and Calls to Action

Councilwoman Jerri Green, a parent of three children on the autism spectrum, shared her personal and professional perspective. Transportation, she noted, is the number one complaint she hears from the disability community. She briefly mentioned accessible rideshare options but stressed that listening to people with disabilities must be central to shaping solutions.

One of the most moving moments came from Kia Shine, a father of a child with autism, rapper and actor in the movie Red One. Speaking from the heart, he challenged everyone to embrace inclusion:

“We have to work together to create a better scenario of inclusion. We are the inclusion. I stand here not as a rapper, actor, but as a father of a child with autism, a caregiver. I live it every day. Your life is a testimonial. Awareness, inclusion, acceptance!”

Moving Forward

The summit was a reminder of the power of collective action and lived experience in driving change. It underscored the importance of listening to those directly impacted and working collaboratively toward solutions. As Mayor Young emphasized, inclusion isn’t just an idea; it’s a commitment.

If Memphis is to become a truly inclusive city, we must all play a role in turning these conversations into action. It’s not just about disability awareness—it’s about ensuring equity and opportunity for everyone.

What steps can we each take to build a more inclusive Memphis? How can we elevate the voices of those who have too often been unheard? Let’s continue these conversations and turn them into meaningful change.

MATA corrects 30-minute window mistake

MACCD Transportation Summit highlights correct information about MATAplus

At the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities Transportation Summit, MATA announced that the thirty-minute window follows the scheduled pick-up time. Anthony Amos of MATA referred to the new Rider’s Guide that is online that corrects the previous misinformation that there was a thirty-minute window before and a thirty-minute window after the scheduled time.

The Memphis Center for Independent Living had noted that the misinformation in the previous Rider’s Guide was confusing and preventing people with disabilities from understanding and using the system. This past December, MCIL had a blog article about the misinformation in the Rider’s Guide. Read Stephen Tennial’s piece: https://mciljournal.blogspot.com/2019/12/the-mata-30-minute-window.html

Now the guide reads:

Customers must be ready to depart at any time during the thirty (30) minute window which starts after your scheduled pick up time.

The MACCD event at the Memphis Public Library was lightly attended and began with a presentation from MATA and included Shelby County Mayor Lee Harris pitching for MACCD to support a $10,000,000.00 County investment in public transportation. There were a dozen people at the event that was set up for about 120 people. The sponsors of the event did not seem to attend and there were no vendors.
MATA began a new functional certification method last year. Mr. Amos said that they are also using the functional assessment for recertifications but hope that they will not face a wave of certifications at their paratransit assessment center. He said that at one point, MATA had nine-thousand people certified for MATAplus.

Memphis Citizens with Disabilities work for community participation

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.  

Clift Notes: Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities

Clift Notes: MACCD looks for accessible media

On Wednesday, February 7, 2018, Sandi Klink and I attended the first meeting of the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities (MACCD) held in 2018.  It was my first meeting since being elected as chairperson for the council in November.  

I knew I had big shoes to fill which were left by our previous chairperson, Gary Smith.  But I had prepared myself as much as possible.  

The agenda was written, reminders sent, and the weather was looking fairly cooperative, unlike in January when we had to cancel our first meeting due to snow and ice on the ground.  I even had cake to celebrate Gary’s retirement from working with the state and my first agenda item was listed as “Let them eat cake.”

Some of the things discussed were the committee reports and assigning of committee chairs. 

Housing and Community Access Chairperson: Gary Smith

Education and Employment Chairperson: Stephanie Jones

Transportation chairperson: Deborah Carter

Disability Awareness chairperson: Carlene Leaper

The council identified and discussed the process used to ensure that future social media videos and pictures are accessible to all persons with disabilities.  This includes any meetings of the City Council that are streamed live on the internet.  

This project will be headed up by the City of Memphis Information Systems department and be included in the ADA self-evaluation planning.  A potential completion date has not been given, but the council will continue to monitor progress.  Deaf Connect have asked to be a part of the evaluation process as it moves forward to finding a solution.  Possible solutions are captioning and live sign interpretation.

 

The next meeting of the MACCD is scheduled for Wednesday, March 21, 2018 from 2:00-4:00 PM at City Hall in the fourth floor Conference Room.  All meetings of the council and its committees are open to the public.  To become more involved or for more information please contact Christina Clift at (901) 726-6404 or e-mail christina@mcil.org. 

Disability Awareness Committee

 Access and Abilities

By Christina Clift
On Thursday, November 9, 2017 the members of the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities (MACCD) Disability Awareness Committee met to begin working on meeting their goals for 2018.  The committee established two main goals during the strategic planning meeting held back in August.  They include Holding a city-wide conference and creating a media and social media campaign that will emphasize the strengths and abilities of Memphians with disabilities.  

The committee also plans to work on improving the disaster preparedness policies in our city by looking at ways to improve communication during the event to all persons with disabilities.  Besides performing a postmortem of our Lifecare Planning Seminar, the committee worked to create action steps to begin planning a city-wide event in 2018.  We decided to table the media and social media campaign action plan until our January meeting.

The committee decided to hold the city-wide conference focusing on Access and Abilities either on September 19^th or 26^th of 2018.  The committee plans to ensure that this event is as hands-on and interactive as possible.  Some of the ideas for the event will include an assistive technology fair.  This event would not only demonstrate new devices or software that enable people with disabilities to do everyday activities, but also educating the public about the latest advancements in technology so that they can make informed choices.  

Our second area will be adaptive sports.  Again, not only will there be demonstrations but also an educational component about how to create adaptive sports programs in our community.  Next, we plan to have an obstacle course to simulate various types of disabilities.  This activity will provide attendees the opportunity to experience briefly how people with disabilities do everyday things like buttoning a shirt with one hand or getting something from a high shelf while seated in a wheelchair.  Finally, we will have several panel discussions related to the various activity areas.  While this event is not finalized, we hope to have a location and date nailed down by December 15, 2017 and will begin publicizing it by the end of January.

The next meeting of the Disability Awareness Committee is scheduled for January 11, 2018 from 1:00-2:30 PM.  If you’d like more information on how to join the committee or would like to provide input, please e-mail Christina Clift, the committee’s chair at christina@mcil.org or call (901) 726-6404 ext. 108. 

Clift Notes: MACCD gets new direction

Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities

By Christina Clift

On Wednesday, November 8, 2017 members of the Memphis Advisory Council for Citizens with Disabilities met for their last meeting of the year.  During the meeting new officers were elected, new members were introduced, and committee reports were given.  

The meeting started and ended on a somber note.  At the start of the meeting Gary Smith, the MACCD Chair, read a letter written by Mayor Strickland to Michael, the son of Veronica MacKinney, who passed away on October 22, 2017.  Veronica served as a member of the MACCD for many years and advocated tirelessly for local business to hire individuals with disabilities.  At the end of the meeting Gary Smith announced that he would be retiring from his position with the state, but that he would continue working with the council and other entities to improve the lives of people with disabilities in our community.

On a more positive note, new officers were elected during yesterday’s meeting.  They including Brandy Fox as Secretary, Deborah Carter as Vice Chair, and Christina Clift as Chair.  These individuals will hold their positions for the next two years. 

There are also seven new members on the MACCD to replace those individuals who had to step down, who died, or who did not meet the attendance requirement set forth in the bylaws.   

The new council members were given the opportunity to introduce themselves.  You can find a complete list of members by visiting http://www.memphistn.gov/Government/General-Services/MAC-for-Citizens-with-Disabilities

Finally, council members received updates from each committee on their progress towards their strategic goals.  The Housing and Community Access Committee is currently working on compiling information regarding resources for home modifications that assist in making homes accessible and enable people to remain living in their community. 

 

The Transportation Committee is working on auditing the five routes with the highest ridership to determine whether or not they are calling out stop announcements. This would enable people who are blind, memory loss or intellectual disabilities reminders and the ability to stay oriented as they travel on the bus.  The committee is also working with MATA to streamline the recertification process for MATAPlus.  

The Education and Employment Committee is working on recruiting and training local employers about hiring individuals with disabilities and their goal is to provide training for 12 businesses by August 2018.  

The Disability Awareness Committee is starting to plan for the 2018 Abilities Conference which will highlight the strengths of people with disabilities.  They are also working on developing a media campaign to promote the accomplishments of Memphians with disabilities as well as emergency preparedness.