IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

 A CONNECTOR FOR PEOPLE (AND ROBOTS?)

Amin Gharebaghi, co-founder and CEO of GeoMate, is preparing sidewalks for an increase in traffic. 

His firm works with multiple cities across North America to analyze key features impacting urban accessibility like curb ramps, slope, width, and surface quality.

"Sidewalks act as a main connector in municipalities, bringing residents closer to their communities and local economies," he says. 

And it's a critical time to ensure that those connections work at the human level first.

"As cities become increasingly dense and new mobility technologies [like delivery robots] begin to operate on sidewalks, enhancing sidewalk safety and accessibility is becoming more important now than ever," he explains.

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

A TOOL OF ENVIRONMENTAL JUSTICE

                                                            (Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FLA -- by Dover Kohl Partners)

The founder and president of nonprofit Strong Towns, which focuses on pedestrian-friendly development, believes sidewalks and streets play an important role in environmental justice.

"Sidewalks are often treated as afterthoughts in urban transportation projects," says Charles Marohn, P.E. 

"This is backwards. The function of an urban street is to serve as a platform for building wealth. 

On a street, we're attempting to grow the complex ecosystem that produces community wealth."

One big way that can be accomplished is through proper maintenance. 

Marohn advocates for city plowing of sidewalks, instead of making snow and ice clearance the responsibility of thousands of individual property owners. 

He says it's equally or even more important than street plowing — which often creates impediments to pedestrians.

"In most of our poorest neighborhoods, the public sector is neglecting their maintenance responsibilities, and this contributes to a vicious cycle of decline," says Marohn, author of Confessions of a Recovering Engineer.

"When the streets have more potholes, the parks have more weeds, and the sidewalks have more cracks and gaps than the ones in our affluent neighborhoods, the signal being sent is that decline is going to continue, regardless of what the property owners do."

Mobility for All Ages & Abilities

Very enthused about the premiere of my Active Towns podcast with John Simmerman this Wednesday June 1 at 2 p.m. EST.

We'll chat about #UniversalDesign and #Planning for #PeopleWithDisabilities This extends my teaching at the University of Miami School of Architecture.

It expands on my presentations at #IMCL2022 + #NPC22

#ADA #PWDs #Equity

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

 MORE SPACE FOR PEOPLE PLACES

"Often, the pedestrian realm is undersized and relegated to the leftover space within the right-of-way after the traffic engineers have taken all the space they need for vehicular lanes," says Michael Huston, AIA, LEED-AP, owner of Urban Arts, Inc. and partner of Civic Plan Studio.

To support a healthy, active "pedestrian realm" that people of all ages and physical abilities can enjoy, he says our sidewalks need to be much wider.

"To accommodate the necessary sidewalk clear zone and streetscape furnishings needed to create a comfortable pedestrian environment, a minimum of 15 feet is recommended between the street curb and the building," Huston adds. 

"It is not unusual to have a pedestrian realm that is 20 to 30 feet wide on streets that have intensive pedestrian and outdoor dining use."

 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

UNIVERSAL DESIGN AND PETER SLATIN OF THE SLATIN GROUP

Peter Slatin is the founder and president of Slatin Group LLC, which provides education and training to the hospitality and tourism industry on service to consumers with disabilities.

As a longtime advocate for disability rights and accessibility, he has spoken internationally on Universal Design and access issues.

We were pleased to have him as a guest lecturer, via Zoom, to our groundbreaking Universal Design course.

We co-created and teach-teach the first-of-its-kind class at the University of Miami School of Architecture

Slatin is a graduate of the Colorado Center for the Blind, an acclaimed educational organization affiliated with the National Federation of the Blind.

We look forward to future collaborations with Peter.

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

ELIMINATE GENDER DISPARITIES

According to Leslie Kern, PhD, associate professor of geography and environment and director of women's and gender studies at Mount Allison University, research shows that women take more pedestrian trips daily as part of their commutes and household-serving errands. 

That means effective sidewalks are of heightened importance to their daily lives.

"Barrier-free, wide, and well-maintained sidewalks are particularly important for women, who still do a higher share of caregiving work," says Leslie Kern, author of Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World. 

"Navigating sidewalks with strollers and small children is difficult if there is not enough space, if there are barriers at curbs or a lack of curb cuts, or if the sidewalk must be shared with cyclists."

Plus, there's the obvious safety component, she adds. In neighborhoods without sidewalks, people are forced to walk in the street, providing no protection from speeding vehicles — or the people operating them.

"Women and people of marginalized genders regularly experience harassment from car drivers," she says.

"If sidewalks can create more distance between pedestrians and drivers, this might either cut down on this form of 'drive-by harassment' or reduce the fear it causes in walkers."

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

GREAT BANG FOR OUR BUCK

As producer of Perils for Pedestrians Television, a safe walkability public affairs series that airs in 150 cities across the U.S., John Wetmore says sidewalks provide "clear economic benefits."

"When people walk more, they are healthier, and society will save on health care costs.

When people drive less, they spend less on gas and maintenance.

If living in a walkable neighborhood lets a family get by with one less car, the savings can be several thousand dollars a year," he says. 

"However, the biggest benefits from walkable neighborhoods have to do with the quality of life. 

Walking can play a big role in one's independence, which is fundamental to one's quality of life."

Wetmore cites initiatives like Safe Routes to School, which the new infrastructure law is expanding, as proof that a broad base of consumers supports safer, well-connected sidewalks. 

"The city needs to invest in the sidewalks, crosswalks, and other basic infrastructure that will make it not just possible to walk, but desirable to walk," he says.

 

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

LEVEL THE PLAYING FIELD FOR ALL

"Sidewalk connectivity is essential for people with disabilities, but it's also just a great way of leveling the playing field for all marginalized people," says Heidi Johnson-Wright, a renowned inclusive design expert who has been an Americans with Disabilities Act resource for large urban governments.

She's currently co-teaching a groundbreaking universal design course at the University of Miami School of Architecture with me.

She's spent an entire week of the course focusing on sidewalks, complete streets, properly aligned curb ramps, and safe harbor medians to underscore their value — and what's at stake when they aren't properly designed and maintained. 

A curb ramp fails to function if it constantly floods, for example, and a crosswalk becomes perilous if drainage basins are placed where wheelchair tires can get stuck in them.

"My students now grasp that if one link in the chain is broken, safe mobility fails for all," says Johnson-Wright, who uses a wheelchair for mobility. 

She laments that cars parked over sidewalks for days are rarely ticketed in her experience.

 "That unwillingness to ensure safety forces me into streets and into the path of dangerous drivers in a region that consistently leads the nation in pedestrian deaths and serious injuries."

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

HEALTH BENEFITS AGES 8 TO 80

                                 (Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FLA -- by Dover Kohl Partners)

When it comes to health's "magic pill,” Gil Penalosa, founder and chair of the Toronto-based planning non-profit 8 80 Cities points to active transportation.

"The answer is getting around by walking, crutches, wheelchair — I don't care how you move, but you need to move about in ways other than using a car. 

It's also very crucial to mental health,'' he says. 

"The only places where large amounts of people walk at least five days a week are those with the infrastructure to support walking, biking, transit, and mobility for people with disabilities."

Importantly, Penalosa advocates for well-built sidewalks in suburban towns and rural villages, too, not just urban areas. 

He notes that even areas without much density might still have bus routes that rely on sidewalk connectivity.

"There are studies that show that when [aging residents] lose their driving privileges, it is as traumatic as a cancer diagnosis. 

Because in so many cities, the car is the only way to be mobile and make a doctor's appointment or grocery run," he says. 

"In walkable cities with transit, losing a car doesn't mean losing your friends, your stores, your places you've gone all your life."

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT PROGRAM

                                     (Clematis Street West Palm Beach, FLA -- by Dover Kohl Partners)

The new bipartisan infrastructure law offers critical opportunities to solve these issues through initiatives like the reformed Transportation Alternatives Program.

The recently launched Active Transportation Investment Program will dedicate $200 million a year in grants to connect walking and biking routes with destinations and other transportation options. 

As decision makers across the country create plans for federal funding, I spoke to planning and pedestrian experts to learn why the humble sidewalk is one of the best investments a community can make — and what we need to do to make them work for everyone.

IN PRAISE OF THE HUMBLE SIDEWALK

ACCESSIBLE SIDEWALKS ARE THE BEST INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT COMMUNITIES CAN MAKE

Wide, unobstructed, well-maintained sidewalks with no gaps or dead ends are the best infrastructure communities of all sizes can invest in. 

From urban to suburban to rural areas, sidewalks provide democratic, inexpensive access to transit, parks, jobs, education, and all aspects of daily living.

Yet many communities — even in denser, urban areas — lack these much-needed networks. Dallas is “missing more than 2,000 miles of sidewalk,” while Denver went viral last summer when TikTok account @PedestrianDignuity began cataloguing its crumbling, inadequate, or nonexistent walkways. 

The city launched a mobility plan in 2018 to address the fact that 10 percent of its streets lack sidewalks, while 30 percent can't support wheelchairs, according to nonprofit WalkDenver.

 

STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS

JUDY PORRO, CERTIFIED ORIENTATION & MOBILITY SPECIALIST,  MIAMI LIGHTHOUSE FOR THE BLIND AND VISUALLY IMPAIRED  -- AT UMSOA

We teach Universal Design to graduate and upper level undergraduate students at the University of Miami School of Architecture – a top 50 program out of more than 500 schools of architecture. 

While much of the focus is on designing for people with mobility impairments -- we also spend a great deal of time educating future architects about design that improves lives for people with visual impairments, hearing impairments and those in the neurodiversity community.

Judy Porro is a Certified Orientation & Mobility Specialist and Certified Vision Rehab Therapist at the Miami Lighthouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired for nearly

She has been a special education teacher and assistant principal in the Virginia public schools. She has been published in Developmental Neurorehabilitation Journal.

Porro has worked as a life care planner for clients who acquired a brain/SCI and required life-long care. She has a brother with a disability.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

Barnhard said the work will continue far beyond the opening, as she works to raise funds to create an endowment to cover the costs for everyone to be able to attend as well as pay for and maintain modern equipment and the overall facility.

“My goal is to make changes here in my community. God has only increased my passion is to do this. It has allowed me to be a therapist again. I get to help people again,” she said.

With a Memorandum of Understanding, the center will officially collaborate with the University of Buffalo on research and education. It is partnering with a local trauma hospital to help patients and their families with care navigation, resources and advocacy.

“I don’t know why, but I have been given an opportunity to improve lives,” Barnhard said in a reverent and humble tone. “When you can make positive changes that will create a legacy that last beyond your own life -- that’s profound.”

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

For years, Barnhard had a dream to start a local rehabilitation facility in Buffalo. Through fundraising and a significant amount of her own money, the Natalie Barnhard Center for SCI Rehabilitation and Recovery will open its doors in June and celebrate a grand opening with VIPs in September. The center is supported by the Motion Project Foundation, the new name for the new focus of the former Wheels with Wings.

“It is like any fitness center or gym where you go to work out – but everything is geared to people with SCI or related needs,” she said. “The equipment is adapted and the trainers understand what the goals and expectations are. It’s not like going to PT in an institution, it’s going to a warm, colorful and fun place.”

The 6,000-square-foot facility includes the rehab/workout area, a treatment room, kitchen, offices and spaces for caregivers and support groups to meet. Barnhard spent more than a year looking for a location that features lots of accessible parking, transit access and a prime location near the airport, hotels, restaurants and amenities.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

“I was at work when a 600-pound weight machine toppled over on top of me, injuring my spine at C-5/C-6. I was 24 at the time, she said. I remember in rehab crying in bed and telling my mother that ‘I was given a gift to help people heal using my hands. Now I’m paralyzed and I can’t physically help people in any way. So, what am I going to do now?’ My mother said `Natalie, you can’t change what happened, but you can change what you do going forward by trusting God’ And I found a purpose.”

Barnhard quickly learned that she could still assist countless people. She started Wheels with Wings, a nonprofit for other people with SCI/D. It awards quality of life grants for wheelchairs, sports equipment, rehab, modifications to homes, accessible vehicles and other items often not covered fully or at all by insurance plans as well as focusing on advocacy and resources for those newly injured.

“I saw the need for funding wheelchairs, vehicles, shower chairs. How could anyone declare a shower chair an unnecessary item?,” Barnhard added. “No medical necessity to get clean? It’s appalling!

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

If Natalie Barnhard was put on this earth to be a change agent who produces results measurable in bricks and mortar – then she has found and fulfilled her purpose.

Barnhard is a community activist, speaker, entrepreneur, advocate for people with disabilities, and the Founder and President of the Motion Project Foundation, Inc. Based in Buffalo, she founded and serves as a member of the Western New York Chapter of United Spinal Association.

Barnhard’s tireless advocacy, from creating a nonprofit to participating in several United Spinal Roll On Capital Hill events, has earned her the honor of Finn Bullers Advocate of the Year Award. The late Bullers was a journalist and advocate who fought for Medicaid expansion, ratification of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities and getting cities to adopt the modern, in motion disability icon.

Prior to her SCI in 2004, Barnhard was a physical therapist assistant and a licensed massage therapist. She used her hands to help people heal.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

Earle and Kathy Powdrell, 2018 Finn Bullers Award Winners

Powdrell, of Houston Texas, suffered a brain stem stroke in 2009 that left him with “locked in” syndrome – resulting in being virtually paralyzed with the exception of eye movements.  The aerospace engineer was honored with his wife Kathy for their advocacy leadership and dedication to state and federal policy issues impacting the SCI/D and broader disability community. Speaking via a voice synthesizer that read his award acceptance speech, which he composed using eye tracking software, Powdrell, explained how his advocacy work with United Spinal changed his life. He praised Rafferty Laredo, the president of United Spinal Association’s Houston chapter, for finding technology that gave Powdrell his voice back. Powdrell, who championed accessible air travel and the preservation of the ADA, died in 2019.

Frances M. Ozur Cole, 2017 Finn Bullers Advocate of the Year

 

Frances M. Ozur Cole, President, United Spinal’s New Mexico Chapter, has used a manual wheelchair since 2004 and is a business entrepreneur, graphic designer and former electrical engineer. She lives with congenital narrowing of the spinal column and has had her mobility impacted by recurring herniated discs. A native of the D.C. area with politics ingrained in her blood, Ozur Cole has led Roll on Capitol Hill events to advocate for greater access to complex rehab technology and medically necessary wheelchairs. She has joined others to speak directly with legislators on issues that affect the independence and quality of life for people with spinal cord injuries and disorders and other pre-existing conditions.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

ABOUT THE UNITED SPINAL ASSOCIATION’S

FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR AWARD

The late Finn Bullers was a journalist and advocate who fought for better coverage under Medicare and Medicaid for customized wheelchairs and ratification of the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities. He had a progressive neurological disease, Charcot Marie Tooth, that affected his coordination. Bullers, a longtime reporter at the Kansas City Star, used crutches for mobility. He died, from pneumonia at age 56 in 2016. Bullers worked with stakeholders across the country to get local communities to adopt a modern, dynamic disability symbol, which is now known as the Accessible Icon Project.

The USA’s Advocate of the Year Award was named for Bullers beginning in 2017. Typically announced during the Roll on Capitol Hill, the honor was not given out in 2020 due to the COVID pandemic canceling the in-person Capitol Hill event.

Kenny Salvini & Rob Wudlick, 2019 Finn Bullers Advocates of the Year honorees

Salvini, of Washington State, has been a quadriplegic since 2004 after a snow skiing accident left him paralyzed from the neck down. In the summer of 2005, his “Typical Guy, Atypical Situation" blog was featured on the MSN homepage and became somewhat of a viral hit. He continues to write, for publications including New Mobility, pursuing his hope “to build a community where a group of people in seemingly dire circumstances are able to pool their collective experience, strength and hope in order to successfully achieve an enhanced, more accessible life.”

 

Wudlick of Minnesota, broke his neck in 2011 during a diving accident on a raft trip down the Grand Canyon, suffering a spinal cord injury. He has been active in spinal cord research legislative efforts in Minnesota to get a bill passed. In 2014 he was a founding member of Get Up Stand Up to Cure Paralysis Foundation. Currently, he is working to advance medical research for spinal cord injury and is a medical device consultant with AbiliTech Medical, Inc.

HONORED TO BE PRESENTING AT 58th INTERNATIONAL MAKING CITIES LIVABLE

GRATIFIED TO BE SPEAKING ON UNIVERSAL DESIGN IN PARIS

I will be delivering a full presentation plus moderating a panel at the IMCL global gathering in Le Plessis-Robinson, France May 18-20, 2022.

“The Humble Sidewalk: Essential Urban Investment for Inclusion, Equality and Accessibility,” -- Steve Wright, Writer-Planner, Miami, Florida, USA.

More speaking, collaborating and consulting in Western Europe to come.

Before the year is out, possible teaching/leadership opportunities in India and Turkey.

https://www.imcl.online/post/one-week-until-imcl-2022

https://www.imcl.online/post/one-week-until-imcl-2022

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

We are in close proximity to the airport and numerous amenities such as hotels & restaurants. We believe that this should be an accessible place where people can come to enjoy their time in our gym but also socializing with others as well,” Barnhard said. “We have created a unique space with a fun vibrant environment to exercise in but also are creating a holistic environment with an infrared sauna for relaxation, peer support and general wellness.”

 

The foundation has partnerships with Erie County Medical Center to help with patient advocacy, provide resources at point of injury and care navigation. The foundation also is working with Greater Buffalo Adaptive Sports and WNY Adaptive Recreation.

 

“Our goal is to continue to make essential partnerships and collaborate with various other businesses and organizations to enhance the recovery process for our clients in and outside of western New York,” she said. “I believe we can not only help people within the Buffalo area but nationally as well.”

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

Barnhard noted that Workers Compensation paid for most of her long stay at the Shepherd Center (Spinal Cord & Brain Injury Rehabilitation hospital in Atlanta), but she knows a lot of people do not have the funding for ongoing care and many other essentials such as durable medical equipment.

“My goal is to make changes here in my community. My faith in God has only increased my passion to do this. It has allowed me to be a therapist again. I get to help people again,” she said.

The Motion Project has collaborated with University at Buffalo School of Public Health and Health Professions for research and education in the rehab center.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

“Unfortunately, insurance plans do not cover our community’s rehabilitation needs sufficiently which is why Natalie’s work fills a huge gap in this space for our community and the broader disability community and why her advocacy work must be acknowledged and recognized,” Bennewith added.

Barnhard said she is pursing fundraising, grants, donors and sponsorships to create a larger endowment “so no one ever gets turned away regardless of ability to pay.”

“I want everyone to be able to receive the care and resources they need to live their life to the fullest,” she said.

The center has state-of-the-art specialty equipment including: the Lokomat for Gait Rehabilitation robotic rehabilitation device, Armeo Spring, arm weight support for each and grasp movements, ZeroG a robotic bodyweight support system and Madonna ICARE intelligently controlled assistive rehabilitation elliptical trainer.

“The equipment is adapted (to SCI and related needs) and the trainers understand what the goals and expectations are. It’s not like going to PT in an institution, it’s going to a warm, colorful and fun place,” Barnhard said.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

 REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

“We focus on the client’s weaknesses and work on coordinating the entire body in a very functional and complete style of rehabilitation.   Most other facilities tend to focus only on the client’s current abilities and don’t work with the affected areas to improve motor function overall. Motion Project works to support the whole person to assist with advocacy, care navigation and spiritual healing,” she said.

 

“We help educate clients and families so they know what to expect moving forward with a spinal cord injury,” Barnhard added.  “Motion Project is not just about the physical gains, but we strive to work together to get clients back to work, to school, or into sports pursuing their dreams. Our goal is to support each client to reach their goals to live a full, productive, healthy life.”

 

Alexandra Bennewith, MPA, Vice President, Government Relations
United Spinal Association praised the rehabilitation center as a welcome haven for individuals with spinal cord injury, brain injury, stroke, multiple sclerosis, chronic pain, and other neurological disorders.

 

“Natalie is fulfilling a dream and a passion of hers to help others in her community, this dream has driven her ever since she sustained a spinal cord injury at the age of 24.  I am in awe of Natalie’s commitment and achievement in getting this center open and am grateful to her and her family for their focus on this critical issue and happy to hear that individuals in our community now have a place to go for help with rehabilitation,” Bennewith said.

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

Prior to her SCI in 2004, Barnhard was a physical therapist assistant and a licensed massage therapist. She used her hands to help people heal.

“I was at work when a 600-pound weight machine toppled over on top of me, injuring my spine at C-5/C-6. I was 24 at the time,” she said.

Following her rehabilitation, Barnhard adapted the way she worked tirelessly to help others. The ultimate result was the Motion Project Foundation.

It provides funding for medical equipment, home or vehicle modifications, intense therapy rehabilitation, advocacy, or other services and activities to improve lives of individuals with a spinal cord injury. 

In less than a decade, it has raised close to half a million dollars and awarded about $350,000 in grants.

The 6,000-square-foot rehabilitation center in Buffalo takes the foundation’s work to another level.

Barnhard notes that it is not a general rehab facility, but one focused on improved function and more. 

NATALIE BARNHARD: UNITED SPINAL’S 2021 FINN BULLERS ADVOCATE OF THE YEAR

REALIZING A DREAM FOR IMPROVED REHAB ACCESS

Natalie Barnhard, honored with the United Spinal Association’s 2021 Finn Bullers Advocate of the Year Award, is celebrating the September opening of her dream project: The Natalie Barnhard Center for Spinal Cord Injury Rehabilitation and Recovery in Buffalo, New York.

Barnhard is a community activist, speaker, entrepreneur, advocate for people with disabilities, and the Founder and President of the Motion Project Foundation. 

Based in Buffalo, she founded and serves as a member of the Western New York Chapter of United Spinal Association.

Barnhard’s tireless advocacy includes creating a nonprofit to participating in several United Spinal Roll on Capital Hill legislative advocacy events. 

The roll on Capitol Hill addresses issues that impact the independence and quality of life of individuals living with spinal cord injuries and disorders (SCI/D).

“In a whirlwind year, being named Advocate of the Year has been amazing.

 It’s great to receive peer recognition and it provides a forum to share what we’re doing with the rehab center,” she said. 

“Before our soft opening, leading up to the grand gala opening, the closest place for rehab for folks with SCI was about 300 miles away.”

THE BRILLIANT ACTIVIST JUDY HEUMANN CHALLENGED WASHINGTON DC MAYOR MURIAL BOWSWER TO SPEND A WEEK USING A WHEELCHAIR FOR MOBILITY

WE THINK EVERY MAYOR IN THE US SHOULD DO THIS – TO EXPERIENCE HOW ACCESSIBLE MOBILITY FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES IS WOEFULLY INADEQUATE

This should truly become a challenge to every mayor in every city in America.

We would start with every mayor of a city with population above 500,000, down to every city with a population of 50,000 or more.

Mayors serve ALL people.

They create city budgets for services that must accommodate EVERYONE.

They oversee transit systems and public works department that by charter and law MUST be inclusive.

Mayors (and city managers) need to experience what it is really like to try to hold a job, get to school, make it to the grocery, visit a park, immerse in the arts, visit a neighbor -- while using a wheelchair for mobility.

This should be as solemn, impactful and high profile as Black Lives Matter.

It could become, on many positive levels and in a push for equity, the BLM of people with disabilities.

Dear Mayor Bowser, I challenge you to travel for one week in DC using a wheelchair, getting no assistance with scheduling accessible vehicles, and being able to make all of your meetings and appointments on time.

After repeatedly not being able to get wheelchair accessible taxis (regardless of method of payment) I decided that your intimate engagement will hopefully produce knowledge that can change the way we as wheelchair users are expected to tolerate these discretions.

We, like you, have busy schedules that are repeatedly interrupted because of unreliability and rudeness on the part of the Transport DC system.

https://www.facebook.com/TheHeumannPerspective

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

  ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

“The course belongs to U-SoA’s long tradition of community building. 

It sustains its commitment to diversity and inclusion and ensures that U-SoA graduates are prepared for the evolving social and cultural landscape,” said Dean Rodolphe el-Khoury.

The full credit course is composed of graduate students and upper level undergraduate students. 

We are donating 100 percent of their pay to support further outreach and education about Universal Design on a global scale.

“For centuries, everything from a home entrance step to park benches has been designed for a 5-foot-10 able-bodied male, an approach that excludes the majority of people,” said Heidi.

“Less than one percent of all housing in the U.S. is readily accessible to people who use wheelchairs. 

That’s why we must create architecture, planning and design usable by everyone to the greatest extent possible without adaptation or specialization.”

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

  ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

In addition to being a nationally-recognized architecture program, the UMSoA is the cradle of the New Urbanism approach that has guided thousands of planners. 

The Universal Design course examines inclusion for: residential, health care, hospitality, civic, mobility, park, wellness and town planning design.

The late architect and planner Ronald L. Mace, FAIA, founder of the Center for Universal Design at North Carolina State University, coined the term universal design. 

He defined it as “the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.”

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

  ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

After teaming on these things for a quarter of a century, our dream came true in the form of a Universal Design course that we created from scratch.

We are teaching it at the University of Miami School of Architecture (U-SoA).

The course was inspired by our research and stories on accessible public spaces, local government advocacy and dozens of travel stories exploring accessible buildings and places. 

We have contributed to New Mobility, United Spinal’s membership magazine for two decades.

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

  ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

Because I worked at a newspaper and they knew my wife used a wheelchair for mobility, I was the go-to guy for ADA and related stories.

That turned into our writing hundreds of travel by wheelchair stories for major newspapers.

In Miami, I worked as the policy advisor for the chair of the Miami City Commission, then in marketing of professional design services. 

This allowed me to merge my three professional loves: writing, architecture and advocacy.

Together, we have published thousands of articles and given dozens of speeches on the victories and pitfalls of town planning, urban design, transit, and mobility and architecture. We demonstrate what works and what doesn’t.

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

 ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

Thankfully, I married a very patient woman who appreciates my caregiving – even when I set the gold standard in how not to do it.

My wife has helped me channel my quest to right wrongs, through the lens of disability advocacy. 

Heidi taught me how we are 100 times more capable as a team. 

We truly can make a positive impact and achieve our goals – when we put our best strengths together.

Heidi gave speeches on disability before she was old enough to drive. 

After law school and a year in public service in Ohio, she became and ADA expert for large city and county governments in greater Miami.

 

GROWING STRONGER TOGETHER

 ON THE FRONTLINES OF CAREGIVING

Can I still slide into all the wasted/negative energy of all confessed above?

Yep. But I/we work on it.

As a storyteller, I’m in the advice business. 

Whether it’s an opinion piece or lengthy cover story, I share best practices for diversity, equity, and inclusion, as well as accessibility in planning, architecture, mobility and policy.

In my sixth decade, I’m learning to hit the pause button and take time to seek best practices and timely tips from the experts–to make me a better person.

That’s why I am so heartened to be part of the United Spinal team that understands caregiving is a challenging, multifaceted, ever-evolving role. 

United Spinal supports caregivers with outstanding resources and support through its Resource Center, and their mission reflects the power of the #StrongWheeled community in transforming lives, including the lives of caregivers.

Resource Center:

https://askus-resource-center.unitedspinal.org/index.php?pg=kb.book&id=9