Choosing a vision for Columbia : Columbia 's Disabilities Community Plans Its Future  

By Homer Page

On August 2, 2007 persons with disabilities met to make plans for a better future. During the Columbia , Missouri , City Council campaign in March, 2007 the Disabilities Coalition held a candidate’s forum. Then candidate, Jerry Wade, offered to facilitate a planning workshop for the disabilities community. Mr. Wade is retired from the faculty of the University of Missouri, where he was a specialist in community development. After the election, in which Mr. Wade was elected to the Columbia City Council, he was contacted to follow up on his offer. He enthusiastically agreed to help with a planning workshop. Members of the disabilities community, led by the local independent living center, Services for Independent Living, (SIL), and the Columbia Disabilities Commission formed a steering committee to plan the workshop and publicize the meeting. On August 2 over 25 persons with disabilities, representing a broad cross section of the disabilities community met to develop an agenda for change for the City's disabilities community.

Mr. Wade led the group through a facilitated process. He asked the participants to identify their purposes, core values, vision for the future, action steps needed to implement their vision, and available resources. The most basic question that Mr. Wade asked participants to confront was, what is the reason for persons with disabilities to unite. The answer which emerged from the group was, to promote the development of physical and cultural accessibility to the life of the City, and to encourage the development of services and resources that will permit persons with disabilities to maximize their capacity for productive living. The core values revealed in this purpose statement emphasize a desire to be involved in the community, live independently and in control of ones own life, and to make a meaningful contribution to ones society. Persons with disabilities want security, equality, and opportunity. They want a chance to live full rewarding lives, and part of that means taking on responsibility for ones family and community.

It is not always a simple matter for a person with a disability to achieve the triple goals of security, equality, and opportunity. Joe, a man with developmental disabilities, longs for public transportation that will permit him the freedom to travel independently throughout the community. A woman who is a wheelchair user stated her frustration with broken sidewalks, inaccessible buildings, and inadequate housing. Many expressed their concern that able bodied persons misunderstand the real needs and more importantly, the ability of persons with disabilities to make meaningful contributions to the work site and community. While the group acknowledged the barriers and limitations that persons with disabilities face, the participants clearly affirmed their faith in the capacity of persons to live and work successfully even though they have a disability, when they receive proper support and engage in an environment that permits success.

Among the most important barriers to success are the lack of quality home health care, government disincentives to self-support, opportunities to learn about the world of work, and the general attitudes of the public. Participants who use personal care assistants in their homes stressed the importance of this service and the difficulty that they face in finding dependable, competent, and affordable home health care. However, high quality home health care is essential to an independent successful life for many. Often persons who want to be self-supporting have to choose between gainful employment and the benefits which pay for their home health care. Since they must have the personal assistance, they cannot work. Others stated how difficult it is for them to find access to employment opportunities. They can't find employment without experience, and they are denied opportunities to get that initial experience which able-bodied persons find through summer jobs, internships, and volunteer activities. Almost everyone acknowledged the misunderstanding and lack of acceptance that they encounter on a daily basis from the public.

Workshop participants asserted that a high quality of life included a vibrant personal life. They want appropriate recreational opportunities, strong interpersonal relationships, and an opportunity to care for one another. They want to make their own decisions, manage the support services that they need, and experience a full emotional life. They expressed a desire to have their sexuality respected and their uniqueness accepted without negative judgments. They expressed the hope that they might be accepted for who they are and affirmed for their unique value to the community.

Those who participated in the planning workshop identified personal and system advocacy as a major tool in implementing their vision for the future. They discussed the importance of getting involved, educating themselves on issues and the political process, and participating in the decision making process. They affirmed the importance for persons with disabilities to support the candidates of their choice and voting. They also emphasized the importance of organizing so that they could speak with a common voice. They viewed the planning efforts in which they were involved to be a first step in developing an advocacy program for persons with disabilities in Columbia. By identifying important issues, proposing implementation strategies, and by coming together to initiate a plan for action, they were taking a large step toward an advocacy program. Members of the group clearly recognized that other interests in the community advocate on behalf of their issues, and only if persons with disabilities join in at the table will they be able to bring their vision of the future to fruition.

The group chose four areas in which to set priorities, accessibility, transportation, employment, and public awareness. Planners targeted streets and sidewalks, housing, and commercial sites for special attention in the campaign for a fully accessible environment. The committee working on transportation issues identified extended services and increased flexibility as key priorities. The employment group worked on developing a strategy for increasing the opportunities for persons with disabilities to pursue small business ventures, and the participants who focused on creating a heightened public awareness of the needs and strengths of the disabilities community recommended the creation of a continuing education program for the Columbia community. Workshop members recognized that there are many issues of importance to the disabilities community, but that priorities must be set and resources used in an efficient way, if genuine change is to occur. They believed that the four areas that they chose to address gave them a meaningful set of issues upon which to build an organized advocacy program.

At the end of the planning workshop the participants realized that their hard work would only have meaning if they found a way to implement their ideas. While no single organization can see to the implementation of the disabilities community's new agenda, the group asked the Columbia Disabilities Commission and the steering committee that had worked on planning the workshop to facilitate an implementation strategy. Other service groups and advocacy organizations will be invited to join the effort to implement the vision. New organizations will be created, when they are needed, and resources will be sought to support the advocacy effort. The participants viewed the workshop as a beginning step toward the initiation of a realistic, yet profound, strategy for change.

The disabilities community in Columbia has taken a major step toward directing its own destiny. The planning workshop was a useful tool for jump starting the advocacy program for persons with disabilities in the City. It is a tool that other communities can use with profit for their disabilities communities. Those of us associated with this publication invite questions concerning the Columbia process. We also wish to offer our expertise to any community which would like to initiate its own planning process. You may reach us by phone at 1-800-321-8708, or by email at silcnetwork@earthlink.net . Our mailing address is 503 N. Brookline Dr. , Columbia , Mo. , 65203 . Homer page is the contact person. He is also the Chairperson of the Columbia Disabilities Commission and Executive Director of Disability Media Inc.