BARRHEAD - The Barrhead Accessibility Coalition is one step closer to its goal of staging the community’s first-ever accessibility challenge.
The May 4 event hopes to shed light on the challenges people with mobility and other physical disabilities face daily when navigating the community's streets and businesses.
On Nov. 19, Town of Barrhead councillors unanimously threw their support behind the event when they decided to waive the rental fee for the Barrhead Agrena’s Charles Godberson Rotary Room.
Councillors also pledged that parks and recreation and public works staff would assist the coalition, at no cost, by helping them set up and clean up for the event.
Barrhead’s accessibility challenge will be patterned after a similar event held in Westlock in August.
The Westlock event, which was by invite only, featured elected officials and prominent community members participate in a series of physical challenges.
The challenges were designed to show able-bodied persons what people with mobility or other physical disabilities have to deal with daily.
For example, one of the challenges Town of Westlock mayor Ralph Leriger and Westlock County reeve Lou Hall were asked to complete was to travel from the Pioneer Museum to a business about three blocks away, crossing a major highway in the process.
To simulate a person with a disability, Leriger was confined to a wheelchair while Hall donned a pair of vision-impeding glasses.
Once at the business, the pair were asked to find and purchase selected items. Hall was also given an additional restriction when he was at the till of having to communicate only through gestures or sign language.
Coun. Don Smith fully supported the initiative.
“It isn’t about laying blame,” he said. “It is about fact-finding and learning where businesses and the community can improve access for all residents.”
Kluin agreed, saying once a business realizes what some of the issues are that hamper access, they can often be easily remedied, using the example of the StopGap Foundation.
The foundation is a charitable organization, based in Toronto, that works to eliminate barriers through brightly-coloured entryway ramps.
The ramps cost between $150 to $300 plus shipping, however, the cost of the materials is about $30.
Kluin noted that Warren Warehime’s woodworking class at Barrhead Composite High School has agreed to build the ramps and a local business has offered to donate many of the materials.
Coun. Ty Assaf said he was pleased how many businesses are working on improving accessibility to their businesses.
“Kudos to the businesses, even though the economy is struggling, that this town could be more accessible and are stepping up to the challenge,” he said.
Kluin agreed but noted it is more an issue of building public awareness.
Recently he went to a business with a friend who like Kluin has mobility challenges, to talk about the possibility of installing a StopGap ramp.
The business owner thanked them for bringing the issue to his attention.
“He told us he never realized it was an issue and that is why building awareness is so important,” he said.
How the coalition began
Kluin said after the meeting that as someone who has cerebral palsy and has mobility challenges, accessibility in the community is one of the issues he wanted to bring to the forefront.
Last year he took part in an impromptu walking tour of Main Street to see how accessible businesses were for residents who suffered from some sort of physical disability. He was accompanied by Kelly Kalmbach and Neerlandia resident Carolyn Wierenga who also has mobility challenges However, the Barrhead Accessibility Coalition didn’t take shape until he attended Westlock’s accessibility challenge.
“After I attended the event I knew I wanted to bring it to Barrhead, but I knew I would need to have some really good people to help me do it,” he said.
Kluin’s first step was to ask a local group looking into transportation alternatives in the community. They were soon joined by representatives from Barrhead and District Family and Community Support Services (FCSS), Blue Heron Support Services Association, Alberta Health Services among others.
