City raises disability awareness

Bloomington will leap into spring raising awareness about disability and accessibility in March and April.

March is Disability Awareness Month, and each year Bloomington businesses and organizations coordinate programs and activities in the community to shed light on the issue.

Bloomington has also designated April as Accessibility Awareness month.

“The Americans with Disabilities Act guarantees and protects the rights of people with disabilities and makes discrimination based on a person’s disability illegal,” Mayor Mark Kruzan said in a press release. “At the City, we work hard to ensure equality among all our employees and all Bloomington’s residents. We are drawing attention to the ADA and encouraging businesses to become aware of accessible opportunities and hindrances and to remove those hindrances in order to create a better environment for everyone.”

As part of Disability Awareness Month, Kruzan has proclaimed March “Early Intervention Appreciation Month.”

He is encouraging the community to show support for therapists, educators and service coordinators who serve children with disabilities from birth to age three by writing letters, contacting legislators and saying thank you.

The City of Bloomington’s Council for Community Accessibility will sponsor a panel about disability awareness March 26 at Ivy Tech Community College.

The other community programs will be coordinated by a variety of local organizations, including American Council for the Blind, IU, Stone Belt and the Bloomington Playwrights Project.

“Disability Awareness Month tends to focus on disability, and I think that the Council has always felt that it’s important to look at the flip side of that, to the look at the positive, that everyone’s needs can be met if we make our community more accessible,” said Katie Herron, chair of the Council for Community Accessibility. “We really try to focus on more of a positive spin and what we can do to make our community as accessible as possible.”

Herron said the council is made of volunteers in the community who meet once a month to talk about how to improve accessibility in Bloomington.

One of the council’s committees goes around town to local businesses and educates them about accessibility laws and provides feedback for how to improve facilities to meet ADA requirements.

Craig Brenner, community and family resources special projects coordinator with the City of Bloomington, serves as the city liaison on the Council for Community Accessibility.

He said the number of programs in the community increases each year, and the city just collects the information and puts it in a calendar so it’s more accessible for those who wish to participate or attend.

“I think it shows that there are a lot of people that care a lot about people with disabilities,” Brenner said. “And we want to make sure they are given the same opportunities as everyone else.”