Outreach Committee
Mission: To promote awareness of and support connections to Independent Living programs and services in all communities of Arizona.
 

Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Disability issues take center stage at fiesta

By Amanda Baillie
Herald/Review

John Gutierrez, who is with the Arizona Center for Disability Law, speaks to attendees gathered for Friday's Disability Fiesta-Cochise in the Cochise County Board of Supervisors Hearing Room. Gutierrez is aided by his personal assistant Patricia Hooser. The meeting on disability issues was sponsored by the Arizona Statewide Independent Living Council. (By Mark Levy-Herald/Review)


BISBEE — Area residents had the chance to air their concerns and learn more about disability issues in Cochise County.
The Statewide Independent Living Council held one of only three outreach sessions in Arizona in Bisbee on Friday, with the aim of raising awareness of services available to people with disabilities.

And for the first time, the organization held a town hall meeting, where state, county and city representatives answered questions from the public.

Among the issues raised was the evacuation plans for Cochise County, and how disabled people would be affected should an emergency situation arise.

Mike Evans, of Cochise County Emergency Services, said there were many resources available to help get disabled people out and away from a danger zone.
"If we go into evacuation and resources are called out then we can call in extra buses, transport vans or whatever is needed," he said. "A door-to-door notification will also be carried out to assess any special needs. We have a lot of resources we can tap into."

Tony DiRienzi, executive director of SILC, said this was an issue that his organization was actively working on, especially in the light of Hurricane Katrina.

"There are two issues to look at. First, responders do not have enough information about disabilities," he said. "There is also a lack of accessible equipment for people with disabilities, who have not been included in emergency plans until recently.

"So SILC has started putting people on exercises and we are working in concert with the emergency services to identify the gaps and fill them."

Other issues of concern included the amount of financial assistance available to employers to help them employ disabled people, improvements in mental healthcare coverage and the low participation of disabled people at the voting booths.

Presentations also were given by a number of groups that offer services to people with disabilities, including CochiseAbility in Sierra Vista, the Arizona Center for Disability Law and the Division of Developmental Disability.

DiRienzi said the Bisbee workshop had the largest turnout of all three sessions, which included one in Kingman and another in Cottonwood.

"I'm very pleased with the number of people who came today," he said. "Our aim is to raise awareness of the services offered to consumers and, through the town hall meeting, to hear what is happening from the perspective of the elected officials and local residents.

"One of our focuses is also to bring attention to CochiseAbility."

Kim March-Force, of CochiseAbility, based in the Wick Building on the corner of Wilcox Drive and Fab Avenue, hoped more people would take advantage of the independent living center following the seminar.

"We have had a lot of community interest since we opened last year," she said. "Our aim was to let a lot more people know about us and to build up a network of volunteers and contacts. We are also in the process of applying for grants to have the center open full-time as we know there is a need for that here."

REPORTER Amanda Baillie can be reached at (520) 515-4683.