Easter Seals Recognizes Chicago for Excellence in Accessibility

Easter Seals (National Easter Seal Society)
Wednesday, 26 July 2000

For the first time in its 81-year history, Easter Seals recognized a city as the model of excellence for achieving accessibility and fairness for people with disabilities, marking the 10th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on July 26, 2000.

To celebrate, Mayor Richard M. Daley, Lawrence J. Gorski, director of the Chicago Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD), James E. Williams, Jr., president and CEO, Easter Seals, and several Easter Seals representatives gathered on the city's museum campus for a dedication of the Easter Seals Lily Garden, a new landmark commemorating Chicago's success.

"We are grateful that Easter Seals, an internationally recognized leader in service and advocacy for people with disabilities, has chosen Chicago as the first and only city to honor as a model of excellence in achieving accessibility for people with disabilities, " Mayor Daley said. "May the new Easter Seals Lily Garden always be a symbolic reminder that promoting fairness is something that benefits all."

Nationally, there are 54 million people with disabilities, making it the largest minority group in the country. Nearly one in three families is affected by a disability and 85 percent of the population will acquire a disability at some point in their lifetime. In Chicago, a city of nearly 3 million people, more than 500,000 residents live with a disability.

The Daley Administration embraced the spirit of the ADA early on and continues to live up to its motto: "Working to make Chicago the most accessible city in the nation." In October 1990, Mayor Daley established the Mayor's Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) – the first and only Cabinet-level, municipal office in the world exclusively for people with disabilities.

Under Gorski's direction, MOPD has helped lead the City's efforts in a number of areas, resulting in:

- An award-winning housing program that has played a key role in development of some 8,000 accessible and adaptable housing units citywide, and that has educated landlords, tenants, developers and realty agents on their rights and responsibilities

- Job training for more than 3,000 Chicagoans with disabilities

- A "first of its kind" permit process that requires builders to meet with MOPD architects and demonstrate that what they are proposing to build is accessible, before permits are issued

- A nationally-recognized mentoring program that fosters leadership skills in high school students with disabilities and dramatically improves college enrollment rates

- High levels of accessibility at all major tourist attractions, including Navy Pier, McCormick Place, United Center, the museum campus and much more, linked with accessible transportation to and from both airports

- Construction of more than 100,000 curb cuts, including 10,000 in the central business district

- Unprecedented accessibility at polling places across the city

- Creation of Access Chicago, the Midwest's largest exposition of products and services for people with disabilities and their families -- a festival that draws together activists, artists, athletes, employers, educators, elected officials and others to celebrate the talents and energies of people with disabilities

"With 10 years of ADA progress, we are starting to see positive change take root across the country," said James E. Williams, Jr., president and CEO of Easter Seals. "Here in Chicago, it is a privilege for Easter Seals to participate in our hometown's progress and transformation. Easter Seals challenges everyone to continue to give people with disabilities an equal chance to experience all that this great city has to offer."

The Easter Seals Lily Garden, located near the lakefront on the north end of the museum campus, consists of a 400 square foot patch of colorful, fragrant lilies. The Chicago Park District provided the landscaping and will maintain the lily garden.

As the largest and oldest national organization dedicated to providing services to children and adults with all types of disabilities, Easter Seals has been advocating for civil rights of people with disabilities since its inception. The organization supported its own "bill of rights" since 1931, and played an important role in the development and passage of this landmark legislation.

For more information, or to contact Easter Seals (National Easter Seal Society), see their website at: www.easter-seals.org