| From the CEO
With increasing regularity (yet still not frequently enough) conversations around labor market shortages will come around to hiring those with disabilities. It is a regular topic with our newsletter and is one of the more common outcome goals with our current Vantage Grant (read From the CEO: Employment or Disability Employment: More Than Hiring). Whether by us or someone else, this topic garners great interest, great energy and great outcomes.
I was disheartened to read a recent Harvard Business Review article that, while recognizing that hiring the disabled is good for a business, provided evidence to that in a manner that was demeaning and bordered on Inspiration Porn (click here if that is a term that is unfamiliar to you). Their objectification of the disabled as a hook to disarm a dissatisfied customer or to provide little more than window dressing to enhance one’s image of being socially responsible was, to me, an embarrassment.
Take a minute and read the article.
Employing those with a disability or who is deaf isn’t like buying a pair of Bombas socks where a purchase is matched by providing socks for an unhoused individual.
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Summer Fun with Support from AWS Foundation
by: Mandy Drakeford
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As a mom of two boys, I’m grateful to live in a region with many family-friendly amenities and activities. AWS Foundation provides grant funding to make social activities, programs, and spaces inclusive through our social enrichment initiative. As I was planning my summer activities with my children, I thought it would be helpful to share more information about where you can find inclusive outdoor spaces.
If you’re looking for fun, accessible, summer activities, here are some of my favorites.
Winona Lake Limitless Park
Winona Lake Limitless Park was created to ensure everyone has the chance for “limitless” play. The original master plan for Winona Lake Park and Recreation was to exceed ADA guidelines by incorporating universal design in all areas. The park includes accessible equipment and infrastructure, including accessible water features. Winona Lake has added an adaptive kayak/canoe boat launch that provides a safe and accessible way for adaptive paddlers, those in wheelchairs, and others with limited mobility to enter and exit a boat more easily. To provide full barrier-free water access to Winona Lake, the park also has WaterWheels wheelchairs that are available for use during park hours.
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Not many people know about Disability Pride Month. Growing in popularity now, it was actually first celebrated in 1990. July 26 marks the 33rd anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act, making this month a fitting time to celebrate disability pride. This is a time to celebrate the milestones made for disability rights, and for disabled people to see themselves as positive contributors to society. In 2019, Ann Magill, a writer with Cerebral Palsy, created a disability pride flag. In 2021, she worked with other disability advocates to create something official. You will see that we now have one of our own that we will be flying on our flagpole, and even made one for Big Bird to help celebrate.
Here is what each stripe symbolizes:
- Red - physical disabilities
- Gold - cognitive and intellectual disabilities
- White - non-visible and undiagnosed disabilities
- Blue - psychiatric disabilities
- Green - sensory disabilities
How will you show your disability pride this month?
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AWS Foundation Program Officer, Mandy Drakeford (left) delivers first responder kits to Auburn Police, Cory Heffelfinger.
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Last week we launched a pilot initiative providing First Responder Safety Kits to police, fire fighters, and EMTs in northeast Indiana. The First Responder Safety Kit pilot program will include: Fort Wayne Police Department, DeKalb County Sheriff’s Office, Auburn Police Department, Spencerville Fire Department, Concord Fire Department, and Waterloo Marshals Department.
Learn more about this initiative on our website!
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The Audiences Unlimited Inclusion Mural is officially complete! Present at the unveiling were the artists with disabilities involved in the creation of the mural, as well as others who helped make the mural possible. If you want to check out the whole mural, head to 436 E Wayne St. This project was funded through our Gilmore Inclusive Arts Grant.
You can learn more about the mural by visiting the Audiences Unlimited website.
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