A couple years back Dave proposed that his town, Amherst (outside of Buffalo) create a disability committee, the town did and appointed Dave to it. It turns out that every town government can have a disability committee to help them address physical accessibility, accessibility of civic participation, access to leisure, as well as training for emergency first responders. Dave found that creating a committee was a great way to build relationships in his town and he was able to help his town avoid hefty DOJ fines for inaccessiblity.
In the process Dave met and became friends with Dan D'Andrea, a citizen in his community who uses a wheelchair and is very interested in access, especially in town parks and recreation. The two put their heads together and together with Aimee Levesque, D'Andrea's Charitable Trust, and The Advocacy Center developed a training for people in other communities wishing to build access in their towns.
The first training was held at People First in Buffalo this spring and other trainings will be scheduled around the state this fall and next spring. Dave hopes that soon every community will have a disability committee giving input and increasing access as a matter of course.
You can read more about the formation of Town Hall Trainings and one of Dave's other projects, accessbuffalo in this article.
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| The Inaugural Town Hall Training Class (4 Partners in attendance!) |
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