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[This continues on ADAPT 2 and 3, but the entire text has been included here in ADAPT 1 for easier reading.] [letterhead] Atlantis Community Inc 2965 west 11th avenue denver colo 80204 303 893 8040 [Headline] The Atlantis Story In June of 1975, Atlantis was born as an alternative to the lives that young disabled persons were being forced to endure in nursing homes and state institutions. Early in 1974, a group of concerned disabled people and able-bodied allies began educating themselves to the plight of the young disabled adult. They found that the majority of these young people (some as young as twelve) who were living in nursing homes were virtually trapped in a stagnating, paternalistic prison where civil rights were blatantly violated, medical care was poor and impersonal, and individual initiative and self actualization were hostilely discouraged. The group that later became Atlantis began looking for alternatives to the prejudiced, dehumanizing lives these young people were seemingly doomed to continue. The first attempt was to create a special youth program in a nursing home, the object of which was to provide normalizing educational and social experiences. The program was to a large degree successful in terms of individual liberation, but it soon became apparent that the humanistic goals of the Atlantis group were in direct conflict with the profit making motivation and paternalistic traditions of the nursing home industry. It was then that the Atlantis Early Action Project was conceived - early in 1975. The goals were clear: to allow every disabled individual, regardless of the extent of her/his disability, the same rights and responsibilities of their able bodied peers - the freedom to choose a lifestyle and fulfill personal goals in education, employment, and personal growth, and freedom from a punitive traditional system that stigmatizes the disabled and segregates them from the mainstream of society. The planning started in January of 1975. Public housing units were leased from the Denver Housing Authority in the Las Casitas Development. Funds from the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation were secured to renovate the apartments and make them accessible to wheelchairs. In June, the first eight residents moved in. All were former 'patients’ in nursing homes, all had the courage and the desire to live on the outside. In a little over two years, Atlantis has grown from eight residents and a volunteer staff to an attendant staff of forty individuals and forty participants/residents. Seventeen of the residents presently live in the Early Action site, which has become a transitional living center, the remainder live in private sector apartments throughout the city and receive services from Atlantis. Traditionally the young disabled person has been denied the right to an adequate education or meaningful employment and has been sent to nonaccredited, segregated ‘special’ schools or to sheltered workshops to count fish hooks or untangle old phone cords for five cents an hour. Those who reside in nursing homes are often provided with no programming at all. At Atlantis, we try to assist the individual in fulfilling whatever goals s/he outlines. At the present time, residents are attending Denver Opportunity School, Boettcher School, and several of the area colleges. In addition, a constitutional law suit has been initiated by an Atlantis resident in an attempt to change existing laws which deny equal educational opportunities to the disabled. With funds from the Denver Opportunity School, Atlantis operates an Adult Education Center which offers individualized courses in remedial basic skills, speech therapy, and Braille. In an employment and basic life enrichment program financed by the Colorado Division of Vocational Rehabilitation, Atlantis provides a variety of employment opportunities to disabled persons and seeks out employment possibilities in the Denver-Metro area. In keeping with the Atlantis Charter, fifty percent of all positions at Atlantis are occupied by disabled individuals. Our experience has shown that merely providing housing and attendant services does not fully equip the disabled person coming out of an institution to lead an independent, self-directed life. For this reason, special programs have been initiated to aid residents in acquiring the skills necessary to take responsibility for their own lives. Home Training Classes, where residents meet in seminars and share ideas and skills, are held to teach how to organize and maintain an apartment. A Consumer Advocate teaches residents how to perform their own consumer activities such as budgeting money, using a checking account, and buying food and clothing. Other advocacy services available include a twenty four hour a day Crisis Hotline, a Financial Coordinator who assists individuals in getting their public assistance benefits, a Housing Information Service, a Legal Advocacy Service, and a Counseling Referral Service. Disabled persons are not 'sick' people. They do not require a 24 hour a day medical staff of nurses and aides to supervise their personal needs and social activities. What is needed is a consistent source of reliable assistance when they want it. In an attempt to break the traditional concept of home health care - Atlantis hires a pool of professionals who are trained and supervised by a Rehabilitation R.N. Attendant assistance is scheduled as it fits into individual routines and responds to individualized needs. Emphasis in health care is on teaching people to monitor their own - to be aware of their particular needs and be capable of getting those needs filled either self—sufficiently or with assistance. Staff is available on a twenty four hour a day basis in case an emergency arises, and can be reached by a call to the Crisis Hotline. The resident is responsible for scheduling baths, meals, etc. There are no rules governing any individual's mobility or social life. We uphold the right of the disabled to take responsible control over their own lives. Disabled people do have special medical needs. Nurses, attendants and physicians who work with them should have this specialized knowledge. The Atlantis attendant staff is trained in areas of special health concern such as skin, bladder and bowel care, and routine medical needs. Atlantis makes full use of existing medical facilities, primarily the Denver General Health System. We are oriented toward rehabilitative activities and any person who has the desire for rehabilitation is given the opportunity to explore it. Many who were diagnosed at an early age as unrehabilitatable have shown tremendous progress when allowed access to therapists and equipment. It is our belief that any disabled person should have the right to choose where and how s/he wants to live. We believe that the same monies that are provided to house someone in an institution should be made available to those who wish to live independently. We are working to this end. At the present time, an institution in Colorado receives upwards of $600.00 a month in tax money to provide custodial care for a ‘patient’. That same person, once out of an institution, is eligible for maximum public assistance Payments of $402.00 a month to support her/himself and purchase attendant services. Many receive less than the full amount. We can find no valid justification for this huge discrepancy which results in the taxpayer supporting the highly lucrative nursing home industry and discourages the disabled and elderly from pursuing independent and meaningful lives. Our philosophy envelopes the ideas of individual liberty and opportunity, and we are aware of the process that must take place. Liberation from the stagnation of institutional life needs to be coupled with a viable process by which disabled persons can integrate themselves into society as self-fulfilled, independent citizens. It is our hope at Atlantis that by bringing disabled persons together, they can, through shared energy and experience, teach and support each other in achieving freedom and growth.
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Denver Post Photo by David Cupp: A semi dark room with sun streaming in the window at the back. Silhouetted against the window is an oxygen tank. In the foreground a young man (Michael Smith) with dark beard lies in bed, sheets drawn up to his chin, and his long dark hair laid out on the pillow above his head. He is looking at a young woman (Ellen Finch) who sits by the bed on his left. She is wearing a kerchief and baggy top and fades into the darkness at the bottom edges of the photo. In the black on the right side of the picture, these words are printed in white letters: - And I shall surpass any mountain, or ill or death itself - Mike Smith caption - Bureaucracy Adds a New Handicap for Residents of Atlantis Project Muscular dystrophy patient Mike Smith talks with Ellen Finch, an attendant at Atlantis Community in southwest Denver where he and seven other handicapped persons are living. Smith, 21, and four other Atlantis residents didn't receive their Social Security checks earlier this month because of foul-ups by the federal Social Security Administration, the U.S. Postal Service in Denver and a Lakewood nursing home.
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Rocky Mountain News, Mon., June 7, 1982 Denver, Colo. p.37 WE’RE ACCESSIBLE! We set our sights on July 1 for increased accessibility. We've beat our goal by nearly a month. During peak hours 50 percent of all Denver-area local service is now equipped with wheelchair lifts. Nearly 100 percent of off-peak local service is now accessible. Please check your schedule for times of lift-equipped buses. Trips will be marked with the wheelchair symbol. If you need special assistance in learning how to use the lift, just give us a call at 628-9000, extension 2118. We are pleased to be able to accommodate our handicapped patrons with expanded service nearly one month ahead of schedule! (signature) L.A. Kimball Executive Director and General Manager 3 PHOTOS (in clockwise order; no credits given). First: A man in a wheelchair sits on a lift into the front door of a city bus. An access symbol is visible by the driver's door of the bus. Second: A woman in a manual wheelchair entering the front of an accessible bus, by the farebox. Three: An RTD bus with RTD "The Ride" written on the side of the bus. In large print at the bottom it says: Striving for the Best Service RTD The Ride
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RTD bobbles budget, buys rejected lifts By: Burt Hubbard News Staff The Regional Transportation District board of directors rejected to move to equip its new buses with wheelchair lifts but unknowingly included $1.2 million in its budget to buy them. The revelation came one day after the RTD board approved a $185.8 million budget that includes $21.4 million to buy 89 articulated buses for 1983. But the buses will cost the district only $20.2 million. The remaining $1.2 million is slated for wheelchair lifts that won’t be put on the buses. RTD Executive Director L.A Kimball has said that handicap ridership on the more than 300 buses that now have lifts do not justify the cost for the new buses. “WE HAVE CARRIED as many as 50 (handicapped) individuals on any particular day using 331 vehicles,” he told the board Thursday. RTD board member Charlotte Houston said Friday she didn’t realize that fact when she made a motion Thursday to add $1.3 million to the 1983 budget to outfit all 89 buses with lifts. The board defeated the motion 10-5. Those voting against the lifts said current low-frequency ridership by handicapped people doesn’t justify equipping more buses and cited increased maintenance costs of the lifts. Asked about the snafu, Houston said, “I guess I should have known.” Nor did RTD board member Tom Bastien know the lift money had been kept in the budget when he moved to equip half of the new buses with lifts. The board rejected the move 8-6. “THAT’S INTERESTING,” said Bastien Friday. “Why didn’t the (RTD) staff tell us?” Even Kimball said he wasn’t aware that the lift money was still in the budget. Kimball blamed the error on a staff member who, he said, apparently had failed to delete the money for the lifts from the budget. The confusion dates back to July 1981 when the district signed a contract with M.A.N. Truck and Bus Corp. to buy the 89 buses for $21.4 million with the lifts included. The buses were to be delivered between June and September 1983. But in December 1981, the RTD board voted to take the lifts off the buses and reduce the total price by $1.2 million. The 1983 budget, however, failed to reflect the reduced price. Kimball said the omission won’t alter the budget. “THERE’S NO NEED to change it,” he said. “We won’t spend it.” About 80 percent of the cost of the lifts would have been paid by a federal grant. And Houston and Bastien said the fact that they wouldn’t have had to increase the budget to get the lifts didn’t affect the vote. “I don’t think it would have made much difference,” said Houston. “We needed 11 votes to pass it.” The votes on the lifts came after about a dozen people, including several politicians, urged the board to make the buses accessible to the handicapped. The handicapped community has vowed to try again for the lifts after a newly elected RTD board takes office in January to replace the appointed 21-member board.
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Rocky Mountain News Friday, May 7, 1982 All RTD routes to serve disabled By Jerry Brown News-Staff Regional Transportation District officials plan to provide wheelchair-accessible service on all RTD routes beginning next month, fulfilling a commitment made three years ago. “As far as I know, we are the first in the country to get this far,” in providing bus service for the physically handicapped, said district spokeswoman Kathy Joyce. About 150 rides a week currently are taken by handicapped passengers on the 10 routes in Denver, two in Boulder and all routes in Longmont that offer wheelchair-accessible service, Joyce said, with a peak weekly ridership of 270. The expansion of accessible service follows completion of the installation of wheelchair lifts on 186 AM General buses purchased by RTD in 1977 and 1978. RTD purchased 127 new buses from General Motors of Canada, and RTD also has 33 older buses that had been previously equipped with lifts, giving the agency 346 lift-equipped buses out of a total fleet of 671. RTD spent $3,882,222 - or $20,872 per bus - retrofitting the AM General buses, Joyce said. RTD doesn't have cost figures for the lifts on the new buses, which were delivered early last year. The cost of lifts on those buses was included in the $15.5 million purchase price, Joyce said. Beginning June 6, half of all rush-hour buses and all off-peak buses will be wheelchair accessible, RTD Executive Director L.A. Kimball said. Wade Blank, co-director of the Atlantis Community for the handicapped, said his organization is pleased with the proposed new service. RTD also has promised a public relations program to promote the new service, another longtime Atlantis goal, Blank said. Atlantis filed a lawsuit in 1977 and staged a series of demonstrations in 1977, 1978 and 1979 in efforts to force RTD to make its regular routes accessible to the handicapped. In mid-1979, RTD agreed to make all its routes wheelchair accessible after the U.S. Department of Transportation issued national regulations requiring that half of all rush-hour buses be wheelchair-accessible by July 1982. The federal regulations were rescinded last year, but RTD agreed to meet its earlier commitment, anyway. Earlier Atlantis held more demonstrations to protest RTD’s decision not to put wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses scheduled for delivery next year. Atlantis is challenging that decision in Denver District Court. RTD became one of the first transit agencies in the United States to offer wheelchair-accessible service on regular routes last June when it began providing such service on some of its busier routes.
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RTD Executive Promises To Try Wheelchair Bus Travel Firsthand ATLANTIS From 1-B The Handi Ride, 12 buses which provide curb-to-curb service for 150 handicapped persons each day on a flexible schedule, was to have been eliminated in July. It will be retained for the rest of the year, Kimball said. Starting in July, 334 buses equipped with wheelchair lifts — plus the Handi Ride - will circulate on more than two dozen routes, the RTD official said. Specially equipped buses now operate on only 11 routes. He also promised that the Handi Ride program would continue until another program has been developed. The official also told the group that “RTD alone can’t solve all (their) transportation problems" and urged them to think in terms of a “regional consensus” of agencies dealing with the disabled. He also suggested that they seek state funding. Spokesmen for the Atlantis Community for the disabled, one of the parties to the lawsuit, on Wednesday declared the Handi Ride shouldn't be phased out, and many attending the session agreed. They included Don Burton, executive director of United Cerebral Palsy, who said he feared many disabled persons would lack access to community services; Barb Sokol, a social worker with Western Dialysis Center, who said other transit alternatives weren't “as reliable or flexible,” and a number of handicapped persons, who asked for continuation or expansion of the service. Teresa Breda, executive director of Holistic Approaches to Independent Living (HAIL), said, “In no way do I want Handi Ride to stop. “But that’s just one segment of transportation services tor the disabled,' she noted, adding that it was “one part of a lot of needs.”
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Denver Post Tuesday, January 19th, 1982 Editorials, Opinion, 2, 3 Weather 4 Ski Report, 4 Suit over Bus Lifts Hits RTD By Howard Pankratz, Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer Some of Denver’s handicapped, who believe the Regional Transportation District has broken a promise to install wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses, turned that belief into action Monday by suing the district. In a lengthy brief filed in Denver District Court, seven wheelchair-bound individuals and the Atlantis Community for the disabled accused the district of violating both state and civil law and a settlement reached in federal court several years ago. In that settlement, alleges the suit, RTD agreed that all new buses would have wheelchair-lift equipment. But that promise has been broken, said the suit, which asks that RTD be required to install lifts on 89 new buses due for delivery beginning next year and on all new equipment in the future. The Monday suit is based on RTD’s having contracted for 89 new buses, worth $21.3 million. The suit says that 80 percent of the purchase price is to be paid by the federal government. Originally, said lawyer John Holland, who represents the handicapped, all the buses were to have had lifts to make them accessible to the handicapped. But last November, the RTD board decided not to have lifts installed. The total cost of the lifts would be $1.1 million, with the federal government again paying 80 percent of the cost. The suit alleges that it wasn’t the cost, technical feasibility or the maintenance of the lifts that caused them to be dropped, but rather a decision by RTD to use the new buses on “express bus service” from which the handicapped are to be excluded. This, claimed the wheelchair-bound complaints, blatantly violates the state’s civil rights act. Reacting to that alleged broken promise, handicapped individuals demonstrated on the RTD properly, for three straight days in early January, an action that caused the district to go to court seeking an order banning such demonstrations. However, late last week, Denver District Judge Daniel Sparr told both sides he feared that if he issued a restraining order against the handicapped, it would only widen the gulf between the two sides. He noted that the handicapped had legal avenues to follow if they felt a promise had been broken. On Friday, heeding Sparr’s advice, the two sides reached an accord, whose points will be made public February 2. RTD lawyers Alan E. Richman and Russ Richardson said Monday that RTD has a policy of not commenting on such pending lawsuits.
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Denver Post 1/82 PHOTO (no credit given): A man in a wheelchair (Stephen Saunders) is tipped back in a wheelie by one man, as another bends forward over his legs and reaches down on the side of his wheelchair. Behind them a couple of police officers are visible. Caption reads: Stephen Saunders is carried away from the offices of the Regional Transportation District during a January protest over an RTD decision to not make some new buses accessible to the handicapped. [Headline] RTD Fighting Handicapped Act By Howard Pankratz Denver Post Staff Writer The Regional Transportation District, long at odds with various segments of Denver’s handicapped community is asking Denver District Judge Harold Reed to declare the Colorado Handicapped Act unconstitutional. At the time the state Legislature passed the act, it said it was doing so to “encourage and enable the blind, the visually handicapped, the deaf, the partially deaf, and the otherwise physically disabled to participate fully in the social and economic life of the state and to engage in remunerative employment.” But RTD in motions filed in recent weeks with Reed, has charged that the statue is unconstitutionally vague and overbroad. RTD also says that those who violate the act are subject to a criminal penalty. In particular, RTD lawyers Alan E. Richman and Lawrence D. Stone take aim at a section the act which says the handicapped are “entitled to full and equal housing and full and equal accommodations, advantages, facilities, and privileges of all common carriers, airplanes, motor vehicles, railroad trains, motor buses, streetcars, boats or any other public conveyances or modes of transportation…” Does that mean, ask the RTD lawyers, that “cab drivers are liable for criminal penalty for refusing to buy cabs which can transport persons in wheelchairs? What about persons in iron lungs or on other life support systems? Does this mean that a private automobile has to be wheelchair accessible?” The act, they contend, is sweeping in nature and poses an “impossible conundrum… to an organization or a person who wishes not to violate its provisions on pain of criminal sanctions.” Those who violate the act are guilty of a misdemeanor and are subject to a maximum sentence of a $100 fine and 60 days in county jail. In January 1982, seven wheelchair-bound individuals and the Atlantis Community for the disabled accused the district in a lawsuit filed in Denver District Court of violating both the Colorado Handicapped Act and a settlement reached in federal court several years ago. Basically they contended that in the federal settlement RTD agreed that all new buses would have wheelchair-lift equipment. Although many of the new buses are accessible to people in wheelchairs, they contend that RTD has decided against making 89 new buses, due for delivery in June, accessible to the handicapped. By denying such access, says the lawsuit, RTD has breached both the terms of the federal settlement and the duties it owes the handicapped under the Colorado
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[Headline] Handicapped Praise Wheelchair Service Sun. July 12, 1981, Denver, Colo. Rocky Mountain News- 65 (Continued from page 64) Even so, Conrardy said he has heard only one able-bodied passenger complain during his daily commuting trips. Offsetting that experience, Conrardy said, was an incident one afternoon at Colfax and Broadway. A crowded rush-hour bus stopped, and Conrardy said he told the driver he would wait for another bus because that one was too full. But the other passengers made room and invited him aboard, Conrardy said. The fear of hostility from other passengers or simply getting lost has kept some handicapped people from trying the new service, said Laurie Warner, co-director of education for Atlantis. For the couple of minutes it takes the lift to get them on or off the bus, the handicapped passenger is the center of attention for everyone on the bus, Warner said. And that can feel like “being on the grill,” Conrardy said. News Photo by Jose R. Lopez: A man (Mel Conrardy) in a short sleved plaid shirt and kaki pants sits in his motorized wheelchair on the sidewalk, his chin in his hand looking at a big bus. Behind him, further up the sidewalk, a line of people board the bus as the driver holds the door. caption reads: Mel Conrardy waits at Broadway and Colfax for an RTD bus with a wheelchair lift. An organization for the handicapped says the news lifts are a boon for handicapped and can provide an education for the bus drivers and the public, Conrardy says most people are patient during the two minutes it takes for the lift to operate when it is working properly.
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August 1982 Early Surveys Show a Positive Response to RTD Accessibility EARLY INDICATIONS are proving that accessible bus routes will attract many disabled riders. According to unofficial count along the major Denver routes there is a 78 percent increase in the number of riders who previously has been forced to shun public transit. “The response is encouraging,” said Wade Blank, director of the Atlantis Community and a longtime proponent for RTD modification. “But it will take a bit more time for the word to spread to some 16,000 Denver residents who use wheelchairs.” At the HAIL, Inc. office, co-proponents in the long squabble to convince RTD officials of the practical aspects of accessible routes, incoming mail and phone calls are revealing gratification and relief from many sectors of the handicapped community. In one of the letters, Molly Henderson writes: “As the mother of a disabled daughter who uses a wheelchair, I would like to thank the members of the disabled community who fought so hard and won the right to ride the bus whenever and wherever my daughter wishes.” Mark Johnson, Independent Living Coordinator, HAIL, Inc., for several disabled residents at the Halcyon House, reflects, “It’s obvious this RTD decision was need and appropriate. Many other similar decisions can also have a significant impact on the quality of life for persons with disabilities.” A disabled bus rider states, “The service is absolutely wonderful. It is more convenient a less time consuming to have busses with lifts. It helps me do my job more efficiently. And, so far, the attitude of drivers and the public is excellent.” Theresa Preda, HAIL’s executive director, says, “We still have a long way to go. I think it is an achievement the disabled community can rightly be proud of. Now, hopefully, this advancement may help indicate to others that there are still many areas that are still inaccessible, needing revision to meet the RTD initiative.”
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Denver Post (approximately 12/4/81) [Headline] Bus Life Decision Delayed By: George Lane Denver Post Urban Affairs Writer Local transit officials, noting that there were barely enough of them to make a quorum Tuesday delayed for two weeks any decision about whether to alter plans not to put wheelchair lifts on 89 new buses. It was suggested during a special Regional Transportation District board meeting that the board order wheelchair lifts on 45 of the 89 high capacity, articulated buses, rather than no lifts at all. Board member Norma Anderson told fellow directors that there was no reason for postponing the issue “when everyone on this board knows the outcome of the vote.”. She said following the meeting there aren’t enough votes on the board to reverse the earlier action, and the buses ultimately will be ordered without the wheelchair lifts. The announced reason for postponing the vote was that only 12 of the 20 board members attended the special meeting, and only 11 were left when the compromise proposal was presented. It takes a minimum of 11 votes for the RTD board to conduct any business. Postponing the action for two weeks could mean that RTD may have to pay some kind of penalty for not informing the bus manufacturer of the lift decision before the extended deadline of Dec. 10. But the board’s action delayed for at least two weeks another possible wheelchair-bound –sit-in following an RTD board meeting last month. About two dozen persons from the Atlantis Community for the disabled staged a 2 1/2 hour sit-in following an RTD board meeting last month. They claimed the board’s decision then not to order the lifts was a “breach of promise” subjecting handicapped bus passengers to second-class ridership. After the RTD officials agreed to hold a special board meeting to reconsider the decision against the lifts, the wheelchair-bound sit-in ended peacefully. It had been feared police force would have to be used to end it. Eighteen handicapped persons and supporters and representatives of disabled people spoke during Tuesday’s special board meeting. RTD officials again attempted to convince the disabled congregation that not putting the lifts on the articulated buses will free other buses with lifts and result in better service to handicapped people.
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The Denver Post Friday, Dec. 18, 1981 [Headline] Handicapped Will Protest RTD Wheelchair-Lift Ban By George Lane Denver Urban Affairs Writer The board of directors of the Regional Transportation District Thursday made it official – there will be no wheelchair lifts on 89 high-capacity buses expected to be delivered in 1983. The board actually decided a month ago there would be no lifts on the new buses, but they have been hedging on finalizing that action because of objections voiced by the area’s disabled community. Following the vote on the lifts, Wade Blank, co-administrator for the Atlantis Community for the disabled and organizer of the protest against the RTD action, told the transit directors that members of the handicapped community view the action as a violation of their human rights and they will respond to that violation Jan. 4. Blank later said members of the disabled community will be in “training for civil disobedience” between now and Jan. 4. He said beginning Jan. 4, 10 disabled persons in wheelchairs will stage a sit-in in the office of L.A. “Kim” Kimball, RTD’s executive director and general manager. “Everyday during the month of January, 10 disabled people will be occupying Kimball’s office,” Blank said. They won’t have any able-bodied people with them – and if they’re arrested they will be replaced by 10 more. At the conclusion of the board meeting, Kimball told the directors that the RTD staff will take steps to try to prevent this action, but he doesn’t think it proper to discuss those steps at this time. The RTD board during its Nov. 19 meeting voted to save more than a million dollars by not ordering the lifts on the new buses. The RTD staff recommended this action because they said the lifts are expensive (more than $12,000 per bus) and difficult to maintain. The staff proposal was to use the articulated buses on high ridership bus routes, freeing regular buses with wheelchair lifts to provide better service for the handicapped. A delegation from the handicapped community objected to this proposal, with arguments that RTD officials had promised several years ago that 50 percent of the district’s bus fleet would be made accessible to wheelchair-bound riders and all new buses would be ordered with lifts. About 25 disabled persons from Atlantis staged a wheelchair-bound sit-in following the November meeting until Kimball and three board members promised to attempt to get the entire board to reconsider the action. Thursday’s vote was the outcome of that promise.
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The Denver Post Denver Post PHOTO: A thin young man (Mike Smith) lies in bed wrapped in sheets. His long dark hair is laid out on the pillow above his head, and his dark eyebrows, beard and moustache frame his features. He looks with a burning intensity up and someone (mostly out of the picture), who is holding a book. caption reads: MIKE SMITH WATCHES AS AN ATTENDANT READS SOME OF HIS POEMS. He is confined to bed at Atlantis Community, which was plagued by foulups. [Headline] MIKE SMITH'S' DREAM [Subheading] Atlantis Battles Delay, Foulups By FRED GILLIES Denver Post Staff Writer "Realize...Realize..." The words came in a strange, guttural tone from the young man lying semiconscious on the bed, breathing life-giving oxygen through tubes running from a tank nearby. Mike Smith, 21, had been severely drained by the ravages of muscular dystrophy, his grim companion since birth. Yet, early last week as Mike lay unconscious for the third day, he seemed to radiate a private kind of peace and serenity in this small bedroom overlooking a busy Denver highway. Realize. . . For Mike Smith, realization of the promise and the hope of freedom for himself and seven other handicapped persons came when they became the first residents of the Atlantis Community, opened June 1 at the Las Casitas Housing Development in southwest Denver. At Las Casitas, in a pioneering experiment in personal fulfillment, they reside in their own apartments, set their own rules, and, as far as the handicapped can, manage their own lives. Gently, an attendant stroked Mike’s forehead, bent near him and whispered words which only he might have heard. His mother, Mrs. Joanne Davis, stood nearby and said Mike had “come home” to the place where he wanted to be, to the freedom he had sought so long for himself and other handicapped persons. But a threat to this hard-won freedom arose shortly after Atlantis was started. Mike and four other handicapped persons at Atlantis found they had become victims of the slow-moving, computerized bureaucracy of the federal Social Security Administration. And unnecessary hardships and worry had been created for the Atlantis residents by on incredible delay on the part of the U.S. postal system in Denver and the acknowledged poor judgment of a Lakewood nursing home. Mike and the four other Atlantis residents were depending heavily on their Social Security checks to pay for their food, rent, attendants’ services and other expenses at Atlantis. But these checks didn't arrive on time early in June. Atlantis officials obtained some emergency financial help, partly through Denver's food stamp office, but it wasn't enough. And one day early last week, an attendant at Atlantis was trying to plan a dinner meal which he hoped would cost about 40 cents for each Atlantis resident. But it shouldn't have come to this point of desperation. [Subheading] PLANNED CAREFULLY Mike, other Atlantis residents and staff members had planned carefully for this major change in their lives. In mid-May, they had contacted the Social Security Administration in Lakewood, detailing their plans and indicating they would be leaving their nursing home and beginning a new way of life. This change would make them eligible for higher Social Security payments to meet their increased expenses. Social Security officials in Lakewood accepted this information for input in the administration's national computer. And at that time, a Social Security official at the Lakewood office also advised the handicapped persons to file change-of-address cards with the Denver Post Office. If this were done, the official said, the handicapped persons' Social Security checks would be sent on time to Atlantis, rather than being held up at the nursing home which most of the eight handicapped persons would be leaving June 1. Wade Blank, Atlantis‘ co-director, took completed change-of-address cards for all future Atlantis residents to the South Denver postal station, three days before the changes were to take effect. And a South Denver postal employee said there should be "no problem" in forwarding the handicapped persons' Social Security checks to Atlantis early in June. [Subheading] SYSTEM FAILED But from that point, the system failed miserably. Four Social Security checks for Atlantis residents weren't forwarded to them at their Atlantis address early this month, but went instead to their old address at the Heritage House Nursing Care Center in Lakewood. A Heritage House clerk, although aware of the handicapped persons move to Atlantis, sent three of the checks back to the U.S. Treasury in Birmingham, causing computer delays [unreadable] in issuance [unreadable] checks. [unreadable] Social Security [unreadable] up at a garage [unreadable] street from Atlantis. This check either had been addressed incorrectly at Heritage House or delivered by the postman to the wrong address. An employee at the garage [unreadable] carried the check to Atlantis. [unreadable]the long postal [unreadable] involving the [unreadable] change of address cards. It took 13 days [unreadable] cards to make the 10 min journey from the South Denver postal station to the Belmar station by way of the post office's Terminal Annex. At Belmar, employes didn't follow postal regulations and send these cards immediately to Heritage House. This was not done until June 12, after an Atlantis representative contacted Belmar postal officials about the check delays. Responding to Denver Post inquiries, postal officials said they couldn’t explain the 13-day delay. [Subheading] RETURNED CHECK Another handicapped person, at Heritage House and then at Craig Rehabilitation Center before coming to Atlantis, didn't receive his Social Security check for June because Heritage House sent his May check back to the U.S. Treasury. This action placed the handicapped person's file "in suspense"- delaying issuance of future checks. Local postal and Social Security officials have told The Post they are -"distressed" over these situations. "It shouldn't have happened... I agree with this 100 per cent," said Thomas O'Halloran, administrator at Heritage House. But he said the Heritage House clerk was “just following my orders" to return checks to the sender when no forwarding address is available. However, O'Halloran acknowledged that the clerk knew of the Atlantis project and knew that the former Heritage House residents had gone to Atlantis. The clerk's judgment to send the checks back to the U.S. Treasury, rather than to Atlantis, "was not proper at that time," O'Halloran said. [Subheading] EVERYTHING 'COVERED’.. Everett Caldwell, branch manager of the Social Security office in Lakewood, said he thought “everything was covered" when the change-of-address cards were filed with the post office for the Atlantis residents. "We thought their checks would simply be forwarded," he said. But when the checks went to Heritage House, the nursing home should have contacted his office, Caldwell said." "And we should have clued in Heritage House—but we didn't do it,” Caldwell added. He acknowledged that Atlantis residents had given him data in time to make their increased Social Security payments. But Social Security's national computer, he explained, is set up so that it couldn't accept this data until June 1. when the change in the handicapped persons’ living status was to take effect. And that means about a 16-day delay before the checks arrive, he said. The Denver Post Office “knows that something went wrong, but we don't know exactly what it was," said Dick Sealer, the post offices Denver district director for customer services. By the time the change—of-address cards had been delivered tardily by the post office to Heritage House, “the damage had been done"- the checks had been returned to the Treasury, Sealer conceded. [Subheading] STEPS TAKEN Officials at both federal agencies and at Heritage House said late last week that steps have been taken to prevent a recurrence of this situation, and lapses in procedures will be corrected. Meanwhile, through Caldwell’s persistent efforts, three of the Atlantis residents have received part of their Social Security payments for June and other payments are expected to be made soon. Caldwell said, however, that he wished Atlantis had informed him sooner about the check delays. Because of those delays, Atlantis, still in in a precarious financial situation, according to Linda Chism, the project' accountant, funds that Atlantis [unreadable] to its recent drive for founder members were exhausted recently in paying Atlantis attendants’ salaries, she said. And she stresses that there still is a desperate need for donations from other persons who wish to become founder members of Atlantis, headquartered at 1232 Federal Boulevard. [Subheading] MIKE'S BATTLE For Mike Smith, it is a touch-and-go battle. Early last week, he regained consciousness and greeted his mother, with a cheerful “Hi, Mom!" By late last week, Mike still was confined to bed at Atlantis and still was using an oxygen tank to ease his breathing. Other medical assistance was being provided to Mike. But no matter what happens, Mike said then, Atlantis will succeed, because persons in this group have the driving desire to make it succeed. This intense desire is reflected in much of the highly imaginative and deeply moving poetry Mike has written over the years-- poetry which fills five notebooks. In the opening of one of these poems, Mike wrote of a final journey. But there also is something here which tells of his strong and enduring commitment to Atlantis and to those working so hard for its success. In this poem, Mike wrote: “I feel my spirit surging inside, Speeding and whirling along, Like a mighty March wind, blasting into April, Making the trees bow low for the royalty of the wind. Like a child of innocence, I see my dream before me. And I shall surpass any mountain, or ill or death itself . . .“ Photo Denver Post, David Cupp: A woman (Linda Chism) sits in a power chair with a lap board. Her short legs are extended straight in front of her and covered with cloth. She has a big smile, or laugh on her face. Caption reads: LINDA CHISM LAUGHS AS SHE ENJOYS A SPRING DAY. She says delays put Atlantis in precarious situation.
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Denver Post RTD, Handicapped Protesters Come to Undisclosed Accord By: Howard Pankratz, Denver Post Legal Affairs Writer Heeding a judge’s advice that a court-imposed resolution of their differences could lead only to more problems, handicapped Denver residents and the Regional Transportation District Friday hammered out a solution to their dispute. Although the agreement’s terms won’t be made public until a court hearing February 2, representatives of RTD and the handicapped seemed quite pleased with the accord. A compromise was suggested by Denver District Judge Daniel Sparr. It ended a hectic several weeks during which RTD property has been the scene of demonstrations by wheelchair-bound handicapped and in which RTD sought a court order to prevent such demonstrations. The demonstrations were sparked by a decision of the RTD board of directors not to place wheelchair lifts on 89 high-capacity, articulated buses to be added to the RTD bus fleet in 1993. The RTD responded by going to court, seeking a court ban on demonstrations. But on Thursday, saying he was convinced the gulf between the handicapped and RTD would widen if he entered a court order at RTD request, Sparr called both sides into his chambers. He strongly suggested they work out an agreement among themselves. At all costs, Sparr told them, he wanted to avoid an “us-against-them” climate on both sides, which he said would result if he were forced to rule on RTD's motion for a temporary restraining order. After a total of five hours of talks Thursday and Friday, an agreement was reached. Both sides praised Sparr. “I think Sparr took the correct approach,” said RTD attorney Russ Richardson. “I believe his philosophy is right. When I was in private practice, I advised clients in divorce proceedings that agreements between them and their spouses were much better than a settlement imposed by the court. Court action is one-sided. One side will lose, or sometimes both sides will lose.” John Holland, representing the Atlantis Community for the disabled, said neither side really desired a restraining order and recognized each had rights. Holland said that the agreement is a “fair adjustment of those rights.” Holland added both sides “found out how to relate to each other. I think talking about it, and the judge’s input, were creative,” said the attorney for the handicapped. Richardson said that as part of the agreement, RTD will no longer seek the restraining order.
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Handicapped group sues RTD to have lifts put on new buses By Jerry Brown, News Staff The Atlantis Community for the handicapped and six handicapped people sued the Regional Transportation District Monday in an effort to force the transit agency to put wheelchair lifts on 89 buses to be delivered in 1983. The lawsuit, filed in Denver District Court, alleges that the decision not to put lifts on the high-capacity articulated buses violates: * A state civil rights law stipulating that handicapped people “are entitled to full and equal accommodation, advantages, facilities and privileges of all trains, motor buses, street cars, boats or any other public conveyances or modes of transportation.” * A negotiated 1979 court settlement in which RTD promised to put lifts on 176 buses it had purchased earlier and on all new buses, as required by federal regulations in effect at the time. RTD Executive Director L.A. Kimball declined comment. The lawsuit stems from a Nov. 19 decision by RTD’s board of directors to rescind earlier plans to put lifts on the buses. After members of Atlantis and other handicapped people protested, the board reconsidered the decision in December but stuck by its vote not to buy the lifts. According to RTD, the lifts would cost $1.1 million – or $ 12,571 per bus. Eighty percent of the money would come from federal funds, with RTD supplying the rest. RTD officials have said they plan to use the articulated buses – which bend in the middle and hold about 50 percent more passengers than a regular bus – for semi-express service on heavily used routes. RTD originally ordered lifts for the buses because federal regulations in effect when the buses were ordered required them. But the federal regulations were rescinded last summer.