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Início / Álbuns / Tag Wade Blank 138
- ADAPT (36)
This is the one side of a brochure called Ramp by Ramp. The other side is in ADAPT 35 In the center of the page on this side is a hand drawn map of downtown Denver, not to scale and only including the highlights listed here. Below are the descriptions of the highlighted places: [Headline] "Mapping the Denver Disability Movement's History" [Subheading] McDonald's Restaurant E. Colfax & Pennsylvania St. This restaurant was built in 1985. It replaces an earlier inaccessible McDonald's, which was the first to be blocked by Atlantis activists in 1984. The furniture was bolted to the floor, restricting access for customers with disabilities. Wheelchair users were referred to the drive-up window. After blockades at McDonald's in seven cities, and many arrests for civil disobedience, restaurant officials agreed to develop access requirements so that all travelers could be assured of a meal and restroom. McDonald's also agreed to use disabled actors in their ads, a trend since adopted by many companies. [Subheading] "Groundbreaking" Curb Cuts E. Colfax & Colorado Blvd. At this site in 1980, Atlantis protesters using wheelchairs swung sledgehammers to make way for needed curb ramps. City officials had refused to start planning for curb cuts, stating that it would be impossible to ramp all 44,000 curbs in Denver. Publicity from the sledgehammer action convinced officials to establish a curb cut program, and all Denver curbs are expected to be accessible by the year 1996. [Subheading] Radisson Hotel 16th St. Mall/Tremont Pl. This was the site of the first demonstration by ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit) in October 1983. The nation's transit officials were meeting at the hotel when disabled protesters blocked every entrance. Then Secretary of Transportation Elizabeth Dole, the keynote speaker, was forced to sneak in through a tunnel. During the next seven years, ADAPT continued to protest the policy of “local option," which allowed cities to offer separate, very limited van services, rather than to equip regular buses with lifts. ADAPT members disrupted meetings, blocked inaccessible buses, and committed other acts of civil disobedience for their cause; hundreds were arrested. These actions, and the national media exposure they gained, finally prompted the federal government to require lifts on all new buses. [Subheading] Air Force Academy Chapel Colorado Springs This most-visited tourist attraction on Colorado's front range became accessible only after Atlantis activists staged a “crawl-in" up the steps in 1986. The sight of hundreds of people trying to step over protesters created pressure to force the installation of an elevator in this tax-supported academy. This brochure is dedicated to the memory of Wade and Lincoln Blank. - ADAPT (9)
Congress of the United States House of Representatives Washington, D.C. 20515 March 3, 1975 Wade Blank Ingo Antonitsch Mayor's Commission on the Disabled 1700 Grant St. Denver, C0 80203 Dear Messrs. Blank and Antonitsch: I was so pleased to read in the paper a few days ago that the state has agreed to help fund the Atlantis Project. I hope things continue to proceed smoothly for you in this most worth-while endeavor. If there is any way in which I can be of further assistance, please don't hesitate to let me know. With kind regards, Sincerely, Patricia Schroeder Member of Congress - ADAPT (528)
The New York Times NATIONAL Wednesday, March 14, 1990 DISABLED PROTEST AND ARE ARRESTED More than 100 Are Charged in Capitol Demonstration on Rights Legislation by Steven A. Holmes, Special to the New York Times WASHINGTON, March 13 -- More than 100 disabled protesters in wheelchairs were arrested today during a boisterous demonstration in the Capitol Rotunda, where they pressed for swift passage of a sweeping civil rights bill for the millions of Americans with physical and mental disabilities. “We're taking the strategies of the 60's that helped get rights for black and brown people and women, and using them for people with disabilities," said Wade Blank of Denver, one of the leaders oi the protest. The protesters, who had intended to be arrested, were part of a group of about 150 that met with House Speaker Thomas S. Foley and other Congressional leaders at the Rotunda to demand quick action on the Americans With Disabilities Act. The measure would require that all new buildings and services that serve the general public accommodate the disabled. When Mr. Foley declined to promise a specific date for passage, some in the group began to boo. Arrests Take Two Hours After the legislators departed, the group gathered in a tight circle and began chanting, "Access is a civil right" and “The people united will never be defeated!" Demonstrating in the Capitol is against Federal law. Members of the Capitol police force, many dressed in riot gear, cleared the Rotunda of tourists, surrounded the protesters and used large chain-cutters and acetylene torches to break the links that bound several of the protesters‘ wheelchairs together. The police then wheeled them out. The process took about two hours. Officer Greg Nevitt, a police spokesman, said 104 people had been arrested and would be charged with demonstrating in a Capitol building and unlawful entry. Mr. Blank is one of the founders of Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transit, or ADAPT, a group that represents the militant wing of the disabled-rights movement. in the past, it has staged disruptive acts to publicize the plight of the disabled. in September, the group organized a demonstration in Atlanta where 25 people were arrested for blocking more than a dozen Greyhound-Trailways buses to protest the company's refusal to install wheelchair lifts. The Americans With Disabilities Act, which would extend to the disabled the same protections against bias that are provided for women and members of minority .groups, has recently hit a snag in the Bush Administration's reluctance to go along with tough penalties that could be imposed against companies that failed to comply. But it has already passed the Senate and cleared another hurdle today when the House Committee on Energy and Commerce approved it by a vote of 40 to 3. Two other House panels, the Committee on Public Works and Transportation and the Judiciary Committee, still must vote on the measure. House leaders say the bill will probably reach the House floor by mid-April. - ADAPT (356)
Handicapped Coloradan October 1987 Title: 123 arrested in San Francisco ADAPT blocks cable cars For years San Francisco area disabled rights activists chose to look the other way as that city's historic cable cars transported tourists and locals up and down the steep hills in cars inaccessible to persons in wheelchairs. And then ADAPT (the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit) hit town. On Tuesday, Sept. 29, scores of wheelchair militants dodged police barricades and, hauled their wheelchairs onto the cable car turntable at Market Street. Protesters managed to prevent the cable cars from moving for more than two hours until police cut the chains they were using to attach their wheelchairs to the turntable. Of the 75 protesters arrested on the spot, 43 were booked and spent the night on cots in the county prison gymnasium on the seventh floor of the Hall of Justice. Outside the hall, 80 persons in wheelchairs maintained a candlelight vigil throughout the night. Many tourists were upset with the protesters, yelling at them that they were ruining their vacation. Protesters replied that the tourists' inconvenience would last only a few hours, while they faced a lifetime of inaccessible public transportation. ADAPT was in San Francisco to make just that point to the several thousand delegates attending the national convention of the American Public Transit Association (APTA), a trade group which represents most of the country's transit providers. Some 123 demonstrators were arrested during the San Francisco protest. "Every year it's a new record for the Guinness book," said Wade Blank, one of ADAPT's founders. Many of the other arrests took place as wheelchair activists blocked buses and streets to prevent APTA delegates from attending social functions outside the convention hall. A highlight of the week-long action was a Sunday parade when more than 500 demonstrators formed an eight-block-long river of wheelchairs. "It's got to be one of the most moving and impressive sights I've ever witnessed," Blank said. San Francisco police complimented the demonstrators on their organizational abilities, according to Blank. "We couldn't have done this a few years ago," he said. Blank said one of the highlights of the week for him was when police stopped APTA's executive director Jack Gilstrap from climbing over a fence to avoid a confrontation with the demonstrators. - ADAPT (608)
The NATIONAL DISABILITY ACTION CENTER Timothy M. Cook, Director For Immediate Release Contact: Timothy M. Cook 202/467-5730 DISABILITY GROUPS DELIGHTED BY DOT RULING ON ACCESSIBLE BUSES United States Transportation Department Secretary Samuel Skinner, stating his strong "support of policies that would substantially improve access to mass transit services for handicapped persons," today proposed a new regulation "requiring all new buses to be accessible,“ and "requiring supplemental paratransit service . . comparable to the service for the general public for persons who could not use the fixed route transit service." The regulation was issued in response to a court suit brought by Americans Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT) and twelve other national disability organizations. Wade Blank, head of ADAPT, stated that he was "delighted that the Administration finally has followed through on its commitment to persons with disabilities." The regulation will require all buses that are newly purchased or remanufactured to include wheelchairs lifts in their design and manufacture. According to Timothy M. Cook, of the Washington—based National Disability Action Center, the attorney for the disability groups, "this new rule will immensely enhance the lives of persons with disabilities throughout the country. It will open education, employment, and social opportunities heretofore closed to individuals with disabilities simply because they have had no way to get there." -30- - ADAPT (140)
Rocky Mountain News 10/16/84 Denver- Boulder rides offered to handicapped By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer The Regional Transportation District started offering special rides between Boulder and Denver for handicapped passengers Monday amid criticism from disabled activist that the new service is a form of illegal segregation. “We’re not looking for special, we’re looking for equal,” said Wade Blank, spokesman for the disabled protect group called Adapt. “Basically, we’re being segregated.” RTD contracted with Special Transit Systems Inc. of Boulder to provide the new service. It will operate on weekdays during rush hours between the Boulder Transit Center, 14th and Walnut streets, and down town Denver, outside the Market Street Station. Morning Trips leave Boulder at 6:30 a.m. and arrive in Denver at 7:15 a.m. The bus starts its return trip to Boulder at 8:30 a.m., arriving at 9:10 a.m. Afternoon trips leave Boulder at 4 p.m. and arrive in Denver at 4:40. The return trips leave Denver at 5:30 p.m., arriving in Boulder at 6:20. The rides require reservations at least three business days in advance. Special door-to-door service by STS is available the rest of the day. The fare is $1.75 each way, the same as a regular RTD express bus ride. RTD officials are offering the service as a compromise to handicapped riders who demand that wheelchair lifts be included on new over-the-road buses scheduled for purchase next month. Those buses would be used for express runs to Boulder, Evergreen and Conifer. Without the special service, RTD officials said, disabled people would have no public transit between Denver and Boulder. “Perhaps as an interim problem-solver, it (the special service) is done in good faith,” Blank said. “But I hope it wouldn’t be a permanent alternative. Most people don’t know their plans (for bus riding) three days in advance." - ADAPT (234)
Friday. May 45, I986, Gazette Telegraph -- A3 headlines Gazette Telegraph wire services the nation Title: Cincinnati called civil rights battleground CINCINNATI — Leaders of 17 wheelchair-bound protesters who were arrested while demonstrating for access to public transit buses say Cincinnati has become a civil rights battleground. “This is the Selma, Ala., of the disabled civil rights movement,” said the Rev. Wade Blank of Denver, a co-founder of the group American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation, which staged this week's protests. Seventeen protesters from Texas, Colorado and Utah were arrested Wednesday, when the American Public Transit Association concluded its regional meeting. Some boarded buses and declined requests that they get off. Others blocked a parking entrance to the hotel where the association met, while three others chained themselves together to block a doorway in the Queen City Metro headquarters. - ADAPT (423)
[Headline] "We Will Ride" [Subheading] Disabled Protesters Clash with Transit Authorities National Group Fights for Accessible Transit Disclosure Jan-Feb, 1989 [This article continues on ADAPT 420 but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] "These protests are the continuation of an ongoing assault," says Stephanie Thomas of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT). In October, ADAPT disrupted the annual convention of the American Public Transit Authority (APTA) in Montreal with a series of protests. "We want all buses to be made accessible to disabled people," says Stephanie Thomas, who lives in Austin, Texas. "And we will continue these confrontations until that happens!" ADAPT is getting closer and closer to that goal. Last year, a task force created by APTA proposed lifts on all new buses. Nevertheless, at the Board of Directors' meeting in Montreal in October, APTA reaffirmed its current policy on transportation for disabled persons. In many cities, transportation for disabled persons means some kind of a pickup service. "It's a segregated system," says Stephanie Thomas, "and it never works out as well as it sounds. Riding public transportation is a civil right." For this civil right, ADAPT turns to civil disobedience. ADAPT has become such a force at APTA conventions that local police now prepare in advance for the group's demonstrations. In Montreal, police watched videos of ADAPT demonstrations in the U.S. and 100 police were put through a day-long training session on how to deal with the anticipated protests. But that didn't stop the ADAPT protesters, who continue to fight tenaciously for accessible transit. The four day series of actions in Montreal began on Sunday, October 1st. Despite a torrential downpour and near freezing temperatures, 120 members of ADAPT marched down Boulevard Rene Levesque to the Hotel Queen Elizabeth, APTA's 1988 convention site. ADAPT protesters were joined by representatives of their local counterpart — Le Mouvement des Consommateurs Handicapes de Quebec (MCHQ) or the Movement of Disabled Consumers of Quebec. ADAPT members swarmed across the road to enter the hotel, despite at least a one-to-one ratio of police to protesters. Even as a wall of police barricades was hastily erected, protesters climbed down from their chairs and crawled under the barriers. They were carried back by the police, but no arrests were made. That evening ADAPT took a more undercover approach. "No small feat for over 100 wheelchairs," commented Stephanie Thomas. Sneaking through back alleys and a back door, 15 people in wheelchairs were carried down a flight of stairs into one of the satellite hotels in which APTA members were staying. Meanwhile, two other `groups` converged on the front door using their wheelchairs to push aside makeshift barriers of luggage carts. Singing and chanting, ADAPT took over the lobby — blocking elevators, escalators, and stairs as APTA members looked on in shock, Finally, the police selectively arrested 28 of the demonstrators, including two who had chained themselves to the stairway. That night, a judge sentenced members of the group to a $50 fine, to be paid on the spot, or they would be faced with three days in jail, with a probation banning those arrested from entering downtown Montreal for six months. Twenty of the group refused to pay the fine and went to prison. Nevertheless, this put no damper on ADAPT's actions. Next hit: the APTA Spouses' Luncheon and Fashion Show, a favorite ADAPT target. The luncheon was held at a chalet atop Mount Royal on Mon-day, October 3. Ten more ADAPT members were arrested, as the APTA buses were stopped and the spouses were forced to walk past chanting demonstrators. On Monday night, October 3, 20 wheelchair users penetrated the Queen Elizabeth Hotel through an underground shopping area. 7 year old Jennifer Keelan, who uses a wheelchair, and her mother, were taken into custody and threatened with arrest, but were later let go. Meanwhile, in two Montreal prisons, the system was showing its inability to deal with severely disabled inmates. The ADAPT inmates were on a hunger strike. Officials decided that, due to good behavior, everyone would be out by Tuesday morning. ADAPT swung into the final phase of operation Tuesday morning. As requested by MCHQ, it was time to hit the local transit system — which is completely inaccessible to people with mobility impairments. Buses were stopped for an hour at a local bus transfer site, while a local woman crawled from her wheelchair aboard a bus and tried unsuccessfully to ride. "We are sorry for the inconvenience, but we are inconvenienced all our lives," said Wade Blank of ADAPT to the crowd. Blank is the founder of ADAPT. On Wednesday, October 5, ADAPT entered the Longueuil METRO subway station and once again tried to ride. The station had no ramps or elevators, and narrow turnstyles. 50 ADAPT members sang and chanted in the cavernous station — and cheered as 15 others crawled out of their wheelchairs, down the steps, and across the floor to the turnstyles where police blocked their passage. From the dirty platform floor, ADAPT held a press conference. We explained our simple desire to use the public transit that our taxes pay for," says Stephanie Thomas. "Lack of access is degrading for people with disabilities." The pressure on APTA is clearly mounting. APTA is now considering a resolution which strongly supports mainline transit access — ADAPT's demand from the start. In addition, Le Mouvement des Consommateurs Handicapes de Quebec has learned first hand the effectiveness of direct action techniques and has vowed to continue the pressure locally in Montreal. "In Quebec, now they are saying 'Nous serons transporte!', says Stephanie Thomas. "That means what we have been saying all along, and will continue to say: 'We will ride!" Photo by Tom Olin: On a Montreal street Mike Auberger pushing his knees through a police barricade as two officers try and hold him back. In the background another ADAPT person is also up against the barricades held by police. Caption: Mike Auberger of American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit (ADAPT) breaking through police barricade at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel where the American Public Transit Authority (APTA) was staying for its convention last October. - ADAPT (127)
Rocky Mountain News 8/5/83 RTD proposes bus changes for disabled By Tony Pugh, Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer The Regional Transportation District, in an open forum with handicapped citizens Thursday, introduced changes designed to make buses more accessible for disabled riders. Mike Smith, director of transit operations, outlined the proposed improvements, which include a new material to improve traction on bus wheelchair lifts and a metal “kickplate,” designed to minimize wear on lifts from hitting curbs. A new rotary control panel, said to be easier for drivers to operate, and a new lift wiring system also were introduced. Although many people in the attendance voiced displeasure with bus driver insensitivity and mechanical failure of the lifts, others expressed gratitude to RTD for its efforts in accommodating handicapped riders. Bill West, chairman of RTD’s handicapped advisory council, said he is reasonably pleased with RTD officials’ commitment to the disabled community. “I think they’re committed to making the best of what they’ve been mandated to do, but I believe they have a tendency to focus more on the lifts rather than better driver training,” West said. Larry Ruiz, 29, typified the problems encountered by handicapped riders. Earlier this week, he was passed up by four buses as he waited at a stop outside Colorado General Hospital, said Ruiz, who is confined to a wheelchair. The first bus had no lift, the next two buses had lifts, but the drivers did not know how to operate them. After waiting more than two hours, the driver of the fourth bus called a HandyRide disabled vehicle which took Ruiz home. But that lift malfunctioned, Ruiz said. He had to be removed manually. This gathering was a forerunner to a meeting in late October between the American Public Transit Association and the newly formed American Disabled for Accessible Public Transit. A spokesman for the access group, Wade Blank, said it will made three demands to the association: * “Wheelchair accessibility by all public transit systems in the nation.” * “To serve notice to all bus manufacturers that only wheelchair accessible buses will be purchased by its members.” * “For the federal government to stand behind this moral position and develop laws and regulations supporting total access for the wheelchair bound public on public transit.” - ADAPT (691)
Title: 73 arrests in wheelchair melee by Darryl E. Owens Orlando Sentinel Monday 10/7 [This article is continued on ADAPT 688 but the entire text is included here for easier reading.] PHOTO by Tom Fitz/Sentinel: A woman (Anita Cameron) is being shoved over by a security guard or police officer, only his arm is visible. Her face shows pain and fear. She is falling into the lap of a woman in a wheelchair (Jennifer McPhail) who looks down at Anita and is being held forward by a woman and a man protester who are looking at the police. Behind Jennifer is another wheelchair user and behind them is another ADAPTer in a wheelchair and a man standing (Chicken-man Carl ______). Over the shoulders of the other two protesters more ADAPT protesters, in wheelchairs and standing, are up against other barriers but looking at what is happening to Anita. In the background the ADAPT bubble van is visible. Caption: [Unreadable][Anita]Cameron of Denver is shoved in confrontation with Peabody security force members Title: Disabled place hotel under siege by Darryl E Owens of the Sentinel Staff The battle lines were drawn early Sunday afternoon. For Wade Blank and the 210 or so members of ADAPT, or American Disabled for Attendant Programs Today, the plan was simple. “We're going to block the entrance to the hotel because those people block our lives," he said of the American Health Care Association, which represents nursing home operators and has attracted 3,500 people to a convention this week at the Peabody Hotel. On the other side, hotel security and about 130 Orange County deputies and Florida Highway Patrol troopers were standing by to stop any protesters who blocked the doors with their bodies or their wheelchairs. “The main goal is to assist and help these people in a professional and sensitive manner," said sheriffs spokesman Cpl. Doug Sarubbi. “But when they break the law. we’ve got to enforce it." When the battle ended, one person had been hurt. one had suffered a heart attack and at least 73 had been arrested as ADAPT launched its four-day protest demanding fewer people be kept in nursing homes and more money be devoted to caring for the disabled at home. It was a battle authorities had mapped out extensively, making sure officials and facilities could accommodate the 'protesters' disabilities, said Sarubbi and Ed Royal, the Orange County Jail's assistant corrections director of programming. The costs of the special provisions had not been added up late Sunday, Sarubbi said. “This wasn't supposed to be the big day" of the protest, Sarubbi said. “We expect it every day and are prepared for whatever happens." More arrests were expected late Sunday, Sanibbi said. Each protester was charged with trespassing, taken to the Orange County Jail and held on $1,000 bail. A woman apparently was cut on the head when a table or bicycle lock fell on her while she tried to break through a barricade at the north entrance of the hotel. Pat Hasley, a top Peabody security specialist, suffered a heart attack outside the hotel and was taken to SandLake Hospital. His condition was unknown late Sunday. In demonstrations across the country, ADAPT has blocked meetings, disrupted speeches and shut down offices. “We chose to shut down the able-bodied system that suppresses us," ADAPT co-founder Blank said. "If they choose to arrest us, so be it." Denver-based ADAPT wants Medicaid to redirect 25 percent of its $23 billion nursing home budget to home care for the disabled. The group also wants 45 minutes on the convention agenda to make its position known. “We‘re not trying to change the world," said Toni Funderburk, who calls herself a nursing home survivor. “We're just trying to live in it." Linda Keegan, a vice president for the nursing home association, said the group could better spend its time at the bargaining table rather than barricading buildings. “I think it would make a bigger difference if they sit down with us and come to a compromise. "It's not our money to give," she said. “The real issue is an issue of choice. There needs to be choice on both sides. The only approach that makes sense is to sit down and form a compromise that makes sense for all." Sunday's showdown began at 12:35 p.m. as protesters filed out of the Clarion Plaza Hotel, across the street from the Peabody, with a phone number to a group lawyer scrawled on their arms, shouting "Hey! Hey! Ho! Ho! Nursing homes have got to go!" Others carried signs with such slogans as "End apartheid Destroy nursing homes" as others waved a modified U.S. flag with the stars forming the universal handicapped symbol. As the first protesters reached the Peabody parking lot, deputies confronted them. The protesters climbed out of their wheelchairs, crawled on the ground and tried to scoot past and through the legs of deputies in a race for the hotel doors. “Get to that damn door," barked Bob Kafka, a Texas ADAPT organizer. “Go! Go! Go!" Security scrambled to block the protesters, but ADAPT members managed to create a logjam at the entrance with their bodies or wheelchairs. “It's inconvenient," Peabody general manager Michael French said of the protest. “We respect their right to protest, but they must respect our right to operate a business." After the protesters refused security workers' request to leave, several school buses arrived, specially equipped for the disabled. Authorities brought in a moving van for non-disabled protesters. “We tried civil means and they just give us a cookie, pat us on the back and say, ‘Go away,'" Funderburk said. Deputies carried crawling protesters and ushered wheelchair users into the vehicles. The display drew looks of disbelief from some hotel guests and empathy from others. “It's awful," said Elma Oeters, visiting from Europe. Jacqueline Krygsman of Holland called the situation ridiculous, saying her country has a national health care policy. “They should have things at home." Police shuttled prisoners across the street to a makeshift booking office at the Orange County Convention and Civic Center before taking them to jail. Royal said open bay cells normally reserved for juveniles, psychotic inmates and those with other special needs were used for the protesters in wheelchairs. Guards were on duty in the bays. The open bays, which normally hold about 60 people, contained between six and 10 handicapped people, depending on their needs. Four nurses were added to the normal staff of five, he said. "The corrections staff underwent special training to understand the needs of handicapped individuals," Royal said. Other special provisions made by the jail included obtaining hand-held commodes and arrangements for the care of any guide dogs accompanying blind protesters. Those arrested will have to go through the normal process to be released. “Those who are able to bond will be allowed to bond," Royal said. “Those who are not able to bond will have to go to first appearance before a judge in the morning." Most protesters, after being informed of the $1,000 bond, said they could not afford to pay and would remain in jail, Blank said. "I guess Orlando wants to prove a point," he said. “We didn't travel 1,900 miles to haul it in after one day. It's not like it‘s anything new. Nursing homes or jail. We know what being incarcerated is all about." Mary Brooks of the Sentinel staff contributed to this report. - ADAPT (136)
HCC [Handicapped Coloradan?] 2/84 Two photos by Bob Conrad: Top photo of person in a sports jacket and in a manual wheelchair on a lift getting ready to enter a bus with "Ride" written on the side. He is facing in toward the door of the vehicle. Bottom photo is of a person in a wheelchair sitting on a lift facing out the door of a bus. A man [Wade Blank] with long blonde hair and a plaid jacket stands beside the lift watching. Wheeler for a Day Jay Bear Baker, an RTD district director, finds out first hand what it's like to travel via "The Ride" when you're in a wheelchair. Baker was accompanied on the mid-February excursion by members of the American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation (ADAPT). Baker boarded buses at Broadway and Colfax and traveled along Lincoln and Alameda. Four out of the five buses he attempted to ride had functioning lifts. in the bottom photo ADAPT member Wade Blank watches as Baker is lowered to the curb. Baker's rides included a trip on one of the 89 new articulated buses. Those are the buses which were equipped with lifts only after the newly elected RTD board voted to reverse a decision made by the old appointed board and former RTD General Manager L.A. Kimball. "The lift worked beautifully, " Blank said. "I've heard that a lot of drivers are praising it, too. " The expedition with Baker is part of a plan by ADAPT to encourage RTD to continue to make its system totally accessible to wheelchair riders. Blank said he's encouraged by some of RTD's 177 more lift-equipped buses as well as to correct wiring problems in many of like current lifts. RTD has also approved the use of a lift equipped over-the road coach on the Denver-Boulder run on an experimental basis. Blank said he has met with new RTD General Manager William Colby and warned him that Colorado’s three favorite sports were "skiing, hiking, and criticizing RTD." - ADAPT (84)
Denver Post [Headline] RTD Cries Foul Over 'Stuck' Rider Photo to right of article, Denver Post photo by Ken Bisio: A woman [Beverly Furnice] who is in a motorized wheelchair with her long legs extended straight in front of her, is framed by the front door of a bus. She has her left arm up above her face, as if to protect herself and she has a wary expression on her face. Behind her a large man in shirt sleeves and a tie is holding her wheelchair's push handles and appears to be trying to maneuver her off the bus. There does not appear to be a lift deployed. Part of the universal access symbol is visible next to the door of the bus. Caption reads: Beverly Furnice is helped off an RTD bus. She wound up on a long ride. By BRAD MARTISIUS Denver Post Staff Writer In the 1960s, the Kingston Trio recorded a song about a man trapped on the MTA, doomed to ride forever in the Boston subway. That song seemed prophetic Thursday when a handicapped woman found herself unable to get off an Regional Transportation District bus and ended up seeing much of Denver before finally being assisted off by RTD officials, anxious to avoid a scene. The incident, however, raised the hackles of RTD officials, who felt they were the victims of a ploy by members of the Atlantis Community, 4536 E. Colfax Ave., an organization that aids the handicapped. And Wade Blank, co-director of the Atlantis Community, said he wasn't too happy with RTD substituting one type of RTD lift-bus for another type, leading to a very long ride for the handicapped woman. THE WOMAN, Beverly Furnice, 43, of 1135 Josephine St., has legs which are rigid perpendicular to her body and don't bend because of her condition. This makes it impossible for her to ride in an automobile or taxi, a problem exacerbated by the fact that her wheelchair weighs 400 pounds and doesn't fold. Blank said she rides the bus to work daily, and usually has no problems. However, he said RTD put a different bus on the route Thursday. Asked why Miss Furnice didn't just wait for the next bus, Blank said the special buses on that route run only every two hours. Miss Furnice’s wheelchair is elevated and is longer than many wheelchairs, and was unable to negotiate the bus‘ interior without help, even though the bus was equipped with a ramp to aid handicapped persons in boarding. When she got on the bus, she was aided by Atlantis Community members. But when the time came for her to get off, there was no one to help, and the busdriver, who wouldn't identify himself, refused to leave his driver’s seat, so she had no choice but to continue riding the bus, taking the circuit out to Red Rocks and back. ACCORDING TO Dick Thomas, executive director for RTD‘s department of program management, the driver was assured that help would be available for Miss Furnice when she got off the bus. He said the driver made it clear when she boarded that he wouldn't help her get off. “The drivers have the right to do that," Thomas explained. “It’s in their union contract, and it's there to protect the other passengers. It’s up to the driver's discretion. He can help, but he doesn't have to if he feels it would be hazardous to leave the driver's seat." Thomas said Blank boarded the bus at Miss Furnice's stop and argued with the bus driver, but refused to help her get off the bus. About two hours later, several wheelchair-bound persons from the community were waiting at Miss Furnice’s stop, with the intention of boarding the bus also and riding in sympathy with her. Blank said Friday that the bus incident wasn't a planned protest, but that the wrong bus had arrived at least three times before and that this time Atlantis community decided to make a point about the type of bus used “which was bought without our permission." Blank said RTD frequently replaces one type of lift-bus with other, less accessible types, creating potential problems. “We've asked RTD not to use the less-accessible buses, for just this reason," Blank said. “It's not a problem if the driver is sensitive to the needs of the handicapped." Thomas said the lift-buses, while designed to meet some of the needs of the handicapped, never will be able to meet all the needs of everyone. He said there always will be some handicapped who just won’t be able to use them. - ADAPT (239)
THE CINCINNATI ENQUIRER THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1986 section B PHOTO by the Cincinnati Enquirer's Michael E. Keating: From inside a van you see a man with long braids, a headband and a trimmed beard (Mike Auberger) sitting in a motorized wheelchair. He is wearing an ADAPT "no steps" logo shirt with a band across his chest. His expression is calm, almost removed from the situation. On either side and behind him police officers stand as a lift raises him up to van level. Through the window of the front door you can see a crowd standing by. Caption reads: Michael Auberger, Denver, Colo., is loaded into a police van Wednesday after being arrested for trespassing at Queen City Metro headquarters, where handicapped activists are protesting the lack of access to city buses. [Headline] Disabled protesters won’t post bail BY DAVID WELLS The Cincinnati Enquirer Eleven disabled men remain in the Hamilton County Justice Center Wednesday, unwilling to post bonds set by the court after they were arrested downtown Wednesday, during a protest over lack of public transportation for the handicapped. Municipal Judge David Albanese ordered five other protesters released against their will, saying their medical conditions could not be adequately treated in the jail. All 16 protesters pleaded not guilty. "This is the first time in the history of our movement that the disabled haw been locked up in jail overnight for making their protests,” said the Rev. Wade Blank, a founder of ADAPT (American Disabled for Accessible Public Transportation), to which all the protesters belong. The protesters plan to stay in jail because "bonds just play the game they want us to play," said William Bolte, one of those arrested. "We aren't just going to pay a bond and go away." The ADAPT members came to Cincinnati this week from all over the United States to demonstrate before a convention of the American Public Transit Association being held at the Westin Hotel. ADAPT wants the transit association to pass a resolution in support of full accessibility to public ...[the rest is missing.] Boxed Text: Rights violations charged By Tony Puch, The Cincinnati Enquirer The Cincinnati Human Relations Commission is considering an investigation into allegations against Westin Hotel of violating the civil rights of some handicapped citizens. Robert Harris, the commission's community representative for the disabled, said he had received four "solid" complaints and four to six possible complaints about the Westin's policies toward the handicapped while the ... (Pease see WESTIN, back page, this section) [We are missing second part of this story] - ADAPT (16)
The Denver Post - Sunday June 1, 1975 PHOTO by John Prieto: A woman (Linda Chism) sits in a wheelchair with her legs extended out in front of her and covered by a blanket. Her shoulders are covered by a jacket. She has a lap board on her chair and her purse/bag is resting on it. She is looking ahead. To her left sits a man (Glenn Kopp) in a wheelchair. He has longish hair, a goatee and is wearing glasses. He looks down slightly, as if listening. In the front bottom corner of the picture someone's arm is visible. Caption reads: Linda Chism and Glenn Kopp discuss Independent-Living Idea They are in living room of apartment at the Las Casitas complex. [Headline] Independence from Nursing Homes - Atlantis' Handicapped Move to New Life by Pat Afzal On the surface, this Sunday is just a moving day for eight Denver area young men and women. Underneath, however, the day emerges as a first, precious taste of freedom for them. They are severely handicapped and will move out of nursing homes Sunday into their own apartments and have a crack at independent living. Sunday will be, oh .... like Christmas,” says wheelchair-bound Glenn Kopp, co-executive director of the Atlantis Community, Inc. The group is leasing the apartments where the young adults will live. Linda Chism, Atlantis' treasurer-accountant, likens the moving experience to “a flower opening up. We don't know how it's going to work out for sure. Things will sort of evolve." Their excitement seems normal because they're helping others embark on a new experience. Then they begin to talk about why the independent-living idea got going. And their comments harden into strong indictments against the institutional way of life for the young handicapped. "You know about civil rights?," Kopp asks a reporter. "Well, a handicapped person in an institution has no civil rights." "That statement about race, creed and color - well, it doesn't apply to handicapped people. We're left out of it." Kopp, who was worked in a Denver area nursing home said that when residents there went against the rules, a punishment was to take their electric wheel chairs away. “That's (the chairs) your freedom, you’re movement. Without it, you can't get around." [Subheading] Rule Ridiculed He ridiculed a rule that said the handicapped had to be in bed by 9 p.m. “Why should a grown man have to go to bed at 9 o’clock?" he asks. “It's a so very dehumanizing way to live, to say the least,” Ms. Chism adds. “You’re without privacy. All your dignity is just gone. You're not recognized as a person. You're a patient and that's it.” Nursing homes "like a lot of young people around, tooling around in their wheel chairs,” Kopp says. “lt adds an air of something nicer than just a lot of people sitting around.” By the same token, there isn't a lot of willingness to give the young people the freedom they feel and need, Kopp says. Those who are “lucky enough to have a taste of living normally really get depressed. It can be a very sad thing." It was soon after Kopp stopped working for the nursing home in Denver that he and a friend — Wade Blank — decided that “there's gotta be a better way to live. There has to be some better options." They slowly began to attract verbal, but not much monetary, support for their idea and Atlantis Community, Inc., was born. Eventually the group wants to build a 140-unit apartment complex for the severely handicapped. Right now, however, their first project is the seven apartment units in Las Casitas complex on Denver's west side where the eight young people will be moving Sunday. The apartments are on the western edge of a larger apartment complex in the 1200 block of Federal Boulavard. Credit for helping to make Atlantis’ dream a reality goes to Dr. Henry A. Foley, state director of social services, and John Helm of the Denver Housing Authority, Kopp said. “We went in cold to Dr. Foley, and he got us $3,000 seed money to apply to a larger grant," Kopp said. The grant, from the Department of Vocational Rehabilitation, made possible almost $20,000 in renovations at the Las Casitas apartments. Helm told them about the apartment vacancies. The new tenants will live on welfare and social service payments, and visiting nurses and on-site attendants will help take care of their medical and personal needs. On July 1, six other tenants will move in. Those slated for the Sunday move are “frightened, understandably,” Ms. Chism says. “When you've lived in an nursing home much of your life, you’re naturally apprehensive about living on your own." She said police were worried about the safety of the tenants because the apartments are in a higher-crime area. “But they (police) don't realize that in an institution, you don’t own anything for very long because it’s stolen," Kopp said. [Headline] Meetings Encouraging Meetings with a tenant union at Las Casitas have been encouraging, he added, and residents already living there have welcomed the idea of their new neighbors. The problem now is for Atlantis Community to stay alive financially so other young handicapped adults also can experience the freedom of independent living. And there are immediate problems like finding things such as kitchen utensils, bed linen and furniture to make the Las Casitas like home. But optimism about the future is apparent. “When you think of how far we've come in a year," Ms. Chism says. “I'd say there's a lot more to come from Atlantis." - ADAPT (129)
Rocky Mountain News RTD pleases disabled, reports wheelchair lifts on buses to be fixed By JOSEPH B. VERRENGIA Rocky Mountain News Staff Writer A Regional Transportation District committee voted unanimously Tuesday to fix the wheelchair lifts on 127 buses, ending a week of heated showdowns that led to the arrest of three disabled protesters. Amid cheers from the demonstrators who twice last week blockaded downtown buses, the transit directors reaffirmed RTD's policy that much of its regular service be handicapped-accessible. “lt was all emotional," RTD chairman William Rourke said of the events preceding the compromise. “Everyone kept reinforcing perceptions and speculation, rather than getting down to cases." The confrontations started last Thursday when three members of the militant handicapped-rights group ADAPT were arrested by Denver police for rolling their wheelchairs in front of buses along 17th Street and East Colfax Avenue. Mike Auberger, George Roberts and Renate Rabe face fines of $250 apiece or brief jail terms if convicted in Denver District Court next month for causing traffic hazards and disrupting a government agency. They were among 20 handicapped demonstrators protesting a Feb. 12 decision by RTD’s planning committee to delay fixing the balky electrical systems on 303 buses. RTD officials said the repairs would cost $753,059. With lifts on about half of its 750-bus fleet, RTD is one of the nations most accessible public transit systems. This winter, however, electrical and mechanical problems have made the lifts so unreliable that disabled passengers said they frequently suffered frostbite while waiting for an accessible bus. Handicapped protesters originally wanted all 303 broken lifts fixed. They relented Tuesday when RTD officials explained 176 of the buses with broken lifts would be retired next year. Fixing those lifts would be a waste, officials said. “If we had our druthers, we would like to see all of the lifts rewired," ADAPT spokesman Wade Blank said. “But those 127 (that will be fixed) are going to be around for 12 years, so we accepted in the interest of compromise.” Blank said the protests were sparked by rumors that some RTD officials wanted to scrap all of the wheelchair lifts and replace them with door-to-door vans. ADAPT members consider such “dial-a-ride” service“ to be unconstitutional because it would be separate from regular bus service. Rourke said two of the five bus manufacturers bidding to replace the 176 buses heading for retirement would include wheelchair lifts. RTD is required to accept the lowest bid. Rourke declined to comment on what RTD would do if the low bid does not include wheelchair lifts.