Denver Post, 1975

PHOTO. Denver Post photos by Ernie Leyba: A slim woman and man in a manual wheelchair are surrounded by laundry they are folding and stacking. They look over their shoulders as the man shakes hands with a man in a dark suit (Governor Lamm) who is talking with another standing man with longish blonde hair (Wade Blank).
Caption reads: Gov. Dick Lamm, left,and Director Wade Blank visit laundry. Handicapped "hot line" has been set up in laundry, which is also office.

[Headline] Lamm Tours Community of Handicaps
By Patrick A. McGuire
Denver Post Staff Writer

Fourteen handicapped persons who once lived in nursing homes, but now enjoy a high degree of independence in their own community, welcomed Gov. Dick Lamm to their homes Tuesday for a special tour.

Their home, the Atlantis Community, occupies seven apartments and a laundry room in a Denver Housing project at W. 11th and Federal Boulevard.

With federal and state funds, the 14 residents and 12 staff aides have remodeled the apartments so that wheel chairs move freely through hallways and down ramps.

With a state grant they have set up a handicapped “hot line” in the laundry room that doubles as an office. As many as 70 times daily, handicapped persons across the city and state call seeking information on services.

Lamm encouraged Atlantis to seek state funds for the project through the Colorado Social Services Department. He went to the community Tuesday, ostensibly to see how state money was being used, but admitted in an interview that he had other reasons.

“During my campaign," he said, “that whole walk across the state was very intense. It was a gimmick, too, I’ll be the first to admit that.

“But I stayed at some places and saw some people like these. I was trying to sensitize myself. You know, it’s the easiest thing in the world to forget people like these.” He said he wanted to make sure he didn’t forget them.

Lamm went from apartment to apartment with Wade Blank, Atlantis executive director, inspecting the homes and shaking hands with the delighted residents.

For most of their lives, the residents have lived in nursing homes, depending on them for medical care and a social life.

Barry Rosenberg, a member of the Atlantis board of directors, told Lamm,
“So many handicapped are born with a sense of guilt, because they’re different. We’re trying to turn them around and give them some hope.

Atlantis residents Blank said, draw on existing city services for medical care and social services.He estimated that it costs $225 a month less, per person, to live at Atlantis than in a nursing home.

The city is planning to lower the curbing along the Atlantis boundary on Federal Boulevard, so the wheel-chaired residents easily can cross the street to stores and restaurants.

Lamm praised the Atlantis staff as “dedicated people who are trying to make sure a few other fine human beings are cared for."

Created on

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Posted on

Tuesday 2 February 2016

Tags

apartments, Atlantis Community, Barry Rosenberg, Governor Richard Lamm, grants, hot line, nursing homes, Wade Blank

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• Early Atlantis Community, 1975

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