Powell River Disability Sports Club will be demonstrating wheelchair basketball for Access Awareness Day on June 2. The plan is to have participants show off their skills at the old tennis courts at Beach Gardens Resort and Marina where the second annual Powell River Blues Festival is taking place June 1 to 3.
“The club is the charity of choice for this year’s event,” said David Morris, executive director for Powell River Model Community for Persons with Disabilities. It is the umbrella organization for the sports club. “Members of the disability sports club will be staffing a booth at the festival as well as putting on the demonstrations.”
Celebrated annually on the first Saturday in June, Access Awareness Day is a comprehensive campaign to raise awareness about disability, accessibility and social inclusion. This year marks the 15th annual Access Awareness Day, which provides people with an opportunity to look at their communities and to think about how they can strive to make them a little more accessible and inclusive for everyone. The theme for 2012 is “Celebrate Accessibility, Celebrate Inclusion.”
Morris explained that the disability sports club has about 50 people attending its regular events which have had a focus on basketball.
“We’ve received a grant to provide sledge hockey here next winter, and are working with the city [of Powell River] and Powell River Sports Council on the project.”
Most of the city properties are meeting accessibility standards, “except for city hall, ironically,” said Morris. “There are kneeling buses, curb cuts and wheelchair-accessible buildings.”
Businesses are more aware than ever about the need to be accessible, he said.
Model Community has published a new business access guide that shows the level of accessibility for hundreds of businesses in Powell River.
“Our greatest need at the moment is for accessible housing,” Morris added.
Accessing the outdoors also is important for people with disabilities. Earlier this month Powell River Mobility Opportunities Society invited Sam Sullivan, former mayor of Vancouver, to participate in a celebration of his trailrider invention. The society held an event at Willingdon Beach and continues to look for support, including financial aid, to keep the trailriders available in Powell River.
Access Awareness Day has been made possible because of dedicated and inspired individuals who understand the importance of social inclusion; the recognition that both the right and the opportunity to participate in all aspects of human life enable individuals and communities to celebrate their diversity and recognize their responsibilities.
Access Awareness Day is ultimately about more than just one day a year—it is a call to respond creatively and purposefully to build a society where barriers to inclusion are removed, and the independence, self-esteem, dignity, and security of each individual is secured.
