People with disabilities, Durham City, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis ; findings and next steps of action
Creators: name: Zachary, Ciara
name: Hammer, Julie
name: Kuliani, Rachel
name: Barr, Kate
name: Nelson, Kate
name: Chang, Yuli
Publisher: name: The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University Libraries
Year: 2007

description: An action-oriented community diagnosis (AOCD) is a process that brings together secondary data (such as newspaper articles, websites, and research studies), team observations, and community member and service provider interviews. This information is gathered and analyzed in order to create a comprehensive reference of the community’s strengths and challenges in order to celebrate the positives of the community while addressing the community’s concerns. During the 2006-2007 academic year, a team of six graduate students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health (UNC) conducted an AOCD with people with disabilities in Durham, North Carolina. The information gathered by the student team was presented at a community forum in order for community members, service providers, and key stakeholders to work together to discuss the strengths and needs of the community. The community forum was held on April 14, 2007 at Durham’s Center for Senior Life. Over 60 community members and service providers attended the event. At the forum, participants had the opportunity to participate in small group discussions on the major themes identified through the process. During these discussions, the groups worked together to create and take responsibility for specific action steps. The themes discussed at the forum and their actions steps are as follows: Accessibility: There are many private and public entities in Durham which are not compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Often physical barriers, such as unsafe sidewalks, prevent people with disabilities from adequately accessing the services they need. Action steps: 1. Speak to Services for the Blind about Braille menus. 2. Direct restaurants to Alliance of Disability Advocates for Braille printing. 3. Organize an Awareness Training through the Mayor’s Committee. 4. Provide input in the trainings required by the Department of Justice lawsuit. 5. Contact the Durham ADA coordinator, regarding the trainings. 6. Talk to the Mayor regarding businesses that are not up to code. 7. Invite an ADA liaison or a police official to attend a Mayor’s Committee meeting. 8. File individual complaints regarding accessibility issues if calls to law enforcement are unsuccessful. Attitudes: People with disabilities want to live independent lives and have the same opportunities as everyone else. Action steps: 1. Be involved in the community. Participate like everyone else. 2. Create an email listserv or publicity forum for people with disabilities to advertise events in the community. 3. Attend the Asheville Disabilities Cultural Fest on 6/2/2007. 4. Have more social parties for people with disabilities and the community at large. 5. Influence schools to offer courses that address issues and attitudes towards people with disabilities. 6. Plan a disability pride event or parade that would highlight the arts and educate people about issues facing people with disabilities. 7. Have people with disabilities represented at the Women's Empowerment Conference in Durham. 8. Attend the Self-Advocacy Convention in Winston Salem 3/14 -3/16/2008. 9. Attend the dance sponsored by the Arc of Durham at Edison Johnson 4/21/2007. Housing: There is not enough affordable, accessible housing for people with disabilities to live in. People with disabilities then have to live in homes that make life harder for them or spend a lot of money to modify their homes. Action steps: 1. Work to pass Money Follows the Person. 2. Sign the Money Follows the Person petition. 3. Encourage friends and family to sign the petition by bringing it to events, churches, etc. 4. Invite friends over to discuss housing. 5. Encourage churches to discuss housing issues. 6. Contact city government officials to learn who is accountable for housing. 7. Contact the Mayor’s Committee and Alliance of Disability Advocates / Centers for Independent Living regarding housing and advocacy training. Recreation: Recreational opportunities and activities for people with disabilities exist in Durham; however, opportunities and activities are limited in number and variety, and are not known about. This prevents people from being socially engaged with other people with disabilities and the community at large. Action steps: 1. Write a petition to the Director of Parks and Recreation asking for more recreational activities for people with disabilities. 2. Advocate for people with disabilities at city council meetings. 3. Contact TeleMed about creating a recorded recreation calendar. 4. Discuss the need for more activities for people with disabilities with the director of Durham’s Center for Senior Life. 5. Ask Durham’s Center for Senior Life to put an activity calendar on their phone. 6. Write a letter to the editor highlighting the need for funding for activities for people with disabilities. 7. Contact churches, civic clubs, and local community groups about volunteering to provide transportation for people with disabilities to and from activities. Transportation: DATA buses are accessible and are a great asset to the community. Unfortunately, bus stops are frequently not accessible, which can cause safety concerns. ACCESS is a useful service but requires planning ahead and is often too expensive for people on fixed incomes to afford. Without being able to get to a bus stop or use ACCESS services, people have struggled to get to and from work and participate in social activities. Action steps: 1. Lobby to improve collaboration and secure funding. 2. Lobby to establish an organization that provides resources for regional transit. Following the forum, the team reflected on the AOCD process and their experiences with the community. Summarized below are the team’s final recommendations for the community as they continue working on the action steps: Make the forum an annual event hosted by either a service agency or a governmental organization, such as the Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities. Make the Mayor’s Committee for Persons with Disabilities the clearinghouse for resources and information for people with disabilities. Coordinate the efforts of organizations for people with cognitive disabilities with organizations for people with physical disabilities. Expand the paratransit service to include more drivers and vans or offer a second paratransit service option. Increase community members' impact on decisions made in Durham by having a person with a disability sit in on all applicable city meetings, such as city council, transportation, and parks and recreation meetings. This document is a follow up to the community forum and the AOCD process, including detailed descriptions of each step of the process, information about each theme, and the nature of the small group discussions at the community forum. The team hopes that community members and service providers will use this report, the action steps, and the shared desire to improve the community to continue the work that was started during the AOCD. Ultimately, the team hopes that the initiatives started during this process will lead not only to future improvements in the quality of life for people with disabilities in Durham but in the lives of all residents of Durham.