Accessibility Advisory Committee Chair Maureen Straza provided a year-end report to council during its Tuesday, April 9
Regular Meeting.
Straza thanked council and city staff for their commitment to the Rick Hansen Accessibility Certification Program in the summer of 2023 and said she hopes to continue to encourage the community and local businesses to think about accessibility and inclusivity for all when conducting renovations or undertaking construction.
Coun. Jazmyn Lyons said she really enjoys her work with the committee and how the group has realistic and achievable ideas and goals.
The city provides staff time, lunches for the meetings and a council liaison for the committee, which makes recommendations to make the city more accessible for those with some types of disabilities.
Straza mentioned recruiting for one vacant position on the committee and said the committee received a grant thanks to the city applying for the grant from Sparc BC to host an Access Awareness Day event. The group was hoping to highlight the importance of accessibility with a theme for the event of “inclusion starts here” and used the funds to hire a videographer to create an educational video to increase awareness of accessible parking. The city then provided staff time to apply for another Sparc BC grant to further enhance the video.
Council also expressed its gratitude for the hard work and tireless efforts of all of the volunteers on the AAC.
In her highlights to Council, Straza also noted the addition of disabled parking stalls at the Cariboo Memorial Recreation Complex, as well as the success of a spring walk with the city’s Municipal Services Department to help identify on-street disabled parking spaces requiring repair.
The report also included the June and July events alongside Rick Hansen, when he returned for the 50th anniversary of the crash which resulted in his lower body paralysis. This included appearing in the parade alongside Hansen as “difference makers.”
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