HELP FUND ADA REQUIREMENTS @ STAFFORD'S TOWN HALL
Donation protected
APRIL 19, 2021
Accessible Stafford is raising funds* to help pay for the accommodations required by law. Over 30 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed and was meant enforce access for all. The time has come for us to ACT.
Here is what your donations will be earmarked for**:
1. Signs outside the building indicating where the accessible entrance is located.
2. Making the accessible entrance up to code by fixing the cement landing.
3. Adding the two required accessible parking spots to the town parking lot (the one in the bank parking does not count).
4. Signage inside all entrances indicating how to access all town offices. This is a public building; All employees and services are paid for through taxpayer funds.
5. Reconfiguring the restrooms to be accessible.
In February 2018, Accessible Stafford started this initiative to educated the FIrst Selectman about the minimal accommodations the Town must implement because they were breaking the law. The Citizen Advisory Group has an excel sheet indicating the request for this need in their suggestion box. In 2019, a petition was created to explain the project to residents and advocates and get support. Petition: https://www.change.org/p/stafford-board-of-selectmen-help-people-with-disabilities-have-equal-access
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
When we reached out in early 2021, First Selectman Mitta, ADA Coordinator of the town, let us know that she's too overwhelmed by the yearly budget and the global pandemic to add us to an agenda or attend our meetings or to attend our meeting. Keeping us safe is very important, but people with disabilities have been some of the hardest hit by COVID-19, and by ableism in general.
Therefore, our group wants to help residents with disabilities, and also our Board of Selectmen. Our dedicated volunteers are willing to fundraise and do all the work for the town of Stafford, (like the Garden Club's beautification efforts) because we believe so strongly in this:
On behalf those you love with disabilities, please help us reach our goal. We can do this if we work together.
If anyone would like to help, or you have a disability and have had issues with accessibility at the Town Hall, or anywhere in Stafford, you can send us a message through gofundme.
Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation,
The Accessible Stafford Team
*By donating money you agree to these conditions:
If we DO NOT raise the funds by Nov. 30, 2021, or the town hall pays for and implements the accommodations before that, Accessible Stafford will contact each donor to ask if she or he wants a refund or if they want their donation to be given to the Unified Arts program in Stafford.
NOTE:
**We are working on an itemized budget, it's been held up as we wait to hear from the First Selectman, who was speaking with the town lawyer, about creating a fund through the Town Treasurer like The Blues Fest, and the Veteran Wall of Honor has. We culled the figure of $3,500 from the grant application.
Accessible Stafford is raising funds* to help pay for the accommodations required by law. Over 30 years ago, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was signed and was meant enforce access for all. The time has come for us to ACT.
Here is what your donations will be earmarked for**:
1. Signs outside the building indicating where the accessible entrance is located.
2. Making the accessible entrance up to code by fixing the cement landing.
3. Adding the two required accessible parking spots to the town parking lot (the one in the bank parking does not count).
4. Signage inside all entrances indicating how to access all town offices. This is a public building; All employees and services are paid for through taxpayer funds.
5. Reconfiguring the restrooms to be accessible.
In February 2018, Accessible Stafford started this initiative to educated the FIrst Selectman about the minimal accommodations the Town must implement because they were breaking the law. The Citizen Advisory Group has an excel sheet indicating the request for this need in their suggestion box. In 2019, a petition was created to explain the project to residents and advocates and get support. Petition: https://www.change.org/p/stafford-board-of-selectmen-help-people-with-disabilities-have-equal-access
NOTHING HAS CHANGED.
When we reached out in early 2021, First Selectman Mitta, ADA Coordinator of the town, let us know that she's too overwhelmed by the yearly budget and the global pandemic to add us to an agenda or attend our meetings or to attend our meeting. Keeping us safe is very important, but people with disabilities have been some of the hardest hit by COVID-19, and by ableism in general.
Therefore, our group wants to help residents with disabilities, and also our Board of Selectmen. Our dedicated volunteers are willing to fundraise and do all the work for the town of Stafford, (like the Garden Club's beautification efforts) because we believe so strongly in this:
On behalf those you love with disabilities, please help us reach our goal. We can do this if we work together. If anyone would like to help, or you have a disability and have had issues with accessibility at the Town Hall, or anywhere in Stafford, you can send us a message through gofundme.
Thanks in advance for your understanding and cooperation,
The Accessible Stafford Team
*By donating money you agree to these conditions:
If we DO NOT raise the funds by Nov. 30, 2021, or the town hall pays for and implements the accommodations before that, Accessible Stafford will contact each donor to ask if she or he wants a refund or if they want their donation to be given to the Unified Arts program in Stafford.
NOTE:
**We are working on an itemized budget, it's been held up as we wait to hear from the First Selectman, who was speaking with the town lawyer, about creating a fund through the Town Treasurer like The Blues Fest, and the Veteran Wall of Honor has. We culled the figure of $3,500 from the grant application.
Organizer
Accessible Stafford
Organizer
Stafford Springs, CT
