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Recommitting to full access for disabled
St. Mary's marks 20 years since landmark federal legislation
Wednesday, Aug. 4, 2010
 Click here to enlarge this photo Staff photo by Reid Silverman
Ernestine Pence, center, director of the New Horizons Camp, greets Barry Burris, right, and Eileen Hislop, both of California, before the start of a ceremony last Wednesday at Greenwell State Park to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act.
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St. Mary's County is a fairer, more inclusive and more productive place than it was two decades ago because of the Americans With Disabilities Act, Julie Randall, former county commission president, said at a ceremony last week to mark the 20th anniversary of the passage of the federal law.
The July 28 event hosted by the St. Mary's County Commission for People with Disabilities at Greenwell State park was called a recommitment ceremony.
Julie Randall, chairwoman of the commission and also of the Southern Maryland Center for Independent Living, recognized county and state officials and department heads in attendance. "Without their help, St. Mary's County certainly would not be further along in making things accessible," Randall said. "It's been a long and fruitful partnership."
"It's slow, I know," Randall said, "But it's the same small group of folks trying to come together and make a difference for our county."
Randall drew attention to the shift in attitudes toward people with disabilities since the original ADA legislation was passed.
"Before 1990, people with disabilities were treated as second-class citizens. No one should suffer discrimination because of a disability. The ADA has opened schools, sidewalks and workplaces to citizens, and helped 50 million Americans live better lives."
The 2008 reforms to the ADA, which expanded protection to those whose disabilities might stem from a less than obvious condition, also served to make the county, "fairer, more inclusive, more productive," Randall said.
Randall called Americans with disabilities "one of America's greatest untapped resources. Just over half of Americans with disabilities are employed," Randall said.
She also specified that veterans returning from the war with injuries and post-traumatic stress syndrome present a growing challenge, though one that can be met with reasonable accommodations including telework, and improved transportation, though she acknowledged that those solutions are not an easy fix in a rural area.
Randall also called for technological aids for students with disabilities.
Randall said people "need to know their rights under ADA legislation," and commended county officials and community leaders for working to make the county more accessible and inclusive.
"That's certainly what a progressive county should be," Randall said.
Randall praised the early efforts of Arthur Shepherd of the county's recreation and parks department. "He wanted [St. Mary's facilities] to be not just accessible, but really usable," Randall said. "Arthur chaired the inclusion committee for recreation and parks, to go beyond the letter of the law to inclusion and really useable facilities."
That committee led to the creation of a recreation inclusion facilitator position, which was, according to Randall, the first of its kind in Southern Maryland. Though progress toward full inclusion for all people with disabilities is still not complete, she said, St. Mary's County's facilities are edging closer toward usability for all, thanks to the continued work of a core group of dedicated people.
St. Mary's County Commission President Jack Russell (D), looking out at the crowd gathered under the broad, established trees of Greenwell State Park, said that the original ADA legislation 20 years ago "was something like planting a tree. These trees sheltering everybody that's here, the ADA is doing the same thing. There's a tremendous root system, a lot of shade, a lot of cover, a lot of inspiration to move on."
Russell called the ADA "one of the most compassionate and successful civil rights laws in history." He reaffirmed the county's commitment to work toward full ADA compliance, and encouraged all citizens to pursue the equal opportunities and freedoms protected under the ADA.
Del. John F. Wood Jr. (D-St. Mary's, Charles) praised efforts made on the state and county levels to improve programs that aim to serve people with disabilities, while conceding that those efforts still leave room for growth.
"Are we where we need to be? No, but we continue to work on the state and county level because there is a great need," Wood said. "With the county and the state and the good Lord helping, we'll have programs in place for people unable to do for themselves to be able to make it work for them."
