Atlantis Community, Inc., 201 S. Cherokee Street, Denver, Colorado 80223
303/733-9324(Voice)-- 303/733-0047(TDD)-- 303/733-9324(Fax)
e-mail: adaptbabs@earthlink.net
Contact: Tim Thornton, and Terrance Turner
ATLANTIS AND THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS
When the people of Atlantis left the nursing home in 1975, we entered a society that was inaccessible and unprepared to accommodate our special needs. Using the tactics of direct action community organizing, we set out to create the access we had to have.
Disabled people in the community need to ride the public bus to school, work, and shopping. This outrageous concept got a big laugh at RTD but the Atlantis staff and clients began an organizing effort to win access to the buses. Disabled activists trained extensively in assertiveness, strategy, issue identification, and other aspects of community organizing.
For several years we met with RTD testifying to the need for access, doing research and working "within the system", to no avail. As our frustration grew, so did our determination and anger. We decided to carry our effort to its ultimate limit-civil disobedience. We lay down in the streets of Denver blocking the buses we couldn't ride. We blockaded RTD meetings, forcing them to listen and realize the importance of our issue.
These actions resulted in extensive media coverage; educating the public about our rights and creating pressure on RTD to address us. After an eight-year struggle, in 1983, RTD committed to 1000 lb. lifts on all its buses and routes, integrating public transit. More than 30,000 disabled residents in the Denver area had never before had access to affordable, self-determined transportation. RTD riders who use wheelchairs now number over 6000 per month. RTD officials are supporting lift-equipped buses as efficient and cost-effective, and the general public in Denver recognizes and honors our civil rights of access.
The successes of the disabled activists of Atlantis extend far byond access to public transit. When petitions and meetings failed to produce badly-needed curb cuts, we swung sledgehammers from our wheelchairs to create our own cuts. These actions produced a solid city commitment to cut new curbs and a petition system to cut older ones.
Meetings, then picketing and protests, have resulted in 100% access to all polling places in 1990. McDonald's Restaurants used to refer mobility-impaired customers to the drive-up window until the people of Atlantis demanded rights of access to all their stores. Ten Atlantis staff and volunteers were arrested for trespassing when a Taco House owner told them to take their food into the parking lot to eat. They refused and were taken to jail. A Denver judge dismissed all charges and Taco House will be charged with illegal discrimination! Numerous other public accommodations - stores and restaurants - have been pressed to eliminate barriers and welcome ALL the public.
Airlines refused to fly wheelchairs equipped with batteries, saying they were safety hazards, until Atlantis activists blockaded their ticket counters. Officials quickly decided that a well-sealed battery was not such a hazard after all, and the FAA has recently guaranteed the right of disabled passengers to fly without discrimination.
These are only a few of the issues brought to the Atlantis activists by the Denver disabled community. We have won hundreds of victories, eliminated thousands of barriers, and successfully pressed the officials and public of Denver to consider our rights and needs for access in ANY project that is undertaken. many barriers remain to be addressed, and the work continues. The President's Committee on Employment of the Handicapped named Denver the MOST ACCESSIBLE CITY IN THE NATION! This is the work of Atlantis!!
|
HISTORY AND MISSION
Independent Living for People with Disabilities
Atlantis was founded in 1975, the second "Independent Living Center" in the country after Berkeley. A group of young disabled adults and six concerned staff from a Denver nursing home concluded that no amount of outings to concerts or bingo games could normalize life for these young people. The real solution was to move into the community, in apartments within the city's neighborhoods, to create self - determined lifestyles where the disabled clients choose their own food, direct their own care, and determine their own priorities. This was a revolutionary concept in 1975, but the people of Atlantis were able to convince the State Legislature to fund personal care assistance outside an institutional setting for the very first time.
In the more than twenty years since its founding, the agency has been able to assist over 400 disabled adults in moving from sheltered settings and maintaining independent lives. The Atlantis Community staff specializes in assistance for people with all disabilities including alzhiemers or in a coma.
It is our belief that any person with a disability can live outside an institution, if she/he is willing to accept the risks and responsibilities in order to enjoy self - determination and liberty. To that end, the staff and clients are experts in helping with everything from finding an apartment to applying for benefits, weddings, from computer classes to camping trips. The assistance with daily living activities and the basic skills training and supports offered are complemented by their attendants who visit the clients at home as often as needed - usually several times a day.
The people of Atlantis also offer other independent living services to people throughout the nation - ranging from information and referral services to assertiveness training and technical assistance. The city of Denver and the Atlantis Community have become a mecca for disabled people seeking an accessible environment and comprehensive services.
|
