“Making Chicago The Most Accessible City in the Nation,” is the tag line and mission of the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) where I serve as Commissioner.
Chicago was the first city to establish a cabinet-level department strictly dedicated to the needs of our residents with disabilities. In the 25 years since MOPD was established, Mayor Daley and Mayor Emanuel have committed to appointing a person with a disability to lead the office.
Our work is focused broadly on three priorities: Keeping people with disabilities independent, helping Chicago to be compliant with accessibility laws and codes, and ensuring the voice and needs of the disability community into City policymaking.
Each year we serve over 45,000 individuals by making homes wheelchair accessible, preparing job seekers, delivering home-maker services, and providing individualized needs assessments and advocacy.
We are unique in that Chicago has its own local accessibility code allowing MOPD to review and permit architectural plans. This means ensuring that those designing, constructing or rehabbing schools, parks, theaters, stores, restaurants and office and apartment buildings, have plans that are compliant with federal, state and local accessibility codes. We also partner with key City departments during the design phase of new city infrastructure projects to ensure the broadest number of people of disabilities can access amenities such as the Loop Link, new CTA rail stations, the Riverwalk, and our City’s summer music, movie and food festivals. Our broad disability policy work focuses on everything from developing accessible city emergency plans to incentivizing more wheelchair accessible taxicabs to be on the road.
As a person with a disability I am truly honored to be in a position where I can meaningfully impact my own community.
Last year when Chicago and the nation commemorated the 25th ADA anniversary, I took time reflect on how far our city, our nation and my own life experience has changed for the better.
As a lifelong wheelchair user, I grew up long before the ADA’s passage, in a very inaccessible world. I could rarely cross a street independently due to lack of curb ramps at the end of sidewalks. I was routinely carried into stores and restaurants with stairs by my family and friends. I could not ride the public bus after school with my friends because at the time, they had no wheelchair lifts.
Fast forward to adulthood, and I can now easily access most any store or restaurant I want, ride any CTA bus and cross a street with ease in my wheelchair. Just in my lifetime, so much has changed thanks to the ADA and countless committed advocates and public servants.
While tremendous progress has been made, many with disabilities still face challenges gaining access to affordable and accessible housing, quality education, technology and competitive employment.
Tackling these broad challenges is also a part of MOPD’s commitment to make Chicago truly livable for people with disabilities. A world-class city is one that meets the needs of people at all stages of their life. When these needs become part of the mindset of both policy making and architectural design from the very beginning, we can build truly great cities that include everyone now and into the future.