By Jack Brittle, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
On May 31, Tansley Woods Community Centre was host to the Accessible Sport and Art Fair. The event was put on by the City of Burlington and was intended to be an opportunity for citizens to learn about the many programs that operate in Burlington and are fully accessible.
Booths were set up in a recreation hall, with a number of local organizations present, including the Burlington Lions Club, the Burlington Public Library, Student Theatre, Special Olympics, and the Art Gallery of Burlington (AGB).
On the opposite side of the building, demo rooms were prepared with activities hosted by groups in attendance, including wheelchair basketball, pickleball, adaptive rugby, improv, and arts and crafts workshops.
Cheryl Hurst, who sits on the City of Burlington’s Accessibility Advisory Committee, describes her personal connection with accessibility in her youth, which inspired her to take action.
“Growing up, I did have a good friend who had some different challenges, and we would see those roadblocks,” Hurst said. “So I just didn’t want other people to have to face those if they didn’t have to.”
Hurst explained the kind of work the Accessibility Advisory Committee does around the city.
“We come to different community events and try to have communication with different community members, and we want to get as much feedback as we can from them,” Hurst said. “What their personal experiences are, good things, challenges, things that we can work with.”
“Then we provide input and feedback to different city [staff] members and different departments,” Hurst continued.
Hurst gave a recent example of the city doing a renovation of a major Burlington park.
“They came to our meeting and brought their plans, and then we gave our input and feedback on things that they’ve done really great and suggestions about other changes that might be helpful,” Hurst said.
Hurst said that many people at the event were unaware of the many programs available throughout the city with accessibility options. “That speaks to [the fact that] maybe we’re not communicating or sharing all of the great things that we do have in the city,” Hurst said.
Hurst said that access to parks and further accommodation at intersections were also repeated concerns.
“Making sure that all of our intersections have the proper grading so that you’re not just flying off of the curb, as well as the texture [of paving], so that if you have sight impairment, you can use your accessories and tools to be able to safely cross the street,” Hurst said. “And when you push the button, the sound is there so that you know it’s safe to cross.”
Hurst said that the city is making strides in the right direction and is working to implement these changes at all intersections.
Annie Webber, education coordinator at the AGB, was representing the gallery at the event. Webber said that the AGB is able to make the majority of events accessible with advance notice and help from community partners.
Webber spoke about what the AGB hoped to gain from the event.
“We’re here today to learn how we can improve our setup so that we have passive programming that’s accessible and more regularly occurring programs that are accessible,” Webber said. “We’re looking to build our audience and our network of colleagues who have more expertise than we do in the field of accessibility.”
Webber spoke about why having more accessible programming is so important.
“We want to welcome everyone, and we want people to feel cared for, thought of, and considered,” Webber said. “We’re happy that we can get in touch early enough to put those supports in place, but we also want people to be able to come in intuitively and experience the place in a way that’s meaningful to them.”
Webber said that the event was very useful for networking with other organizations, as well as making community members aware of what is already available.
Attendees could also enter a raffle for prizes available at a table in the front entrance. Prizes included t-shirts, a life jacket, and safety gear for sailing. Prizes were all donated by the vendors present at the fair.
Correction: This article has been corrected to note that it is Teresa Campbell, Supervisor, Sports Development and not Mamie Sealey-Baker. Our apologies for the misidentification.
