New England ADA Center
March Newsletter

ADA Question of the Month - Do You Know the Answer?
Question : What is Program Accessibility?

The answer is at the end of the newsletter.

Newington Connecticut Parks and Recreation Department Build Accessibility
The Newington Parks and Recreation Department strives to offer quality programs and facilities that are accessible to all people. The tables will be set in the new Rotary Pavilion at Churchill Park.


Photo: Ted Perzanowski pictured here with one of the two wheel chair accessible tables. Ted worked with Rick Castellani (not pictured) on building two tables for the Newington Park and Recreation program.  Photo by: Emmett A. House III.

Wheelchair Access to be Added to Vermont Ballpark Grandstands 
The project involves cutting a 12-foot section out of the bottom row of the bleachers and paving the area to accommodate up to four wheelchair users who would have a front-row seat behind home plate for Vermont Mountaineers games.

Photo source: Google open source image .

The New Hampshire Governor's Commission on Disability (GCD) Present the "Bill and Chuck Show" 
The GCD's Executive Director and NH's State Treasurer Bill Dwyer, as co-administrators of the STABLE NH plan, reached out to key advocate groups and those involved with the disability community to educate them on the benefits of New Hampshire's ABLE program of savings and investments.

For more information on the GCD click here. Find more details on STABLE NH here.

The "Bill and Chuck Show" with NH State Treasurer Bill Dwyer  (left) and GCD Executive Director Chuck Saia (right) take questions and discuss benefits of STABLE NH.   Photo by Louise McBride.

The  Seventh Annual ReelAbilities Film Festival Boston  will be held between March 21-March 29.  ReelAbilities  strives for the inclusion of all people and is dedicated to promoting awareness and appreciation of the lives, stories and artistic expressions of people with different abilities from a variety of communities.

For more information and registration click here.
Photo source: Google open source image .

Plan for Calais Vermont Town Hall Upgrades to be Discussed
A detailed plan for the renovation and upgrade of the Calais Town Hall will be presented at a public meeting. The project is about preserving a historic building that has served as a church, town hall and meeting place for 152 years. It's also about several upgrades that would allow for access by disabled people.

Read more of the story here
Photo source: Google open source image.

Massachusetts Pregnant Workers Fairness Act Effective April 1st
Image of the Massachusetts state house
The Act, effective on April 1, 2018, expressly prohibits employment discrimination on the basis of pregnancy and pregnancy-related conditions and requires employers to accommodate pregnant workers .  

For more details on the Act, click here.
Photo source: file photo.

Disability Awareness Day Attracts Hundreds of People
to the Vermont Statehouse
Over 350 people flocked to the Vermont State house on Feb. 28 for Disability Awareness Day. They spread the word about the event's theme: "Our Community, Our Health, Our Well-Being." Members of the Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights let lawmakers know that health begins where people live, learn, work and play.

Read more of the story here
Photo source: Vermont Coalition for Disability Rights.

National News
What's Next After Paralympic Gold? The Olympics
Evan Strong, who just finished competing in Pyeongchang, has spent the past six years working to become the first Paralympic snowboarder to compete against able-bodied athletes in the Winter Olympics, something he hopes to accomplish at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Read more of the story here.
Photo source: Google open source image.

ADA Quick Tips - Tax Incentives
Tax incentives  are available to encourage compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Many are unaware that these incentives exist. 

Learn more about the incentives here.

Photo source: Google open source image.

Free Tax Return Preparation for Qualifying Taxpayers
The US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) offers free assistance to taxpayers who qualify through two programs: the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance Program (VITA) and Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE).Volunteers assist people with disabilities, seniors, those who have low income, and others who may need special help in preparing their basic tax returns.  

Click here for more information.

Participants Needed: National Survey on Health Reform and Disability
The NIDILRR-funded Collaborative on Health Reform and Independent Living (CHRIL) is looking for adults with disabilities to complete an online survey about getting and using health insurance and health care services. Adults ages 18 to 62 with any type of disability are encouraged to participate.
 

To participate in the survey, click here.

The ADA checklist for Readily Achievable Barrier Removal
Our ADA Checklist is a friendly and easy to use tool that will help you identify barriers to accessibility in your indoor and outdoor facilities.

Click here to learn more.

Photo source: file photo.

Answer to the ADA Question of the Month

Answer Program accessibility means that u nder Title II of the ADA, s tate and local governments (public entities) must ensure that services, programs and activities, when viewed in their entirety, are accessible to people with disabilities. An example of this is: a  legislator's local office is on the second floor of a building that doesn't have an elevator. The legislator can meet a person with a disability at another accessible location . The answer to this question and more can be found in the ADA Checklist for Existing Facilities.

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New England ADA Center, a project of the Institute for Human Centered Design