Accessibility

Rick Hansen speaks Thursday (July 27, 2023) at the BC SPCA Richmond Animal Shelter after the provincial government announced $5 million in funding for the Rick Hansen Foundation BC Accessibility Grants Program. Eight communities had already received grants, and now two Indigenous communiities and five additional municipalities will also be selected. (Lauren Collins)

Rick Hansen Foundation gets $5M boost from B.C.

2 Indigenous communities, 5 more municipalities will be selected to improve accessibility

 

The letter posted over the elevator buttons by a maintenance worker at Lakeview Pointes Apartments in West Kelowna on June 12, 2023 while two women and a dog were allegedly still stuck inside. (Facebook/West Kelowna Rant and Rave)

B.C. woman speaks out after stuck elevator traps 2

West Kelowna Fire Chief says stuck elevator rescues are rare

 

The Parkinson Activity Centre in Kelowna is one of the many buildings from around the province that will accessed and upgraded. (Michelle Kam/Contributed to Black Press Media)

8 B.C. cities working on improving accessibility through grant initiative

Kelowna, Nanaimo, Coquitlam and others to work with the Rick Hansen Foundation

 

Jane Hawkins, with her father Allan Hawkins and husband John Bogar, at a South Surrey care facility. Finding wheelchair-accessible taxis for people with mobility issues is often problematic, not just in South Surrey and White Rock but also, across B.C. and the entire country. (Tricia Weel photo)

No-show wheelchair cabs ‘rob people of enjoying special moments’: B.C. couple

Passenger Transportation Accessibility Program aims to improve service through funding, training

Jane Hawkins, with her father Allan Hawkins and husband John Bogar, at a South Surrey care facility. Finding wheelchair-accessible taxis for people with mobility issues is often problematic, not just in South Surrey and White Rock but also, across B.C. and the entire country. (Tricia Weel photo)
Ava Secuur sits with her mother Shannon in her hospital bed at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. (Courtesy of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation)

‘Small is mighty’: B.C. child with dwarfism stars in children’s hospital campaign

Ava Secuur was part of a video campaign for the BC Children’s Hospital Foundation

Ava Secuur sits with her mother Shannon in her hospital bed at the BC Children’s Hospital in Vancouver. (Courtesy of BC Children’s Hospital Foundation)
FILE - Judy Heumann, center, is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service by Judge Gail Bereola, left, in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, June 29, 1993. Standing at left is Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock with sign language interpreter Joseph Quinn, and Julie Weissman, right, in attendance with a large audience. Heumann, a renowned disability rights activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, has died at age 75. The news of her passing on Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Washington, was shared on her website and social media accounts. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File)

Judy Heumann, disability rights activist, dies at age 75

Heumann contracted polio at age 2 and lost her ability to walk. She devoted her life to advocacy.

FILE - Judy Heumann, center, is applauded during her swearing-in as U.S. Assistant Secretary for Special Education and Rehabilitative Service by Judge Gail Bereola, left, in Berkeley, Calif., on Tuesday, June 29, 1993. Standing at left is Berkeley Mayor Loni Hancock with sign language interpreter Joseph Quinn, and Julie Weissman, right, in attendance with a large audience. Heumann, a renowned disability rights activist who helped secure legislation protecting the rights of disabled people, has died at age 75. The news of her passing on Saturday, March 4, 2023, in Washington, was shared on her website and social media accounts. (AP Photo/Susan Ragan, File)
A wheelchair accessible taxicab in Castlegar, B.C. (Black Press Media file photo)

B.C. announces new funds to offset costs of running wheelchair-accessible taxis

Province hopes change increases availability of rides to people with mobility challenges

A wheelchair accessible taxicab in Castlegar, B.C. (Black Press Media file photo)
Donna Seedorf-Harmuth and Phil Harmuth spend quality time together on Cox Bay. (Cathy Thicke photo)

Free beach wheelchairs create shoreline opportunity B.C. couple thought gone forever

Accessibility grant making lives better, organizations encouraged to chase theirs

Donna Seedorf-Harmuth and Phil Harmuth spend quality time together on Cox Bay. (Cathy Thicke photo)
Joudelie King wants to get out and live life to the fullest, but there are places she can’t go because they don’t meet her accessibility needs. (submitted photo)

New online tool provides accessibility map for people with disabilities

The myCommunity BC map provides accessibility info for nearly 1,000 locations in the province

Joudelie King wants to get out and live life to the fullest, but there are places she can’t go because they don’t meet her accessibility needs. (submitted photo)