Does The March of Dimes Walk the Talk?
Sunday, October 4, 2009
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At one point I thought positive progress was being made because a letter was received from the March of Dimes apologizing and saying that moves were now in the works to fix it. Click here to read the letter from Mr. Peterson below. The solution Mr. Peterson chose to pursue was to separate himself from the March of Dimes. In other words, he is in business for himself now. The sad part is, his store took down the March of Dimes logo, but the truck did not. The public still believes they are donating used items to the March of Dimes.
I had created an awareness video about the March of Dimes moving from one non-accessible location, to another even less accessible location, despite 1 year of letter writing to ask them to fix the problem. Yesterday, I received an email saying the problem was fixed so I deleted the video. I then went over to inspect the new location and, would you believe there still isn't a ramp?
I believed it because a few weeks ago, an article appeared in our local paper to apologize for the mistake. To read more, visit the Whig Standard's web site and read the following article "Our Philosophy is to Lead By Example"
Here are some pictures taken today. I also decided to upload the video that was once up on You Tube.
I sent these pictures along with a letter containing the following questions to the March of Dimes head office:
Hi,
This morning I wrote you to thank you for letting me know the ramp issue was fixed. Tonight I went over to take a look.
My question is, where is the ramp? If it is portable, how do we alert someone that we want to get inside? Where do they put the ramp where it isn't too steep and, is therefore would be safe enough for us to use?
I mentioned earlier that the plywood that was once used, cracked when my friend put the front wheels of his wheelchair on it. Is the plywood still being used?
I'm starting to get really mad.
UPDATE NOTE:
I got a reply from Head Office tonight and this will be looked into. I appreciate this because it is important that the non-profit agencies that are raising funds, include the ones they are representing. By the looks of things, this attempt at awareness is about to turn into a positive for all... without the need of Human Rights or the law.
Louise
See the pictures below:
The front and side of the building.
The west side.
The back
The front - there are 5 steps inside the front door.
The height is about where the gray brick meets the red.
My name is Paul Peterson and I am responsible for the Mod Shops in Kingston. First of all let me take this opportunity to apologize for the mistake I made in opening the location at 140 Railway Street before it was accessible. I assure you all along that we intended to make it available to everyone, but I dropped the ball.
I could explain the process and make excuses but it doesn't change the fact that we weren't ready.
I have taken steps to ameliorate this situation some short term and others more permanent. We built that wooden ramp as a short term way of helping anyone in a chair who wanted to shop at the store. I recognize that this is only viable with assistance from our staff and not a good solution but we just didn't want to turn anyone away. We tested it with manual wheelchairs only and our staff in the chair and it worked but we didn't allow for the electric chair.
So we added another sheet of plywood and individual cleats that take the weight on the chair and transfer it to the steps.
In the meantime I purchased a chair lift that is in working order and ready to be installed, we're just waiting on an elevator technician to come and install it. That's the first real solution as I see it.
The better solution that I see is we are working on building a proper ramp leading into the main part of the store. At present it is with our engineer and we are waiting for the design so we can get the permits from the city. Once that process is complete we will have the ramp built within a week.
The store is in transition and we are looking at opening up the back part of the building as a warehouse outlet and that added to the confusion regarding making the building accessible. We still don't have the full design worked out.
I would be only to happy to include either of you in the ongoing dialogue to make sure we don't miss anything this time.
I want you to know that this failure on my part doesn't represent a lack of commitment to making sure that our stores are open to everyone.
I didn't get it right and we are now working to make it right. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you for the chance to address this and I look forward to keeping you posted on our progress.
All the best,
Paul Peterson
Please read my other Blogs:
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
I had created an awareness video about the March of Dimes moving from one non-accessible location, to another even less accessible location, despite 1 year of letter writing to ask them to fix the problem. Yesterday, I received an email saying the problem was fixed so I deleted the video. I then went over to inspect the new location and, would you believe there still isn't a ramp?
I believed it because a few weeks ago, an article appeared in our local paper to apologize for the mistake. To read more, visit the Whig Standard's web site and read the following article "Our Philosophy is to Lead By Example"
Here are some pictures taken today. I also decided to upload the video that was once up on You Tube.
I sent these pictures along with a letter containing the following questions to the March of Dimes head office:
Hi,
This morning I wrote you to thank you for letting me know the ramp issue was fixed. Tonight I went over to take a look.
My question is, where is the ramp? If it is portable, how do we alert someone that we want to get inside? Where do they put the ramp where it isn't too steep and, is therefore would be safe enough for us to use?
I mentioned earlier that the plywood that was once used, cracked when my friend put the front wheels of his wheelchair on it. Is the plywood still being used?
I'm starting to get really mad.
UPDATE NOTE:
I got a reply from Head Office tonight and this will be looked into. I appreciate this because it is important that the non-profit agencies that are raising funds, include the ones they are representing. By the looks of things, this attempt at awareness is about to turn into a positive for all... without the need of Human Rights or the law.
Louise
See the pictures below:
The front and side of the building.
The west side.
The back
The front - there are 5 steps inside the front door.
The height is about where the gray brick meets the red.
Letter from Mr. Peterson
Good morning folks.My name is Paul Peterson and I am responsible for the Mod Shops in Kingston. First of all let me take this opportunity to apologize for the mistake I made in opening the location at 140 Railway Street before it was accessible. I assure you all along that we intended to make it available to everyone, but I dropped the ball.
I could explain the process and make excuses but it doesn't change the fact that we weren't ready.
I have taken steps to ameliorate this situation some short term and others more permanent. We built that wooden ramp as a short term way of helping anyone in a chair who wanted to shop at the store. I recognize that this is only viable with assistance from our staff and not a good solution but we just didn't want to turn anyone away. We tested it with manual wheelchairs only and our staff in the chair and it worked but we didn't allow for the electric chair.
So we added another sheet of plywood and individual cleats that take the weight on the chair and transfer it to the steps.
In the meantime I purchased a chair lift that is in working order and ready to be installed, we're just waiting on an elevator technician to come and install it. That's the first real solution as I see it.
The better solution that I see is we are working on building a proper ramp leading into the main part of the store. At present it is with our engineer and we are waiting for the design so we can get the permits from the city. Once that process is complete we will have the ramp built within a week.
The store is in transition and we are looking at opening up the back part of the building as a warehouse outlet and that added to the confusion regarding making the building accessible. We still don't have the full design worked out.
I would be only to happy to include either of you in the ongoing dialogue to make sure we don't miss anything this time.
I want you to know that this failure on my part doesn't represent a lack of commitment to making sure that our stores are open to everyone.
I didn't get it right and we are now working to make it right. I would appreciate any feedback. Thank you for the chance to address this and I look forward to keeping you posted on our progress.
All the best,
Paul Peterson
Please read my other Blogs:
Health: http://wheelchairdemon-health.blogspot.com
Transit: http://wheelchairdemon-transit.blogspot.com
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