The AWS Foundation works to help individuals with enduring disabilities live as independently as they can, participate in the community and reach their highest potential.
Last year the Arts United Center announced a capital campaign to update the downtown building. AWS provided funds and support to help make the building more accessible not just to visitors, but to disabled artists.
Last month, the foundation helped Fort Wayne Trails debut accessible trail maps. AWS CEO Patti Hays said the start to increasing accessibility is reaching out to people with barriers you might not have seen, using focus groups.
“They opened our eyes to how much more we could do,” she said. “So, it was just the thought of asking; Can you use our trails?”
An example of some feedback Hays said they received was where the trails intersect with roads. Typically there’s bright yellow concrete posts, which is a high-vis color in the summer, but in the fall they can be harder to see for people with low visibility or who are color blind. Now, they’re talking about repainting them with yellow and black stripes.
“So, they were doing what ADA said they needed to do, but because they asked people with disabilities ‘can we do better?’ They learned,” Hays said.
Fort Wayne Trails is looking to use what they learned from those conversations to create accessible city and county maps in the future.
Hays also praised the work being done to update the Arts United Center downtown. She said, when looking to make the space more accessible, the center wasn’t just considering a disable audience, but also disabled artists and dancers.
“They said what are the barriers for you being on stage? What are the barriers for you being a volunteer? What are the barriers for you being backstage?” Hays said. “It’s not just be a passive audience member, it’s let’s get involved in everything that the arts have that adds quality to our lives.”
The Arts United Center breaks ground on Wednesday.
AWS is now working with Taste of the Arts to create a more accessible festival by adding sensory-friendly kits and areas, transportation and interpreters, among other things.
Looking forward, Hays hopes they can begin to address transportation and housing problems that people with disabilities face, especially in rural areas.
“Disability is a minority group that you and I could join at any moment,” Hays said. “And, likely, we will at some point in our lives.”
