Promising Directions - Georgia

Americorps Members work with Athens, GA Restaurant Access

The Institute on Human Development and Disability (IHDD) has an AmeriCorps project, The Georgia (GA) Personal Assistance Corps (GA PAS Corps). GA PAS Corps Members provide personal assistance to individuals with disabilities, supporting them to be active, participating members of their community. Members are trained on Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), along with many other disability-related issues.

Accessibility is a problem that members and the individuals they support run into on a regular basis. For many members, this is a first time, 'aha' experience. Recently a member came to the ADA Training Team at IHDD with an accessibility problem. The person she serves uses a wheelchair and loves the food at a restaurant in Athens, GA. She wanted the opportunity to go to the restaurant on a regular basis. Unfortunately, the restaurant had a two-step entry making access extremely difficult and risky for both the GA PAS Member and the person using the wheelchair.

After consulting with the team about ADA requirements and how she should handle the problem, the member wrote a letter to the owner of the restaurant, citing the ADA and making suggestions about how to remedy the problem. Very quickly, the restaurant ramped its entrance along with all of the other businesses in the little strip mall. So now, a restaurant, a beauty shop, a pizza restaurant, a frame shop, a taekwondo center and a veterinarian's office are all accessible.

For more information, contact the IHDD ADA Coordinator, at 706-542-3968 (voice) or 706-542-6629 (tty).