For the last decade, Evanston disability advocate Patrick Hughes Jr. has run an informal tour of the city. He takes passengers through the city in his Jeep, showing them some 40-odd places where the city’s infrastructure doesn’t serve people with disabilities.

One of the stops was a brand new beach off of South Boulevard — one Hughes Jr. described as fully accessible, but without accessible parking. On one particular tour, he said, another longtime advocate pointed out to passengers that she couldn’t use the accessible park because of the lack of parking. 

Among the passengers, Hughes said, was Parks and Recreation Director Audrey Thompson. Two weeks later, he said, the city added accessible parking spots at the beach.

“Having representation fills in policymakers and leaders with information that will impact citizens in a much less theoretical, and more tangible, way,” Hughes said.

Now, Thompson, alongside other city staffers, are spearheading a Evanston committee aimed at doing just that. 

The ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) Advisory Committee aims to put city officials and Evanston residents with disabilities in more regular, more formalized communication.

“That has been the most rewarding thing, just being involved in those meetings and hearing direct feedback from our community members about their experiences and suggestions,” Lauren Ruiz, the city’s disability rights and advocacy manager, said. 

The committee has held monthly meetings since May, and one of its primary duties is to process complaints filed by community members, Ruiz said. Residents who experience discrimination or difficulty navigating Evanston can file a grievance online, which the committee will discuss at its next meeting.

It’s an opportunity, Ruiz said, for other people with disabilities to contextualize the complaint with their own experiences and offer potential solutions.

“There are things (people with disabilities bring up) that we as city staff had not even thought of,” Ruiz said. “Each individual on the committee just has such a unique perspective and unique experiences of their own.”

At one meeting, the committee discussed one complaint filed by an Evanston resident who struggled to find accessible parking at the Robert Crown Branch of the Evanston Public Library, according to Ruiz. The only accessible parking available to her was down an alleyway far from the library. 

Ruiz got in contact with Evanston’s parking service division as well as the Engineering and Public Works department, to remedy parking at the library. According to Ruiz, accessible parking spots were added right next to the library entrance just one month after the committee discussed the issue, allowing easier access for this resident and countless others.

It was through one of these grievances that Evanston resident Jim Johnson got involved with the committee. As someone who uses a motorized wheelchair and has a service animal, Johnson said navigating Evanston’s crosswalks, especially near Hartrey Avenue, can be difficult. He finally filed a grievance about it earlier this year.

In response to the complaint, Thompson invited him to the newly established ADA Advisory Committee’s meeting, and he said he’s been a regular at committee meetings ever since. To more meaningfully contribute to the meetings, Johnson has interviewed other people with disabilities to bring up issues that others in the community are facing.

Currently, everybody on the ADA Advisory Committee is a city official. The process of confirming Evanston community members with disabilities has just begun and will continue in the coming months. Johnson said he submitted his application on Nov. 15.

“(People with disabilities) have more knowledge of what needs to be corrected for making it (more) accessible,” Johnson said. “I’m very inquisitive, and I also do my own research and bring that to their light.”

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @charcole27

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @CharlieSpungin

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