[NFBF-Tampa] Let's Keep the Momentum Going!

[marion.gwizdala at verizon.net]

Please circulate the following message as widely as appropriate.

 

March 27, 2024 

 

Greetings HART Consumers with Disabilities & Our Supporters!

 

            My name is Marion Gwizdala. I serve on HART's ADA Accessibility
Committee. On March 25, on behalf of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the National
Federation of the Blind, Merry Schoch, Scott Greenblatt, and I met with
HART's CEO, Scott Drainville, the chair of HART's board of directors,
Councilman Luis Viera, HART's chief administrative officer, Jacqueline
Halldow, and their manager of customer service, Kemly Green. We had a very
lively and candid discussion of our concerns and listened as they shared
their plans for the future. We met for more than an hour in a meeting meant
to be as much a formation of an alliance as one to share our challenges.
Though we did some of the latter, we communicated we are their ally not
their adversary. I am urging you, in as strong a voice I can muster through
email, to demonstrate that HART's alliance with its disabled consumers and
the input of its ADA Accessibility Committee is vital for the future of
public transportation in the Tampa Bay area. Why should you help!

 

            Efficient effective public transportation is an essential
service for many of us who are disabled. There are many conditions in
addition to blindness that impact our ability to drive and rely upon public
transportation to get to work, buy groceries, obtain medical care, and have
a social life. As I work to improve HART services, my life experience is
different than yours. If I am to serve you, I need anyone with a disability
impacted by the quality of HART's services and our supporters to stand up
with us as we urge these HART officials to follow through on their
commitment to this collaboration. In other words, I need you! What will we
do?

 

            On Monday, April 1, members of the Tampa Bay Chapter of the
National Federation of the Blind will make public comments during the HART
board of directors meeting. Our comments are meant to make a point of public
record that HART has committed to working more closely with disabled
consumers and its representative body - HART's ADA Accessibility Committee
on which I serve. What can you do?

 

            During our events, the Tampa Bay Chapter of the NFB wears bright
yellow shirts. The color yellow can be seen through a sea of other colors.
We want as many consumers with disabilities to don a yellow garment and
stand with us as we press the board to continue this dialogue and follow
through on their commitment to accountability, inclusivity, and
accessibility. The meeting will be held in the HART board room located on
the third floor of HART's administrative offices, 1201 E. 7th Avenue in Ybor
City. The meeting begins promptly at 9:00 a.m. and last approximately two
hours. If you have any questions or comments, please do not hesitate to get
in touch with me. My contact information is below my signature.

 

 

Yours in service,

Marion Gwizdala

Advocacy411 at gmail.com <mailto:Advocacy411 at gmail.com> 

813-421-3555 

 

 

 

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