Following the 7.7 magnitude earthquake off the coast of Sandspit BC the official message to people in low-lying communities was to evacuate to higher ground because of a potential tsunami. For people with disabilities and seniors with reduced or no mobility, anxiety issues and other health conditions, evacuation during emergencies is challenging unless preplanning has occurred. Evacuation is particularly difficult for individuals with disabilities and seniors who rely on accessible or custom transit in their communities. As well, people with disabilities and seniors who live on low-incomes and are less likely to be able to afford to pay for emergency preparedness kits.

Superstorm Sandy hit Southern Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes and tens of thousands of people are without power. Power outages can be life threatening to people with disabilities who rely on medical equipment that requires electricity, such as ventilators and power wheelchairs.

“Emergency preparedness for individuals and communities that includes the needs of people with disabilities is critical, “ said Karen Martin of the BC Coalition of People with Disabilities (BCCPD). The BCCPD has been working on this issue for years to help ensure that community organizations, businesses and people with disabilities are prepared for all types of emergency events. “Social media is emerging as a very important tool in emergency response communications and is an area the BCCPD is promoting as well as the legal duty to accommodate,” said Karen.

The BCCPD is concerned that many communities in BC are not adequately prepared for ensuring that people with disabilities and seniors are safe in emergency events. When there are emergency events in other areas there is a relatively brief spurt of interest which declines fairly quickly. “The BCCPD urges people with disabilities, community organizations and businesses to plan ahead,” said Martin.

For more information contact Karen Martin, Emergency Preparedness Project Coordinator: BCCPD: 604 875-0188; karen@bccpd.bc.ca.

BCCPD’s Strategic Inclusive Training for Emergencies (SITE) program trains businesses and government on how to plan for people with disabilities and seniors in emergencies.

The Greater Vancouver Shelter Strategy has prepared an updated shelter directory for Metro Vancouver.

To view the listing, visit the following link:
http://www.gvss.ca/PDF-2012/Shelters%20list%20October%202012.pdf

Sexuality and disability. Beauty and beastliness. These are some of the topics to be covered at Love on Wheels, a free poetry workshop led by Mexican poet Ekiwah Adler-Belendez on October 20th from 1:00-3:00 pm at the Blusson Spinal Cord Centre.

“We will articulate and discover ways that poetry can be a second body to move more freely and communicate with the world,” says Adler-Belendez. “The goal is to raise these questions, to offer support for each other, and to deepen our own curiosity.”

Born and raised in Mexico, Adler-Belendez published his first book of poetry when he was only 12 years old. He has written and acted in three plays and he speaks at universities across the United States and Mexico advocating for the power of poetry and its use in understanding disability. His first name means “warrior” in the Purepecha language.

“What I really enjoy about teaching this workshop is that as a man in a wheelchair, I have no steadfast answers but a tremendous curiosity to exchange information and experiences,” says Adler-Belendez, who has Cerebral Palsy. “We will open a safe space to discuss how our disability defines us and how it does not.”

The event is sponsored by Spinal Cord Injury BC (SCI BC). “Disability and sexuality is not something people are generally comfortable with and it is rarely discussed publicly,” says Chris McBride, SCI BC’s executive director. “We decided to host this event because poetry is a powerful medium that can transcend our normal assumptions about what it means to live and express oneself with a disability.”

Love on Wheels is a free event for all SCI BC members. Non-members can attend for a suggested donation of $10, although no one will be turned away for lack of financial resources. Space is limited so advanced registration is required: http://sci-bc.ca/event/poetry-workshop/

For more information contact:
Candice Vallantin
Communications Specialist, Spinal Cord Injury BC
604-326-1203, cvallantin@sci-bc.ca, http://www.sci-bc.ca/