'We should be way ahead of where we are': advocate for disabled

yorkregion.com
June 4, 2017
By Lisa Queen

Steve Foglia sat discouraged in his wheelchair outside a Newmarket coffee shop for half an hour one day this week.

A car was parked legally in the handicapped spot, but the design of the parking lot meant the vehicle was blocking the cut-out in the curb that would have allowed him to navigate his wheelchair up to the sidewalk.

Even when the car moved, Foglia had to wait until someone held the door open for him because there was no automatic opener.

While the curb cut-out is built to code, it’s an Ontario standard that doesn’t work practically for people with disabilities, he said.

“In 2017, that this is actually still happening is very frustrating. We should be way ahead of where we are … As a citizen of this community, I have the same right as any able-bodied person who pays their taxes and lives in this community to access the same features in our community as anybody else,” he said.

“Just because I got put in this chair for circumstances beyond my control doesn’t mean I have to stay in my house 24-7. And a lot of people do because they’re scared to go out.”

Being excluded from life’s simplest moments has been a challenge for Foglia since a car accident in 1999 crushed his chest and put him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life.

“I lived my first 37 years as, I guess, a ‘normal’ human being, being able to come and go as I pleased. Everywhere I wanted to go, I was able to go,” the Newmarket resident said.

“Then, once the accident put me into this chair, I realized my world closed off very quickly. There were a lot of places I could not go, especially places I used to attend before. That really upset me.”

Foglia has spent years working to make York Region more accessible for people with disabilities.

He is vice-chair of the York Region Accessibility Advisory Committee, which held a forum May 31 at the regional administrative building in Newmarket.

The event included people with disabilities from across the region.

Marking national access awareness week, the forum explored ideas for building livable and accessible communities.

Foglia, who also serves as chair of the Newmarket accessibility advisory committee and sits on Southlake Regional Health Centre’s accessibility, inclusivity and diversity committee, continues to work to make the community more inclusive on everything from sidewalks that provide a smoother and more pain-free ride for wheelchairs to washrooms and waiting rooms that better serve people with special needs.

“We’re trying to bring in a higher level of awareness so there is more out there than just the basic building standard and there are a lot more things you can do to make things really accessible,” he said, adding the region and local municipalities are embracing the need to make changes.

“We are so far behind. We are making strides but it’s like the old analogy, how do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time.”