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Mission Statement
“The Belmont Disability Access Commission is dedicated to protecting the rights of all Belmont citizens, of all ages and with the full range of all abilities and disabilities (specifically including “hidden disabilities”), fully to access Town services and programs, to educating Town officials and the general citizenry about disability issues, to promoting the full inclusion of all persons with diverse disabilities in community life, and to the promotion of their general welfare.”
- adopted 13 May 2004
The Belmont Disability Access Commission is a body of volunteers appointed by the Board of Selectmen; we have no paid staff or Town operating budget. But you may leave us a message at our Town Hall number 617-489-8266, which is checked on a regular basis. (See over also, if you have a disability and need help, or if you are interested in volunteer work with Belmont residents with disabilities.)
Belmont’s Disability Assistance Program
The Belmont Disability Access Commission initiated the all-volunteer, person-to-person Belmont Disability Assistance Program in 2002. This program is conceived as a way of matching up the unmet assistance needs of town residents with disabilities with the available time and talents of the “temporarily able-bodied” among us. We say “temporary” because disability is an equal-opportunity proposition that can affect any one of us in a flash. And disability is the common destiny of each and every one of us, if we live long enough. Yet disability need not be dreadful or devastating, if appropriate assistance is available.
We know that Belmont residents with disabilities of all ages have everyday assistance needs that are not adequately met by existing service programs, even when combined with the volunteer efforts of family and friends. Typical needs that disabled persons of all ages share with senior citizens are for companionship and help in getting out and about their community, as well as for chores like lawn mowing, leaf raking, snow shoveling, errand running, transportation to shopping, proxy shopping for groceries, etc. Even changing a light bulb in a ceiling fixture is an insurmountable task for someone in a wheelchair, for example. A person with blindness might need daily, or every-other-day reader services to read the mail, sorting out the personal and bills from all the junk, or to read the Belmont-Citizen-Herald aloud,
getting the local news not available on network TV.
Community service is a very fulfilling activity, and it doesn’t have to be a large block of time. Dropping by to change that light bulb, to bring in the mail, or to deliver the few extra items you bought for someone while doing your own shopping takes little effort. But it means so very much to the person who can’t do those things for himself/herself. Our youth are learning this through fulfilling their Community Service requirements at the middle school and the high school. In fact, the Disability Assistance Program is offered to students in cooperation with these existing school programs. Interested students can sign up for service at the Middle School or at the High School, where Alice Melnikoff is the coordinator.
If you are a town resident with any kind of disability – mobility, vision, hearing, learning, cognitive, mental health, chronic illness – and have a need for company or help other than personal care, medical assistance, or emergency services, please phone the Disability Access Commission’s Disability Assistance Line at Town Hall: 617-993-2796. Since the Commission is an appointed volunteer body with no operating budget or office staff, you will need to leave us a brief message. Please give your name and phone number, the nature of your disability, and the particular kind of help you need. A Commission volunteer will make every effort to get back with you within 24 hours to try to schedule the assistance.
If you are “temporarily able-bodied” and want to devote as little as a half hour of your time to making a real difference in the life of someone else, please call 617-993-2796, leaving your name and phone number, what sorts of assistance you can offer, and the hours and days you are available. Our job is to match up assistance offers with needs.
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